Chapter 31

ATLANTA In the morning, Jennifer looked, in her closet, for something to wear for tomorrow's 4th of July picnic. 

She’d definitely wear red or blue. Patriotism was important to Phillip...and her as well. That being said, she had only one truly patriotic outfit, and she had worn it to last year's picnic.

She probably should have gone out to buy something new.

Of course she could just wear the same outfit again. The rule that you had to wear something new each year wasn’t gospel. It might be a good image thing for the employees. Look how the CEO's wife isn't wasteful. She didn’t buy a dress for an occasion to wear only once.

Jennifer took off her pajamas and put on the dress. It was blue and white striped with a red ribbon belt and red accents. She looked for a stain, because if there was one, she couldn’t wear it.

There was no stain. It still fit. 

It didn’t make her look awful, but it wasn’t the most flattering. It showed off her arms which were flabby and hid her legs which were somewhat in shape.

Compared to Taylor's legs, though, they look like an elephant's.

She didn’t like the dress. She was tempted to go out and buy something new.

Should she?

Yes, maybe she should.

What was the point of being a CEO's wife if you ended up wearing the same ugly dress twice to the same party?

 *** 

 Jennifer ate lunch at home before leaving—a low calorie frozen meal.

It was probably asking too much to lose weight before today's shopping trip and tomorrow's picnic but at the least, she would at least like to not gain weight.

As she ate, she texted Trisha to tell her she was going shopping to buy a new dress.

Good! You should treat yourself more often! Though I saw you in your other dress. You looked fantastic in that.

Jennifer loves having Trisha around.  She texted back. Thank you!  

I'll come with you and help you find something if you want.

Sure! That would be great!

Taylor came into the kitchen and gave Jennifer a small wave.

Jennifer put her phone away.

Taylor looked tired.

"Have you been exercising?" Jennifer asked

"No, I just woke up actually." Taylor yawned.

That was unusual. Taylor usually woke up very early, so she could start her treadmill work.

"Are you feeling okay?" Jennifer asked.

"Yeah."

From a feeling of obligation, Jennifer said. "I'm going shopping after this. Do you want to come with me?"

Taylor sat down and stretched. She yawned again. "No, thank you. I think I'm going to just hang out here today. Is that okay?"

Jennifer was relieved. It wasn’t that she didn't love her daughter. It was just that she had already made plans with Trisha, and if Taylor came along, she wouldn’t be able to talk to Trisha. 

She considered telling Taylor about Trisha. But, then, she still didn’t want Phillip to know, and she didn’t know if she could depend on Taylor to keep the secret.

"You're going to the picnic tomorrow, right?" Jennifer asked Taylor.

"Do I have to?" Taylor asked with a wry smile. She knew the answer.

"It's important to your father," Jennifer said.. "And he does a lot for you."

I know." Taylor said. "I'll be there." She got up and grabbed a bowl. She put some bran cereal in it; then added a handful of fresh blueberries. She sat back down and started eating.

Jennifer went back to eating her diet meal. Neither of them spoke, and the silence made Jennifer uncomfortable.

Then she realized something. "Hey, you didn't use your food scale!" Jennifer thought she was doing good parenting by being observant, but she seemed to have made Taylor uncomfortable.

Her daughter gave a small shoulder shrug.

"Did you forget?" Jennifer asked.

"No," Taylor said. "It's just I started thinking maybe I'm being a bit messed up about eating and all that. Kind of obsessive? I'm trying to manage without it."

"Do you think you'll be able to keep up with your diet without it?"

"I don't really need to lose more weight," Taylor said. 

Jennifer looked her daughter up and down. Yeah. She definitely didn’t need to lose any more weight. She was fine."Yeah. I think you're perfect the way you are. I was just wondering if you plan to try to maintain that weight."

"I'm actually four pounds underweight," Taylor said.

"According to who?" Jennifer asked.

"The BMI chart."

"People get too rigid about those things. "You can't take the chart as gospel. It's not always right." 

Taylor nodded. She didn’t look too happy.

"I think you're beautiful the way you are," Jennifer smiled at her daughter. "You should trust your mother's opinion more than a chart."

