more life / b.simmons (2)

46

checking her watch for the fourth time in the last ten minutes to see if time has magically sped up, amari sighs out of stress and frustration as the party decorators rearrange her old living room and move tables in and out of the house.

a banner hangs above the dining room table, that says happy first birthday, cameron, in gold script and caterers place food on the table below. everything but the cake, that has yet to be delivered.

its cameron's first birthday, and while everything may seem extravagant, it is not. it's a smaller party, just for family and friends, but it's not going as planned. nothing is on time and everything just isn't what amari wants. it is not a big party—because hes turning one years old—just family and friends. she still wants it to look nice.

and on top of everything, his birthday party is being held at the house ben and amari previously shared, before she got her new place. their large wedding photo still sits on top of the mantel, and amari has stared at it four different times, each with a different feeling—the latest one being that she wants to take it down.

the sound of footsteps walking down the stairs causes amari to tear her attention away from her wedding photo and look at kyra, who is dressed for the day, thankfully. "call your dad," amari says, barely looking at her before checking her watch and pacing around the living room as the decorators place flowers on the table.

kyra frowns at her mothers lack of acknowledgment and continues her way down the stairs. "hi, mom," she says dramatically, looking around at the transformed living room. it looks bigger because all of the furniture has been pushed along the edges of the room. all in all, though, it looks nice. it's very blue.

"hi, can you call your dad please?" amari asks, running a frustrated hand through her hair and dropping them at her sides. kyra rolls her eyes once amaris back is turned to her, and drops into an open chair.

"why?" she asks, leaning her chin against the chair.

amari whips around and stares at kyra, a pissed off expression on her face. "because i said so, thats why! when i ask you to do something, just do it, kyra," amari yells, throwing her hands up in the air. kyra holds her hands up in surrender, her eyes widening at her mothers sudden outburst.

"i was just wo- dont question me! call your father!" amari demands, clenching her jaw as she runs both hands through her hair. kyra pulls out her phone extra slowly, and instead of going on speed dial, she types in his number.

amari watches her daughter, getting more and more frustrated by the second. she's already yelled at her in front of all of the decorators, and she's not about to do it again, but she's close. kyra putting the phone up to her ear lets amari calm down only the smallest amount.

"hello?" ben says as he answers, the phone on speaker while he drives back towards his house.

"hey, mom wanted me to call you," kyra says, looking at amari who has her hands on her hips. ben tries not to sigh loudly as he tells kyra to hand her the phone, which she does with ease. he knows that amari has been calling him because he's purposefully ignoring her calls. they've already argued this morning, and he's not trying to get into it.

amari takes the phone from kyra and puts it up to her ear. "i know you see me calling you! where are you?" she asks, pacing around the living room. ben rolls his eyes and sighs loudly, not caring at this point because they were going to argue no matter what.

"i'm almost there, okay? i got the cake and the extra stuff you asked me to get. relax," ben says, glancing in his rear view to check on cameron, who just looks happy to be there. amari opens her mouth to say something, but decides against it and hangs up. the longer she stayed on the phone, the less time she had to get ready and she'd already been waiting for him for thirty minutes.