Acceptance | ✓

Chapter 6

[ANDREW]

I sighed, waiting for the train boarding my mother and Agent to arrive. I pet Roxanne's head and she lifted her head up to lick my hand affectionately. We were standing at the edge of the tracks, not wanting to get lost in the eventual clutter that would take place when the train finally arrived. Standing was killing me, but I coped with shifting the pressure on my ankle from time to time.

A smile broke across my lips as a train came into view, whistling as it came to an eventual stop. People didn't even wait for the train number to be properly announced before they started heading towards it. It seems everyone already figured out it was the late train.

"Oh my God, how are you!" Ethel said, moving to hug me. I hugged her back before she pulled us apart to take a look at me.

"At least you don't look like you're dying anymore," Ethel commented, giving me a subtle look. Ethel was my agent, and I was glad I had her as one. I really don't know who else would put up with my refusals to do interviews or attend book signings. I had to cargo her packs of signed books to avoid going there myself.

"Where's my mother?" I asked, trying to look for her in the crowd.

"She carried way much than she could handle," Ethel said, adjusting her green sling bag. "I told her we're just going to be here for the week, she didn't have to pack her whole closet."

I chuckled because that indeed sounded a lot like my mum.

"Stay with Roxanne, I'll go get my mum," I said, leaving Ethel behind with Roxanne, I branched to get a trolley first. Knowing my mother, the load was certainly not what I and she could carry alone.

The station was clearing out quite fast. The crowd had almost vanished so it was easy for me to spot my mother waiting on a bench with three boxes and a carrier suitcase. I smiled, she must have given up on carrying them herself.

"Andrew!" she gasped as I got closer to her. She got up to walk towards me, pulling me into a bone-crushing hug that lasted for minutes. "I haven't seen you in almost a year."

"I know," I sighed, looking from her to the floor. Sometimes I felt guilty for not visiting, but I just couldn't. The family home brought back too many memories.

"You don't look so bad anymore," she pointed out, feeling for the flesh in my hand.

"Let's get you to the car," I said, walking past her, ignoring her observation. "Why do you always pack like you're moving?" I asked, finding it hard to lift one of her boxes into the trolley. She mumbled something about needing everything in it before coming to help me.

We got to the others soon after and headed to the parking lot together. Roxanne and Ethel fought for the front seat but came to a compromise. Ethel carried her on her lap, complaining throughout the whole ride that her feet were killing her.

"Why is she so heavy? I thought you didn't have food in your house!" Ethel groaned. Roxanne barked, licking Ethel's nose affectionately.

"You don't have to cry over carrying her anymore, we're already there," I said, driving up the hill. My cabin came into view soon after, and I couldn't help wondering how Ethan and Hector had gotten along.

"It's a pretty place," Ethel muttered, brushing back stray strands of her dark hair, her face was already flushed from the heat, and dust was already caught up in her mascara.

"I heard Maria's son is staying with you for now," my mother commented as I pulled to a stop on the dirt road.

"Yes, he is," I confirmed, unlocking the doors. Ethel and my mother got out, adjusting their gown and hair as I went to unload the booth.