Julie Gordon lives in New York with her mother and father. On a daily basis, she works at a bakery together with her best friend Dylan.
One day, she comes home from work to see her mother crying her eyes out. It turns out Julie's father has cheated...
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"So, what was it that you wanted to tell me?"
He took a deep breath as he bit his lip. It took a few seconds until he opened his mouth to reply. "My uh... My dad has contacted me," he mumbled, looking down at the surface of the table.
My mouth fell open in shock. "What?"
He let out a sigh, running a hand through his curls. "It was a few weeks ago... He somehow got a hold of my number and called me. I freaked out when he told me who it was, and I instantly hung up on him," he explained.
"I..." I trailed off, not knowing what to say. "Does Nicole know about it?" I wondered when I had collected my thoughts.
He nodded his head. "Yeah, I live at mom's again, but only temporarily, so she knows."
I bit my lip. "I don't really know what to say, Timmy. How do you feel about it?"
Shrugging his shoulders, he remained his gaze on the table. "I don't know, to be honest. My thoughts are all over the place. Part of me is happy that he called me while another part hates it because he's already hurt me enough."
"I understand," I mumbled. "I know how mad I was at my dad, but I can't compare my situation to yours because my dad never hurt me personally. He hurt my mom, but your dad left you and your entire family, so I understand that you are angry with him."
He nodded his head, finally looking up to meet my eyes with his. "I knew you would understand better than a lot of people since you've been in a similar situation," he said, cracking a small smile.
I tilted my head to the side. "I'm glad you feel that way," I said. "Are you going to do anything about it, though?" I asked cautiously, not wanting to upset him.
"I don't know," he mumbled. "I'm still trying to process the fact that he tried getting in touch with me, so we'll see, I guess."
I nodded my head slowly. "That's good," I encouraged him.
He flashed me an appreciating smile. "You have no idea how happy I am that you're here, listening to me right now."
My lips twitched as I shook my head. I didn't say anything, though. Instead, I asked him another question. "You said you live at your mom's again, but only temporarily. What do you mean by that?"
The sadness that had been prominent on his face during the last couple of minutes disappeared, and he now looked happy again, just like the Timmy I knew. "I'm in the process of buying an apartment on my own, actually," he said proudly.
I raised my eyebrows at his sudden pride.
"What? I'm twenty-four. It's about time," he huffed, making me laugh.
