AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sure.” I strode across the room, grasping the lapels of the curtains as I flung them open, letting the sunlight into the small, drab room. There was a strange silence behind me as I adjusted the curtains at the bottom when they got caught up in the heating and air conditioning unit. I turned after I freed the fabric from the bulky appliance andpaused.
Michael stood in the doorway, looking awkward and hesitant. “M-Mikey?” Mom’s voice was hoarse as if all of the emotion in the world were suddenly filling herthroat.
“Hi,Mom.”
My eyes bounced between them as Michael took a step further into the room. I slid to the side, moving past the television towards the door as an awkward silence passed between the two of them. I paused on the other side of the door as Michael met Mom’s waterygaze.
“W-what are you doing here?” sheasked.
Michael gestured towards where I was standing without looking my way. “Harlow brought me...I was in town and I...I didn’t want to come, but…” He froze as if he hadn’t meant to admit that he didn’t want to see her. One lone tear escaped my mother’s eyes and slid down her cheek. I backed up against thedoor.
“I don’t blame you, Mikey. I-I wouldn’t blame you if you never wanted to speak to me after…” Mom took a breath, sucking it back as she folded her shaking hands in her lap. “I wouldn’t blame you if you never wanted to speak to me after everything I did toyou.”
Michael didn’t look comfortable. In fact, he didn’t look like he knew how to reply, but I knew my presence wasn’t exactly making it easy for him to speak openly. He kept glancing back at me as though he expected me to say something, for me to kick him out, or perhaps save him. I wasn’t planning on doingeither.
I stepped even further back and then I turned and walked out. I heard Michael’s quick inhale just as I stepped to the other side of the doorway. “Can I sit?” I heard him ask, a small smile coming to my lips as hespoke.
One way or another, they would figure out things between the two of them. If Michael never wanted to come back then that was his choice and if he did, well, that was also his choice. I did what Icould.
Did that mean I forgave him for trying to tell me what to do with the guys? No. I understood him, but whatever happened between him and Mom, I wasn’t leaving the guys. I knew if things went well, too, that Mom would hopefully impart some of her own understanding. She knew about the guys, she accepted them—and me and our relationship. Hopefully, that would also be enough forMichael.
