Chapter 13 - Olivia
P arked in the cell phone waiting lot of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, Olivia smiled down at her phone when she saw Aiden's text. She excitedly unlocked the message. Already feeling Grace’s influence, she leaned into her silly side.
Olivia: Yes! My sister is coming home and bringing her new man friend! I'm so excited! Can you tell?!!! I’m at the airport right now
Aiden: Haha, great. Well maybe I'll see you this weekend?
Olivia: Sure, that’d be fun
Olivia had debated telling Aiden she was coming to the Twin Cities, but after weighing the pros and cons with Jessa, she decided against it. She didn’t want to seem desperate. Despite all of their texting, she wasn’t sure where Aiden’s head was. And now this? A text that said he hoped he’d see her in Gresham, but he hadn’t specifically asked her to meet up at a specific time and a specific place?
It left her even more uncertain. They’d been communicating for multiple weeks, yet he left the whole thing up in the air. What is that about? Maybe she was exceptionally bad at boys after being off the market for so long.
The next text was from Grace.
Grace: The chickens are in the henhouse. I repeat, the chickens are in the henhouse.
Olivia laughed to herself as she put her car into drive and made her way to Arrivals.
She had insisted that her parents let her drive solo to the Cities to pick up her sister and her new boyfriend, Abesh. Olivia wanted to make a good first impression on behalf of their family.
As she pulled forward slowly along the Arrivals driveway, Grace waved her arms frantically, like she was stranded on a desert island. Even after making eye contact, Grace continued to dance around like an idiot, which made Olivia laugh out loud.
Standing calmly next to Grace was a handsome, well-dressed man holding two suitcase handles–Abesh. His black hair, dark brown eyes, and olive skin were a beautiful pairing with Grace’s blond hair, blue eyes, and pale complexion. Abesh watched Grace’s silly antics with the happy satisfaction of a man in love.
Dang , girl . Well done . Olivia pulled over and got out of the car to say hello.
“Sister!” Grace yelled, wrapping her arms around Olivia and swinging her from side to side.
Olivia laughed and hugged her tightly in return. “Wow, so you act like a dork in front of your boyfriend, too?” she teased.
Grace laughed and tickled Olivia’s side, Olivia’s weak spot. She eek’ed and pushed her sister away.
“Some respect for your elders, please,” Olivia mock scolded. “You haven't even introduced me!”
They turned to Abesh, who waited with a good-natured smile. He reached out his hand and said, “Abesh Hossain, nice to meet you.”
“Olivia.” They shook hands warmly. “Thank you for putting up with Grace for an entire four-hour plane ride. I’ve been there, and it’s not easy.”
Grace laughed. “You're a turd.”
Olivia’s face hurt from smiling. “I'm so glad you're here,” she said without sarcasm. “I've missed you, and we've all been so excited to meet the famous Abesh.”
Grace gave her another hug, this time without wiggles.
They loaded up the car and climbed in. Grace settled in the passenger seat, and Abesh took the back.
“So, we have news,” Grace said as they buckled up.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. We’re moving in together!”
“Yay! Congratulations! Very exciting,” Olivia said in a sing-song voice.
“Do you think Mom and Dad will freak?”
“Nah, I think I paved a smooth path for you on that front with Sam.”
“Okay, good. How are you doing with all that, by the way?”
“Honestly?” said Olivia, considering. “Good, I think. The first few months were hard, but it’s gotten easier since I started working on my farm. Now, I honestly don't think about him all that much. We haven't texted since…” Olivia paused, thinking. “March?”
“That's good. I'm glad you're doing well.”
“Thanks, yeah, me too.”
The conversation evolved, and Olivia made sure to include Abesh, asking him questions about his teaching and research at UT Austin. He struck Olivia as calm, kind, and confident, which seemed to be a good balance for Grace's bouncy energy.
I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up being the one for her. Olivia’s thought was accompanied by a feeling of contentment.
By the time they rolled into their parents’ driveway, it was a little after 10 p.m. Their parents were watching the news, and dinner leftovers were warm in the oven.
After Grace introduced Abesh, their mom gave him a hug, and their dad reached out his right hand and gave him a serious “man shaking another man's hand” look. Olivia glanced away, feeling embarrassed for her dad.
When they sat down to eat, Grace told the story of how she and Abesh met when Grace recruited him for the Economics Department at the University of Texas. Abesh chimed into Grace’s story with important details and teased her for coming on strong. They were very charming together.
When their dad pointed out Abesh didn’t have an accent, Abesh took it in stride, for better or worse. He told them his parents had immigrated from Bangladesh when he was a baby. His dad had gotten a visa to work at the University of Ohio as an academic researcher in agronomy to study crop production. Eventually, they all become citizens through his father’s green card.
At that, their dad couldn’t help himself. “That's such a wonderful testament to hard work.”
Oh god, where is this going? An ominous pit formed in Olivia's stomach.
“This is why it's so important we fight illegal immigration because it’s not fair to people like your parents who have had to work so hard for it.”
“ Dad !” Grace and Olivia protested in unison.
“Bill, no politics, please,” their mom said.
Olivia quietly seethed and mentally told him she was never taking over his stupid farm because he was a terrible person. So there , she thought with a final childish flourish.
Meanwhile, Abesh deftly steered the conversation into safer territory, asking their dad about the farm. After listening patiently to their father’s ramble about his expected yields, Abesh told a story about his paternal grandfather, a tea farmer in Bangladesh, and how growing up on a tea farm led his father into agricultural research.
“Your dad sounds like a great guy. I'd love to meet him,” their dad said matter-of-factly.
“Sadly, he passed away a few years ago,” Abesh responded.
“Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that.” Their mom's voice was filled with sincere sadness for Abesh.
“Well, he must have been very proud of you,” Dad added.
“Thank you, both. That's very kind.” Abesh sounded genuinely touched.
For a moment, Olivia reflected for the millionth time on the split personalities of so many old white Midwestern men. She couldn’t count the number of times her dad had pulled someone's car out of a ditch with his tractor when they had slid off an icy road or fixed a neighbor's roof for free when they were down on their luck.
One minute, they'll figuratively spit on someone who lives outside their narrowly defined boundaries of decency, and the next, they'll show up in grand ways to help someone, no questions asked .
It added evidence to Olivia’s ongoing hypothesis that humans were rarely black and white.
Despite the awkward moment, the rest of the dinner went smoothly, and Abesh seemed mostly relaxed with their family, for which Olivia was grateful. She couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to introduce Aiden to her parents like this. She hated considering it because she didn’t want to crave her dad’s approval, yet she wondered how Aiden would measure up to his high expectations. Though, given Aiden’s lack of visible tattoos alone, he was sure to impress her father more than Sam had ever managed. The two had mixed like oil and water.
Regardless of her dad’s opinions, she hoped she would see Aiden at the festival the next day. Again, she wondered why Aiden hadn’t tried to make a more formal plan to meet up.