Page 93 of Ten Hours

“Please, call me Gail. And we’re so glad you could join us.” She releases my hand and takes a step back. “I never thought I’d see the day when Abel would bring a girl home.” She gives her son a knowing smile. “Come on, everyone is in the back.”

Abel takes my hand, entwining his fingers with mine as we follow his mom through a formal living room, then down a wide hallway that opens up to another living room at the back of the house. The entire back wall is made of floor to ceiling windows which gives off a beautiful view of the grounds outside.

The room looks to have been professionally decorated. I’d say the couch alone costs more than every piece of furniture in mine and Claire’s apartment combined. I shrink a little into Abel’s side, feeling more out of place by the second.

To our left I see a formal dining room and to our right is a huge brick fireplace that acts as the focal point of the room. I purposely focus on the décor to avoid the stirring queasiness in my stomach as I feel every set of eyes in the room hone in on me.

“Finley, I’d like you to meet my husband, Adam,” Gail says when a man who looks remarkably like an older version of Abel steps up in front of us.

I swear I have to do a double take. It’s like I’m looking at Abel thirty years from now. Same eyes. Same nose. Same small dip in his chin. Even their hair is the exact same color other than the gray that peppers his temples.

“Adam.” I force myself to smile, taking the hand he extends to me.

“So nice to meet you, Finley.” He smiles and I realize that’s the one thing he and Abel do not share. Where Abel’s smile is full and genuine, his father’s seems more rehearsed. I’m sure that stems from his profession. I’ve seen countless doctors smile at me the way he’s smiling at me right now.

“And you as well.” I release his hand and look up at Abel. “Your brother’s name is Adam, too,” I state the obvious.

“He’s Adam Junior,” Gail speaks before Abel has a chance to, pulling my gaze back to her. “Come; let me introduce you to everyone.” She sweeps her arm through mine and pulls me away from Abel.

For the next ten minutes she bounces me around the room introducing me to all of Abel’s brothers and a couple of their significant others. With each introduction she tells me at least one personal thing about each of them before moving on to the next.

I smile at all the appropriate times and tell each person how nice it is to meet them, but all I can think about is getting back to Abel and the comfort his presence provides.

I’ve felt so completely out of my element since the moment I stepped through the front door and when we all gather around the dining room table for dinner that feeling only intensifies.

I think it’s safe to say I’ve never been in a house this nice or sat down for dinner with people quite like this before. I have definitely never had lamb served to me by someone who was hired to cook for the evening. I mean, who does that? I was lucky if my mom would throw a T.V. dinner in the microwave for me and here Abel’s parents hire people to come in and cook for family dinners.

Two different worlds is starting to become the understatement of the century.

I find myself watching Gail more than anyone else. Maybe because I know she has cancer. Or maybe it’s because I’m floored by how unaffected she seems by it. She still smiles and laughs like everything is perfect. I can’t help but wonder if she truly feels that carefree or if it’s an act she puts on for the rest of her family. If I had to guess I’d say it’s the latter.

Abel’s family isn’t what I expected, yet at the same time exactly as I pictured. His brothers are all handsome, all successful, and all clearly thrive on the praise and acceptance from their parents. They all clamor over each other to talk about what exciting thing they are doing at work or school, in Andrew’s case. From what I gather he’s only got a few weeks left before he can take the Bar Exam. I can’t imagine being in school for as long as he has been.

Sam, Andrew’s girlfriend, reminds me of one of the really popular girls I went to school with. She’s wearing a dark blue dress that looks like something a forty year old might wear to the office even though she’s only in her mid-twenties. No doubt she’s trying to make herself seem more mature. She also seems quite content talking about herself.

She’s gorgeous, too. Like, tall, slender, blonde model gorgeous. If I didn’t already feel like the ugly duckling, she sure would have driven the feeling home. At least I traded in my normal comfy attire for dark jeans and a black top, but even then she still makes me feel underdressed. I mean, she seems nice enough, but it’s hard not to feel like every word spewed from her mouth isn’t a jab at everyone else. She seems to be trying to prove that she and Andrew are above the others. I don’t get that vibe so much from Andrew, but if he’s been with her this long then what does that say about him?

Alex is probably the most full of himself out of all the brothers. He has this arrogance about him that rubs me the wrong way. However, his wife, Tanya is shy and seems very sweet. She’s also very pretty. She too is dressed like she’s about to go to some fancy office job, but there’s something very down to earth about her at the same time. She has her long brown hair tied off to the side and given how swollen her pregnant belly is I’d guess she’s only a couple months away from giving birth.

And then there’s Aaron, who I think is probably my favorite out of the three brothers in attendance. He has the same easy smile as Abel which oddly makes me feel more at ease. He’s also the only one who hasn’t made me feel like a complete outcast for most of the night.

I don’t think anyone is doing it on purpose, or perhaps they’re not doing it at all and it’s my mind seeing what it wants to see. All I know is that every time the conversation turns to me I feel like they’re all judging every word that comes out of my mouth.

I don’t think they’re bad people, I just think they’re notmykind of people. The longer I sit here the more I see what he meant when he said he didn’t fit in with his family.

His brothers are all wearing khakis and button downs while Abel is sporting faded jeans and a plain white t-shirt, his tattoos on full display. They all boast about their awesome, high paying jobs, while Abel is perfectly content playing gigs at the most run down of places. Material things don’t matter to him while that seems to be the one thing the rest of the family values.

I’m starting to think I would have been better off suggesting we have dinner with Claudia and Jack instead of agreeing to come here tonight. At least then I wouldn’t feel so uncomfortable.

At the same time I’m happy to see where Abel comes from, and it’s not all bad. His dad has the same full belly laugh as him and I love how his mom is always finding excuses to reach out and hold her husband’s hand or touch his arm. It’s clear the two love each other very much.

We may not fit in their world, but we’re a part of it just the same. So I’m trying my best to not let my insecurities hinder my chances of getting to know everything I can about Abel–which includes his family.

It’s just after seven-thirty when everyone retires to the living room, by which point I feel physically drained, even though I’ve done nothing but sit for the better part of an hour. I still haven’t gotten all my strength back and as such I find myself tiring a lot more easily than I normally would.

Abel must sense this because he grabs my hand and hauls me backward right as I’m following his mom out of the dining room.

“You okay?” He smiles, running the back of his hand down my cheek. “You’ve been awfully quiet the last few minutes.”

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