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Part 4: Meeting the Parents
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“Hi, Arthur,” a solemn familiar voice said to me, breaking me out of my trance.
I snapped my neck to the right to look at the oddly familiar figure standing above me. It was Solenne, that much was true, with her light blue eyes and long blonde flowing hair. Her expression was a mix of joy and caution. She motioned to the seat across from me.
“Is this seat taken?”
“No, go ahead and take it!” I said with a bit too much excitement and nervousness.
She sat down in front of me and I was paralyzed. She was radiant, despite the reserved way she carried herself. It was like in all the time we’ve spent apart from each other she only got more put together, more beautiful, and I remained about the same.
After a long awkward silence, she finally spoke again. “It’s nice to see you.” She sounded sincere. “I was worried that you wouldn’t reply to my message since you didn’t reply for so long.”
“I didn’t have my phone on me when you texted,” I informed her because I felt like I needed to apologize.
“Oh, it’s okay, just unexpected is all.”
She looked quickly out of the window and then back at me. “So how have you been? Good, I hope?”
I didn’t want to tell her the truth. The concept of her knowing was too much to bear. Though I couldn’t imagine that I had done a good job at hiding the fact that I was a mess. There had to be at least a few dozen late night texts when I had let my inhibitions fall farther than they ever could with alcohol. Desperation can do scary things to a person.
“I’ve been good,” I lied, “surprisingly busy lately but not in a bad way. What about you?”
“I’ve been alright,” she responded with a surprisingly sad tone. “I’ll stop avoiding it. There’s a reason why I asked you out to coffee and we both knew what it was…” she paused for what felt like at least half an eternity. “I miss you.”
The words fell out of her mouth like cement teeth. They crashed down on the table, shattering the wood before slipping off onto the floor below. The crash left me stunned and paralyzed. Every thing I had ever imagined had just suddenly come true. All those desperate nights hoping that she would text back saying she felt the same way. I dreamt of this moment so many times that I honestly had no idea how many times I had imagined it. It felt so familiar that it was like writing my name, and yet now that I was face to face with it, I didn’t know how to react. I had liked to think I would act all suave and either shoot her down or embrace her without another word, but neither happened in this moment. There was only stunned silence because the dreams we have rarely find their way to reality in the ways that we wish they would.
“I know it’s a lot out of nowhere…” she muttered after a long silence.
“No, it’s-” I began saying but I didn’t know what the rest of the words were.
“It feels like it’s been forever since that fateful summer day all those months ago. Like a whole lifetime has passed by…” I was scared of her words. Terrified of what was coming next. “Maybe we can start anew?”
The suggestion did not help with me being stunned. I just sat there with my mouth agape like a zombie with a broken jaw. A thousand thoughts flew through my brain but I couldn’t catch onto any of them. I was sitting and watching the world go by, but unable to move or act. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to think.
“Would you like a refill?” A voice that wasn’t Solenne’s asked me, bringing me back to reality. Farah stood over our table, ready to grab my mug. She was smiling kindly at us, but I could see a look of suspicion and worry in her eyes.
“Uh, yeah, if that’s alright,” I answered. “Thanks.”
“No problem, just come talk to me before you leave and we’ll settle your tab,” she said to me with a friendly but knowing tone. The look in her eyes reminded me of that day last summer, the way Solenne got up and left. That look in her eyes reminded me of what I was supposed to do, and what I really wanted to do.
Once Farah had left, I took a deep breath and looked back at the waiting Solenne. “You broke my heart,” I told her with a suddenly defiant and slightly confrontational tone. She opened her mouth to say something but I wasn’t done. “You broke my heart and left just like that. You didn’t even give me a chance. You didn’t tell me that something was wrong. You just ditched me when it suited her.” The anger from the past months built up as I spoke. “I would have given you anything, but I wasn’t enough for you despite that. And I’ve still missed you, so much, this entire goddamn time.” A look of misunderstanding relief crossed her face. “Trying to get over you, moving on, has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.” I shook my head. “How would I even know you wouldn’t leave again when it suited you again? How can I know I’m not just some pawn in your life? How can I be sure you ever loved me?”
