Loud Silence

Chapter Fifteen

The house has never smelled this delicious, a mixture of herbs and spices, proteins and vegetables, warm and inviting aromas swirl around us with every movement.

Taylor is still in the kitchen, adding the finishing touches on our Thanksgiving dinner, as I plate and set up the dining table. Yes, I did help with every dish, but my effort has been minuscule compared to the intensive labor he has asserted into this feast.

Violet and her newly introduced boyfriend, Max, are prepping adult beverages, laughing and giggling with each pour, each accidental touch, each unintentional glance.

Some would say it was typical to be this way when a relationship was new, but this did not usually apply to the Belrose sisters, the same way that it was unusual for me to feel safe and unguarded when I am around Taylor.

Violet has had many flings over the years, so many that I doubt she can keep track of all their names. The only time I was able to meet one was if we had bumped into each other unplanned, somewhere in the streets. Violet would introduce them as a friend/classmate/colleague. Not once have I heard her say that word "boyfriend".

Favorite hangout locations and restaurants were off limits, as Violet felt that meant too much of a commitment. Plus, if it was someone that she would rather not ever see again, she would have to avoid that spot forever.

Her block list was pretty extensive, and our home was an absolute never. I've never even heard of a second date, if the guy was lucky enough to make it past the first.

This is entirely different, though. She had casually mentioned that she would be bringing her boyfriend to Thanksgiving dinner at our house, and as shocked as I was, I tried not to show any expression of it.

This morning's sprucing up routine had taken her twelve outfits and two hours, not to mention the fluffing of every pillow, dusting of the curtains, straightening of the rugs, and even spraying air freshener into the trash bins.

Who was this Violet? It might have been strange, but it certainly made my heart smile. Violet always had a radiance and perkiness about her, but if no one else can, I could see the sorrow hidden behind those hazel eyes. But now, she is genuinely happy, allowing herself to sway freely with the man beside her.

He is older, maybe early thirties, same height as Violet, but very fit. Copper hair and blue eyes, it was hard to see the Mexican side of him, as it has been veiled with his Irish features. Such an interesting mix, but it is Chicago after all, which is also why I was delighted to find him very warm and amicable when we met a few hours ago.

He spoke to me with no hesitation, asking me about work and continuing on to explain his accountant position at a shipping company, telling stories of all the "lost treasures" that were undeliverable and passed on to employees of the company, one of which was a very expensive wrist watch he would wear on special occasions, something he would have never been able to afford on his salary alone.

It was easy to talk to him, because he reminded me very much of Violet, speaking his mind but not in an obnoxiously blunt kind of way.

"Is anyone hungry yet?" Taylor calls out as he enters the dining room with a grand presentation of the turkey made for a family of twenty, placing it in the center of the table.

"Only since yesterday," Violet dashes for the table, almost spilling her glass of wine on the way over, Max right behind without any effort, pulling a chair out for her, before taking a seat himself.

We're all seated on each side of the table, a table that was made for six, but had only four chairs. I look around the loaded table. It is strange, a party of four at our dinner table, because the last time there were four of us, I was five years old, sitting with a loving family. From then on, a block has been placed on the number four. On the rare occasion that we were allowed to sit at the table with my aunt, it was the three of us. Then it became two when Violet and I moved out. Back to three with Tim, Daisy, and I, as well as with Violet, Daisy, and I.