Page 2 of Their Little House Tristan
We chatted as I packed up the rest of my things and went outside to meet my parents. They pulled up less than a half hour later withI told you solooks on their faces. They were not big believers in education, thinking that I could just get a job and already be living my “grown-up life.” The scholarship was the only thing that had made me being here possible. My parents refused to so much as pay for SAT fees, much less anything once I was accepted to college.
“Thanks for coming to get me.” I slapped on my happy face, the one I was going to have to hold on to for the next few months while I saved up.
“It’s about time you came home.” My mom hugged me.
My dad slapped me on the shoulder. “And just in time! We invited Sally Beth and her parents over for Sunday dinner.”
“Sally Beth?” I had no idea who they were talking about.
“Yes, Sally Beth. The Stansted daughter.”
It took me a few seconds to piece together who they were talking about and, when I did, my stomach roiled. How could they want that for me? “Isn’t she a child?”
“You’ve been gone a long time. She turns eighteen next month.” My mom said it as if that made it less gross.
“Oh.” Because I couldn’t afford to tell them how I really felt. At least, not yet. I’d just need to master the art of pivoting away from their matchmaking. It was gonna be a long couple months if they were already starting with this.
“If I don’t have a job by then, I’ll be happy to join you.” Happy being a bald-faced lie.
“If you’re living in our house, Son, you will not be working on Sundays.” My father didn’t pretend I had any say in it. “Sunday dinners are mandatory.”
“Understood.” I only had to do this for a few months. That was it. Nothing more. I could do anything for a few months, right?
Chapter Two
Bellamy
There are two rooms open.
I finished up my work for the law firm but knew that no matter how much I got done, there would always be more. My daytime job was never-ending and filled to the brim with anxiety, pressure, and overwhelming business. I didn’t get as much little time as I wanted.
I gave my paralegal team a to-do list at nearly eight at night, right as I was about to go home. The team consisted of women and men fresh out of law school and some of them still working on their degrees. If I asked it of them, they would work all night, but I knew better. I wasn’t like the other lawyers in the firm. That would only make them work slower the next day, and they would grow to resent me.
Their work would suffer. They were my legs on the ground. I needed them just as much as the firm needed me. If they were unhappy, I was unhappy and vice versa.
“Go on home,” I said, placing a stack of papers and folders on their shared table. “Get some rest. Tomorrow is a big day and next week, we go to trial.”
The group stood up, all smiling, and some of them high-fived each other. I walked with them to the elevator. They were making plans for dinner and drinks, but I didn’t expect an invitation, of course. Dinner and drinks were no fun if you invited the boss, which was weird because I was their age. I finished high school at sixteen and law school at twenty-four. I was immediately picked up by a local firm, so the team in the elevator with me, well, most of them were my age or older.
It could’ve been awkward, but we respected one another. Made it work.
But still, going out with the boss wasn’t cool no matter what age I was.
“What are your plans for tonight, Bellamy?” I’d nipped the sir nonsense in the bud the day each one started.
“You all know me.” They absolutely didn’t. “I’m going home to relax and enjoy my rest.”
They laughed but didn’t press for any further information. I didn’t lie exactly. I was going to go home and enjoy my rent. How I chose to spend my free time was none of their business. My private life was just that.
After picking up a meal from a new restaurant that offered the best kids’ meals in town, I drove home but wasn’t as happy as I once was, going to what we all called the Little House. Of course, it was a safe space for us, but things had changed of late.
The house seemed lonelier since Colter and Dallas moved out to be with their forever daddy. I was happy for them, but it left the house a bit quiet. Less activity. Movie nights weren’t as fun. There were more chores with fewer renters.
I wished some new littles would move in so I could have some new friends. Even the toys in the playroom were getting boring.
Ugh, I really needed to stop complaining so much.
At home, I sat down at the table to eat. Still wound tightly from work, I would have to unwind before I could even enjoy myself.
