Chapter 410
“Where were you just now?” Brandon asked his dad. It came out a little more accusatory than it probably should have, and I sucked in a breath, hoping Elliott didn’t get defensive as he sometimes did when he thought he shouldn’t have to explain himself to a teenager.
“What’s that?” Elliott was stalling, not because he didn’t want to tell us but because he wanted Brandon to try again. He never had any trouble just telling us to mind our own business.
“I asked what you were up to, and you said you were at the office earlier. Where did you just come from? Just now?”
Elliott’s green eyes went from his son to me and then back again. He was probably hoping I’d help him out, give him a clue, but I wasn’t sure what to say, so I didn’t say anything at all. “I was with a friend.”
It was the most direct response Brandon has ever gotten to that question. I knew he’d been suspicious of Elliott for a while. He’d even told me he thought he smelled strange perfume on his dad. So the whole bit about not thinking he could be dating was clearly not the case. Brandon was so deep in denial, he was practically in Egypt.
I hoped that might all end at that moment with some carefully worded, nonjudgmental questioning.
“Who?”
Nope, Brandon was going to be direct.
“Does it matter?” Elliott asked, shrugging. “Just a friend. Watching a movie.”
Brandon turned to look at me, and I realized he wanted my help, too. I hated being stuck in the middle of this, but I care so much about both of them, I thought it was time to take matters into my own hands. “Elliott, were you in Aurora’s office earlier today? Because I got the impression you were.” No need to tell him how that might be. “And... I also got the impression maybe the two of you are a little more than friends now.”
Elliott’s eyes widened like moon pies, and he stared at me for longer than Brandon had when I’d first introduced the idea to him earlier in the evening. Neither of us was going to speak again, however, until Elliott answered my question, so we had a staring contest for long enough to make my eyes a little dry.
Finally, Elliott could see he was out of options. He said, “Aurora and I have been spending a little time with each other outside of work.” Brandon tensed up beside me, but he didn’t say anything. And he didn’t break my hand. “It’s nothing serious. We’re just... playing things by ear. Feeling it out, that’s all.”
“So that’s where you’ve been all of those times lately when you’ve come back acting strangely?” Brandon asked, his tone wavering slightly.
“Hey, son, in all fairness, I’m always a little strange.” I stifled a giggle at Elliott’s joke because Brandon didn’t seem to think it was funny. “I didn’t want to say anything because it’s really not a big deal. And we had wanted to keep it on the down low for now. We haven’t told very many people. Actually, we haven’t told anyone. But a few people have stumbled into this information.” He looked at me. “Accidentally.”
“It was an accident.” I defended myself. “Aaron wanted to talk to me in her office, but we couldn’t go in there because you were in there.”
“And you knew I was in there how exactly?”
That I couldn’t answer without it not seeming like an accident. I shrugged. “Sometimes thoughts are so intense they leap out of people’s minds and into my own.”
He snickered, knowing that wasn’t really the case. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you kids before, but I never really knew how to bring it up.”
“You mean like the other thirty-seven times I asked you what you’d been up to? Or when I thought I smelled perfume on your jacket? Or—”
“Okay, okay!” Elliott held his hand up to stop Brandon’s line of questioning. “I guess there were other times when I could’ve brought it up. I just... didn’t know what you’d think, so I avoided it.”
“What difference does it make what we think as long as it makes you happy?” I asked, knowing Brandon would disagree with me there but wanting him to think about that side of it. “You’re an adult. You can date whoever you want.”
“Thank you.” Elliott gave me a thorough head nod, like he was surprised I could be so mature. He then turned his attention to his son who was not saying the same thing.
Brandon wasn’t saying anything at all. He just sat there, rigid. It was uncomfortable for all of us, but I couldn’t go anywhere at the moment, so I had to endure it.
Elliott could escape. “Well, if that’s the end of Twenty Questions, I think I’ll head back to my room, watch a little Netflix, eat a few bags of Cheetos.” He gave us each a half smile and then left the room, the old recliner squeaking back and forth for a few seconds in his wake.
I wasn’t exactly sure what to say to Brandon, so I didn’t say anything at all, just sat there, holding his hand. A few minutes after Elliott’s footsteps had disappeared down the hallway, he let out a sigh, picked up the remote, and started flipping through the channels.
I knew then he didn’t want to talk about it, that he was going to need some time to process this whole thing, and I was going to give him that time. Any thought of leaving before my curfew had vanished from my mind; I didn’t feel like I needed to anymore. As awkward as the situation was before Elliott came home, Brandon needed me now, and I wasn’t going to go anywhere until I was sure he was going to be okay.
I leaned over and rested my head on his shoulder, and he brought his arm around me, pulling me in slightly. I knew that was his way of saying he was glad I was with him, even if he couldn’t find the words at the moment, and I was glad I was there, too, because sometimes the world hands you surprises you just can’t fathom, and when that happens, you need the kind of friend who can just sit with you and be and not have to say or do anything at all.
