Page 87 of Grounded
"I see you are still in one piece, living with your stepbrother. Remind me his name?"
"Theo."
"Ah yes, Theo. How's it going?"
I wave a lackadaisical hand in the air that either reveals everything or nothing.
"Have you two…" Lucille makes a suggestive face, and I guess it was expressive enough to convey we're getting along.
"We may have called a temporary armistice for the time being."
"I take it you're getting along well?"
"No," I counter. "We've been petty and arguing all the time, but we're trying to be better. Theo asked me to be his date to his high school reunion."
"What do your parents think about all this?"
"They'd assume we'd go as friends."
"And you two are friends?"
"Depends on the day."
"You'd go as his date? A real date?"
"No, a fake one. He doesn't want to show up alone because of an ego thing, I guess. I can't figure him out. He seems to read me well, and I can hardly guess what mood he'll be in."
"Are you thinking about going?"
Giving her the most PG version of events, I fill her in on the abrupt mood swings we are both guilty of possessing. How one day we can get along and next it'll be like we hit a nerve.
"His dad passed away when he was younger?" Lucille asks.
"Yeah, he died in Afghanistan when he was fifteen. My mom died a year later from cancer."
"And they were close? Theo and his dad?"
"Yes. He was so upset when our parents began dating. I wasn't happy either. My mom had been gone for a year and they met at a support group. Their friendship turned into something more. I don't know where it all went wrong. Theo never gave me and my dad a chance."
"How awful. I can't imagine how hard it must have been losing your parents during the prime years of your adolescence."
"I've made peace with my mom's passing. I miss her all the time but now that I'm an adult, I'm glad my dad won't be alone. But it's not easy being in the house. Everything is different."
"How so?"
"It’s like on those television shows. The one where someone buys the outdated house and flips it, except they decided to keep the house and continue living in it. I don’t even know where all the old photo albums are."
"I’m so sorry. That can’t feel good, especially with everything going on."
I’m fighting back tears. And even if Lucille would be supportive and understanding, I don’t want to cry in front of her.
I change the subject to something lighter because I can't stand when people catch up and it's a one-sided conversation.
"Do you miss working?" I ask her, knowing she’s also a widow and probably rather lonely.
"I do but I don’t. My time has come to hang up my hat. But I miss seeing you and the team every day."
We catch up on more company gossip, and I pull up LinkedIn to see what Mr. Robinson has been up to. Not much.
