The books were the first thing that stopped when people quit dreaming. Movie producers held on for a year or two, remaking old films and screenwriting classic novels. Music stuck around a bit longer. Certain chords are always pleasing to the ear, even when the songwriters run out of lyrics. But the books, they stopped almost instantly. Without dreams, it was as if every writer in the world suddenly caught a viral and incurable case of writers block. Alexia, unlike most teenagers her age, had done quite a bit of reading. Most people didn’t have the time. Sure, with the help of the implant, sleep had become unnecessary, but more time awake didn’t mean more free time. It just meant more time for more of the same. Work. School. In fact, for most people, the only thing there was less time for was free time.
When her father came home, Alexia was about halfway through one of her favorites for about the fifth time.
“Hi, Dad,” she called toward the door. Mostly, she just wanted to let him know she was there, since he wouldn’t have been expecting her.
“Alexia?” she heard him ask. “What are you doing here?” As he spoke, his voice moved down the hall toward the living room where she was sitting. She had hoped that he would at least try to sound excited. After all, it had been months since they’d seen each other.
“I’m on vacation this week,” she answered, not bothering to look up from her book. Luckily, that also meant she didn’t see the face he made at the word vacation. She did, however, hear him mutter under his breath.
“Vacation…” The way he said the word sounded like it left a bad taste in his mouth.
“Yes, Dad, vacation,” she echoed dryly, trying to avoid an argument.
“That west side college is spoiling you.”
She could tell that he was trying to pretend it was an innocent joke, but they both knew it wasn’t. Each time he saw her, he could tell that the west side lifestyle was rubbing off more and more. He noticed it even then in her leisurely reading pace. She had only turned one page since he had entered the room. Her younger self would have flown through the pages, devouring the book at break-neck speed.
“It’s one week at the end of each quarter. It’s not a big deal.” Alexia’s tone told him that any more comments on the topic would start blow-out and send her running back to her dorm and, despite what she might think, he really was happy to see her. Instead of firing back, he flipped absently through the mail on the counter and searched for a neutral way to restart the conversation.
“So you’re staying with us all week?” he asked after a minute.
“Yeah,” she replied, “I thought, since mom gets home tonight, we could all spend a little bit of time together.” As the words came out of her mouth, she wished that they had at least a little of the familial warmth that she had intended instead of the sarcastic tone caused by her cold delivery. That wish melted away, though, when she heard him muffle a sigh. Her irritation was instantly reignited. Slamming her book shut, she stood up and demanded, “What?!”
“Nothing,” he said shaking his head. “I just…” Alexia was looking at him expectantly, arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed, so he thought carefully about how to explain himself. “I just wish you’d told me you were coming in,” he finally continued. “I scheduled my day off for next week so your mom and I can go see Aunt Leena before she moves.”
“So you’re not really going to be home,” she said, connecting the dots aloud. He’d been on a full schedule since she was in high school, so it shouldn’t have upset her, but it did, and her dad could tell. Worse, she was avoiding his gaze, making it harder for him come up with something to say. He opened and closed his mouth a couple times, thinking and rethinking, before finally speaking up.
“Look, I’ll take the bus back to work. You take the car and pick your mom up from the rail station, and I’ll push my next break so we can have all have dinner together, okay?” Alexia nodded, which was about all she could do to keep her emotions under control. “Okay,” he echoed. “Then I’m going to go take a shower so I can head back. Your mom’s train gets in at six.” He walked over and gave her a hug. “It’s great to have you home,” he said quietly, giving her a soft kiss on the top of her head before heading down the hall to the master bedroom.
##
“I don’t know what his problem is!”
Alexia was on her way to the rail station, her college roommate’s face plastered on the car’s onboard video screen. “‘That west side college is spoiling you’,” she mocked. “What does that even mean?” She was trying to focus on the road, especially since her driving skills were so rusty, but she couldn’t help getting a little emotional.
