Page 104 of As the Years Pass
Her eyes flick up to me, but her head stays downward. “Nothing.”
I narrow my eyes but she goes back to the papers. The kids are with her mother at Funland, otherwise I’d be hanging out with them while she looks this over.
“Can I get some water or something?” I ask.
“Sure. Glasses are in the cabinet to the right of the sink, and the fountain works from the fridge.”
I get to my feet to get water, downing the glass before refilling it. I don’t know why I hate being here so much, it just feels weird. This is her life with her new boyfriend, and it feels like I don’t belong here. This isn’t my life, and I don’t like feeling like I’m being forced to be in it.
When I sit back down, I ask, “Where’s Chris?”
“Working.”
“Oh yeah. Dentist, right?”
“Orthodontist. But you already knew that.”
Oh, right. Whoops.
I look around the kitchen, tapping my finger on the glass of water.
“If you want to ask something, just ask,” she finally says.
“There’s nothing I want to ask.”
She looks over each page, and when she’s done, she gets up and digs through a junk drawer for a pen, then signs in all the spots that are labeled for her to sign. When she’s done, she puts the pages neatly together and closes the folder, sliding it to me. I grab it, but she keeps her hand on it, not letting me pick it up.
“Before you go—”
I huff an annoyed sound. “What now, Leslie?”
“Relax, Adam. Jesus. Why do you have to be like this?”
“Be like what?”
“Like this. Like we can’t be friends or something.”
I scoff, getting to my feet. “Because we can’t.”
I tug the folder from her grip, and turn to leave.
“I know about Emmet,” she calls after me.
I stop dead in my tracks, feeling her gaze on my back. She didn’t sound angry or upset. She sounded… disappointed, almost. Then her footsteps sound on the tile and she’s standing in front of me.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” she asks with a frown.
I clear my throat, looking down at the woman I shared so much of my life with—so much of my life that seems fake at this point. Like it was all a story I made up for some reason that doesn’t make sense.
“There was nothing to say.”
She smiles cockily. “You’re lying.”
“I’m not,” I say firmly.
“Adam, why are your walls always up? Why don’t you let anyone in?” My blood runs cold, and my vision darkens in the corners. “I’ve known about him for a long time.”
“How long?”
