ChristopherI finished the coffee and checked the time. I frowned when I realized it was about ten minutes later than my normal time. I must have missed Olin coming downstairs I thought. I had been so lost in thought I didn’t hear the usual door slams or the stomping through the kitchen. I went back inside and noticed there was nothing in the kitchen to indicate he’d even come down to grab his usual frozen waffles.I shook my head. “Dad fail number one thousand and one,” I muttered under my breath. I grabbed my keys, phone and books and headed for the garage.I opened the door and frowned. Olin’s car was still in the driveway. It explained why I hadn’t heard him come down or leave. “Shit,” I muttered, realizing he had overslept.I left my briefcase with my books by the door and jogged upstairs and knocked on his bedroom door. “Olin! Olin, you’re going to be late,” I hollered.I waited a minute before knocking again. “Olin, come on. You need to get up and get a move on. I’ll go get you
LeilaMy phone vibrated on the desk in my office for the third time. The first two calls had been from Kami. One call to ask if I got out of bed and the second to ask if I wanted to get dinner later. The woman woke up at four every morning and assumed the rest of the world did as well. She was usually very good about not calling me until at least six, but she’d broken her rule today.She had called me and woken me up on a morning I really, really didn’t want to be up early. The wine had left me feeling a little icky. I had planned to sleep in, but after the second phone call, I knew it was never going to happen. I stared at my phone, knowing it was her.I sighed, snatching it off the corner and instead of a huge cupcake that I used as Kami’s caller ID, it was Christopher’s number. “Oh no, I don’t think so,” I whispered.He didn’t get to have a change of heart. I had been hurt and felt miserable, but a night of wine and thinking led me to the conclusion he was right to end things. I di
Leila“I have to make a call,” I said, using my real phone to do a quick search for a phone number.“Why not use your phone? Is this some kind of teenage prank?”I looked at her. “Kind of.”I found the number and dialed it on the prepaid phone. The nerves were threatening to get the best of me. I held the phone in my shaking hand, not pushing the button.“Stop, Leila, tell me what’s happening,” Kami said, touching my wrist.I shook my head. “I have to do it.”“What do you have to do?”I bit my lip, drew a deep breath and pushed the send button. I held my finger to my lips, telling Kami to be quiet. I listened to the phone on the other end ringing. When a man answered, I did my thing.“There’s a bomb. It goes off in thirty minutes.”Kami was staring at me. Her eyes wide as saucers. I dropped the phone on the ground and stomped on it, over and over until it was nothing more than a pile of broken black plastic. I picked up the pieces and moved down the alley. I dropped some in one of the
ChristopherI parked in short-term parking and attempted to make my way to the doors but was turned away by police. That was when I noticed the flood of people pouring out every exit. Mothers were dragging little kids behind them; businessmen and women were rolling small suitcases as they all rushed in my direction.“What’s going on?” I asked one harried man.“Bomb.”“What?” I asked fear spiraling through me. I ran over to the security guard. “Can you tell me what’s happening?”“There’s been a bomb threat,” he said with no real concern. “It happens. I doubt it’s anything to worry about, but we have to evacuate and search the airport. All outgoing flights are grounded and inbound are being diverted.”“My son is in there!”“Sir, relax. There’s no reason to panic.”I took a deep breath. “I’m not panicking, but I need to find my son. Where do I go?”“Everyone waiting for a flight has been asked to go to the long-term parking. It’s a safe distance just in case.”“Just in case!” I practical
Christopher“Because we can’t go back,” I answered. “We can never go back to the way it was before she died. We are forced to make a new normal for ourselves. Minnesota was stifling us. Everywhere we looked, there she was. The dry cleaners, her favorite restaurants, her very essence. I will never forget her and I’m not asking you to forget her. I’m asking you to pick up the pieces of your life and put them together in a way that works.”“Is that what you’re doing?”“Yes,” I answered immediately. “I know it’s easier to stay where you know and feel comfortable, but easy wasn’t getting us anywhere. We were stuck. I felt like I was drowning. And, I know you don’t want to hear it, but it wasn’t doing you any favors either. You were making some decisions that would have ultimately led you down a very dangerous path.”He rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t a dangerous path.”“I’m not trying to get into all of that,” I said, not wanting to be distracted. “We’re here because this is a chance to start
LeilaI was hiding. I could admit it. I had been waiting for the police or the secret service or whoever it was that arrested people for calling in bomb threats to an airport. I was terrified to leave my house, even if that would be the first place they would look for me.The blinds were closed and both doors locked. Again, I wasn’t exactly fooling anyone with my car in the driveway, but I had to pretend I was doing something to avoid being hauled off to prison. I had a class, but not until later. Instead of going in to work in my office, I was working from home. It seemed safer.A knock on the door nearly sent me into a panic attack. I couldn’t move from the kitchen table. Could I escape? I looked down at my thick thighs and realized my ass was not going to be squeezing through the small window in the kitchen that faced the backyard. The back door would certainly be guarded.“You’re being ridiculous,” I whispered.“Leila!” Kami’s voice boomed. “Open the damn door. I know you’re in th
LeilaI sighed. “I do care about him, but he doesn’t want to be involved. I have to respect that.”“No, you don’t.”I laughed. “I’m just going to demand he love me and spend time with me and who cares what his son thinks?” I said being sarcastic but almost wishing she would tell me yes.“Yes.”“What?” I blinked. “You can’t say yes. Olin is someone who has a vested interest in this thing between Christopher and I. I’m not going to come between them. They already have a lot to work out.”“You deserve to be happy, Leila,” she said looking me straight in the eye. “You don’t have to go through life, following the rules and never speaking up for yourself. You are a lion, let me hear you roar. Let the whole world hear you roar.”“I roared a little bit with the dean,” I argued.A grin spread over her face. “Ah, yes, you did. And why did you roar?”“Because I wanted to be with Christopher,” I admitted what she was asking me to say.She nodded her head, a look of satisfaction on her face. “Beca
ChristopherUnlike most mornings, I didn’t idly sit out on the patio sipping my coffee and assuming my son would be making his way downstairs. I was in the kitchen, checking the time and waiting to see if he would come down. I knew he was home. I had checked on him periodically throughout the night. I had been nervous as hell he would try to run away again.When he came downstairs, I had his waffles buttered and waiting for him. He looked sheepish as he pulled up a seat at the bar. “How many times did you check to see if I was in bed?”I grinned. “About five, maybe ten.”He groaned. “Great. That’s going to be a thing now.”I shrugged. “For a little while. You scared me.”“I am sorry for that,” he said earnestly.I nodded. “I know. I just wanted to see where your head is at.”“I’m fine.”“I’d be okay if you wanted to take today off. We could go fishing, shopping, whatever you want.”He shook his head. “No. I need to go to school. I’m not going to make any friends if I don’t go. Besides