“It was.”
There was silence again.
I’d slowed my treadmill, anxiety starting to fill me. My palms itched, and I was restless while walking. I needed to change the scenery.
I stopped the machine and hopped off, grabbing my stuff before making my way to a bench off to the side. What if she didn’t think this was a good idea? What if she decided not to support Odette anymore?
I downed almost my entire bottle of water just waiting. Waiting for my mom to say something.
Anything.
“Do you think when the next book releases, you can get me an advance copy?”
I had to stop myself from laughing this time.
“Minnie Ryker.” I admonished my mom.
“Do not use my name, son.” Her voice turned stern, and I let out another laugh.
“Of everything I thought you might say, it was not that.” I let my head drop in my hands, body shaking from the laughs that wouldn’t stop coming.
“Were you that worried?” Her tone changed again. My laughs turned to taking deep breaths. I wished she were here. But she wasn’t. She was states away, and I missed her dearly.
“Yeah,” I admitted.
“Oh, son,” she let out a sigh. “I had no idea you felt that way about her. But it sounds like you have very strong feelings for her.”
“I love her,” I blurted out. “It started with liking her, and once we met a few months ago, it was like we were on a fast track, and all the feelings I had before just amplified.”
“Love,” she said only the one word.
“Yeah, love.” I sat there, silence hanging between us once more, before speaking up again. “I’ve been supporting her for years, not just taking you to signings, but playing her games since the beginning. I’ve also invested in them. I’ve put all of my heart into her.”
“Does she know this?”
“Yes,” I lifted my head quickly in response, as if she were here. “I told her everything, the signings, backing her, investing, everything.”
“Everything?” my mom asked, and I knew what she was asking.
“She knows who I am.”
“Oh,” I could hear the quick intake of breath through my earbud. “This is serious, then.”
“I’m going to do a face reveal.” The words came out. I hadn’t prepared to tell my mom this way about how I was going to announce who I was to the world, but this felt like an open session with her. Tell her all of it.
I was met with silence again, though.
“Mom, I’m going to need you to respond faster because I’m kind of dying over here in the gym.” My foot was tapping as I waited for her to say something.
“I’m trying to process, Ry. I didn’t expect you to say that. You’ve lived this life for so many years and have loved being able to just be you when you go out, but you’ve never said anything about wanting to give that up. What’s changed?”
“You and Dad mentioned selling the café, and I started to really think about it then.”
“That was earlier this summer, Ry. If this were something you really wanted to do, why wouldn’t you have talked to me about it before now?”
“Because we had no idea if that sale was going to go through, or when, and I wasn’t even sure it was something I wanted to do. It was just something I’d been toying with the thought of since, for me, there wouldn’t be much to hide from anymore with the café not being in our name.” I hadn’t ever really talked to my parents about why I’d gone into gaming with a pseudonym and a disguise.
“I didn’t realize you felt like that about the café.”
