Amelia exhales loudly, pressing her hands together in front of her. “I know you don’t owe me a damn thing, but I’m begging you. We’ll tell him, I swear. We just need a little more time.”
Carla seems to weigh everything we’ve told her, and while she still doesn’t seem particularly keen to the idea, her posture softens, conceding to our request. “Fine.” She raises her gaze, her determination obvious, and points a finger at Amelia, then down to the foot of the stairs where I still stand. “You have until the first week of January to tell him…or I will.”
“Thank you.” Amelia smiles weakly, grateful.
Carla meets Amelia’s appreciation with a shake of her head. “I’m not doing this for you,” she informs us both. “I’m doing this because I care about Alan, and I don’t want to see him upset right now. You’re just lucky it was me who offered to come down here in his place. I shudder to think what would have happened had he walked in on the two of you carrying on like that. I suggest you figure out a way to keep it from happening again, because next time…” She lets her threat hang there before turning on her heel and stepping through the basement door, leaving Amelia and me alone.
I slowly climb the stairs and reach for Amelia’s hand—not in any way that would imply intimacy, but just in an attempt to comfort her. She pulls away, though, shooting me a remorseful look.
“Sorry,” she whispers. “I want nothing more than for you to wrap your arms around me and tell me that we didn’t just mess everything up, but I’m afraid of what I might do once I’m there. And Carla’s right. We need to make sure that doesn’t happen again. What we did was…” She pauses, and I suspect she’s trying to find a way to call it a mistake without saying she regrets that it happened, because she doesn’t; I can see it in her eyes. “Well, it just can’t happen again while we’re here.”
“I understand,” I tell her, standing next to her and giving her hand a quick and gentle squeeze. “You go first. I’ll be right out.”
Nodding, Amelia opens the basement door and steps outside. From what I can see, no one is hanging around the door, and she leaves it open just a crack so I can slip out in a few minutes. I use my time alone to inwardly chastise myself for being so careless. All we had to do was get through a few days without something like this happening, and we couldn’t even last twelve hours. Sure, I’d figured since we were hidden away in the basement that one stolen moment would go unnoticed, but I should have known better with all these people here tonight. Especially with how upset Amelia had been; someone was bound to check on her sooner or later, and Carla was right to say we were lucky it wasn’t Alan.
Certain that the coast is still clear, I emerge from the basement, but instead of heading to the party, I turn for the kitchen, still not ready to face Carla or Alan.
Well, at least I avoid one out of the two.
As I round the corner leading to the kitchen, I find Amelia and Alan standing at the island. I stay back and out of sight, silently watching them. Amelia’s leaning over the counter, her eyes downcast and one leg bent casually as she picks at a cocktail napkin. Alan stands next to her, facing her with his arms crossed in front of him. His posture reads relaxed, so I don’t get the feeling he’s getting mad at her, and my assumptions are confirmed when he speaks.
“I really am sorry, kiddo,” he tells her. “I didn’t mean to upset you like that. I just…I worry about you all alone in the city.”
Amelia huffs, crumpling the napkin and then flattening it again. “I know you worry, but you don’t have to.”
“Amy,” Alan says, “You’re my little girl. I’ll always worry.”
I feel guilty listening in on their conversation, but my curiosity keeps my feet planted firmly in place.
Amelia drops the mangled napkin and stands up straight, turning toward her dad. “Well, worry a little less intensely, all right?” She smiles as he reaches for her and pulls her into a hug, her arms wrapping around his middle.
And just like that, all is almost right in the world. It would appear that Alan is still in the dark—for now—and that he and Amelia have made amends. Of course, I still feel shitty that I’d allowed us to almost compromise everything.
“There you are!” Julia says from behind me. When I turn around, I find her smiling up at me. “Where’ve you been?”
“Around,” I tell her.
“Have you seen Amy?” she asks quietly. “I want to apologize to her for earlier. When Alan brought up the fact that she was seeing someone older, he didn’t imply that it was such a big deal. Or maybe I just didn’t pick up on it.”