This response left her stunned. “Arthur… You know I would never intentionally hurt you,” she said in the most comforting tone she knew how to do. “It was the heat and not spending time with you. I felt so trapped, so overwhelmed. I couldn’t handle a relationship at the same time. It’s not that I didn’t, that I don’t, love you. It was me. And I’ve gotten better, I promise.”
“Here’s your coffee,” Farah said at probably the most awkward time for her to overhear our conversation. She placed it down in front of me. “Black and strong, just like you like.”
“Thanks, Farah,” I said with a friendly smile, trying to maintain my composure around her.
“I think everyone deserves a second chance,” I said as I watched Farah walk away. I met Solenne’s sad blue gaze. “And I’ve thought about this moment a thousand times. Dreamt about it. I know what I’m supposed to do, what I’m supposed to say and want. But the only reason our breakup messed me up so much is because I still want to be with you.” A hopeful smile crept its way onto her face. “So I guess let’s try again.”
It’s hard to admit, but there is some truth to the idea that we don’t actually want happiness. What we really want is what we’re used to, the familiar, and that often has a lot of pain in it. A lot of bad stuff. And it leads to awful decisions.
Solenne stuck around at the cafe as my new/old girlfriend for about a half hour before scurrying out, saying something about a meeting she had nearby that she had to get to. Alone again in the cafe with a new outlook on life and new situation, I headed up to the counter to pay Farah for the coffee.
“So… that was your ex, right?” Farah asked when I came up. I pulled back in shock and nodded cautiously. “Remember, I was working the day you two broke up? It wasn’t hard to tell what happened… Are you okay? What was all that about?”
“She wanted to get back together,” I answered with the giddiness in my stupid heart being tempered by the knowledge that no one around me was going to approve of it.
“Oh wow, she went all in that quickly?”
“Yeah…” I muttered.
“So…?” she questioned without saying much at all.
“I said yes. Only a fool denies his heart what it wants,” I said in a way to justify myself. I didn’t expect to feel so much guilt and shame about getting back together with her. I dreaded telling my family, or Mahli.
“Personally, I don’t let my heart make all the decisions,” she replied with a slightly critical tone followed by a chuckle. “But whatever makes you happy. If you need someone to talk to, you know how to find me.”
“Thanks, Farah, I appreciate it.” I paid and got the hell out of there.
I knew that I was going to have to tell Mahli at some point. There was no way I could keep it from him forever, nor should I, but I wanted to wait a bit before telling him. Of course, he texted me later that night.
“What happened with Solenne?”
“We talked. A lot.”
“Did she try to get back together with you?”
“I don’t really want to talk about it,” I answered slyly.
“Oh, alright, that’s fair. But you know if you need anyone to talk to, I’m here.”
“That’s why you’re my best friend,” I replied with a silly emoji attached. With that deflected, I relaxed and hoped I could keep myself from bringing it up until I was ready to get the criticism from my rational yet romantic friend.
“I have a lead,” Holly texted a couple days later while I was on the way to Solenne’s apartment for the first time since we got back together.
“How did you manage that? I thought it was a dead end?” I questioned in turn.
“Your parents were professors at a university. They had colleagues who knew them and their research. That university was here in this city. You’re going to go ask some questions.”
“Why me?” I asked as I hopped off of the bus and walked down the oddly pristine streets to Solenne’s expensive apartment.
“Don’t I look almost exactly like your mother?” she responded.
“Yeah, you have a point there. So who am I looking for?”
Nervous, I took a second to breathe before buzzing Solenne’s apartment. “Hi, who is it?” she asked with a static-filled voice.
“Arthur! I’m here!”
“Nice to hear your voice, come on up!”
The small doorway was filled with an intrusive buzzing noise. I pulled the door open and headed up the stairs to the third floor where she lived. I took a moment before knocking on the door, but it opened in front of me.
“You know you have to come in, not just stand in the hallway. I don’t bite,” she said with a playful smirk. “Well, that’s not entirely true.” She hastened me into the apartment. I took off my shoes, and she took my little spring jacket and hung it up in the closet.
