Dinner was not quite what I expected. The atmosphere in the house was tense and almost hostile. What surprised me the most that those mixed and heavy emotions were not targeted at me but at Alex. Her parents seemed distant and wary of their daughter. All of it seemed off. I knew something happened between Alex and her parents, but it seemed graver than I imagined.
We all sat around a well-decorated dinner table that was located right out of their kitchen. There was a place for all of us, but one of the plates was positioned a bit farther away from the others. I expected it to be my spot, being new and all, but to my surprise, it was not. It was actually Alex’s place. She sat down unbothered like this was an everyday situation. I asked her if she wanted to switch places, to be closer to her family, but she quickly refused, saying she was fine. She said it had always been her spot.
Dinner itself went rather as expected. Alex’s parents asked me a bunch of questions, trying to get to know me. However, they never asked me about my relationship with their daughter. If the subject would come up, they quickly changed the subject. However, the more we talked I realized it wasn’t our relationship they didn’t want to talk about. They didn’t want to talk about their daughter or even to her. I kept trying to bring Alex into the conversation, but every time I did, she would either say a one-word response or she just shrugged. It was extremely clear that something was wrong between Alex and her parents. However, I knew I couldn't bring it up here, especially since her parents would follow me around like my personal bodyguards. Guarding me from who knows what.
After dinner, we migrated towards the backyard for tea and desserts. Like the front yard, the foliage around the yard was overgrown and it was clear that it hadn’t been taken care of in years. Apart from the grass and dead flower boxes, the only pristine area was the patio where we were sitting. The patio had a pair of well-maintained lounge chairs and matching loveseat placed right in front of each other. Between the loveseat and lounge chairs, there was a spotless glass coffee table. The furniture seemed untouched by human presence or even by the weather. The white seats had not faded to yellow due to sun exposure. Everything was immaculate, like the inside of their home. On the coffee table, there was a small lavender teapot with its matching lavender teacups. Next to the delicate cups, there were small cakes and cookies laid out for everyone to dip in their tea. Alex and I sat down on the loveseat facing her parents who were separately sitting in the chairs. We all sat in silence for a while. The only noises heard were the faint whistling of the autumn wind and the soft ruffling of the dried-up bushes.
Out of nowhere, Alex's mother got up from her seat and walked inside, coming back a few seconds later with what seemed like an envelope in her hands.
Before sitting back down, she handed the envelope to Alex and nagged, “you really need to update your address, we keep getting your mail. You know you don’t live here anymore… Kali.”
The second Alex’s mother mentioned the word Kali, her face tensed up, visibly annoyed. She gripped the armrest, scratching her nails against the white wood of the chair. When she repositioned her hand, I could see deep precise scratch marks. It surprised me since they were very deep for a normal person to make, they looked more like an animal mark than anything else. Yet I hadn't remembered Alex owning a pet in the past. The marks were probably already there and I just missed them when we first walked outside.
“Mother,” Alex paused, taking a deep breath. “I’ve made it very clear in the past that I strongly dislike when you call me that. So… As I’ve mentioned before, please do not call me that. Just address me as Alex. Thank you.”
I could hear the anger in her voice, but every word she said was methodically chosen. She knew exactly what to say and in what tone. Even her subtle lisp seemed to disappear. I had never seen that side of her before. I hesitantly grabbed her hand hoping she knew that I was still there for her.
“Are you okay? Should we head home?” I whispered, squeezing Alex’s hand hoping she would look at me and snap out of the staring match she was having with her mother.
One glance from Alex and I knew I needed to get her out of that situation. The usual spark in her eyes was gone. The only thing I could see was pain and suffering. I had to make up an excuse to get her out of this house of horrors.
I cautiously explained that I needed to work early tomorrow, which meant it was time for us to head home. I made sure I wasn't fully lying. I did have to work, but not until like 6 o’clock at night. That day I had a later shift than usual. I worked as a police officer, and I was still considered the “new kid” at my precinct. Which meant I always got stuck with the lousy shifts.
Alex’s parents didn’t protest too much against the idea of us leaving early. It was extremely clear they didn’t want their daughter in their home anymore. I thanked them for the lovely dinner, and we headed out. They wished me and only me a safe drive home. Based on that experience alone, I was pretty sure we were not going to be heading back anytime soon.
