A Love Restored

Liam walked me back to the house. I went inside and finished up the rest of the work. I prepped some veggies for dinner and decided to come back to once I had had lunch. It was kind of late for lunch, and I was pretty hungry now, given I had skipped breakfast. And since I had spent more time on my makeup than usual, I hadn’t had time to pack myself a lunch. I had just planned to stay hungry today, since I didn’t even have my car. But then Liam had offered, and I was really, really hungry to deny

He had asked me to meet him at the parking at 3 30, and 1 was five minutes early. I waited for a bit, dallying around till I saw him walk up to me. I waved excitedly, and he waved back. He walked up to me. Incidentally, I had been standing against his car. When he stood next to me, he kind of towered over me. And he was so huge he almost covered my sight completely. I realized he could crush me with one slap or punch to my face or abdomen. But he gave off such cute golden retriever energy. It wasn’t healthy to mistrust everyone.

“Ready?” He asked, walking to the driver’s side, not waiting for my answer. I climbed in the passenger seat quickly and strapped myself in.

“Thought I’d have to get a

get a kid’s seat for you.

you.” He grinned to himself at his joke. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “I’m not that short.”

He began to drive. “You liking the job?”

I shrugged. “It’s too early to say. But I like Lydia and the work isn’t too much.” I looked at him. “Have you been with the Corsinos for very long?”

“My mom and I began working for them about five years ago?” He thought about it for a second. “I was twenty–one, then. Yeah, five years.

“Do you like them?”

“Mr. Corsino can be a bit of a pain, honestly. He’s rude and he’s really fucking angry all the time.”

I piggled. He wasn’t wrong there. So, these things hadn’t changed then.

“His parents are great, though. I shouldn’t have moved from there.” Liam said. He pulled into the McDonalds driveway. We ordered cheeseburgers and fries. While we waited, he continued, “I’m kind of jealous of him. He’s younger than me and he’s so filthy rich.”

I got that. Before I became kind of poor myself, living meal to meal, counting every penny spent, I hadn’t really understood how unfair the wealth distribution is, and how terrible are the lives of the poor and the middle class. I had been living in a strange bubble of privilege. 1 had never questioned it. Never been grateful for what I’d been born with, had been lucky to.

“Its old money.” I said, “He didn’t eam it. If that helps you feel better.”

“That’s what I tell myself.”

Our food arrived, and I hungrily bit into my burger, not wasting any time. It was so delicious. Or maybe I was just really, really hungry. It was probably a mix of both.

“How old are you, anyway?” Liam dipped his fries into his coke. I laughed at that, and he rolled his eyes.

“Twenty–one”

Sometimes I couldn’t believe I was twenty–one. I hadn’t really celebrated my birthday, but the day after I had just been wondering and pondering over my age. I knew I was young, but the words twenty–one made me feel so old. Like I should have my shit together by now. And look how I was living.

Sometimes it felt like I was watching my life from the outside. Like I was present and doing things but my mind, my soul, the real me, was just watching from the outside in.

*You look really your

young. Where do you live?”

I made an incredulous face at that question, and he caught on, laughing. “Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like a serial killer. Just making

conversation.”

“I live on the fifty first.” I answered. “Your”

“Oh, I live nearby. We can drive together, if you want. I saw you didn’t h

you didn’t have a car, today.”

“I have a car” I said, “It broke down today so I had a friend drive me.”

“Ah well, I’ll drive you back.”

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I shook my head, “No, you don’t need to. I can figure it out.”

“Its really no big deal. Friends help each other out, no?

I nodded. I liked that. He was my friend, I guess.

We talked more as we ate. He told me about Lydia and about his younger sister. And he told me anecdotes from his time working for the Corsinos. He was a funny guy. He looked intimidating, but he was actually really sweet. I liked this. A work friend.

house and made dinner. I didn’t know what time Felix would

We drove back a bit later and then went to work on our separate stations. I returned to the h be back from work.

But by the time I was done, it was past my working hours. I wanted to wait for Felix to get back, to see him again, if not talk to him. But I decided it was a lost cause, and I would try again the next day.

I met Liam in the parking lot for our ride home.

-Are

you sure this won’t inconvenience you?” I asked him for the fifth time that day, and he denied. We sat in his car and left.

He took the short way home. As normal people do. I never did that. Felix’s property was almost at the edge of Avalon. This meant I could drive to and from there without having to drive past the other houses up the long street. The houses I didn’t want to see. The one where I had lived once. The one where Felix had lived. But it took lesser time to just go the other way. I didn’t want to ask Liam to take the other way. I decided I would just close my

eyes.

I couldn’t. When Felix and I’s houses came up on the road, I think I turned with my whole body to look at them. I did not understand my feelings, for a moment. I felt a weird whirlpool build in the pit of my stomach, and my throat began to fill up. I gulped.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

They looked the same. Exactly the same. It felt like I had been transported back in time. Like maybe I could step out of this car and run up the stairs and my mom would greet me with the biggest smile on her face. And Felix would be in the kitchen, chatting up Hannah and munching on something she would have made specially for him.

I knew that Felix’s parents were still living in the same place. Their house looked inhabited, even from this far. Mine didn’t. I had expected that the Corsinos would have sold it by now, or rented it to someone else, but it didn’t look like anyone lived there.