Page 46 of Unfinished

There was a pause in our conversation and I had a feeling there was something else going on. The buzz from the appliances and the sounds from outside filled the air as I took in the disappointed look on my dad's face until he finally broke the silence, “Firefly, we need to talk."

“What’s wrong?”

“My company let go of twenty workers. I was one of them.”

Holy shit! My dad worked for this company for years. This was not expected at all and it couldn't be happening at a worse time. I was about to head back to Pittsburgh and he wouldn't have anyone to help him out here. My dad explained that they gave the excuse of downsizing, however, something in his tone made me believe he wasn't so sure about that.

“So, you’re looking for a job?” I asked and my dad nodded. “What if you looked for a job in Pittsburgh?”

“Move to Pittsburgh?”

“It’s a lot cheaper to live out there, plus I’m planning on living in NYC after college, which is only a six hour drive. I’m sure you can find work out there.”

“We don’t have anyone out there.”

“We don’t really have anyone here either," I argued.

“Well, that’s true.”

“You never pulled out the equity on this house, it’ll sell fast. At least you’ll be close to me for the next four years. The people are nice out there, so you’ll make friends fast enough,” I added.

My dad rubbed his jaw, looking around the house like he was contemplating leaving. To me it made sense, but a cross country move and starting over at his age wasn't easy in the slightest. He worked so hard to keep this house. To leave behind the memories and everything he worked for would be a difficult task for him. Still, maybe it was time for him to leave it all behind. Plus, with his experience it wouldn't be difficult for him to start over somewhere else.

“It would take time to sell the home.” My dad shrugged.

“We can have a realtor handle that, you can stay with Ashley and I until the house closes and then buy a home out there.”

“Or I can stay here until the house sells and do some side jobs.”

“Come on dad, move to Pittsburgh so that I don’t have to come back here to help you pack and move. We can sell most things and put the rest in storage in Pittsburgh until you find a house.”

For the rest of the evening, my dad and I discussed the pros and cons of him moving to Pittsburgh. He even looked at the job situation as well as the cost of living. He was shocked when he realized how much more affordable Pittsburgh was, but he still seemed a bit apprehensive. Finally, he leaned back in his chair and scrubbed his hand down his face.

“Alright, let’s do it. I’ll call a realtor in the morning,” my dad said.

“We can start packing on Sunday. We’ll rent a storage unit for whatever we are keeping and we can sell the rest.”

My dad nodded and pulled out his phone, “I’m keeping this chair.”

I laughed because the chair was the one thing my father bought for himself in the last six years. It’d be nice to have my dad close in Pittsburgh because now we’d keep the apartment all summer too.

Chapter 20

Liam

I left my house a couple of hours ago to pick up Hannah. We were going to go out after dinner and I didn’t want to worry about dropping off her car. Just in case my mother was planning something, Hannah shouldn't be by herself afterwards. It was highly likely my mother had planned something malicious, she was being too nice. It was completely uncharacteristic of her.

Arriving at Hannah's house, she was wearing a mauve sleeveless sheath dress that ended below the knees and a pair of nude colored strappy heels. The dress hugged her body but wasn’t revealing. She left her hair down in big waves and kept her makeup neutral. It was one of the few times I’d actually seen her wear makeup.

“You look gorgeous.” I rolled my lips as my eyes roamed over her.

“Thank you.”

I was wearing a white button down with the sleeves rolled up and black pants. It was about as dressed up as I was willing to be for dinner at my parents'. Hannah looked amazing, and it’d show my parents that she easily looked the part they wanted her to play. Personally, I preferred the canvas shoes and jeans.

I drove to my parents and Hannah took a deep breath after I opened her door to my BMW. She took my hand and turned her whole body to stand out of the vehicle. Even my parents’ brick driveway wasn’t a problem for her to walk on in those heels and I couldn’t help but to feel a bit smug because I was right about her fitting the part my parents demand be played.

We walked into the house and my mom was standing at the bottom of the stairs wearing a white tea-length dress and white heels. She looked Hannah up and down and her lips thinned. She didn’t have a single thing to pick out on first impression and that irritated her.

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