Me vs. Me by Sarah Mlynowski Read Free Book Online Page A

stomach starts to growl as the scent of onion and bacon wafts under the sheets. Yum. I doubt Heather is making me anything this good in my real life.
    â€œSince you won’t come out for the chow, the chow is coming to you,” Cam says, placing a tray on my lap. Breakfast in bed. How sweet is that? “Eat, future wife,” he says. “You need your strength.”
    I slither out from the sheets, lean up against the headboard and dig in. A girl’s gotta eat, even if she is asleep. “And why is that?” I ask, digging into my omelet.
    â€œBecause as soon as you finish, you have to call your parents. It’s not right.”
    Yes! The man’s a genius! I’ll speak to my mom. She’ll remember our conversation yesterday. She’ll have to. Mothers know these things, right? They can sense if their children are losing their minds. I reach for the phone as I stuff another forkful of egg into my mouth. “I’m going to call her right now.”
    He winks, hands me a napkin and sits down on the edge of the bed beside me. “There’s a good girl.”
    I dial her room at her hotel, but she doesn’t answer. So I call her cell. “Mom? It’s me.”
    â€œOh, so nice of you to call,” she snaps. Do I detect a hard line of sarcasm in her voice? “Anything you’d care to tell me?”
    â€œWhat are you talking about?” I take another bite of egg. A drop of ketchup smears onto the bedspread. Cam rolls his eyes and points to the napkin.
    â€œAlice called me this morning.”
    I smack Cam’s leg. “Oh, no.”
    â€œOh, yes. Why is it that I heard about my only daughter being engaged from someone other than my daughter? Huh?”
    â€œSorry, Mom. I didn’t have a chance to call you yesterday.” Was it yesterday? I hear a smash and then a clang. I think she just threw the phone. “Mom?” I wait for her to pick it back up.
    â€œI felt pretty stupid, Gabrielle. Pretty damn stupid. She called me to discuss the wedding, and I didn’t even know there was a wedding! In fact I told her she was mistaken, since you were moving to New York—”
    My heart races. “Exactly! Mom, I just spoke to you, remember? About the—” I lower my voice so maybe Cam won’t hear “—move?” I called her yesterday. And discussed it. She has to remember—she’s my mom. Moms have a sixth sense, don’t they?
    â€œYes, just last week you said—”
    Last week? No, it was yesterday! Or do I mean today? “What day is it?”
    â€œIt’s Sunday. And it’s been an awful day. First I was woken up at 4:00 a.m.—”
    My blood runs cold. “Because of a fire alarm.”
    Silence. “How did you know that?”
    â€œYou told me! Yesterday!”
    â€œHow could I have told you yesterday when it just happened?”
    â€œYou told me. Don’t joke. You don’t remember?”
    â€œHow could I have told you? You’re pulling my leg. Was it on the wire? There better not have been a reporter there. I was in my bathrobe. Do you need a quote?”
    â€œNo.” My head hurts. How is this possible? I spoke to my mother and she told me about the fire alarm. Yesterday. Or today. Am I living each day twice?
    â€œAnyway, Gabrielle, I’m upset with you. How you could get engaged is beyond me. How you could get engaged without telling me is despicable.”
    This is way weird. My mom told me about the fire alarm yesterday. Yesterday. “I’ll call you later,” I tell her and hang up. I look up at Cam.
    He’s looking at me strangely. “What was that all about?”
    â€œNothing,” I murmur. “You know my mother. Sometimes she makes no sense.”
    â€œDidn’t she want to talk to me? You know? Congratulations? Welcome to the family?”
    â€œI’ll be right back.” I hurry to the bathroom. I close the door firmly