Chapter 11 #3
The table was cleared, the dishes were done, and her parents were on their evening walk to chat and collect the newest gossip when Mira opened the squeaky sliding door and stepped out onto the tiny balcony.
There was barely enough space for a small wooden bench and a few pots of kitchen herbs, which all looked a little sad.
Mira wondered if she should send her mother a bottle of fertiliser, and if she did, if her mother would actually use it.
“Hey. Are you pouting?”
Mira turned to watch Paul finagle himself and two tall glasses through the door. He made it unscathed and held one glass out to Mira.
“I’m not pouting, I just needed some air.”
She sniffed the glass, and Paul cackled. “Don’t worry, it’s just cider. Wouldn’t hand anyone any fun potions without warning.”
“Thank you ever so much.”
He sat down beside her, shaking the rickety bench in a rather concerning manner. It held up though, so Mira leaned back and sipped her cider. The good stuff.
“Mum didn’t buy this, did she?”
“Personal stash.” He clinked his glass to hers.
“I figured it was a good occasion.” He took a deep drink.
“Ahh, that’s the stuff.” His attempt at stretching out his legs was thwarted by the railing, so he settled for shoving his knees up against the wood.
“So you’re not pouting. You looked a little pouty though. ”
Mira sighed. “Not pouty. Just… annoyed. They could’ve just said ‘good luck’, you know. I know the risk, it’s not like I’m going into this blind.”
“Oh, I know. So do they, I think. They’re just… being parents, I suppose.” He grinned. “Remember what they were like when I started my accounting classes?”
“I do. It wasn’t very nice then, either.”
“Listen, they knew my grades, they were right to be like that.” He nudged her shoulder. “Not saying they’re right this time, either, but I think this is just what parents do. Maybe we’ll be like this one day, too.”
Mira shuddered dramatically. “I would prefer not to.”
She stared out at the street below, which wasn’t much of a view.
Town houses squeezed so close that there was barely any room for alleyways between them, and no greenery to speak of besides the occasional droopy geraniums decorating someone’s window.
It had never bothered her before. Now, she wondered if a tree here or there and some patches of grass were really too much to ask for.
As it was, it took a forty-minute tram ride to get anywhere that could even remotely be called a forest.
“You’re gonna be fine, you know.” Paul nodded like it was a certainty. “You were always better at figuring stuff out.”
“You seem to have figured everything out just fine.” She flicked a curl out of his face. “You even got a professional haircut.”
“Fancy, right?” He blew upwards, which did precisely nothing, now that his hair was as neat as it had never been before. “I thought I should make a good first impression. And I did!” Excitement entered his voice. “I got hired, did I tell you that? Where I helped out during summer last year.”
“You did not tell me that,” Mira said, feigning reproach. “Now I’m pouting.”
“Ah, come on, I didn’t mean to. Besides, I only got the news a few days before you came, so I thought I’d tell you in person and then-”
“The usual happened and you forgot.”
“Heh. Pretty much.”
“As long as you’ve got things under control at work. I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks.”
They sat in comfortable silence for a while, allowing Mira the time and space to realise that she had missed this most of all.
Her father worked a lot, her mother was…
who she was,and Leah had moved to the other side of the city years ago.
But Paul… He was her little brother. And she had sorely missed her little brother.
“You should come visit some time,” she said. “When the store is open and I have a proper guest bed and everything, I mean. I don’t know how much you remember about Emberglen, but I think you’d like it.”
“I remember the berry bushes,” he said. “And the forest. There were ghosts in there, weren’t there?”
“Wood sprites,” Mira replied. “Not these days,” she added wistfully. “They haven’t been around in a while, I don’t think. That’s what Cassia told me, anyway. Their habitat’s deeper in the woods now, near the foothills.”
“Aww, bummer. Is Cassia a friend of yours?”
“Sort of. Maybe some day.”
Mira found herself somewhat hesitant to call it a friendship just yet.
Someday, perhaps, but Cassia was just the kind of person to be friendly with most people.
Still, it was nice to think about it in this way.
Like it was a done deal that she’d make a home in Emberglen.
Like she didn’t have the biggest hurdle yet to take.
“Sounds like you’re settling in pretty nicely.” Paul shuffled a little more comfortably into his seat. “Sure, I’ll visit. Can’t miss checking out my sister’s extremely successful shop, can I?”
Mira chuckled and followed suit. “Fingers crossed you’re right about that.”