God, she was so sweet.
I could barely hear her with the noise of horns and yelling and all of the New Year festivities in the background.
“My fever’s gone down a bit and I definitely feel better now that I’ve heard your voice. I am hoping I’ll be done with this by mid-week.”
Have I mentioned I really hated lying to this woman?
“Well, you let me know the second you can have me…I mean…not have me…you know what I mean…not like I am thinking about that right now…”
I smiled at her nervously correcting herself. She was so damn cute.
“You will be the first person I see as soon as I beat this thing…I promise.”
“Ok…well, I’ll let you rest. Happy New Year,” she said, sounding a bit down.
“Happy New Year, sweetheart,” I said as I quickly hung up the phone before I said anything I would regret. I closed my eyes and silently mouthed, I fucking love you.
And so went the worst New Years Eve of my life.
***
After four more nights of tormenting myself, I came to a monumental decision; well, two decisions actually.
One: I was going to come clean to my mother about everything that happened in Chicago.
Two: I was going to ask for her advice on how to handle the Allison situation.
Caleb was the only person who knew the truth, but somehow, this was too important not to have a second opinion.
My mother was the only other person on this Earth that I could trust. She would be disappointed that I wasn’t honest with her all these years, but would find out eventually anyway and I wanted it to come from me. Also, I knew she wouldn’t say anything to Allison and that I could trust her.
So, Friday night after work, I impulsively drove to my mother’s house. Traffic was busy and it felt like I’d never get there.
I knew that Allison wouldn’t be there with Callie on a Friday, which is why I chose tonight. I still hadn’t seen her since my supposed illness.
Earlier in the week, I told her that my sickness had caused me to fall behind in work having to make up lost hours. I then arranged for a client meeting later in the week in New York to get myself out of town and buy myself more time to think and had just returned last night.
It had been a full week now since I last saw her. Even though, I phoned and texted, I began to feel she was suspecting something because her responses were getting shorter and shorter. But I knew if I went to her and saw her, I wouldn’t be able to control myself and needed to give her the respect she deserved until I knew what would happen.
Arriving at Mom’s, I used my key to let myself in. The house was unusually quiet as I made my way back to the kitchen. There was no sign of my mother, but I saw a light in Callie’s room and could hear soft music playing.
I opened the door and my heart skipped a beat when I saw Allison lying on the bed with Callie.
Her face turned red when she saw me, but she immediately put her finger to her mouth signaling me to be quiet. Callie was fast asleep next to her and Allison slipped away quietly to join me in the hallway, closing the door to Callie’s room behind her.
“Cedric, what are you doing here?” she whispered in surprise.
I wished I could have made myself disappear into thin air before saying, “I could ask the same of you…is everything okay, where’s my mother?”
Allison’s face seemed to lose all of its coloring.
“She had to bring some stuff to her aunt Evelyn in the nursing home. She called me over because Callie is sick and her other therapist cancelled. I had to cancel working with Lucas, but it’s fine, they were able to fill his shift with someone else. I would rather be here for her. She has a slight fever, but she’s okay. How are you feeling?”
“My poor sister. I’m much better, actually. I just got in from New York.” I fake smiled, hoping to keep talk of my lies to a minimum.
Allison didn’t return my smile and looked down. “I am glad to hear that you’re better.”
I stared at her in awe for a few seconds, still a bit shocked to have found her here instead of my mother, then immediately lost all control and