I nodded as I swallowed.
“What’ve you been up to lately?”
“Just working,” I answered, looking down at my plate.
“That’s it?”
I gave a one shoulder shrug.
“Jason told me about you storming into your father’s office the other week.”
I rolled my eyes. Of course, he did. “You’re not going to tell me how he would never do anything like that, are you?”
Tori shook her head and placed her uneaten pizza crust on her plate. “Nope. Lord knows, we all have our issues with our parents. That’s one relationship I’m not going to interfere with. I’m just worried about you. After everything happened, you kinda just disappeared, which is a bit of a habit of yours. And then Xavier’s been out of town for like a month or so, and I don’t know what happened there…” She trailed off, obviously hoping I’d fill in the blanks somewhere.
I hesitated.
“Done, Mommy!” Jason Jr. shouted.
Tori and I both looked over to see that his plate was nearly clean, except for a few pieces of crust.
“Did you finish your juice?”
He picked up his sippy cup, brought it to his mouth and dramatically tilted his head all the way back, so the bottom of the cup was in the air.
“Done!” he answered, plopping the empty cup back on the table.
“Amalia, you too?”
“Yes!” her sweet little voice answered.
“Okay, let’s get you both cleaned up.” Tori and I stood, she wiped down Jason Jr. while I helped clean off Amalia’s face and hands. “Go put your plates and cups in the kitchen sink, and you can go to your playroom. Auntie Nel and I will be there in a minute,” Tori instructed after we helped them down from their chairs. The kids scurried off, placed their plates on the counter in the kitchen, and ran to the back of the house where their playroom was.
“Now, back to you,” Tori stated.
I gave her a half-smile. “I guess disappearing is a little bit of a habit for me,” I echoed her earlier comment. “It’s just what I do. After what happened, I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I just buried myself in work.”
“And Xavier? You didn’t want to talk to him either?”
“The opposite.Hedidn’t want to talk to me.”
Tori made an inquisitive expression. “You know I’m going to need more details than that.”
I sighed. “Honestly, Tori, I’m still figuring it all out. I don’t know what went wrong between Xavier and I. I mean, Ididlie to him about my ex.”
“That piece of shit.”
I smirked at the mumbled curse. “Yeah, Ethan was a piece of shit when we were together.” I sighed, running my hand through my hair. “Anyway, I don’t know. Xavier and I haven’t talked since that day. And I haven’t been sleeping well at all. So, I went to my first therapy appointment this morning,” I admitted.
Tori looked at me with a semi-shocked look that changed into a more satisfied one. “Good. I’m glad you’re getting help with all this. I mean, between your ex and what happened with your client a few months ago…”
I nodded in understanding but remained silent. “Anyway, can we talk about something else? It’s been a heavy morning.”
Tori gave me a sympathetic look. “Sure. I’m just glad you’re here. Come see the latest project I’m working on in my art class before the kids pull you into one of their games.”
We quickly cleared the table and made our way down the hall to the room Tori had turned into her art studio. Even though it had taken me weeks to do so, I was glad to finally be hanging out with my sister-in-law and the kids again. I’d missed them dearly during my self-imposed isolation.
****