Solenne always had an eye for interior design. She had a minimalist taste. Most of her furniture was either white or a very pale pink. Her living room had a couple plants hanging from the ceiling, being held up by black metal frames. It was like something straight off of Pinterest.
It was clean and pristine. I knew Solenne better than to assume that this was the normal state of her apartment. When we were together I came over plenty of times so I saw that her default setting was a mess. She hated doing dishes, and no matter how many dishwashers you have, the big pans have to be washed by hand so they usually filled her sink. There were so many times that I had to do it for her.
But the apartment was clean. There was nothing on the floor. The counters were clean, and the tables were neatly organized.
“The place is nicer than I remember it,” I commented in hopes of giving a compliment.
“I’d hope so,” she replied with a chuckle. “I redesigned the whole place.”
“Oh really?” I exclaimed with a little too much surprise. “I guess my memory of the way it used to be is shaky at best.”
“That’s okay, it’s been a while.” She led me into the living room and motioned to the couch. I took a seat. “Do you want some tea?”
“I’m good, thanks,” I answered. The couch was comfortable, but I wasn’t. The whole scenario didn’t feel real to me. It didn’t feel real to be with her again. Maybe that’s because we hadn’t kissed yet at that point, or hugged, really. Sure they don’t define a relationship, but I always imagined our getting back together to be more passionate than it has been.
“Suit yourself,” she said as she headed into the nearby kitchen and started boiling water.
“So what have you been up to lately?” I questioned, looking to see if anything else had changed in the time we were apart.
“Oh, just work mostly. Been working on a new painting in the spare room, but it’s not done so I’d prefer if you didn’t go in there,” she informed me as she leaned against the counter waiting for the water to boil.
“That’s exciting. I can’t wait to see it.”
“I might sell it before you get the chance. There was someone interested in a painting by me, so this is sort of a commission for them,” she explained in a somewhat apologetic tone.
“Oh, well that’s pretty exciting! You should have mentioned that!”
“I guess I should have,” she admitted with a chuckle.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. Out of habit, I took it out and checked. It was Holly.
“Professor Fitzgerald, or honestly any older professor in the science department, but she’s the only one I found with direct ties to your dad,” Holly informed me.
“How did you find that out?”
“They wrote a couple articles about quantum mechanics together. Highly technical stuff, but it means they had to work together.”
“Who are you texting?” Solenne asked, reminding me that I was at her apartment.
“Oh, just a friend of mine,” I answered in the kind of way that betrays the fact I’m trying to hide their identity.
“Is it that girl from the cafe? The one who has a thing for you?” she questioned further.
“Whoa, what are you talking about?” I replied defensively.
“The girl who came by when we were getting coffee. I saw the way she looked at you,” she said. I couldn’t believe it. She sounded kind of jealous. Imagine that. Months without contacting me once, and the one time she does, she’s suddenly possessive.
“Farah and I have been friends for a while,” I told her. “Since before we broke up. There’s nothing there. Besides, this isn’t her.”
“Who is it then? You don’t seem like you want to share.”
“It’s a long story and a little hard to explain,” I said with a sigh. “But alright. Her name is Holly. She very well might be my long lost sister and we’re both trying to find my biological father to find out.”
“That wasn’t that hard, now was it?” she said in a victorious tone just as the kettle finished boiling. When she returned with her tea, she sat down in a little armchair by the sliding glass doors of her balcony.
“I didn’t know you had a long lost sister,” she commented as she took a sip of boiling hot tea. Somehow she was never bothered by it.
“I didn’t either, honestly, but when I saw her, I knew that there had to be some connection. Turns out we’re both orphans, but her parents found her in a barn so they don’t know anything about her real parents.”
“That’s some real drama,” she said in an uninterested tone. “Anyways,” her tone grew quiet and a little shy, “I know it’s still new between us and there is a bit of weirdness about being together…”
“Yeah…” I muttered in response. “I felt that too…”
“Maybe we just need to reignite our old feelings, to remind ourselves that we’ve found our way back to each other again,” she suggested. She got to her feet and an excited look crossed her face. “Let’s go dancing!”
