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In my experience, the owners rarely leave the office and are usually the first to leave for the day, if they even show up at all.
“She and Uncle Jack work twelve hours a day, six to seven days a week. Sometimes more. They have for as long as I can remember. My mom used to say it’s because they couldn’t afford to hire that many people, but if you ask me, I think they love it that much. They were never able to have children so this place became their baby.”
“I guess I get that.” I stop talking when Claudia reappears with our waters.
“Anything else I can get you in the meantime?” she asks.
“I think we’re good.” Abel smiles up at his aunt who nods once before making her way back into the kitchen.
“She seems really nice.”
“She’s the best. On more than one occasion I wish I would have gotten her as a mother instead of her sister.”
“That’s an awful thing to say,” I scold teasingly.
“Maybe so, but Claudia and Jack are like me. The black sheep of the family. While all her other siblings moved on to bigger and better things, Claudia always followed her heart and her heart was with Uncle Jack. They didn’t need big houses or expensive cars. They just needed each other and to be doing what they loved. I’ve always envied them for that.”
“Tell me about your parents,” I prompt, thinking now is as good of a time as any to broach the subject and hopefully learn more about the man sitting across from me. A man who is still very much a stranger to me, even if I feel like I’ve known him my whole life.
“Not much to tell, honestly. Mom’s an attorney. Dad’s a surgeon. They’re good people, a little judgmental but overall good hearted. They’re the kind of parents that expect perfection, though, and perfect is something I’ve never been. Not by a long shot.”
“I guess their definition of perfect and my definition are something that we look at differently,” I say, the words off my lips before I can even think to take them back.
“Are you saying you think I’m perfect?” His smile slides into place causing his dimple to pop. My heart quickly picks up speed at the sight.
“Don’t let it go to your head.” I lean back in the booth, knotting my hands together on the table in front of me. “I’m just saying, I think they’re lucky to have a son like you.”
“If only. My brothers have made it pretty difficult in that department.”
“Tell me about them.”
“Well, Adam is in California. He’s a doctor like our father. He’s currently working on research that could change the face of medicine as we know it, or at least that’s what our father says. Alex is an engineer and about as smart as they come. He’s married with his first child on the way. Aaron went to NYU and now works for one of the top computer software firms in the country. And Andrew is in his last semester of law school. Because you know, at least one child had to follow in my mother’s footsteps.” He sighs. “And then there’s me. I’m the only child that didn’t go to college. The only one that doesn’t have arealcareer. An all-around disappointment.”
“Are those your parents’ words or yours?” I can’t help but ask.
“Trust me, they’re not just mine. Attend one family dinner at my parents’ house and it will become incredibly clear who the odd man out is.”
“I guess being the odd man out isn’t the worst thing in the world. Sure beats having no family at all.”
“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. I know how lucky I am to have them. Sometimes it just gets to me. I wish they could be happy that I’m happy.”
“Maybe they are.” I shrug. “Maybe they’re just really shitty at showing it.”
“Maybe,” he agrees on a light chuckle. “What about you? Tell me about your family.”
“I kind of already did,” I remind him.
“Not really. All I know is you have one sister who shares the same father as you. And that you never met him. What about your mom?”
“What about her?” I try to keep my emotions hidden beneath the surface but it’s hard. I have a lot of mixed feelings when it comes to my mom.
“Tell me about her.”
“I don’t really know what I can tell you.” I nibble on my bottom lip, afraid what he’ll think of me if I tell him where I came from.
“Tell me the truth.”
“Well, the truth is... Complicated.” I pause, not sure how to word this so it won’t make me sound like complete trash. “My mom’s an addict. Heroine mostly. I spent half my life living on friends’ couches and in the back of our car. The other half bouncing around from foster home to foster home. I couldn’t wait for the day I could get the hell out of South Carolina and never look back. When Claire found me the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. A week after my high school graduation I packed up what little I had to my name, which mainly consisted of as many books as I could fit into one duffel, and the bus ticket Claire sent me. I boarded a Greyhound and never looked back. I haven’t seen or spoken to my mother in a year and a half. For all I know she’s dead.”
