Page 76 of 2204 Hunter Lane
I debated whether or not to leave my car running, praying to the gods above that this meeting wouldn’t be long, but all the rational parts of me assumed the worst.
A shame to declare dinner with your parents a meeting, though there was no other way to call it. Everything was a meeting to the Matthews. Brunch, lunch, tea-time, boating, barbecues… endless opportunities to talk business, no room for updates on the wellbeing of their children.
When I found out my mother was fabricating the real reason Marley ran off, I was beside myself with frustration. Had she truly abandoned her life here to live with another man in a different state, I’d have no qualms with the fact. Would I have approved of her life choices? Probably not considering it was so sporadic and quite honestly, random.
But my mother,ourmother spewed lies to make her seem less than the human she was… the irony in that. And where was my dad in all this? Gone, probably off in a separate area of New York dealing cards with the higher ups of every company he somehow managed to co-own.
I checked my watch: 5:32pm, and rang the doorbell which alerted a series of chimes and jingles.
Not a moment too soon, my mother appeared dressed in an egg-white dress with matching heels, her brown hair puffed and curled to her shoulders.
“You’re early, Adam.” She released, kissing me on the cheek.
“Better early than late. You taught me that.”
She wore a prideful simper as she shut the door behind her, leading me into the dining room with large glass windows and a crystal chandelier.
I hadn’t been back to my parents’ place since Marley left. The biggest parts of me were devastated that she’d fled, but more than anything it felt wrong being back here without my baby sister.
The memories we’d created in this home, only us in the absence of our parents, were spectacular. We managed to cut corners, hide in vents, create our own little world amongst the snoots and riches.
“Will Michelle be joining us later?” She asked, taking her usual seat at the table with a glass of wine.
“Will dad?” I combatted.
She placed down her drink and threw me a side-eye. “What kind of question is that, Adam?”
“An honest one. He’s never here.”
“Neveris a strong word.”
I rolled my eyes and folded my jacket over the back of my seat, cuffing my sleeves as I sat down across my mom.
“Is he here then? I have some things I want to discuss with you both.”
She twirled the diamond rock on her ring finger as she looked through me, never at me. I don’t remember a time where she did.
A part of me always envied Marley for diversifying herself to the wonders of life, even more so now that she was miles and miles away from this atrocity of a family. To my parents, I’d always been the golden boy. And for that, they put even more pressure on Marley to maintain my interests.
But that was just the issue they could never comprehend. Her interests and mine were never aligned. Marley and I were two peas in a pod growing up, though we were always different flavours, different colours.
Did she make mistakes? Of course. Was I here to condemn her for them? No. That has never been my place and would never be. I understood the choices she made, even more so now with the new information I was given.
I worked on Wall Street as a credit analyst, and where I loved my job and the perks it came with, a part of me was never content with myself at the end of the day. It was such a ‘woe is me’ mentality to have, considering the life I possessed was wonderful.
My beautiful wife was pregnant with our first baby girl, we were both successful in our own fields, living in a city bursting with potential, and yet… I was incomplete.
Marley was the yin to my yang, the more wild and eccentric counterpart to my personality. I’d take joy out of living vicariously through the untameable stories she’d tell me about.
Although the goal for me was never to live in the wealth and prosperity of my parents’ approval, no, I always wanted a rural life. I thrived by myself, in the silence and serenity of my tiny corners and hidden offices.
That’s why I loved Michelle so much. She understood how much quiet time I needed, and that alone was a huge reason I married her.
When you grow up, you find that the people you meet are considerably different. Sometimes, you take it personally when those people fail to understand who you are when in reality, they have no reason to. They owe you nothing.
Michelle was the first person that saw my quietness, and mirrored it even with her busy lifestyle. My parents on the other hand? Well, there was a valid reason why I rarely visited them.
The sharp taps of my dad’s oxfords bounced out of the hall and into the dining room as he took a seat opposite my mom and me, pouring himself a glass of red.