Jennifer meant it as a sort of joke, but Taylor didn’t laugh. Instead her eyes filled with tears.

Jennifer didn’t get it. She was trying to be nice. She gave her daughter a compliment. Who didn’t like compliments?

The tears spilled from Taylor's eyes. She wiped them away.

"What's wrong?" Jennifer tried to keep her voice sweet and motherly. "Are you all right?"

Taylor didn’t answer. She kept crying.

Jennifer understood that it was hard to talk and cry at the same time. "I'll wait until you calm down; then you can tell me."

Taylor nodded.

Jennifer waited. And waited.

Taylor sniffled.

"Are you ready now?" Jennifer asked her.

"I just wonder—

"You wonder?"

 "Would you hate me if I…"

“Mothers don't hate their children," Jennifer said.

Taylor nodded.

"Why would I hate you?"

"If I stop being thin."

Jennifer laughed, but she was annoyed. What kind of question was that? What kind of person did Taylor think she was? 

"Let's not be melodramatic," she said. "Of course we'd love you. We'd love you no matter what. We'd love you if you were one of those fat people who can't get off the couch. Look at your father. You know a lot of parents wouldn't be accepting of their children being gay. Not only does he accept Arthur, but he's the President of Parents for Gay Marriage. There's nothing you or your siblings could do that would make us stop loving the three of you."

She looked at Taylor. Did she hear all that? Was she listening? Jennifer hoped so. 

"Okay," Taylor said quietly, still crying a bit. "

And I wouldn't worry about gaining the weight back. Your father and I are so proud of you. You have so much willpower and dedication. As long as you keep up with the good habits, you won't gain the weight back."

"But what if I do?" Now Taylor was whining, which was very irritating to Jennifer.

"I'll take you shopping for new clothes again,” she said, managing to keep her cool.  “Or do you still have some of your old stuff? Did you give all of it away?"

"Just some of it."

 "Well, if you gain weight, I'll take you shopping–even if I have to take you to Lane Bryant."

She chuckled at her own joke. Taylor didn’t even crack a smile. That girl really lacked in the sense of humor department.

But that was the thing about being a mother. You had to tolerate your child's faults.

 *** 

Jennifer enjoyed  shopping with Trisha, and she noticed she wasn’t the only one with a not-living companion. She saw a lot of people holding up their cell phones, talking to the person on the screen.

Then again...some of them might be talking to living people.  It was hard to tell.

Trisha left the dressing room while Jennifer got undressed. She didn’t have to ask Trisha to do this. Trisha just offered. She was polite that way.

Whenever Jennifer had an outfit on, Trisha came in and gave her opinion via text. It was great, because the girl knew her fashion. Jennifer also liked how she was positive and sweet, but at the same time, she'd tell Jennifer if something wasn’t overly flattering.

After trying on twelve outfits, they decided on a red dress that was perfect for Jennifer. It came down right above her knees, so it wasn’t terribly short, but she could still show off a little leg.

Jennifer felt somewhat weary about the dress being sleeveless, but Trisha insisted Jennifer's arms weren’t flabby.

The dress didn’t have any blue or white, but Jennifer figured she could add those colors with accessories.

***

Jennifer was in a great mood as she got dressed back into her original clothes. She started to sing, right there in the dressing room.

That song from Xanadu.

Though she didn’t know the words well. She had to somewhat make them up.

When she got out of the dressing room, a mother, with her daughter, stopped her. "Hey was that you singing in there?"

"Yes," Jennifer said, a bit embarrassed. She didn’t usually sing in public.

"You have a fantastic voice," the woman gushed. "Really! You should be on The Voice! They would love you."

Jennifer felt herself blushing. She wanted to throw her arms around this person. It was only the second time anyone had ever complimented her singing. And such a huge compliment!

"I'm sure you hear that a lot," the woman said.

 "Not really," Jennifer said honestly.

"You're really good," the daughter said. A third person who liked her singing!

Jennifer was now on top of the world. As she paid for her purchase, she imagined being on The Voice. She imagined all four judges turning around for her.

