Free Got the Life (A Nicki Sosebee Novel) by Jade C. Jamison

Sean’s arms wrapped around Kayla’s waist as Kayla’s arms wound around his neck.  Nicki saw Kayla’s white thong string above her jeans, accenting her tramp stamp.  God, Kayla was such a stereotype.  Nicki couldn’t figure out what Sean saw in the girl.  But she was nice enough , more than she could say about some of the women Sean had dated in the past .  Kayla turned around, long enough that Nicki had wiped the disgusted look off her face.  “Hi, Nicki.”
    “Hey, Kayla.  How’ve you been?”  Did you taste my lips on your boyfriend?   Oh, that was cruel, even for Nicki.  Thank goodness she didn’t say it out loud.   Nicki made sure to leave just as Sean was biting into the sandwich.  There was no way they could resume their conversation now .  It would just have to wait.

 
    Chapter Eleven
     
    NICKI WAS SCRATCHING her head, trying to wake up to the phone ringing.  It was Friday, one of two days she tried to sleep late on purpose , because she had to work until midnight or later on Friday nights .  But leave it to mom to not pay attention to the time of day or day of the week when calling her daughter or even remember that Nicki worked nights .   When she saw her mom’s number on her cell phone, she thought some of ignoring it.  But then she’d get the two-minute message followed by “Call me.”  It was better to just deal with it now.
    Nicki’s voice sounded like S elma and Patty, Marge Simpson’s sisters, until she cleared her throat .  “Hi, mom.”
    “Hi, honey.”  There was a pause.  “Are you not feeling well?”
    Nicki shook her head, a gesture her mother couldn’t appreciate.  “No, mom, I just woke up.”
    “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Nicki.”
    “ Mother, I didn’t get home from work until after eleven.  And then I was up till after midnight because I was so wound up from closing the restaurant .”  She pinched the bridge of her nose between her eyes.  “What time is it anyway?”
    “Nine.”
    Christ.   She couldn’t exactly chew her mom’s ass , no matter how tempting .  “So, anyway, mom, what’s up?”  Might as well get her to the point.  Maybe Nicki could grab another hour (or five) of sleep if mom could wind it down quickly.
    “Well, Will is coming home tomorrow, and we’re having dinner Sunday afternoon.  Can you make it?”
    Will was Nicki’s younger brother.  He was more intelligent, more driven, and more on the ball than Nicki had ever dreamed of being.  And she loved him dearly.  “Of course.  What time?”
    “Two sound okay?  I’ll probably make pot roast, mashed potatoes, green beans, and maybe lemon bars for dessert.”
    “No problem, mom.  You had me at Will.”  She missed him more than she’d ever thought she would have , but that’s because Will had been going to school forever .  He went off to college right before he turned nineteen .  Since then, he’d graduated from two schools, one with a bachelor’s degree, the other with a master’s.  He was still at the school he’d earned his master’s degree from , now working on his doctorate.  He was majoring in economics.  He had just started working on the PhD last fall, but Nicki thought—even once he could graduate— Will would never live close by Winchester again.  With all those smarts (and student loans to pay back), he’d certainly find a killer job teaching at some Ivy League university.  So anytime he was back home, she wanted to spend some quality time with him.
    Nicki felt herself dangerously close to waking up entirely.  “Do I need to bring anything?”
    “Just yourself, dear.”
    “Okay, mom.  Thanks.”
    “By the way, dad and I are proud of you.”
    Here we go.  The comparisons of the disappointing child with the dream kid.  What the hell did mom plan to say?  Nicki tried to stifle her irritation.  “For what?”
    “For your newspaper article, of course.  Great job, honey.”
    God, what a shit she was, ready to pounce on her mother