I had never really been one for dancing. I always felt silly, like an idiot, out of time and oblivious to the flow. But for Solenne, I always pretended like I did like it. And sometimes it wasn’t pretend.
“That’d do it,” I said with a smile. “It definitely gets our bodies close together.”
“So Friday night, we go dancing like old times!” She paused and looked at me. “Is your friend Mahli still single? Maybe we should bring him along so he might be able to meet someone.”
I shook my head with perhaps too much panic. “No, no, he doesn’t like to dance.” I wasn’t lying, but that was not the reason I didn’t want to invite him. “I’ll casually invite him but I wouldn’t expect anything.”
“You haven’t told him yet, have you?” she questioned with a sharp look to accompany it.
I let out a heavy sigh. “No, because I know what he’s going to think and say about it. He didn’t want me to meet you the other day. He thinks all of this is a bad idea.”
“Then we’ll just have to prove him wrong,” she said with a confident grin. She held out a hand to me. I reached out. She pulled me to my feet and spun me around, causing me to knock the table with my shin. Her tea spilled onto her table.
“Oh no!” she exclaimed, immediately letting go of me and rushing to the kitchen for a rag.
“Sorry,” I apologized as I stood there useless in the face of a spilled teacup.
“It’s alright, that was my fault,” she answered as she wiped it up.
“You’re a lot cleaner than you used to be,” I commented as she went to put the rag away.
“What do you mean?” she questioned.
“Your apartment was a lot messier before. A little spill like that wouldn’t have gotten such a reaction from you.”
She shrugged as she sat back down in her little armchair. “I guess I’ve changed a bit. It’s probably because now I have nice things.”
“Your things were nice before,” I protested playfully.
She looked at me and laughed. “Yeah, right, old IKEA furniture that looked fine but if you moved it the wrong way, it’d fall apart. What do you think motivated me to change the couch? It fell apart one night.”
“Wow, and just from you sitting on it?” I asked in surprise.
“Basically!”
“Okay, I stand corrected. I will admit that I don’t think I’d know nice furniture from not as nice furniture.”
“Well that’s okay,” she said to me sweetly. “I’ll handle that. You’ll do the dishes. Perfect set up.”
I laughed sincerely. It was nice being with her again, though it was still a little awkward. I had no doubts that we could get through the awkwardness though. I knew I just needed to get over the thoughts I’ve had for all these months. I needed to refresh my mind and forget about the pain, forget about the mixed feelings, forget about the feeling of betrayal that came with being dumped after being so open.
My phone went off a couple times while we were chatting, but I didn’t look at them again. As much as it felt kind of nice to have her be possessive over me again, I didn’t want to cause any conflicts so early on in our new blooming relationship. I checked my phone once I was out of her apartment building. It was Holly and Mahli.
“So I checked her office hours online. Looks like the best time to go is Friday afternoon. She has a big empty block from 1-5pm. Should give you plenty of time in case there are students that catch her first,” Holly had texted.
“Did you wanna get coffee again some time soon? I’m enjoying our little coffee trips,” Mahli had texted.
I left them both unanswered until I got home. The bus ride was an odd experience. I was so excited to spend more time with Solenne, so happy that my life had found its way back to her. But, at the same time, I was nervous and scared. I was afraid to do anything wrong, to say anything to upset her, to accidentally convince her that this whole thing was a mistake like I did the first time.
Summer was coming, and the thought made my heart sink. Since when did anyone fear summer, of all seasons? But it was summer that had the heat that separated us the year prior. The first time we broke up was in August’s sweltering heat. Summer threatened to separate us again, force us to live apart because the heat of two human bodies was just too much to bear. If I could have stopped summer from coming, I would have, even if it meant no summer flowers or trips to the park, or to the beach. I was so desperate to hold onto Solenne.
That Friday came faster than I expected. Everything just seemed to be moving so fast. I didn’t know exactly what to make of it, but I didn’t have any choice but to move forward in time with it. I had agreed to coffee with Mahli but still hadn’t told him the truth. I kept those thoughts out of my mind as much as possible and focused on the task ahead.
