FOR RICHER, FOR POOR

CHAPTER TEN

"Mom we're here!" I shouted as Lena and I entered the house. Everything went by so fast, with Lena in the hospital, I don't know how my parents knew about it but they seemed so happy to see her again, I was given time away from work by my dad to nurse her back to health, then she will be staying with my parents. I thought that was not a good idea, but to my parents, it was like finding their long-lost daughter, I just went along with it, though my gut was telling me that she was up to no good.

"Oh, hi sweetie. Come in don't feel shy," my mother said as she exited the kitchen ushering us to the already set dining table. My mother was a hardworking woman, she is a retired teacher and is still very strict. My father offered to hire someone to help her around the house but my mother was against it saying that no one was going to come and make her feel as though she was an invalid. My dad knew better than to enforce something on my mother.

"Hey Lorenzo," Lena said softly holding onto my arm making me stop, "I never really got to say thank you for coming to my rescue back at the hospital. You didn't have to but you stuck around to take care of me, I'm grateful." She concluded and hugged me. I hesitantly hugged her back, she hugged me tighter making me feel uncomfortable.

"Mm-mmm," my dad cleared his voice behind me, Lena retracted and started blushing, my dad looked at me and smirked making me shake my head.

I was mad at everyone but mostly myself. I missed Sunnyside's grand opening. For some reason my phone was off, once I got it back on, I had a lot of missed calls and texts from Kathleen. I promised to be there for her and I wasn't. All my attempts to try and call her back were unfruitful, I decided to plan and go to see her and explain myself hopefully she'll be understanding of my situation.

My mum served beef, mushrooms, and smashed potatoes. It was delicious, she was the best cook honestly. "So, Lena how about you tell us a bit about yourself?" My mother asked, "How have you been? Where have you been?" she continued. We all turned our attention to Lena who seemed a bit uncomfortable.

"Um, I went to live with my mother in California. I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye," she said looking at me, "but I knew it would be hard to say goodbye. Plus, I'm not good with goodbyes." She said sympathetically.

"I had to go to California or I would have ended up in the foster system. At the time living with my grandparents seemed like the best choice. I finished school there. I attended community college and got a degree in art and design, I struggled to find a job, and I couldn't depend on my grandparents forever. But unluckily my grandfather died of lung cancer and my grandmother followed shortly after." She said sadly. My mother reached out and held her hand to show support. "My grandparents' house was filled with happy memories, but I was unable to get a job so I sold it to get cash to move to the city of California, hoping I would have a better chance of getting a job there than the small town my grandparents lived in. But my luck didn't change," she said her voice breaking as if she was holding back the urge to cry, "I'm not proud of this but I had to start working at a club, that's where the man in charge used us, to earn money and that's how I racked up the huge debt." She said crying unable to hold back her tears. I offered him a tissue, "Thank you," she said with a sad smile. She continued, "I felt like a slave but there wasn't anything I could do about it. The man in charge would sometimes hold a bid on us online and then take us to some old people to entertain them. I met this one middle-aged guy who was so nice to me and offered to help me escape. I was afraid but I decided to take my chances and once he let me leave through the back door I ran never looking back. I hitched a ride back here to my hometown when I was found by a good Samaritan and taken to the hospital. I was there for almost five days when the nurse asked me if there was anyone she could call, then I put in your phone number." She said.

"How did you know my number?" I asked.

"I looked you up a while back Lorenzo. Wanted to ask for your help but I thought that you wouldn't want to help me after how I left things between us." She said.

"No, Lena! We would have helped you," My mother blurted out, my father and I looked at each other, I could tell we were both second-guessing Lena's story, but we didn't speak up.

We later had a chicken potpie, filled with chicken, potatoes, peas, and corn. Lena and my mother had a glass of wine as they reminisced the past, my father and I went to the study to discuss a few things about our new project.

"Lorenzo, we are done with groundbreaking, and now we have to start the main work. I would like you to be there to oversee the entire project. Will that be okay with you?" my father asked.

"Yes sir, that would be fine with me as long as you don't make me work with a crew with no coordination," I said. "I liked working with Wright's crew. Can I work with them on this project?" I asked.

"If they're available I don't see why not." He said as he scrolled through his phone.

"I'll contact the foreman and organize," I said. He nodded.

"Is that all?" I asked, he didn't seem to have heard me.

I tapped on his table to gain his attention, "If that's all I'd like to leave," I repeated.

"Oh, yeah that's all for now son. Have a good night." He said waving me off in dismissal.

It was late in the night for me to go back to my apartment so I'll be staying here tonight. I texted Kathleen for the hundredth time hoping this was the time she would answer. Kathleen, please talk to me. I'm sorry I let you down. I texted her. No response. I sighed, I messed up. I went to my room and took a shower, I had a few of my clothes here. As I was wearing a pair of shorts my phone chimed, went to check my phone, and she replied I felt my body washed over with excitement.

I have nothing to say to you. You knew how important the café was to me and didn't show up. I didn't expect that from you, it said.

Can I see you tomorrow? I promise to explain everything I replied. It took a while to get a response, she didn't want to see me. I asked myself.

Tomorrow, 4 pm at Sunnyside. Hope your explanation is good. Goodnight. She finally texted.

Thank you, see you tomorrow. Goodnight. I replied. Well, I should take care of this early so that it doesn't blow up on my face. I hope she understands my situation.

I woke up the next morning early to go for a morning run. I felt a bit tense plus with taking care of Lena I didn't have enough time to exercise or do pretty much anything for myself, take care of myself. I went for a mile run. When I got back I was soaked with sweat, everyone was awake. Lena was helping my mother prepare breakfast, my dad was at the dining table drinking his coffee as he read the paper. I went straight to my room to freshen up. I felt nervous about meeting Kathleen, why, I didn't know.

I went down and found everyone seated, "Good morning," I said as I joined them, "Good morning," they said in unison. "Where were you? I came to wake you up and found your bed empty," Mother asked as she served me an omelet.

"I woke up early to go for a run. Everyone was sleeping, I didn't see the need to wake you up." I explained as I served my orange juice. Mother nodded seemingly satisfied with the answer. We had our breakfast in silence. I was thinking about what I had to do for the day. I had to pass by the construction site to make sure everything that was required was there, I had to call the foreman, Wright see if his crew would be available for the job and then I would go see Kathleen. Well, the day was set.

I finished my breakfast, and my dad too. He offered to drop me off at the construction site on his way to the office, it worked fine with me. I looked over the site, everything seems to be in order, though I'd have to order more concrete. The construction site was close to Wright's offices, decided to go there in person, got a cab, and went there. He agreed to work with me, which I was grateful for, I stuck around and talked but he had to get back to work. It was just noon, and I still had time to kill before I was to meet up with Kathleen, but I decided to go and surprise her. Maybe get her flowers as a sign of good faith. I hope this works out.