Thursday, February 15, 2024

There was an echo, far and faint



 "I don't think she likes me very much," Phil sighed. He knew he shouldn't have brought it up. But it hung on to Phil's mind about Boone's girlfriend, Lily.

Sure, there was so much clinging to him like a bad dream lately, and Lexi along with Boone and Alfie were there to talk him through it. He felt a bit bad about taking up so much of their time over his matter with his mom and dad and being secretly adopted, evidently.

He knew of no evidence of it. Possibly, he might never know and he wasn't going to ask about it. Yes, he could tell Boone, Alfie and even Lexi didn't like the answer to that, but it was best to go on with things. 

He called his father every day at six just to see how the day was going. They would have their fifteen-minute chat and that was it.

He looked at Lexi now as he scratched the side of his forehead. He didn't even know why he brought up Lily.

"It was just dinner, maybe..maybe we just spoiled it," she shrugged about the matter.

"Did I spoil Valentine's Day for you?" He looked at her blankly. Was it wrong they'd all sat together?

"No," she was quick to smile as she brought him some of the chocolate cheesecake she'd made for the occasion but they didn't get around to it until the next evening after a meager supper of scrambled eggs and toast.

"You don't think she's jealous, do you?" He was back to Lily and wondering if she was thinking Boone liked him more, as he licked the chocolate off the back of his spoon. Truly, it was a rich desert. He wished he could have sent some to his Dad, but he guessed he wasn't supposed to eat things like this.

"Um, hard to say," Lexi shook her head. "She's young. She's different from us."

Lexi thought Lily had a sheltered life.

"But, she doesn't even live with her parents," Phil sighed, wondering if Boone was truly happy. After all, Boone was his best friend.

"From what I understand, her grandmother has always been there for her."

Lexi made it sound as if she was fond of the idea. "Young people live at home a lot longer these days."

"I suppose." Phil nodded wondering if he would be with his parents if he hadn't gone off to the University when he got out of high school. There were chances he could have gone to Colorado or maybe even Arizona, but he always felt Lincon was far enough.

"I used to be like her," Lexi nodded as she took a sip of caffeine-free tea. 

Phil grinned. He didn't see it.

"Oh, you know, you have these perfect plans, and then you feel everyone is messing it up," Lexi said as she finally took a modest chunk of the chocolate cheesecake from her saucer and put it in her mouth.

He guessed he was the one who messed it all up for Lexi, but she'd married him anyway.


10 comments:

  1. Great to see the easyness with whom you write.
    It's great

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  2. Happy Valentine'sDay! -Christine cmlk79.blogspot.com

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  3. Other incredible chapter, like always
    I love your posts, you know it! Thanks for always sharing it and fot all your comments in my posts, I really appreciate it
    Have a wonderful day ♥

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  4. Very interesting chapter, nice read.

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  5. I loved the chapter. It's complicated when we can only make assumptions about certain situations.
    Xhttps://www.dearlytay.com.br/

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  6. Sometimes you don't know with stuff like that. It's funny how you can know your parents your whole life and still not know so many things.

    That last line

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  7. Very well done. Regine

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  8. Phil is a perceptive one. Not that Lily's discontent was targeted at him. Lexi's response surprised me, though. She's far more empathetic than I thought, especially in identifying with Lily's naΓ―ve need for things to be perfect. But my favorite part is when it all comes full circle in the ending:

    "He guessed he was the one who messed it all up for Lexi, but she'd married him anyway."

    Way to show us yet more sides of these characters! πŸ’—πŸ’–πŸ’ŒπŸ’ŸπŸ’—πŸ’–πŸ’ŒπŸ’ŸπŸ’—πŸ’–πŸ’ŒπŸ’Ÿ

    ReplyDelete