26. Chapter 25
Chapter 25
Felix
I could have almost fallen asleep at work, given how slow it had been and how boring it was too. Surely, there was something better than this—could I really stay here for another year? There was only so much I could discover about working for a travel company. I really was starting to think about quitting and listening to my sister, who told me to take charge of my life and go for what I wanted.
It made me think of Alisha, and the love she had for her job. She loved writing. It had become second nature to her. I wondered what she was doing today too. She texted earlier to say she would be out of town until this evening. I would have loved to have joined her and Ophelia, but bills had to be paid and clients had to be spoken to.
My boss popped her head in a few times to check in on me and ask me to complete a few extra tasks. I didn’t complain and did them as best as I could.
When it was time for my lunch break, I went into the staff room and grabbed the sandwich I’d stored in the fridge along with my orange juice. There was no one else in the room with me, not that it mattered as I didn’t really have a friend here. Maybe that was my own damn fault.
After finishing my sandwich which was a lot more delicious than expected; cheese and pickle, I finished the rest of my juice and then pulled out my phone to endlessly scroll. My sister had asked me to go round to hers after work, where our aunt would also be. Dinner was booked for tonight and I wasn’t sure if my cousins would be coming along. I’d be surprised if they did, since all they liked doing was playing games and watching sports on TV.
I had about twenty more minutes of my break before I was needed back at my desk. Thankfully I was clocking out a little earlier today, an hour earlier than usual. I couldn’t wait to start my annual leave soon. I needed to make a start on my Christmas shopping and then have a think about my future at this company. If I would leave, I would have to give two weeks notice and as gruelling as that was, I would work my notice.
“Right, back to it,” I muttered to myself as time was up and I could only stare at my phone so much before it would become tedious. Wanting time to hurry up, I finished every task I could and then did some copying and file organisation to keep me occupied.
By the time it hit 3:30 pm, I was ready to clock out and signed out of the computer I was working on. I said goodbye to my boss and in response, she dismissed me with a wave of her perfectly manicured hand. I’d never really spoken to her much other than talking about my performance and additional tasks to take on. As I left the building, I started to relax and drove to Mira’s place, where I knew my company would be acknowledged and welcomed.
It didn’t take too long to get to my sister’s place, which was located at the end of her road. It was a simple two bed, with a small garden but she made sure to decorate it with flowers as she had a green thumb. Mira felt safe and comfortable here, and the rent was affordable. With her job and the hours she did, I supposed she could afford it. I could see her waving from the window as I parked and I couldn’t help but laugh. She was always excited and I sometimes wished I could match that energy she had.
Aunt Brenna was also waiting for me and opened her arms for a big hug which I gladly granted her. I took in her familiar vanilla scent and she pressed a kiss either side of my cheeks.
“You look well, Felix.” She scanned my features until she seemed content. Then I moved towards my sister who dived into my arms. Honestly, I loved my family and my heart would always swell with love whenever I was around them. I couldn’t wait to spend some time with them, eat some good food and talk about anything and everything. Maybe I’d bring up Alisha to my aunt and I know that she’d be extremely eager to know more. She had wanted me to move on for some time, having picked up the pieces of my broken heart and shell. I didn’t want her to worry anymore as things had changed.
“How was work today?” Aunt Brenna asked, leading me to Mira’s living room. My sister had laid out some snacks on the table and poured us a glass of lemonade each as it was our go-to fizzy drink. The bubbles popped on my tongue as I took a long sip.
“Very boring, I must admit, but I go on my annual leave soon, so I can’t wait,” I replied, leaning back against the cushions to get more comfortable.
“I told him he should get another job, he’s not happy there,” Mira piped up, snatching a mini salted pretzel from one of the bowls. They did look delicious so I took a few as well.
“Oh, I’m sure he’ll make the right decision Mira,” Aunt Brenna replied with an almost warning tone, as if she didn’t want my sister to bring it up again. My aunt had always taken a step back from my choices when I grew up and allowed me to make mistakes so I could learn from there. She did of course nurture me and teach me right from wrong. Clearly, she had done a good job with both my sister and I since we were well educated and both had paid jobs.
“I do have something I want to talk to you both about later, but for now let’s catch up and I’ll make us some tea,” she said and Mira looked at me curiously, as if she thought I knew more than she did. I shook my head and shrugged but I hoped it was nothing to do with my aunt and her health. Neither me or Mira wanted to worry about her, as she was everything to us.
“I’m sure it’s fine,” I reassured quietly to my sister but I knew in her head, she was starting to come up with possible scenarios. I did the same too but I had to trust that whatever it was, everything would be alright.
