Page 18 of It's Not PMS, It's You

“How are we going to do that?”

“How about joining me for a cup of tea tomorrow?”

Judy seemed to perk up at the idea. “Tea? The two of us?”

“Yeah, why not? We lonely people need to stick together and figure out a way tounlonelyourselves.” I pulled a business card from my purse and handed it to her. “Give me a call or send me a text and we’ll get together tomorrow afternoon for tea.”

Judy stared at my business card. “Really?”

“Yes. And I won’t take no for an answer. And one more thing.” I walked over to the baggage carousel, pulled her suitcase off the conveyor belt, and lugged it over to her. “Here. Now, go home. It’s time for both of us to get a life.”

Chapter Five

RUTH

After Judy left, I stood by myself in the baggage claim area, looking around. All the passengers from my flight had gotten their bags and had left the airport. The only bag on the conveyor belt was mine, going around again.

“This is pathetic.” I grabbed my carryon bag as it came around the carousel this time and followed the signs to ground transportation.

My Uber app said the nearest driver was seven minutes away, which normally wasn’t bad, but suddenly I was in a hurry and didn’t want to wait that long. Luckily, there wasn’t a line for taxis.

I stepped up and grabbed the first one.

I gave the taxi driver the address of my parents’ home, surprising myself, but surprising my mom even more after I walked in the front door.

It was the first time in over a decade that I had showed up to my parents’ house unannounced.

“Sweetheart!” My mom moved toward me, then stopped, analyzing my eyes. “Something’s wrong. What’s wrong?”

Always a mom.

I hadn’t seen her since last Christmas, I think, but she could still read me like a book.

“Nothing’s wrong,” I lied, hugging her and immediately beginning to sob.

“What’s going on?” my dad said, coming into the entryway. “My baby is home! What a surprise. And what’s all this crying for?”

My dad moved closer and wrapped his arms around me and my mom.

I missed this.

I missed them.

I finally pulled away from them and wiped my eyes. “I’m sorry.”

My mom leaned to the side to get a better look at my face, then tucked some of my hair behind my ear. “Sorry for what, honey?”

“For not visiting more often.”

My dad shook his head. “Don’t be silly. We know you’ve been busy trying to become the ruler of the universe. And it looks like you are kicking some serious butt! I read about that last deal of yours in the business section. Half a billion dollars!”

“We’re proud of you, honey.” My mom rubbed my back. “And of course, we understand.” She pointed to my wrist. “What happened?”

I shook my head. “It’s just a mild strain from the gym.”

I couldn’t believe the bike incident at the gym was only this morning.

This felt like the longest day of my life.