“That’s what my father does,” I say, thinking about the years of manipulation I’ve witnessed. “Everything is always about my mother. It’s like he doesn’t exist apart from her.”
“Yes. Exactly. Ashley has to be the center of attention. She was always jealous if I was happy, but when I got upset about something, that was an issue, too. If I was tired, she was flat-out exhausted. If I was sick, she was certain she had inoperable cancer. And God forbid my feelings be hurt about anything she said or did. Because that made her feel bad.”
“Oh, wow. You’re describing my mother to a T,” I say.
“Yep. It’s all straight out of the narcissist’s playbook.”
“Why are they like that?” I say.
“I don’t know. I’ve read all the books. I follow all those accounts on Instagram. And I still don’t fully get it. Their mentality is so sick.”
I tell her that I follow similar accounts—and sometimes they just randomly show up in my algorithm.
“Do you follow Lee Hammock?” Olivia asks.
“Yes! Mental Healness! He’s a hoot,” I say.
“Yeah, he cracks me up,” she says, then does a perfect imitation of him.
I laugh as she continues, saying, “But no matter how much you study their behavior and analyze the patterns and employ the ‘gray rock method,’ you just have to accept that they’re never going to change. They simply can’t.”
“I know.” I sigh.
“Which is why boundaries are so important.”
“Yes,” I say, suddenly feeling a bit blown away that we are having such a deep conversation right out of the gate.
“So,” Olivia says, her tone brightening. “Please tell me Lainey isn’t self-absorbed, too?”
“Oh my goodness, not at all! She has a huge heart.” I hesitate, then say, “It’s probably a little TMI, but my fiancé cheated on me, and Lainey was the first person I called. She came running to be with me, booking a last-minute flight to Atlanta.”
“God. That sounds traumatic,” Olivia says. “I’m really sorry.”
“Thank you. It was traumatic,” I say, taking a deep breath. “Thank God I have Lainey. She’s such a special person and dear friend. I couldn’t have gotten through the past week without her. Truly.”
“Oh, wow. This just happened?”
“Yes,” I say. “It’s part of the reason why we’re here. Lainey and I and another college friend. We realized that it wasn’t just me who needed to get away. Lainey had family stuff to confront—and our friend Tyson is also at a crossroads in his career and relationship. So the three of us decided to take some time to travel together.”
“That’s amazing,” Olivia says. “You’re lucky to have such strong friendships.”
“Yeah,” I say. “Hopefully the rest of our trip goes a bit smoother.”
For the next few seconds, we sit in a silence that should be awkward but feels strangely comfortable.
“So. How far is Dripping Springs from Dallas?” I finally ask her.
She laughs and says, “You really did your homework, didn’t you?”
“We did a little stalking, yes,” I say, feeling sheepish. “Sorry about that.”
“That’s okay,” she says. “I get it, under the circumstances.”
“Gosh. I wish we had gone to see you first,” I say.
“Yeah. I wish you had, too,” she says. “But if it makes you feel better, I’m actually out of the country right now. So I’m glad you didn’t drive all that way.”
“Are you in a tennis tournament?” I ask.
She laughs and says, “Excellent research. But no. I’m training with a new coach for a few months in Italy.”
“You’re in Italy?” I bolt up off the bench, then begin to pace excitedly around the courtyard.
“Yeah.”
“You’ll never guess where Tyson, Lainey, and I are going from here.”
“No fucking way,” she says, reminding me of Lainey with her casual F-bomb.
“Yes way!” I say, grinning into the phone. “We’re going to Capri. Where are you?”
“Northern Italy. In a little town called Bordighera. It’s on the coast near the French border.”
“Is that close to Capri?”
“Not that close. But nothing is that far apart in Italy, either. Maybe we could meet up?”
The wheels in my head start turning, but I catch myself and slow down. “I wish we could. But today was really bad. I don’t think Lainey would go for that. Not at this point, anyway.”
