I never forgot anything; I was sure it was in my calendar and that I would have noticed the notation and freaked out the day before. Maybe it was best not to think about seeing Mom until it was right upon me—that way, I wouldn’t have to stress myself out dreading the get-together.

Clicking open my iCal, I saw it was in there. I wrote myself a yellow Post-it note to call for a ressie.

“Got it covered, Mom. . . . Can’t wait to see you. Bye.”

“Oh, wait, I wanted to tell you that I’ve found the perfect new haircut for you.”

“I like my hair, Mom.”

“Have you seen Misty Decker’s hairdo? She does the weather here on Channel Three?”

“We don’t get Channel Three here in LA. That’s your channel in Phoenix. We have different channels here.”

“Well, it would really look fantastic if you would just give it a shot.

You know how dry and coarse your hair looks all the time. This would

really help you. That Misty is just so cute.”

“Okay, Mom, thanks.”

“All right then, love you, proud of you.”

“Thanks, Mom, me too.”

After putting the laundry in the washer, I ignored the pile of research materials on my desk. Focusing on the fridge, I start cleaning out the moldy veggies. I didn’t know why I bothered buying the healthy stuff. Dave called while I was dumping the chunky soy milk.

“Hey, baby,” I answered. “How was the game?”

“We sucked ass, but it’s cool. I got in a great workout.”

“So what’s going on for later?” I asked, thinking about the eight days.

“Yeah, that’s why I wanted to call right when I got home. You know, I’ve got so much to do with the show this week—I really need to stay in and do my homework for the shoot on Monday.”

“Really?” I was stunned. It was Saturday. It seemed like having the afternoon today and all tomorrow before going to work on Monday would have been enough time for Dave to prep. But I didn’t want to seem needy. “I wanted to hang out,” I said. “You know I’ve been missing you so much what with my being away all last week. Are you sure you can’t get together?” I tried to have my voice radiate a sexual invite.

“Yeah . . . I just can’t. You know what it’s like when it’s busy at work,” Dave said.

“Sure, no problem. I actually might have plans with some friends.” I put that out there to see how it would hang in the air. I didn’t say who my plans were with.

“Where are you going?” Now he seemed a bit more alert.