 Or maybe just three. 

They'd fight for her.

Who would she choose?

Definitely Blake or Adam.

Probably Adam.

Phillip loved Christina, though. He'd be really impressed if Jennifer landed Christina as a judge. 

Jennifer wondered how Phillip would react if she was on The Voice. Would he be proud of her?

Jennifer remembered how they now have not-living coaches. Rumor had it Michael Jackson might be on future seasons. That might be cool. Maybe one day they'd have Judy Garland. That would be incredible.

She got lost in her fantasy and the sales associate had to pull her back to reality to remind her to take her purchase.

 *** 

The next day, Jennifer wore her new dress with blue earrings and a blue bracelet. She and Phillip waited for Taylor in the kitchen.

He looked at his watch. "I hope she's not late," he said.

Jennifer hoped not too.

Taylor put their fears to rest by appearing. Like always (lately), she looked fantastic. Like a model. 

Jennifer couldn’t help but be jealous. Taylor looked like a Hollywood actress.

"You look beautiful," Phillip said. Then he looked at Jennifer. "Both of you do. I'm blessed to have two–no three! Three beautiful women in my life."

Jennifer smiled. She loved when Phillip was sweet like this.

And look! Taylor was smiling too.

 It was a wonderful day.

Happy Birthday, America!

 ***

 In the car, Jennifer felt the singing bug. She started to sing "On My Own" from Les Miserables.

Phillip turned on the radio as soon as she got to the second line. "We should find some patriotic music," he said.

Jennifer wasn’t a big fan of him playing with the music while driving, but she didn’t say anything. He searched and then gave up. He left it on a classic rock station. 

When a commercial came on, Jennifer sang over it. She sang the star-spangled banner but didn’t know much of the words. So after singing the beginning, she skipped to the end. She did good hitting the high notes and was proud of herself.

Taylor and Phillip said nothing about it.

 ***

Jennifer chatted with a few other wives and some of the female employees of Joker Jenson’s. She was somewhat bored by the conversations, though.

She looked around to find Zoe. It had been awhile since she had a decent conversation with her.

Zoe sat alone at a picnic bench. She was texting someone and looked happy. Jennifer wondered who she was talking to.

A lot of people, she realized, were texting people or using video chat. There might be as many not-living people here as living.

Jennifer loved it all.

Should she talk to Trisha?

She looked around.

Phillip was busy. Of course! He was the King of the picnic.

And if he saw her texting, by chance, she could say it was someone else. She wouldn’t have to tell him about Trisha.

She took out her phone. There was a text already there—a compliment from Trisha regarding her anthem singing.

Jennifer smiled, beaming. She texted back a thank you.

They chatted a bit more; then Phillip announced it was time to eat.

Jennifer grabbed herself a plate of ribs, baked beans, co-slaw and fruit salad. 

Zoe popped up behind her. "Can I cut in?" she asked.

Jennifer looked around to see if anyone minded.

No one had a look of fury. People at these picnics were usually fine with family members saving each other places.

"Is Mickey here?" Jennifer asked.

 "I assume so," Zoe said as she put some fruit on her plate.

"It's really over between you too?"

 "Yes," Zoe said.

 "I'm sorry," Jennifer said..

"It's fine," Zoe said. She didn’t seem too bothered.

 When they finished getting their food, Zoe said, "Should we find Taylor?"

They searched for a few minutes and found Taylor sitting alone. They walked over and joined her.

Jennifer looked at Taylor's plate. She had one strawberry, two cantaloupe chunks, and one thin watermelon slice.

"Taylor!" Zoe said. "That's not all you're eating."

"I'm not very hungry," Taylor said.

"You need to eat more than that," Zoe said.

"Do you think you're coming down with something?" Jennifer asked. She hoped it wasn’t one of those awful stomach bugs.

"I'm fine." Taylor said. "Just not hungry."

"If you don't start eating more," Zoe said. "Next year you might be one of the guests who appears via cell phone only."

 "I'll eat more later," Taylor said.

 "You better," Zoe said. It seemed she was about to say more, but then Phillip interrupted. He was about to make his annual 4th of July speech.

