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Hank.
Wait.
Warren’s already met my dad?
“This is my wife Shirley.” Dad gestures toward my mom, who graciously leans in to plant a single kiss on Warren’s cheek, an action he attempts to reciprocate as I realize that I’m still on the ground.
“Ahem,” I clear my throat, catching everyone’s attention. “What are you two doing here?”
“We…uh,” Dad goes to speak but catches Warren’s intense stare instead, looking at him in such a way that I can only tell means “get out.”
It takes Warren a second to catch the message. So long that I have to shoot him a look myself for him to adjust his jacket and release a breath.
“I’ll give you guys some privacy.” He rubs a hand behind his neck, shooting me a pained and equally confused look before he’s out of the door and out of sight.
I’m left looking down an empty hallway for far too long until my parent’s voice commands my attention.
“Well, aren’t you going to offer us to take a seat?” Mom scoffs. I shake myself out of it and gesture to the two desk chairs that linger in the room while I find refuge in my own.
“Don’t look so happy to see us, Delaney,” Dad sarcastically remarks. “It’s only been almost three months.”
Three months.
Where has the time gone?
At first, time moved achingly slow. But now…now, I only wish it would slow down as the realization of what the three-month mark really means slowly starts to creep in, turning my stomach inside out.
“I’m just surprised to see you.” My eye contact remains inconsistent as I toy with my fingers. “That’s all.”
“I don’t know why.” Dad furrows his brows as one. “We told Alf we were flying in. We’re going to watch the game tomorrow.”
I bypass the fact that Alf knew they were coming. It doesn’t matter now. They’re here. I need to focus on that. “You…you’re watching a game tomorrow?”
Mom nods eagerly in agreement. I’ve never seen her so excited to watch a sports game. The only sporting match I’ve ever seen her partake in is that of a shopping spree during the semi-annual sales at the mall.
“We had to see what all this fuss was going to be about, didn’t we, Shirley?” Dad continued.
“But of course!” Mom enthusiastically shoots me a smile. “We hear you’ve done big things for the group!”
“Yes, lots of big things,” Dad agrees.
I feel as though my head is on a swivel as I watch them both take turns finishing each other's sentences—leaving me with not a peep to say.
“Delaney, we’resoproud of you! We really didn’t think you’d be able to do it, did we?” Dad shakes his head in disbelief before looking at Mom.
“No, we did not,” she agrees, clutching onto her designer bag that rests in her lap. “Frankly, I’m shocked.”
Their doubt in me isn’t a shock. The shock comes from the way the words “we’re so proud of you” fell from their lips like it was nothing. I don’t think I’ve ever heard them say that to me before. It’s a foreign feeling I’m equally as desperate to have repeated as I am to disregard.
“Proud of me?” I opt for the earlier. “What do you mean you’re proud of me?”
They both look at one another in unison as if they’re confused by my obliviousness. “Well, you’ve done exactly what we sent you out here to do. Since you’ve started doing all the PR here, Delaney. We’ve had an overwhelming influx of interested buyers! I mean, we had to come down and see all of the magic you’ve created for ourselves.”
“Magic?”
“Here’s the great news!” Mom perks up in her chair, clutching the arms on either side whilst disregarding the sheer disbelief in my voice. “We’re planning to put the team up for bidding!”
What?
