“Mother…I’m sure he is a great guy but I don’t really-“She pulled up the charcoal slacks and fastened them.  She honestly could remember the last time she hadn’t worn denim, and noted with some chagrin this day would probably be the last.

“Nonsense…there is absolutely no reason at all not to go out with Sheldon…he is a handsome boy-”

“Worth millions?” Tasha groaned and made a face in the mirror. Getting ready in the morning drew no more than half an hour from her schedule, from shower to clothes to breakfast to out the door.  Not only was this great sleep saver, it earned her no respect in the elegance category due to her lack of style. 

“That’s just a plus dear…he really is a very nice boy.” Tasha could hear the smile in her mother’s voice over the phone.

“You just want me to go on a date with him because you want to win the bet with daddy.”

“Whatever would give you-”

“Aunt Constance told me…because she lost last week when her neighbor’s son and I had had a blind date that didn’t end so well.” She cringed as she remembered Brad, a tall blond boulder of a man with no neck and too much shoulder.  The memory of him asking her if she planned to allow him to slide through third base and steal home sent an ill-placed shudder gliding up her spine.

“That little twit…I knew she was up to something.” There was a clinking of glass as her mother took a sip of something.  The image of her in a restaurant, chatting idly with either her father or her gaggle of society friends was easily conjured.

“And you’re not?” She pulled the cable-nit sweater over her head and cursed when it snagged on her earring.

“Watch you’re language, Tasha!”

“I’m sorry mo-“

“Oh never mind…you never listen to me anyway…even though…I am you…mother…” The last word came out thickly and the act began.

“Mo-“

“No…don’t listen to me…all I ever wanted was for you to be happy, and you had to go and not listen to me…you always were a stubborn child.” She took on the tone of a martyr so easily you’d think she was a saint, “but I’ll have to get used to you not listening…you are in college now, with a wonderful job.”

Tasha glanced at her violin case that was lying open on her bed, sheets of music everywhere. “Yes I do…you actually caught me in the middle of practici-“

“Yes dear…I only called to ask about Sheldon…will you at least consider him?”

Tasha sighed, “Fine…I’ll think about it…happy?”

“It doesn’t matter if I’m happy dear; it’s if you’re happy.” Her mother sounded extremely pleased with herself. Tinny in the background, a muffled conversation could be heard, heralding distraction.

“We all know that mother…I must go now, I have a rehearsal in an hour.”

Already in another conversation, Allie Alexander’s reply was far away. “Yes I’ll let you go…have a nice day sweetie.”

“Good bye.” She had just enough will power to suppress her furious scream until after her mother hung up.  With that she hurled the phone across the room where it collided with the couch before skidding to a halt beneath it.

“I’m freaking 22 years old, there is no reason that mother must ALWAYS intrude on my life. I can take care of myself.”

She removed two socks from her drawer, one white, one gray and pulled them on. She hopped to the bathroom, stuffing her foot into one sneaker and attempting to drag a comb through her mane of brown tangles with the other hand. She had just managed to slip into her other shoe when the phone rang again. She stomped to the living room, threw herself beneath the couch in one smooth motion and snatched the phone from where it lay.

“What?” She asked before she could catch herself.

“Ooooh, someone’s in a mood.” Lindsey’s voice slid from the receiver in a bout of cackles.

“Yeah, mother dearest just called.” She finished combing her hair and began to search for a hair tie.

“Oh…sounds like fun…who this time?” Lindsey was a violist in the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Tasha a violinist. She had been her best friend for as long as she could remember which considering their difference in social circles and their family’s net worth might be surprising.

“Sheldon Veni—Vend,” she rooted around in her bathroom drawers, setting aside q-tips and a box of tampons.

“SHELDON VERIDIN?” Lindsey screeched over the phone, making Tasha nearly drop it onto the tiled floor. “The millionaire guy?”

“Don’t do that! And yeah…’the millionaire guy’…well… the heir-to-the-millionaire-guy.” She headed to her bedroom and glanced over her vanity.

“You are kidding me! You mother set you up with the richest, smartest-“

“Biggest jerk on the face of the earth. Not to mention the most egotistical jerk too.” Tasha got down on all fours and began rooting around for a scrunchie beneath her bed.

“SO!” Lindsey screeched so loudly this time that Tasha bumped her head on the frame of her bed.

“OUCH!” Tasha withdrew from the small space, rubbing the sore spot on her scalp.

“What are you doing?”

“Looking for my-“

“Scrunchie, it’s by the dirty coffee cup in the kitchen.”

“Why would it be there? I always put it on my nightstand.”

A long-suffering sigh had the phone line buzzing, “No you always remind yourself to put it on the nightstand, but you forget and leave it on the kitchen table since you have a headache when you come home from your beautiful hair being pulled back all day.”

Rolling her eyes at nothing in particular, Tasha got to her feet and walked from her bedroom to the hallway of her apartment.

“So whom did you go out with last night?” She passed several dog toys that were littered on the floor, evidence of the untidy dog that she babysat recently.

“Leo.”

“Oh dear…were you that bored?” She smiled when she heard the annoyed grunt from the other end.

“No…he asked me out.”

“Again? AH HA!” She snatched the hair tie from where it rested on the table from the previous morning’s coffee cup.

“Right where I said it was wasn’t it?”

Tasha tied back her hair, “no.”

“Yes it was…I can so tell when you’re lying.”

“You know me too well.”

“That is debatable.”

“Hmmp…so pray tell how was this date with,” she let the words slide out on a breath, “Leo?”

“Eh…it was ok.”

“Really?” She smiled.

“Ok it was horrible…but it was either that or wheel of fortune all night.  At least this way I get a free meal. Boredom indeed, shall kill us all.”

“Yeah well…at least we have a wonderful rehearsal to go to.” She put the dirty cup in the sink.

“What!” There was a thump of something colliding with the either the phone or her friend’s skull.

“Yeah at 9:30 in the A.M. babe…go pack the viola…I’ll see you there.”