“Well, James got the info from Morgan or Chase. So I’d imagine whatever they said you could take their word.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
Salem was playing on my phone and then looked up at me.
“Does your dad look like you?” she asked.
“James said he did.”
“Didn’t you look online for pics of him? You found one of the uncle online; I bet there are pics of him with his family. I bet I could pick out your dad among them.”
“I was curious to see, but I didn’t go looking.”
Salem smiled and handed me back the phone. I put it back in my pocket and picked up a keychain and some charms. She must have caught on that all of this was so close to being overwhelming for me, and I appreciated that she hadn’t pushed.
“Do you want to meet him?”
I nodded and looked up at her.
“I do. I just need to wrap my head around it some more.”
“I can understand that. What do you think of Morgan?”
“He was nice when I talked to him with James. At the time, I didn’t know that we might be related, though. I think now it might be awkward. And no, I’m not going to do the photo shoot anymore. That would be weird.”
We sat and talked about my dad and uncles until all of her keychains were done. I carried the plastic box over to the shelving unit where we were going to display them.
“Let’s move our Socks and Coffee mugs to the top shelf and then we can put the keychains on the empty shelf,” she said. She reached out to start pulling our mugs from the shelf, but I stopped her.
“Let’s put yours on the top shelf.”
“Bran, no, it’s okay. I’m happy to just be able to display them here. I don’t need the top shelf.” Salem picked up a cardboard display that was about the height of a standard sheet of paper. It had a cardboard bracing behind it that could be pulled out and would allow the display to lean.
“Yes.” I smiled at her. “Your work deserves to be on top this time.”
Since I was taller, I took the cardboard display from her hands and gave her the plastic bin. I set it on the top shelf in the center and then took the bin back. Now all the customers would be able to see her work while they waited in line for their coffee.
When we were finished, I looked at my phone to see what time it was. It was just a little after eleven, and I had the idea to text James and see if he wanted to meet for lunch. After my morning talking with Salem, I felt more relaxed and ready to discuss meeting Chase. My dad.
12
CHASE
I sighedwhen the sunlight started to invade my room. It took all the strength I could muster just to open one of my eyes. I closed it again while I blindly felt around on the nightstand for my phone. It took me a few moments, and I finally had to roll onto my side to find the damn thing, but I located it and plucked it off the nightstand.
“What time is it?” I mumbled out loud even though I was alone. Well, I was somewhat alone. I was alone in my room, but Hollis and Patrick were staying here. Good thing I had two guest rooms.
Six. One. Zero. Six ten.
“Six ten,” I whispered as I set the phone on the nightstand and rolled onto my back.
It had been two full days since Morgan told me that he stumbled onto Brandon. I had tossed and turned all Tuesday night and did the same last night. The lack of sleep was starting to catch up with me. I felt like a walking zombie all day yesterday, but then I couldn’t sleep last night.
I was able to keep myself busy with Hollis and Patrick yesterday. I took them to the arcade to show them the sign I’d designed. They were impressed and really complimentary, but my mind was so preoccupied with thoughts of Brandon that I didn’t soak up and absorb how happy Hollis and Patrick were for me.
After I showed them that sign, I took them to the location of my next contract: a restaurant in Culver City that I’d be designing the branding for. The new owners were getting ready to renovate and wanted to change things up. While we ate lunch, I showed them some of my mockups on my phone. They showed a lot of interest, and I wish I could have enjoyed my time with them more, but Brandon occupied my mind. Neither Hollis nor Patrick ever messed with their phones or looked bored to be with me. I thought they really wanted to spend time with me and be here to support me during this, but I was starting to climb the walls with worry, wonder, anxiousness, and fear.
What had James thought of me?