“He’s your dad, Lexi,” Penny answered, “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
“It’s not like he ever bothers to visit me at that west side college.”
“Would you want him to?”
“That’s not the point,” Alexia snapped. “He’s acting like I’ve changed. Like I’m so different. Like he knows me. He’s barely spent any time with me since I was like twelve. How would he even tell the difference?”
“That IS the point!” Penny exclaimed. “That’s what I’m trying to say. So, just spend a day or two with your mom and come back. You can come stay at my parents’ house with me and we’ll hang out.”
“Your parents aren’t home?” Alexia asked. The tone of her voice probably asked more, though. Two and a half years and, as far as Alexia could tell, Penny’s parents hadn’t once been home during a quarter break.
Penny had noticed, too. Not seeing her parents don’t bother her much. Still, she was glad that Alexia never explicitly mentioned it, because that meant she never had to explicitly talk about it. So, instead of answering, they both let the car sit awkwardly quiet for a few seconds.
“I can’t anyway,” Alexia finally continued. “I already told my dad that I’m staying all week. If I leave early…”
“Yeah, yeah. I get it,” Penny interjected, waving her hand dismissively, making Alexia was glad that she had at least one person in her life who understood her. “Well, if you change your mind, you know where I live.”
“I know,” Alexia smiled. “I’ve got to get off here. I’m pulling up to the rail station now.”
“Alright. Talk to you later, Lexi.”
“Bye!” The video screen went black as the call ended, before reverting to the touch screen controls. Alexia pulled into the short term parking and then headed into the rail station’s central lobby. The screens above her told her that her mother’s train was on time and arriving on Platform 7 in ten minutes.
It took five of those minutes just for Alexia to find Platform 7, having never taken the rail herself. For the remaining five minutes, Alexia waited, patient but excited. Because her mom had been away on work during the winter break, it had been almost six months since they’d seen each other, and Alexia was looking forward to hearing all of her mom’s stories about the studio, as well as borrowing any test reels she’d brought home.
When the masses started flooding off the train, Alexia stood on her tiptoes, trying to look above the crowd for the same dark chocolate colored hair that she had inherited. As the crowd grew thinner and thinner, Alexia began to worry. She checked her phone for any missed messages about a delay, but, with her head down, she didn’t register the tall blonde in the stern grey pant suit who was approaching her. Not until the woman spoke.
“Are you Alexia Bischel? Jeanne’s daughter?”
##
If her video call with Penny had distracted her on the drive to the rail station, then Alexia was at least twice as distracted on the drive home. The blonde in the pant suit, who had introduced herself as Rebecca Fent, was in the back seat of a black company car following Alexia back to her house. Rebecca hadn’t given her much information to go on, but Alexia was on edge with the rapidly growing sense that something was horribly wrong. According to Rebecca, she had some news from the studio concerning Alexia’s mother, but she refused to explain without Alexia’s father present. She had been expecting him at the rail station. Finding Alexia instead made the news she had to deliver that much worse.
As they approached her parent’s house, Alexia was thankful that evening rush had passed. Hopefully that meant her dad would already be home and waiting with dinner. It occurred to her that she probably should have sent her father a message on the way out of the rail station. Some kind of warning for what was about to walk through his door. But it was definitely too late for that.
With a smile and a small nod, she held the front door open for Rebecca and followed her through the entry way. Her dad must have heard the door, because seconds later he came through the doorway from the kitchen. He stopped short, though, when he saw Rebecca instead of his wife.
“George,” Rebecca said in a familiar tone. “It’s great to see you again.”
“You, too,” he replied. They had met once, at one of Jeanne’s work events, so George knew that they worked together, but that’s about all he knew. Briefly, he glanced behind her at Alexia for an explanation, but she looked just as confused as he was. Worse, he thought, was that she looked worried. Worried and confused – not a good mix. “To what do we owe the pleasure?” he asked.
“I’m afraid I have some news.”