“I am so sorry that you lost your son. I’m sorry for everything else that you lost.” Kalilah wrapped her arms around her sister’s body as her own sobs threatened to overpower the little control she had left. This explained her sister’s behavior when they were in stores selling baby clothes. Her sister was still grieving.
“Me too,” her sister said weakly. “I wish I got a chance to tell him goodbye and how much I loved and wanted him.”
“Maybe you still can. We can go to the lake and light candles in his honor and say a prayer for him. You can also tell him how much you love him. Although I am sure he knows.” After everything Kaiya told her, Kalilah knew that she needed to sort through this triangle. Life was too short.
“I love that idea. Thank you Lah.”
“What about Tyler? Have you seen or heard from him since?”
“No, and I don’t care to. I loved him but he didn’t love me in return. Father was right about him after all.” Kaiya’s words hanged in the air between the sisters. Kalilah doubted that her father was right about anything concerning his daughters’ lives, a fact she wouldn’t bring up to Kaiya.
Not when her emotions were still so raw.
The comfortable silence lengthened between them until Kalilah confessed, “I’m scared,” and it was Kaiya’s turn to wrap her in her arms. The admission took a lot out of her and she couldn’t hold on to the ruse that she was in control; she could no longer maintain the illusion that she had any idea of how her life was turning out to be. Everything was rapidly going out of her hands and in a direction she hadn’t planned. She knew she needed to talk to Finn as soon as possible. First though, she needed to get ready for work.
***
“Bad day?” a cheerful voice called in front of her.
The muscles of her neck protested at the sharp movement as her head jolted upward into the face of one of the Case Coordinators – Raleigh – standing in front of her. Raleigh had been the one to interview her for the position. She was a black woman, probably in her mid-forties, who had wasted no time in offering her the job position while explaining the challenges of the shelter.
Since they were the only two black women working there with Caribbean roots, they instantly became friends. Kalilah took a close look at Raleigh and saw she was slightly bent over and looked pale. She had lost her husband to colon cancer, and ever since his death, she had dedicated her life to giving back to others.
“Just catching my breath.”
“Honey, I've worked here since forever and I've given up on catching my breath," she returned with a cheeky smile.
“That's encouraging.”
“You’ll get used to it.”
Kalilah looked around the kitchen, with its set of neat but old mismatched chairs. Her eyes closed and she pictured the kind of clientele it catered to.
“We’ll see. I love what I do here and wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
“That's the spirit. It takes a lot out of you but in the end it’s totally worth it,” Raleigh offered.
“You’re right.”
Raleigh smiled heavily at that.
“At least, that's what my mother tells me every time I call her to rant about my lack of a social life."
” Who needs clubs?" Kalilah quipped with one raised eyebrow and they both chuckled.
The rest of the day passed quickly, and Kalilah was anxious to see Finn later. She had a lot to discuss with him.
***
“A Miss Kalilah Anderson to see you,” the disembodied voice informed him through the phone.
The words had him spilling his drink in surprise. Then the panic descended. Was something wrong? Something had gone wrong, that was the only reason he could think to have Kalilah at his door, but for the life of him he couldn’t think of any scenario.
“Sir? Is everything alright? Do I tell her you are not currently at home?”
Finn answered simply.
“Send the lady up; always send her up.” He then hung up while eyeing the phone in trepidation. The moments passed and his panic gave way to fear as the doubts started to creep in. She probably came to politely tell him she was returning to Seattle with Jonathan. He didn’t know what he would do if she decided to leave.
