Chapter 14 - Brielle’s First Apology Was About My Status
Her first apology came:
six weeks
after the wedding.
“I didn’t know how big Morrow was.”
Wrong.
I said:
“That has nothing to do with why you owe me an apology.”
She became defensive.
“I’m trying.”
“Try again.”
Three months later:
“I shouldn’t have pushed you.”
Better.
Then:
“I was stressed.”
Worse again.
Almost a year passed.
We saw each other only at:
family events.
No private dinners.
No holidays hosted:
together.
Then she asked to meet.
Coffee.
Public.
She sat across from me.
No makeup.
Hair tied back.
Normal.
Not wedding Brielle.
She said:
“I’ve been thinking about the cart.”
I waited.
“I thought because you were my sister, I could treat you differently from a vendor.”
“Yes.”
“That’s not the worst part.”
I said nothing.
She continued.
“I also thought if you actually had been a caterer working for someone else, what I said would somehow be less embarrassing.”
There.
Finally.
“I wanted Martin’s respect after I realized he respected you.”
“Then I understood I wasn’t sorry because I had humiliated someone.”
“I was sorry because I humiliated someone important.”
Her eyes filled.
“I hate that.”
Good.
Not:
I hate myself.
That is useless.
“I hate that I believed it.”
I asked:
“Why did you?”
She looked toward the window.
Then:
“Mom.”
“Ethan.”
“School.”
“Me.”
Good answer.
Not one villain.
She continued.
“You were always the one working.”
“I was the pretty one.”
“That sounds awful.”
“It is.”
“But people rewarded it.”
“I started thinking work behind the room mattered less than people sitting in it.”
I thought about:
kitchens,
loading docks,
dish crews,
housekeepers,
servers.
Exactly.
Then Brielle said:
“I’m sorry I shoved you.”
“I’m sorry I kicked the cart.”
“I’m sorry I humiliated your staff.”
“And I’m sorry I thought your success was the reason I should regret it.”
That apology I accepted.
Not erased.
May you like
Accepted.
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