I got off the bus outside of the university that Holly had attended and Farah was still at. I had never been there myself, as it was a little out of the way from downtown. Compared to my high school, it felt massive, but I guess that’s to be expected from a university with literally thousands and thousands of students. The location was filled with various buildings of varying heights. There was one that was oddly tall and brown, like a bad office building. There was a number of little public spaces, lots of benches and plants, but the place was a maze to me. I knew that there were underground tunnels that students and faculty used to get around, but I didn’t know how to get in them or how to get through them.
I wandered around for a while unsure about how to get anywhere. I knew what the name of the building was that I was looking for “Johnson Science center”, but it’s not like they were all marked with bright red signs hanging from their roofs. Eventually I came across a map by the parking lot on the other side of campus. I discovered then that I was standing right next to one of the building’s many entrances. I felt stupid for some reason.
I headed inside and tried to find my way to the second floor where the professor’s office was supposed to be according to Holly. She said second floor, office 215. I found some stairs up and followed the numbers all the way down until I hit 216 and the hallway abruptly ended. I looked out of the window at the end of the hallway and saw that it was some spot for students to sort of pass through. Above I could see a connection though so I headed up the stairs and tried to find my way to the bridge over to the office I needed to get to.
It took me a good twenty minutes to find my way to this professor’s office. I had never been in a university before, and all I could find myself thinking was how anyone ever found their way at all through the damned place. For all I knew it was something like in Harry Potter where the god damned staircases moved on you.
When I got to the office, the door was slightly ajar. It had her name on it engraved in a little piece of metal and stuck to the door. It was covered in various scientific articles, none of which made much sense to me. I went to knock on the door, but the first knock caused the door to open, revealing a woman of about 70 or even 80 sitting at her desk with reading glasses on, looking at a laptop.
“Oh, hi,” she said to me, looking up from her screen and shooting a polite smile in my direction. “Is there something I can help you with?”
“I actually have a few questions,” I said, entering the room awkwardly.
“I would love to help, but please direct your class related questions to your TA. Otherwise, I’m happy to help.” She said before clarifying. “I just have so many students it’s hard to answer all of their questions myself.”
“I’m actually not a student of yours,” I informed her in a confused tone. Are her classes really so big that she doesn’t know if someone’s in her classes? What the hell is university?
“Oh really?” she replied with a surprised tone, taking off her glasses and taking a good look at me. “So what are your questions for me?”
“They actually are about an old colleague of yours,” I began.
A suspicious look crossed her face. “You should know I’m not one to engage in gossip. Anything that you are looking to find out from me will be strictly professional.”
“It’s not gossip,” I told her. I took a deep breath. “It’s about Richard Holtz.”
“Holtz?” she repeated in shock. “How do you know that name?”
“He’s my biological father,” I told her with a heavy tone. “I’m trying to find him and thought maybe you could tell me more about him.”
“So you did survive…” she muttered under her breath. “I don’t know what to tell you. He and I worked on a few papers, along with his late wife - your mother.”
“What was he working on?” I questioned. “That experiment the day I was born. What was that about?”
“I don’t know,” she said, shaking her head. “The whole thing was done in secret, since the board had to approve any experiments, and it was clear that it wouldn’t get approved. I wish that they had gone to the board instead though… Maybe then we could have avoided what happened…”
“What did they study? Any idea what they were trying to achieve?”
“Your parents were both studying quantum mechanics. It’s a highly technical subject, but before the experiment that caused the accident, your parents were both positing the possibility of two concurrent realities.” The look of confusion on my face must have tipped her off. “In essence, they were looking to see if they could make two possibilities co-exist in this reality. There was some math to support it, like with light being both a particle and wave at the same time, depending on how we look at it. But they wondered about something bigger. Like Schrodinger's cat being both dead and alive outside of the box. Burying one while keeping the other.”
“How would that even be possible?” I questioned, starting to have some idea of understanding.
“The idea behind it was that when we looked at the cat in the box, two separate realities split off, one in which it is dead and one for if it was alive. The idea would be to somehow merge those two possibilities, and - to a degree - almost create something out of nothing.” She let out a sigh. “It was a doomed experiment from the beginning, a doomed concept. We can’t create something from nothing. It would break the laws of physics.”
