The Mimosa Tree by Antonella Preto Read Free Book Online Page A

you!’
    â€˜I’m just being realistic. We aren’t each other’s kind of people.’
    â€˜What does that mean? I hang out with all kinds of people.’
    â€˜Yeah, and I am sure you’d rather be with them now so just go, okay? I’m all right, really I am. I absolve you! You don’t have to sit here with me anymore. Really.’
    Felicia’s eyes open wide and for a moment she just stares at me. She should be angry or upset, but the expression on her face is more curious, like she’s trying to figure me out. Good luck. I pick up my Coke, slurp at the remains as I wait for her to make the next move. I’ve said what I have to say. It’s up to her now how long we drag this out. After a moment she leans forward onto the table and looks at me in earnest.
    â€˜Look,’ she says. ‘Maybe we just got off on the wrong foot. Will you hear me out for a minute?’
    I shrug.
    â€˜Via talked to me about you, but not like you think. Most of the time she said, well ... she didn’t say a lot of nice things, put it that way.’
    â€˜Now that I believe.’
    â€˜But everything she said about you, all the stuff she thought was really frustrating, or difficult, well, to me it kind of made sense. I guess what I’m saying is, I think I understand you.’
    â€˜Oh God,’ I say, rubbing my eyes and trying to take this all in.
    â€˜Sorry, that probably sounds a bit weird,’ she says with a laugh. ‘Via wanted me to think you were some terrible person, but I got a different picture of you.’
    â€˜Oh yeah? And what’s that?’
    â€˜Just that you were someone who didn’t really fit in.’ She leans in conspiratorially. ‘You’re someone who doesn’t fit in because you don’t want to fit in. I have lots of friends, Mira, and they are all really good at doing what they are told. But you are someone who wants to find your own way, not just follow and I respect that. Actually, I really like it.’ She is looking me straight in the eye, and there isn’t a single trace of the giddy girly that’s been annoying me all day. Her gaze is sure and solid.
    â€˜Wow,’ I say, returning her stare easily. ‘Via really fucked up.’
    â€˜Not completely. She was spot-on about you being sad and mean.’
    I lean back in my seat. I should be offended but instead I am trying to keep the corners of my mouth from smirking. I’m starting to think this Princess may be gutsier than I first gave her credit for.
    â€˜So what makes you so sure there’s something about me worth knowing? Sounds like you’re giving me a whole new set of expectations to live up to. I hate to disappoint you by turning out to be just normal and boring like everyone else.’
    â€˜God, you really are full of yourself aren’t you? I only just met you this morning remember? You’re not that important to me.’
    Far out! Where did this morning’s do-gooder airhead go? I don’t even mind that she is insulting me. Maybe I’m weird, but this kind of nasty banter puts me more at ease than her sycophantic sweet-girl act.
    â€˜Can I ask you something?’ I say leaning back in my chair and folding my arms.
    â€˜Sure,’ she says all blinky-eyed and lip-glossed.
    â€˜What’s your opinion of Ronald Reagan?’
    â€˜Well,’ she says leaning over and picking up her handbag. ‘I would say that Ronald Reagan is a good actor. ’
    â€˜Right,’ I say as a smile creeps across my face. ‘Doesn’t sound like you have a high opinion of him.’
    She scoffs like I’ve said something obvious and her brow furrows. She’s like an angry Barbie doll. ‘That fool is hell-bent on steering us towards a war. His insistence on keeping the Strategic Defense Initiative open killed the disarmament talks. It’s a good thing for us that Gorbachev is still calling for a treaty or we