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“Sure,” I agreed.
Sylvia was pretty much her best self ever lately, and I thought I owed her to make at least the same amount of efforts she was making. She wasn’t even commenting on my job, which was pretty impressive.
“Just no rom coms,” I clarified. I wasn’t in the mood for watching some epic love story unfolding for two hours, considering I wasn’t over my own.
“Oh, okay. Something sad or scary then?”
“Scary, please.”
I left for work, and I called dad. We had that arrangement. I had to call him on my own twice a week. I usually did it early in the morning because I knew he would be in a hurry for work and wouldn’t have time to ask a lot of questions.
He kept his promise and came to visit every month. He was still seeing Adina, which was a shocker to us all. I had a feeling my mom wasn’t exactly happy about that, but at least she was acting civil enough for him to be able to visit without hiding he was having a relationship.
And now that Lucas was gone, I was a frequent visitor at his house. I played with Troy. I talked with Elizabeth who was having a hard time accepting Lucas was never going to live with them again. I was having hard time accepting that too. We baked a lot, and we ate a lot. I liked baking very much.
I had the early shift at the coffee shop that day. I had to be there at six, so that we would open on time at seven. It wasn’t a big deal. I was just serving people coffee and sweets, but I learned more about baking, which had become a real passion after I started that job.
“Good morning, honey,” I heard the friendly voice before I could spot its owner.
“Good morning, Mrs. Jones.”
Mrs. Jones was both my boss and my co-worker. There was another girl coming for a couple of hours a day, but it was mostly us two.
“We’re starting to take orders for pies for Thanksgiving today,” she reminded me.
I dreaded Thanksgiving. I knew Lucas would come back home. Ever since our last conversation in his room, we hadn’t exchange a single word. Not in person, not in texts.
I had no news from him whatsoever. I asked Elizabeth about him when he first moved to Seattle; she said he asked her not to talk with me about him.
It was painful, but I knew I deserved it. I just wished I had some teeny-tiny bit of information. Like if he was dating someone and had plans to bring her home in three weeks and rub it my face.
Not that he would actually do it. That was something I would do. Something I had already done to him. And yet I knew he would never deliberately do it to me. But what if he was in love?
My shift was ending in the early afternoon, and I had this ritual where I sat on a table in the back of the coffee shop with a chocolate waffle and I texted Hannah.
Clem: Are you still BFFs with Lucas? Could you do some spying for me and check if he has a girlfriend?
Sometimes, if she had time, she would call me. That day she didn’t. I only got a text back.
Hannah: Why do you care?
Clem: Oh, I don’t know. Maybe to plan an escape to a foreign country for the Thanksgiving weekend?
Hannah: I thought you already tried that (smiley face)
Clem: Ha ha. Just ask him, okay?
Half an hour later and no word from Hannah, I decided to stop stuffing my face and go back home. I parked my car and checked my phone again. I had a text. Just not from Hannah.
Lucas: Are you trying to find out if I’m dating someone?
I will kill her.
I shot a text to Hannah first.
Clem: WHAT DID YOU DO?
My heart was pounding. I tried breathing in and out to calm myself. It didn’t work. I had to answer something. If I just ignored his text, it would be as if I confessed that it was exactly what I was trying to do.