“What do you think would have happened if they had succeeded in their experiment?” I questioned further.
A look of surprise crossed her face, as if she thought I was suggesting something she didn't know about. “I don’t know. It would upset the very way we look at the world, that’s without a doubt. However, I can’t help but to be uncertain about the idea. There is a reason why the realities split. Perhaps bringing them together forcefully could have some unforeseen consequences.”
“Well that’s reassuring,” I said with a chuckle. “So you have no idea where he might have gone off to?”
She shook her head. “The police asked me the same thing as his coworker and friend of the couple. I can’t imagine where he might have gone that they haven’t searched yet.” She paused and looked at the bookshelf on the wall. “Sometimes I wonder if he’s still alive, if they couldn’t find him because he had died off in the woods somewhere after giving you away… It’s been 25 years after all…”
“Well, I hope he’s alive,” I told her with a sigh before getting up. “Thanks for the talk. I think I’ve learned a lot about him in the time we've been talking.”
“It’s no problem,” she replied with a half-smile. “You have your mother’s eyes. I thought you might have been their lost child when you popped your head in.” She paused. “What is your name?”
“Mine? Arthur Compton.” I told her.
“That’s a nice name. You can call me Ella, Ella Fitzgerald.”
“It was nice to meet you. If I have any questions about quantum mechanics, I’ll drop by and ask while you’re available.”
“That sounds nice. It was a pleasure meeting you as well, take care.”
She returned to her laptop as I left the room. I felt like I had learned a lot and yet nothing at all. It was all bouncing about in my head, echoes of familiarity. I knew the words but the sequence was strange. I quickly texted Holly everything that Dr. Fitzgerald had said in our little chat, from the topic of my parents’ studies before the accident, to what little information she had to offer about his location.
“What do you think of that? Any ideas?” I followed up.
Holly took a little while to reply. “Maybe that’s why he tried to leave me to die,” she suggested all of a sudden without context. “If I was the consequence of this experiment going terribly well, what if he realized that it was dangerous for the two of us to coexist in this world, and tried to split us up the only way he knew would do the job.” There was a pause and I waited for the next text as I walked onto the bus home. “Maybe he couldn't go through with it. Maybe he wanted to suffocate me but didn’t have the heart. He saw too much of your mom in me…”
“That’s a lot to take out form what they happened to be studying at the time of my birth. Wouldn’t it make more sense to focus on how to find him instead of what it could mean?” I questioned in return, the idea of him trying to suffocate her intentionally making me uneasy about my own birth father.
“He might not be alive anymore, and we have no way to find him,” she reminded me. “He’s been missing for 25 years, and in most situations, that means the person has long died or fled to another country, and we can’t chase him to the states or anything.”
“You’re right, sorry. At least this way you have some sense of an answer as to what happened to you.”
“Yeah, it’s probably one of the shittier answers I could have imagined.” She answered.
“Yeah, but at least it’s interesting. Maybe we can just leave this whole thing behind us now.”
“It’s funny.”
“What?”
“You were the one who wanted the answers, but now you’re the one suggesting that we just turn our backs on it and leave it be. What changed in your life?” she questioned.
“I mean…” I began typing but I knew what had changed. “I started seeing someone. No need to chase after what’s gone anymore for me…”
Holly didn’t reply to that. I didn’t hear from her for a couple days. I figured she was busy with something else, or figuring out more about it. I met up with Mahli the next day at the cafe.
He got there before me and luckily for me, he was chatting with Farah. When I walked in and saw them sitting together, my heart sunk a bit. I knew that Farah knew. I knew that she might have slipped the beans without realizing that she shouldn’t.
“Hey guys,” I greeted them with a somewhat false joy and wave. “Fancy seeing you two here!”
They laughed and Farah got up from her seat. “I was just taking a break and thought I’d stop for a chat,” she told me with a smile. “Take my seat. I gotta get back to work anyways. A new customer just walked in after all.”
“Alright, see you in a bit,” I told her with a smile before she walked away. I took a seat and looked at Mahli, who had a look of disapproval on his face.
“I know about Solenne,” he told me with a quiet disapproving tone.
