What Little Worlds

Twenty-Six

Adrien moved in the next day after he walked her back from work. He and Brooks had brought over his five boxes that afternoon and she and Adrien spent the evening clearing out drawers for his things.

She had asked how someone could fit their life in only five boxes and he had laughed, saying he had lived out of one suitcase for his entire time at Rentré school.

As a Rentré, he was likely to travel a lot in his life, so they were trained to not attach themselves to material objects and be ready to pack up quickly.

Amelie liked it because this meant less of her stuff needed to be displaced for his life to fit in. He had brought no decorations so she had told him his mission for that week was to find one poster or piece of art that he liked to hang on the wall so that they could feel like they were in a shared space, not that he had imposed his life on hers.

He had laughed and said that he would try his hardest to go against his Rentré training for her whims.

She sat at her desk for lunch that afternoon. Too worried about seeing The Grey Man to venture to the gym that day.

She finished work a half hour early and was waiting in the lobby for Adrien. He had said he would come at five so she had a half hour. She decided to call her dad to pass the time and get some brownie points for reaching out.

He picked up on the second ring and her shock made her realize she had not been expecting him to answer. She had forgotten that he normally worked until seven PM on weekdays.

"Amelie?" her dad said, sounding worried.

"Hey Dad! How are you?" she replied.

"I'm good. Is everything okay with you?"

"Yeah," she said, "Why wouldn't it be?"

"I just never get spontaneous calls anymore. It's great to hear from you," he replied.

Amelie realized she had not actually spoken to her dad since she had gone home for his birthday and felt guilt growing in her chest. "How are you?" she asked, "I thought you'd be at work at this time."

"I started working part-time after my birthday. A little present to myself. Now I only am at the university four days per week and the other three days I can have to myself."

"Wow Dad. I'm so happy for you. You deserved a break. What have you been doing on your days off?" Amelie asked.

"Eh well, I've actually been getting into wood carving. I made a little chair for Claire's favorite doll last week. I'm not confident make anything a human might sit in but a chair for a doll was manageable. It's been really fun."

Amelie widened her eyes, an involuntary reaction to the surprise that her dad had finally developed a hobby. "Dad thats amazing," she said, earnestly trying to help him feel supported, "Seriously. When can I start making requests? My apartment looks far too much like an Ikea catalogue right now," she said.

"Give me a few months to make sure I can make something to hold a human first, but probably by this winter I can make you a small table or a rocking chair," he said. "Although, your apartment is already very small. You're probably going to have to throw out a piece of furniture to fit in anything new."

She laughed, "I agree. Actually, I do have some news involving the apartment," she said. She told him about dating Adrien for the past month and how he had just moved in.

She left out the part of knowing him since he was ten but mentioned that they had been friends for a long time.

Her dad was silent for two long minutes before she finally asked if he was still there.