Posted August 2, 2020

For the Wattys 2020

I went home the next day intending to snoop in Father's phone.

But something popped up last minute.

Before I could process what had happened, I found myself at a restaurant with Nora, forced to make small talk.

It was agonizing. But at least I could be productive in it. When I came home, with a plan still boiling in my head, Nora intercepted me at the entrance. She asked me for the fifth time since she came if she could take me to dinner.

I didn't say yes because I felt bad for her. Or deep down wanted to go out with her. I said yes because I was tired of discovering that all the people I knew weren't on my side. I was scared of what I would find again.

I didn't give up on the plan. Postponed it, was the right expression.

I still went ahead, and put a camera in ken's office, where I knew he would be. I found a lot of juicy information about him.

But Nora made it hard to survey the camera from my phone. She was intent on talking to me, and getting to know me better.

It was useless. She wasn't going to stay with us forever. She just wasn't.

Blood is the only family anyway.

We were there for ten minutes before something exciting happened. It's also right when w got our food. Calumn's face appeared on my phone from under the table. Simultaneously, it knotted my stomach.

Did he come to conspire against me, again ? He seemed very genuine and kind-hearted last time.

"I grew up in the north of Toronto. My dad was-"

I was only half-listening to her. I looked at her for two seconds when she was done, said 'yes' then went back to looking at my phone.

I was really testing her patience, and kindness. And she was patient. If it was the other way around, I would have probably called her out.

"My mother died in a car accident, with my baby sister back when I was five...."

I nodded. Calumn and Ken were talking. Pretending to touch my ear, I put a headphone in. The voice quality was bad of the mini-camera was bad, but I knew they were talking about my papers.

"I put it." Calumn Said.

"Autumn, are you okay?" asked Nora

I held a finger to wait. "Y-yes, just received an important message."

"Do you need time to check it? I can wait, dear."

Could I leave instead?

Of course, I couldn't. I needed a lot of time to watch it. Leaving would make me lose Important bits and pieces of information. I declined her offer. "No. Just keep going."

I didn't even know What she was exactly talking about. But like I offered, she kept talking about herself. Honestly, I didn't know what was the point of me listening to her life story. It wasn't going to make me like her more, Or accept her more openly in my life.

When I went back to watching The camera in my phone, Calumn was sitting in father's chair and laughing. He never let me sit on his chair as a kid.

After a few minutes I realized, I realized they we're talking about me and experience anyway. that's how I knew I failed to complete my task.

I couldn't even rewatch it.

Then, as if father sense Father the camera, it took a chair, climbed on it, and look straight into my eyes "there's nothing to see here silly girl."

I took my earphone out, almost slammed my phone on the table.

"Are you Okay?"

"Are you gonna stop with that question ?" She kept looking at me. I slurped my smoothie.

After a few seconds of shock, she resumed her talking. I don't care how much we stayed there anymore. I had nothing better to do. she talked a lot. apparently she lost her mother at five, had two children who lived in her old house and her father had a beautiful house in the country.

I was zoned out most of the time. first trying to prepare myself for snooping into father's phone the next day.

I would not let anything get in my way.