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“Did I say something funny?”
“No, it’s just… It’s odd to see you fumble for words. I feel like that’s usually how everyone else acts around you, right?
“I just wasn’t expecting that kind of story from you. Kids in the foster system, they generally tend to be...”
“...Losers? Damaged? I had the damage down before I even entered the system.”
“That isn’t what I meant.”
“You just can’t create any kind of stability when you don’t have a foundation. So we have to make our own, or we flounder. People need a foundation. They need something to come back to, something that’s constant, that’s always there. You know that they’ve done stress studies that suggest moving has as much stress as losing a loved one? I don’t know if that’s exactly true, but I’d believe it.” April sighed heavily. “Limbo isn’t an easy place for a person to exist.”
“You don’t think there are any decent foster parents out there?”
“Probably. I never met one, but I’ve also never met Steven Hawking, and presumably he’s out there, too.”
Samson quietly put his hand on her should, very gently. Then, after a few minutes, he said, “It is very difficult to exist in limbo.”
April gazed up at him questioningly, but he said nothing more as he rubbed her back just a bit.
When the door cracked open, Samson moved his hand back to his lap. Babette peeked in, scowling deeply. “Sir, your 2pm is here. You weren’t answering your phone.”
Samson reached into his pocket and looked at the phone. “Ah. Turned it on silent for the meeting this morning. Give me ten and then send him in.”
April rose. “I’ll get back to the team now.”
“You do that. Get them to work. I want to show you what it’s like to really travel.”
***
After getting a drink with Jessie after work, April found herself back at her apartment, staring at her closet full of clothes with a needy pug trying to climb on top of her.
“Go away, Damien.”
In reply, he just yipped and butted his head into her left breast.
“Ow! Stop. I love you, too.” April grabbed him, held him to her side, and ruffled his black fur. “I’m going on a trip. And official business trip. What do you think about that?”
Damien, unsurprisingly, had nothing to say, aside from a questioning, “Borf?” when she stopped petting him for a moment.
“I do like him. I want to go. He’s just so… Well, you know I’ve never been with anyone, and it’s more than a little nerve-wracking to spend time with him every day. Is this what it’s like when you really…?”
April sat up abruptly as she heard the floorboards creak. “Lana?”
“Yes!” There was a pause, and then, “Do you want pizza? I’m ordering from Pink’s!”
April scratched Damien’s back to quell his protests. “Sure!”
Lana swung her head into the room. “Yay! Oh, how was the meeting today?”
“Good. Your brother liked my designs. And he fired our supervisor.”
“Ha! Of course he did.” Lana sat on April’s bed and held her hand out for Damien to sniff. He hopped into her lap. “He has to make the over-the-top gestures. Announcing his big plans in the middle of family dinner, firing someone not before or after the big meeting, but during. He’s so dramatic.”
“He planned to fire the guy afterward, but Hutchinson was late and acting like a jerk.”
“Well then, drama justified, but I don’t withdraw my previous accusation.” Lana smiled slowly and started pulling back her long hair. “How’s it been with him? Are you getting along any better?”
“I think we are. The talk we had after the meeting was really good.” April shrugged. “When I’m around him, I just, I don’t know. I feel like I’m about to jump out of my skin. Like he should be able to see my heart about to fly out of my chest, it’s beating so hard.”
