Rosemary’s Diary, April 7, 2016

Rosemary’s Diary

April 7, 2016

Mom and Dad are making me take ballroom dance lessons.  When I called Paul at university and told him, he said, “I’m so glad I am not there.  I would have to take lessons too and I would be your dance partner instead of dad.”  Why am I there?  Yes, mom had another conversation with Elly Patterson.  She hates it when Elly Patterson looks down on her, which has been kind of all her life.  Mom and dad didn’t go to university like Elly did.  With just a high school education Mom and dad wouldn’t have their business if it weren’t for her husband giving them money to start and she never forgets to remind her.  I hate it when she talks about how the only reason mom and dad are together is because her son got a zit on his face and told dad he had to take mom to the dance instead of him. 

So, Elly was all “Nowadays, people just gyrate around to something like wailing and thumping. Whatever happened to the art of ballroom dancing?  What kind of dancing does Rosemary do at her school?  I bet it’s just gyrating like all the kids these days.”  So, mom went all “Dancing with the Stars” on us.  Ballroom dance lessons.  6 weeks of it. 

Dad is not about ballroom dancing.  If he had a choice, he would spend all day working in the car repair part of one of his dealerships.  Actually, he does that sometimes because he really loves cars and when you’re the boss, you can do whatever you want.  I love working on cars with my dad.  I know he kind of wanted Paul to love cars like he did, but that’s not the way it goes.   Mom wants me to go to university like Paul, but I have my husband picked out and I plan to go to the Milborough Auto Mechanic School.  Life is set for me, except for having to learn to ballroom dance.

So, this funny thing happens at the ballroom dance class.  The instructor is this woman named Allyson Creemore.  Mom and Dad were both completely surprised.  Dad said that he had a big time crush on her in high school and that mom hated her for being a mean girl.   That was over 20 years ago, but you know Milborough.  It’s like high school never goes away.

So, this Allyson Creemore is like super skinny with a giant chest (she’s had major work done), and she’s been divorced twice.  Mom told me she married some guy right out of high school, divorced him, and then she married some guy she dated in high school, Peter Kent, from the Milborough TV news, you know, and that didn’t last either.   In Milborough, that means she’s a major slut.  She’s sees dad and she’s like “Well, Gordon Mayes.  Why didn’t we ever go on that date back in Grade 11?”  And then when she’s doing the dance instruction, she’s like “I need a partner to show how this step should go.  Gordon?  Why do you come up here and help me.”  She’s like all over dad and it’s making me really mad.  I ask mom why she doesn’t do anything to help dad out, and she’s like “Your father has to defend himself.  I can’t be there every time some gold digger comes after him.”

So, the first time we get to practice the dancing step I go over and it’s like I have to peel this Allyson off of dad.  He looks so happy to see me.  Dad has to deal with this all time.   He’s the richest guy in Milborough and got to be weird that all the kids that treated him like crap in high school are all really nice to him now.  The girls try to seduce him and the boys all pretend like they are his best friend and they ask him for money.  Money makes people weird.  I’ve seen dad ditch the bitches before, but he’s kinda shaky with Allyson.  He’s like, “Thanks, Rosie.  If I survive this ballroom dancing lesson, I can survive anything!”

After the lesson is over, mom is really mad.  Dad’s smart and doesn’t say anything about the lesson.  He starts talking about how he got a call from Aunt Ardith, dad’s older sister.  And then he starts talking about how they have a dinner party with Gavin Caine and Roger Arsenault on Friday.  And then mom just says, “Are you still in love with her?”  Dad got really quiet and said, “Are you still in love with Martin Bean?” And I was like, “Who is Martin Bean?”  Dad said Martin Bean was a guy mom had a crush on in high school before me.  And then I got it.  In Milborough, you marry your first love.  I have my husband all set, but dad and mom were each other’s second love.  I was like, “Whoa!  You are second loves.  How did you guys ever end up married?”

Then mom and dad told me that they got married because they were best friends and they fell in love.  No Michael Patterson zit.  Nothing the Pattersons did at all.  Not because of being childhood sweethearts.  Dad said the whole childhood sweetheart thing was stupid.  Mom said that sometimes when she thinks of dad, it was like she didn’t exist until it was time for dad to find a wife.

 

It made me think.  I am already sort of engaged, but do I want to marry a guy just because we kinda liked each other back when we were 6?  Maybe I should be like mom and dad and marry a guy that I fall in love with. 

 

Nyah!  What am I thinking?  That’s just crazy. 

Rosemary