Two Worlds

CHAPTER THREE

        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.