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My lips curled into a smile, remembering how Daniel had nipped at my lower lip when my phone rang. The smile on my lips quickly fell as I, very reluctantly, accepted the call. It was Susan.
“Hey, Amy. How's it going?” She sounded slightly excited for some reason, which immediately had me on edge. Usually, if Susan was excited, it wasn’t good news for me.
“I’m good, Susan. What’s up?” I couldn’t keep the wariness out of my voice. I shouldn’t have even answered the call. I normally just let it go to voicemail. But Susan would actually leave a voicemail. Or bombard my roommate with calls. Neither of those options were ideal. I wished Cassie understood what I was going through. My parents had ruined my childhood and even now, they still negatively impacted my life. Memories from my childhood always came rushing back whenever I heard their voices, and those memories weren’t remotely pleasant. It was hard to get over.
I wondered what this was all about. My parents only called when they either suddenly remembered they had a kid and wanted to bond, or when they needed something. Right now, I would have bet my entire life savings on them needing something. Our last visit went entirely too well, at least by the standards I had for our visits.
In fairness, I could see that they were actually trying. Susan had her garden and James had his art and new job. But I couldn’t help wondering how long it all would last. We’d been down this road before, and it usually ended up about the same way. It ended with them in crisis, needing my help.
“I was wondering if you could stop by tomorrow,” Susan said, a slight hesitation in her voice. “If you’re not too busy,” she rushed to add, clearly trying to play the martyr.
I successfully fought back the sigh that threatened to escape, but not the eye roll she couldn’t see.
“Sadly, I have to work tomorrow,” I said, not sad at all. “I have some tests to finish up at the lab.”
“What about Sunday?” Her voice sounded doubtful, like she already knew what I was going to say, but she sure as hell was going to make me say it.
“Working on Sunday, too,” I lied. I had no intention of working on Sunday, but I was certain I could find something around here to catch up on if needed.
“You don’t have to lie, you know. You can just say you don’t want to come by. Just say you haven't forgiven your father and me.”
“Of course, I have forgiven you. You are my parents. Besides, my therapist advised me to let go of a lot of baggage, so we're good,” I said, getting a little impatient.
“Then why are you always so reluctant to spend time with us? Why are you always making us walk around on eggshells so we don’t upset you?” Her voice broke and I couldn’t believe what she was saying to me right now. “Amy, we're sorry. We'll do better this time. Just give us another chance.”
“Susan, I am at work. Can we not do this now?” I replied tersely, hoping the disgust in my voice wasn’t evident. “I'll call you back when I get home,” I continued, trying my best to end the conversation. Susan had always been like that. Emotional warfare was her specialty. First, she manipulated you, then guilt tripped you and made you feel bad. Because she was my mom, I had always fallen for it when I was little, but not anymore. There was nothing in this universe that would make me fully reconcile with my parents.
After promising to call her later, I ended the call. But that was only to pacify her. I had no intention of actually calling her.
The day was giving me whiplash. Between what happened earlier with Daniel, and now this call, my brain had no idea what to do. But it was way too early for my day to be ruined. I was going to have to power through.
Which I somehow managed to do.
“Goodnight, Doc,” Janice said as she carried her bag and hung her lab coat on the hook by her desk.
“See you tomorrow, Janice!” At least I felt like I was starting to get somewhere with Janice and with some of the other researchers. She nodded as she closed the door. She was the last to leave for the day, and I was so relieved to just be alone.
I had a few more reports to read, but now that everything was quiet, I was surprised to realize I didn’t feel a hint of the fatigue I should feel after everything that happened today. I was actually excited. Slow but steady progress was being made here with my research. Idly, I wondered if Daniel was still in the building.
It was now getting dark outside and almost all the lights in the laboratory had been turned off but the fluorescent bulb in my office. I decided to finish up at home and stuffed my laptop in my bag along with some reports I had to read. The bag was a little heavy, and I considered taking out some things, but decided against it. I wanted to get as much work as possible done so I would go through everything I could.
Suddenly, the door opened, and I heard someone walk into the laboratory.
“Hello?” I quietly called out, not sure if I wanted anyone to answer. I was a little confused, but felt more fear than anything. It was late. Who would be here now? Or was it just someone who had forgotten something when they left for the day? I knew the lab door was locked, and you’d need a keycard to get in, but who knew how many people had one of those.
I got my cellphone and shoved my bag on my shoulder and turned off the light in my office. I turned on the flashlight app so I could see and started walking for the door.
“Amy?”
Daniel.
“Daniel?” I blinked in the darkness beyond my flashlight. I couldn’t see him anywhere.
“Yeah, it’s me.” I was immediately reassured by his voice, although I wasn’t sure if I should find it comforting. Maybe I really should have been afraid. “Are you alone here?”
“It’s really late. Everyone left.” I hoped he couldn’t hear the excitement in my voice.
“Are you ready to go? I’m heading out now and I could give you a ride.”