The employees and their families cheered. 

Well, most of them did. Other people just quietly watched and ate.

Some rude ones continued to talk among themselves. Jennifer didn’t like them. They were very disrespectful.

Phillip began by saying happy birthday to America. He then talked about the company. Things were going well. The shareholders should be happy. Though America was the best country in the world, the economy was global and Joker Jenson’s was going to be expanding internationally. They already had a place in the UK, Australia, and Singapore. They planned to expand to Japan and the United Arab Emigrants.

He kept talking.

Jennifer kept listening, and eating.

Phillip named all the charity work they'd been doing—sick children, sick adults, the ballet, school scholarships. The list went on and on.

As for gay marriage he said. "I know we all have different opinions on the subject. I respect each one of you no matter what you believe. But I also know many of you here have children, friends, aunts, uncles, parents, friends–you have people, and you see that they love each other. Yet they're not free to fully express that love. As the President of Parents for Gay Children, I stand here in front of you with a vow that we will keep working to bring freedom to everyone. And at the same time, we will respect and love those who feel differently. Though we might have differences in opinion, we stand hand in hand…together at Joker Jenson’s!"

Jennifer was so proud of him, and she choked up as the employees rose to give him a standing ovation.

A few families stayed seated.

 They weren’t ready for times to change.

Or maybe they were  just too stuffed with ribs and baked beans and didn’t feel like standing.  Because they did clap. And they didn’t look angry or offended.

"Before you get up and grab dessert," Phillip said after  the standing people sat back down. "There's one more thing. And it's the most important thing. It might be one of the most important things you hear this year. Hell, it might be the most important thing you hear your whole life."

He paused and looked around. "I notice a lot of you are talking to your dearly departed." He gave a little chuckle. "We all have different names for them, don't we?"

The audience chuckled back. Many of them hold up their cell phones with their not-living friends and family on the screens.

"Hi out there!" Phillip called out to all the not-living. "So we're a nice mix here of living, OS, and EB. It's absolutely wonderful that we can now talk to each other. The world has changed for the better, and we're never going back to the dark ages. I promise you that."

The audience cheered.  Jennifer cheered with them.

 "But I can promise you more."

 More?

"It's nice talking to our friends and family on FaceTime and Skype. It's nice having them comment on our Twitter and Facebook updates. But doesn’t it get old having our relationships constrained by the boundaries of the Internet?"

Did it?

Yes, probably. Jennifer never thought of it like that before.

"What if the electricity goes out? What if our connection goes down?"

The picnic crowd murmured among themselves.

"It would be so much better if we could see each other without the internet. We've already broken down one huge wall. Well, I'm working with a team that's going to break down yet another wall." 

There was a lot of cheering.

But not everyone cheered. Some people looked confused; a little scared. 

Some people looked highly skeptical.

 Jennifer was excited and supportive of her husband's big plans.

For the most part.

She was a little disappointed that she didn't get to hear about it earlier. Why did she have to find out with everyone else? She was his wife, after all.

He continued. "Imagine being at this picnic. Your dearly departed friends beside you."

Jennifer wondered what that meant. Would they have bodies?  Could you touch them? Hug them? Or would they be more like hologram type things?

"I know it's hard to believe," Phillip said. "But did any of you believe what we have now would ever happen? Remember, at one point, airplanes seemed like science fiction." He waited for a moment; then added. When I was a child, if someone had told me about the Internet, I would have thought they were pulling my leg."

So true. Jennifer looked to Zoe and Taylor, wanting to see their reaction.

Taylor was eating a rib. Where did that come from? Taylor worked at it like she was some kind of animal. It was an ugly scene—not very lady-like.

Jennifer felt guilty for thinking that. She also worried she had looked equally awful when she was eating her ribs.

She hoped not. Or, at least, hopefully no one had watched her eat. 

"So what do you think about what your father said?" Jennifer asked her daughters.

"I love it," Zoe said, and she did seem very happy about it. Taylor didn’t seem to care. All she she seemed to care about was that awful piece of meat she was stuffing down her face.

Continue to Chapter Thirty-Two

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