“I was actually going to tell you,” I lied to him. “Today, actually. How did you find out anyhow?”
“Solenne posting about it online definitely didn’t help keep it a secret,” he informed me. “Even Farah mentioned it just now.” He paused. “There’s a weird amount of people interested in your relationship status…”
I should have known that Solenne would want to flaunt that she was in a relationship again. That was always in her style.
“It just happened when we hung out with each other the other day,” I tried to defend myself.
He laughed. “The thing you shouldn’t have done and also kept a secret?”
“I guess so,” I replied, feeling myself becoming more and more defensive.
“I just hope you know what you’re doing,” he said with a heavy sigh, the disapproval gone from his voice. “I just don't want to see you get hurt again, and neither does Farah.”
“Solenne thinks Farah has a thing for me,” I said sort of randomly. It popped into my head and I guess it was a good way to throw off the conversation.
“Solenne thinks a lot of things,” he replied with a shrug. “So how are things with her?”
“We were going to go out dancing last night,” I told him in a rather proud tone, “but she had something come up so we postponed it to this week. Otherwise, pretty good, I’d say.”
“Well, so long as you’re happy.” He paused. “So what’s going on with Holly? Intending on seeing her again soon? Find out anything new since last we spoke?”
I filled him in on the things the professor had said. “Doesn’t look too promising,” I said, shaking my head.
“That’s a shame,” he said with a sigh.
“Bet you want to see Evette again,” I teased in an attempt to finally move the conservation around something different than what my life has been for the past few weeks.
He immediately blushed. “I wouldn’t be opposed to it, but you know that I’m fine with it either way.”
“That’s a great way to avoid saying anything at all,” I replied with a laugh. “Anyways, I’m going to grab something to drink. Are you good?”
He held up a near-full latte and nodded. I headed to the counter and found Farah leaning against it seemingly impatiently.
“Same as always?” she questioned with a friendly smile.
“You know it,” I answered. Usually there was more banter between us, but this time it was mostly silent. She poured the coffee, I paid, and we went our separate ways. I didn’t think much of it as I headed back to my seat.
“If you want, I could suggest the four of us do something together. Or-” I began, about to suggest something damned and probably an awful idea.
“Or what? We go dancing with you and Solenne?”
“You said it, not me.”
“Why would you want all of us there when you’re out with your girlfriend?” he questioned with a raised eyebrow. “Especially if it’s your first time in forever?”
I let out a heavy sigh. “I’m nervous and scared around her still. The point of dancing is to let us break loose, but I think maybe now that you know that it would be easier if you were there. Holly and Evette are just excuses to get you to come and spend some time with her.”
“I think I’ll pass, thanks,” he said with a quiet tone. “I’m not one for dancing…”
“What about dinner? I’m sure I could come up with some sort of excuse as to why the four of us should get dinner. I could host everyone at my place!”
“Yeah, and cook too? What’s next dancing on the moon?” he replied sarcastically. “We could go to that dinner a couple streets over. Seems chill enough.”
“Oh so now you’re onboard.”
“You’re my best friend, man, don’t really need to convince me too hard to hang out with you.”
“And with an attractive woman that you are wondered by.”
“Those words don’t make much sense, but okay.”
“So it’s a date. Well, for you too, assuming they agree to it.”
“Please don’t go on a date with your probable sister,” he said with a laugh.
Once he got back to his poetry, I texted Holly, breaking the silence that had built up between us since our last conversation. “I was thinking maybe we could go get a bite and just sort of chill?”
It was a short while before she responded. “I guess that could be nice.” I couldn’t shake the feeling that she wasn’t being entirely sincere, but it was hard to tell for real. “Just the two of us?”
“Actually, I was thinking that maybe Mahli and Evette could join us? You know, get our best friends to be more acquainted with each other?”
“That’s not a bad idea,” she replied with a silly emoji. I figured she had already figured it out.
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Part 6: A Sequence of Unfortunate Attacks
To mark the end of April, which is national poetry month, I will post a poem next instead of the next part. This novel is reaching its end for me, which means there's plenty more to read all through May. Hopefully there's some semblance of sense that remains in it till the end.
Until next time,
-Zero
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