Kaylyn's World

Chapter 2

A few more minutes of awkward chit chat passed before the waitress came back around the corner with Tanya's water and my lemonade, which I settled for. She set the drinks down on the paper coasters along with two wrapped straws.

"I'll be back in a moment to get your orders, ladies!"

I stabbed my straw into the yellowy liquid and took a distressed sip. I hate lemonade. That's a lie, I love lemonade. Tanya's presence just ruins everything.

"Anyways sweetheart, you'll love this restaurant. They have the best steaks and cheeseburgers." She smiled, proudly flashing her pink gums.

Sweetheart? Seriously? We're on first name basis.

"I'm actually..a vegetarian." I made a line with my mouth and looked up at her. I hadn't noticed her pale green eyes that resembled mine until now.

"Oh." She frowned a little at her own loss. "I wasn't aware."

"How could you be?" I jabbed at the fact that she made no effort to be my mom once more. But she ignored it. How brave of her.

"I'm sure the menu has something you'll like." She passed one of the plastic menus to me. "It must be challenging making meals at home."

"Actually, Heather is a great cook. And she's also vegetarian. We have a lot in common." More shade, way to go Kaylyn. Stick it to the man!

"Oh! Well that's lovely." She ducked her head into her menu.

I don't think she meant that. But I still smiled. 

The waitress came around again, like she said she would, and wrote down our orders in her tablet. I ordered a garden salad with french dressing, to which Tanya said, "I think I'll try that too!" I think it was an attempt to have something in common with me. I just laughed.

"So what do you do for fun, Kaylyn?"

"I go to the dog park."

"You've got a dog?"

I nodded. She seemed surprised. "Your dad always rejected me when I asked for a puppy. I thought he hated them."

"Heather wanted one. So he bought us a golden retriever. Her names Lilly."

"That's great." She smiled awkwardly. "So uh, do you like makeup?"

"Sure, it's alright." I was only wearing foundation, mascara, and like, a tiny bit of mauve eyeshadow today. Which is significantly less than I usually wear.

"Kay loves it. She does it similar to how you have it. Maybe you girls would bond over that."

Seriously? You think I'm going to bond with your kid? You've lost it, lady. I just nodded at her silently, and awkwardly.

"And you guys both have those green eyes just like mine. And that thick, dark hair. Its almost like-." She paused.

Almost like what? Almost like you had another kid to replace the one you already had, gave her the same name as me, and you're surprised now that she looks like me too?

"I don't know, you just remind me of her." She reached out her hand and put it on top of mine. This made me outrageously uncomfortable, but I ignored it.

"I'm sorry, did you want to talk about anything besides your daughter?" I raised an eyebrow and slowly pulled my hand back.

"Well- you're my daughter as well?"

"Yeah," I scoffed. "Right."

"Look Kaylyn." She shut her eyes briefly. "I am so, so sorry for leaving you and your father."