***
Mira had picked a very fancy restaurant called Restaurant Stiar, known for its flavours of Asian cuisine. I had eyed up the thai coconut soup on the menu before arriving so I knew I would order this. The chef was exceptionally talented here but I wasn’t too sure whether we’d get the opportunity to meet him.
I was wearing the finest, crisp shirt I could find with a pair of black trousers and shoes to match. I had even decided to add gold cufflinks, ones that had been hiding away in my chest of drawers for some time. My hair had a little bit of gel but not too oily or too crunchy. Hey, I had to look classy since we were at an expensive restaurant.
The three of us were sat down at a perfectly decorated table, and were sipping glasses of crisp, white wine between us. We’d already ordered our starters—we simultaneously had ordered the soup. I remembered as well how much Alisha liked soup and how impressed she had been with my cooking.
“This is delicious,” Aunt Brenna said, our starters had arrived and I moaned in agreement, especially with the way it slid down my throat and coated my insides with its warmth. I eyed my sister who was almost finished and tore off a piece of her bread roll to swipe around her bowl. Even the bread here was high class. I couldn’t wait to try the main course; the homemade wild garlic noodles which would come with prawns with some grilled vegetables on the side. Wanted to be a little bit healthy tonight.
Our starters were shortly cleared away and we resumed back into easy conversation.
“So the boys didn’t want to come out tonight?” Mira asked, drumming her fingers on the tablecloth.
“You know how they can be. There’s a game they wanted to watch tonight. I suppose it’s worked out, as I wanted it just to be us three anyway,” Aunt Brenna said and I remembered that she had something she wanted to tell us. She didn’t look too worried but I can tell there was a slight edge to her. She was easy to read—you could always tell when she was thinking about something.
“I care about the two of you very much, I hope you know that. I will always look out for you and be very proud of whatever you do,” our aunt told the two of us, reaching across the table to take our hands. Now I was getting worried and I wasn’t sure whether I’d be able to stomach my main course, especially if the news was bad.
“Okay, Aunt Brenna, you're scaring us a little.” Mira let out a nervous laugh, meeting my eyes with hers. Her complexion was slightly pale and a few worry lines were stretched on her forehead.
“Is it your health?” I asked. I hoped it wasn’t, I couldn’t bear for my aunt to be sick.
“No, I’m healthy as a horse. It’s not about me, kids,” she drawled out and the anticipation was starting to become agonising. My heart was also skipping a beat and my palms were beginning to get clammy.
“You can tell us anything, we can take it,” Mira said, squeezing Aunt Brenna’s hand. Our aunt took a deep breath before speaking to us.
“It’s your mother,” Aunt Brenna said, her eyes darting between the two of us and waiting for our response. There was a silence as we processed this information. We never spoke about our birth mother. Ever. And I wondered why she came up in our conversation tonight.
“I saw her the other day in town. And she also saw me, so I couldn’t ignore her,” she continued and I nodded as of course my aunt wouldn’t ignore her own sister. Believe it or not, at one point when they were kids they had gotten along well.
“Did she say anything, about us?” I dared to ask. I doubted my birth mother cared, she’d had years to get in touch. What was she even doing in town? She didn’t live here or at least I didn’t think she did.
“She wanted to know how you both were, what you looked like now. Whether she could see you too,” Aunt Brenna said this with hesitation and she was right to. I would point blank refuse, like hell would I want to see the woman who abandoned me and my sister.
“Felix?” Mira turned to me, I knew she valued my opinion and wouldn’t do anything without my input.
“I-I don’t know. It doesn’t sit right with me. Do you know how much trauma Mira and I went through as kids?” I felt my blood heat up as I said this, because I didn’t want to think back to our difficult past.
“Of course I do and I did my best to shelter the pair of you from any further harm. You don’t have to meet her at all, I completely understand,” Aunt Brenna replied but I knew deep down she would want us to. I hoped she wasn’t expecting us to play happy families with the woman, you couldn’t undo the past.
“Maybe we need to think about it,” Mira pondered and she was right. The two of us needed to speak on our own. Our main courses came within the next few minutes and I did my best to eat mine, but couldn’t help but think about the possibility of seeing my birth mother again. Maybe I did need some closure but it would be ripping open old wounds that I didn’t want to see or feel.
My aunt eyed the two of us for the rest of the evening with caution but spoke to us in a calm tone. I knew what she was thinking; she wanted us to meet our mother but she wouldn’t push it. Her love for us overpowered her pride.
By the end of the evening, the three of us were full and ready to get back home. I knew before I’d go to sleep tonight that there were a lot of things I needed to think through. One of them being that I needed to talk to Alisha because leaving her in the dark wasn’t fair. She deserved my full attention and I was going to give it to her.