The car ride home was silent. I could see that Alex was upset, clenching her jaw and the envelope her mother gave her.
“Alex, quick question. Why did your mother call you Kali? What does it stand for?” I asked, keeping my eyes on the dark road.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” She grumbled peering out the window.
“But Alex, you got pretty mad. I want to know why. You know I usually don't pry about these kinds of… ”
I didn't have time to finish before she yelled, “ I said I don’t want to talk about it!”
When she yelled it felt like the whole car shook. I could feel the anger radiating off of her. I had never seen that side of her before tonight.
After 15 minutes the pure silence was becoming deafening. It felt like the whole world had stopped. I was terrified of what I had done. I wanted to make sure that I didn’t hurt Alex too much by asking about the name. I wanted to make sure she was okay. I wanted to make sure I didn't just ruin things with just one useless question.
“Alex… Are you okay?” I asked, putting my hand on her thigh, hoping she wasn't going to swipe it away.
“I’ll be fine. It’s just my mom sometimes. She knows exactly what to say to piss me off! Every time I see them it's always the same. She does everything in her power to provoke me. And my dad… ugh my dad he just sits there and does nothing.” Alex ranted gripping the door handle, squeezing it tight.
“Yeah I saw, she can really get under your skin.” I acknowledged, squeezing her thigh harder, so she knew that I loved her and I was there for her.
A few moments later we got to my apartment. I parked, got out of the car, and went to open the door for my girlfriend like I normally did. When I got the car door open I saw that there was a hand mark where Alex had gripped the handle. She got out of the car like nothing was wrong.
“How the hell? She squeezed the handle like it was Playdough. It had to be there before right. This is not possible. Am I seeing things?” I mumbled to myself, passing my hand gently over the imprint making sure I wasn't hallucinating.
I wasn’t, it truly was there. I looked over at Alex, who was walking up the stairs to my apartment, she looked so unbothered. I wasn’t sure if I should confront her about this. I didn’t know how she would react. If she could do that to a piece of metal, what could she do to a person? I chose to leave it be and wait until something else comes up. It had to be a one-time occurrence. My mind had to be playing tricks on me.
I joined Alex in my apartment. She was already in her PJ’s sitting on the couch, still holding her mother’s letter.
“What took you so long? Did you get lost on your way or something? I had time to get changed and all.” She joked, giving me a sweet and innocent smile.
“Nah… I just needed a bit of air. What’s the letter about? You keep staring at it. Open it already.” I quickly answered, changing the subject away from me.
Alex looked at me with a worried look, “are you okay. Is there something on your mind? You seem jumpier than usual.”
“Yeah, I told you I’m fine. Just needed air, for a sec.” I assured, taking my shoes off and having a seat next to Alex.
As I sat down I took a quick glance in the top right corner of the envelope to see who it was from, and to my surprise, I saw a red emblem and the words Washington State University.
“Washington State University?” I sputted. “Why do you have a letter from them? I thought you were happy at the University of New Orleans. What changed?” I wondered.
“I am happy, but they have a great program in microbiology, which UNO doesn't offer. I applied not thinking I was actually gonna get accepted!” She clarified, showing me the letter.
I laughed while rereading the acceptance letter. I looked up at Alex and I saw her worried look turn into a puzzled look.
“What’s so funny? I thought you would be worried or sad or even mad about this news. Why are you laughing?” She asked, getting up from the couch to look at me better.
“Alex… I got recruited last week to go work at the Washington state police department. They need extra hands and since I’m still considered new. The department wasn't bothered to ask me to transfer. When I got the news I was just going to decline the offer since you were still in school and long distance is a pain. But this… This is almost fate.” I grinned hesitantly, “What are the odds this happens? Is this just me or does this kinda feel off?” I questioned.
Alex ignored my question and jumped from the couch grabbing me in her arms, giving me a joyous and loving kiss.
She twirled me around for a little bit before pulling away gently and giving me a sweet smile, “does this mean we’re moving to Washington State together?”
“I guess…” Before I could finish my sentence, Alex gave me one last kiss before jokingly running to my bedroom and coming out with my black duffle bag.
“Let’s do this baby!” She declared, throwing the bag at me.
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