“He was expecting us wasn’t he?” I heard my father’s voice say.
“Yeah, I just forgot your flight was this early.”
“You’ll never guess who we ran into and just had to bring along?” My mother continued louder than was necessary into the wall piece. “Sophia!”
Fuck!
“Oh great,” I lied into the com. I pushed the button to buzz them in to the elevator. “Come on up.”
“Who was that?” Lilly said coming down the stairs behind me.
I turned to her, now completely frazzled.
“So that’s my parents. I forgot they were coming up for the weekend.”
“Oh,” she said just as surprised as I was.
“Is Sophia your sister then?” she asked slipping her shoes on.
“No. Remember when I said I kinda had a thing with a family friend but it really was just my parents pushing it?”
“That is who Sophia is?” Lilly responded surprised.
“Yeah, I’m really sorry to do this, but…” I hesitated. I didn’t want to tell her to leave, but this was going to be awkward enough without having to explain Lilly to my parents.
“No, that’s fine. I have to go anyway,” Lilly said a little ruffled.
“I’m really sorry. I’ll explain it all later. There is a set of stairs off the kitchen.”
I walked her back there. This was not the pushy goodbye I was hoping to give her. In fact I was hoping we could have at least had a replay of last night one more time before I let her out of my sight again.
I heard the elevator ding in the front of the house and my mother’s voice calling out.
“I’m really sorry,” I said giving her a quick kiss before turning and running to meet my parents.
The last thing I wanted was them to come find me.
“There you are,” my mother said when I ran out to greet them. “You look like you just woke up,” she said pulling me into a hug.
“I did,” I responded.
“Well are you happy to see us. Bill aren’t you happy to see your son?” My mother nudged at Dad.
He gave a non-committal grunt as he looked around the place.
“At least you got it mostly livable here,” was all he said.
“And of course your fiancé, Sophia,” Mom said stepping aside to reveal her standing behind them. “I bet you are happy to see her at least.
I prayed to God that Lilly didn’t just hear my mother say that. The closing of the door afterward told me I probably wasn’t so lucky.
“What was that? Do you have a cat or something?” Mom asked trying to look passed me and to the direction of the kitchen.
“Nothing,” I said shoving them the opposite direction. “Have a seat, I’ll make some coffee. You must be exhausted after your flight.”
Twenty-Two
Lilly