“Really?” I say.
“I’ll tell him you’re interested,” June says. She hands me his card. “Call him yourself, actually, and you can figure out a timeframe.”
Brayden grins at me. “That’s awesome.”
“So June, did you hear your sister and Brayden are about to be the town heroes?” Sophia says.
She fills June in on the soil development, and June is so impressed she suggests I tell Mom and Dad, “…so you can brag. Hey, how come Phillip didn’t help you with the testing?” she asks me suddenly.
“Phillip didn’t believe it mattered,” Sophia says airily. “Phillip was too busy trying to save the world in his head rather than the one he’s living in.”
Brayden gives Sophia a look, but June thinks it’s hysterical.
Sophia bumps June with her basket by mistake and June looks at what she’s bought. “Your breakfast?” she inquires.
“Bananas with a donut,” Sophia says as she turns to Brayden and me and gives us both a knowing look. “One goes perfect with the other. What else do you need, right?”
Brayden grins at her. “You just don’t have any shame, do you?”
“None whatsoever,” she says with a look over at me. “I think others could learn from me, actually. Life is supposed to be fun, after all. And if it ain’t fun, what’s the point?”
Brayden kisses me goodbye by my car. “Good luck this afternoon,” he says, and I know he doesn’t just mean my job. “I know you need to take some time to get your feet under you, so please…” He cups my cheek in his hand. “Take it, okay? However long you need. I’m not going anywhere. Take the time for you, Lei.”
I kiss him back. “I’ll be thinking of you the whole time.”
On my way to work, the leasing agent calls to tell me my application was approved and that I can move in this afternoon if I want.
“Yes, that’s perfect,” I say to her. “Thank you very much.”
* * *
While Phillip’s teaching class, I pack up all my stuff. It doesn’t take long; most of the furniture is his from before we moved in here, and I’m not going to try to share things we bought together. Cut the couch in half? I don’t think so.
I pack what is really and truly mine, and I leave the rest. If Phillip wants help later to sell some of it, I can do that. Because I know he may want to leave this house, too. All the memories here are of the two of us, and I think we both need a fresh start.
I reach for the phone then. I need help moving, and Sophia’s at work.
“Hi, Leleila.” Mom answers on the second ring. “How are you, honey?”
“I’m all right.” I clear my throat. “I’m sorry to have surprised you this morning like that. Phillip and I officially broke up. I had to wait to tell you until he could reach his parents. It’s all for the best, for both of us, and I’ve never been happier.”
“Oh, honey.” After making sure I’m definitely okay, Mom says she likes Brayden. “I never knew, Lei. And that’s my fault. But I never knew someone like Brayden could work so well with you.”
“It’s not your fault, Mom,” I say.
“No, it is. I pride myself on knowing the facts, and the fact is you’re different than your father and me. You know I was so different from my own parents, too, and I feel like I should have seen this. Good for you. I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks, Mom,” I say. “Um, is Dad there? I need him for something.”
* * *
It takes three trips to get my stuff from the house to my new apartment. Between Dad’s economy car that barely fits a human being in the back seat, and my sedan, we could do better. With Brayden’s truck, it would have been one easy trip, and we probably would have gone to dinner afterward and celebrated and then made love to christen my new place. But I can’t call Brayden for this. I want to start my official relationship with him on the right foot, not moving out of the house I shared with my ex.
“Are you okay, honey?” Dad asks me as we unload his car in the parking lot and start toward the elevator.
“Yeah.”
“You sure?”
