1: 1
My boyfriend was taking me home to meet his family for the first time.
I'd spent a few thousand on more than a dozen kinds of gifts, and the moment I walked in, his childhood sweetheart started picking them apart.
"Violet Winfield, honey, everything you bought is stuff his mom doesn't like."
Either the skincare made her look old, or the health tonics and supplements were useless.
Beside me, my boyfriend's mother's expression soured on the spot.
The girl smiled and smoothed it over.
"But it's okay. It's your first time, after all. You'll get the hang of it later."
"Next time you can let me be your advisor. I'll help you pick."
At dinner, she sat right beside my boyfriend.
My seat was off in the corner.
The two of them joked and teased the whole time.
And I sat there like an outsider who couldn't get a word in.
His mother even offered me a consoling word.
"Those two have been roughhousing since they were kids. Don't take it to heart."
I watched it all with a bitter taste in my mouth, and shook my head.
"I don't mind at all, ma'am."
After all, my best friend was right. A man with a childhood sweetheart really isn't worth keeping.
1
My boyfriend, Finn Sanchez, was taking me home for the first time.
By any measure, it was supposed to be an important day.
He'd told me days in advance that his family took this day seriously too, that they'd been getting ready for a while now.
But I never expected that the moment the door opened,
his childhood sweetheart, Mildred Hansen, would be there too.
She threw herself straight into his arms.
"You little brat, coming home this late?"
"You've got me stuck in the kitchen with your mom picking vegetables all this time. You're taking three penalty shots later!"
My smile vanished, my eyes fixed on the pair of legs she had wrapped around his waist.
Finn seemed to sense something was off too.
He patted her. "My girlfriend's right here. What's this supposed to look like? Get down."
It took a while before Mildred finally turned and noticed me.
She stopped smiling all at once, staring straight at me, then said with theatrical exaggeration,
"Oh my, such a gorgeous girl. You little brat, you never told me your girlfriend was this pretty."
She came over and cozied up to me.
"So when are you and this brat getting married?"
"Once you two tie the knot, I'll have one more pretty older sister."
She kept nuzzling up against me the whole time, so warm it made me uncomfortable.
We'd only just met for the first time.
Yet she acted like we'd known each other for eight hundred years.
I pulled my hand back. "Hi. I'm Violet."
Mildred ignored my outstretched hand, leaving me hanging there with a grin.
"Violet, honey, just make yourself at home. Don't stand around, come in and sit."
Her tone was as if she were the lady of this house.
"Wow, Violet, you bought all this?"
She lifted a box of the gourmet health tonic, turning it over for a look, then burst out laughing.
"Honey, his mom really doesn't eat this brand. Finn bought it once before, she said it smelled fishy, left it a whole year without opening it, and tossed the whole thing in the end."
My hands went still.
She picked up the set of high-end skincare next, studied it for a couple of seconds, and gave a slight frown.
"This set's too heavy. His mom's skin is on the oily side, this'll clog her pores and break her out. Wouldn't it have been better to just ask me before you bought it?"
She turned and stuck out her tongue at Finn, her voice slipping into a wheedling lilt.
"It's all your fault. You should've introduced me to her sooner. Now she's wasted all this money for nothing."
Finn smiled at her, indulgent, and reached out to ruffle her hair.
"No one's as clever as you."
"Mildred, all these years my mom's only ever liked you. You could hand her a twig and she'd probably think it was wonderful."
"Oh, stop exaggerating!"
Mildred stood up, brushed the dust off her hands, and smoothed things over with a grin.
"But it's okay. It's her first time. She'll get the hang of it later."
"Next time you want to buy something, honey, come to me first. I'll help you figure it out and make sure his mom likes it."
Every word out of her mouth looked innocent as could be.
But turn it over carefully, and it dripped with showing off.
"But all this stuff, what a shame…"
"Nothing to be a shame about."
Finn nudged the gifts with his foot and said, flat and final,
"When you leave later, take them for your mom to use."
"Violet probably put a lot of thought into picking these. They weren't cheap."
I jerked my head up in disbelief.
