She seemed to snap out of it. “Yeah, I’m fine. Excited to start tomorrow.” Her lips tilted into a half-baked smile.
I decided not to press. “We’re going to be seeing each other a lot, working at the same place and living together. Hope you don’t hate me by the end of the week,” I joked.
She looked down at her food. “I won’t live here for too long. I’ve found a couple of possible spots. I’ll move after I get a few weeks’ pay, once I can afford a security deposit.”
“Ok. But if you need to, you can stay here as long as you like, it’s no problem at all. It’s been really nice having you here.”
She pursed her lips. “I shouldn’t stay. I don’t want to be dependent on you. I don’t want to be dependent on anyone.”
I cut my asparagus stalks in half. “You’re not dependent on me. I’m just helping you out for a bit.” I glanced up and was surprised to see tears in her eyes. “Anna?”
She got up from the table and walked to the bedroom. I stood up and followed.
“Anna, what’s wrong?”
She’d sunk down to her knees on the floor by the bed, tears silently streaming down her face. I slowly sat down next to her and put my hand on her back, not saying anything, just letting her cry it out.
I thought about her words. I don’t want to be dependent on anyone. No one could be fully independent all the time. What about her family? Did she have parents or siblings? Was she on bad terms with them? Was she an orphan or something? I wanted to know, but with the possibility of daddy issues hanging over us, and our relationship as new and tenuous as it was, it didn’t seem like a good time to ask.
After several minutes, she finally said, “I’m so tired of depending on people.” She sniffled.
“Hey, it’s not like that. This is just temporary. You’ll get on your own two feet at some point. And I don’t mind at all.” My hand rubbed soothing circles on her back.
“I’ve been a fucking leech for years. Asher took care of me, and now you’re taking care of me. And before that...” She angrily wiped her face with the sleeves of her sweater. “Nothing’s different. I just went from one guy to another.”
I hesitated, then said, “Maybe.”
“What?” Her eyes flashed, face taut with anger.
I met her gaze head-on. “So? You did it before, doesn’t mean you have to do it again. You’re not helpless, you’re an adult. It’s not like you’re incapable of taking control of your life. Don’t just sit there and cry, do something about it.”
She gave me a withering look, like she wanted to argue, or hit me. The way her fists opened and closed, I think she almost did. But after a moment, her face slackened. “You’re right,” she whispered.
I kissed her temple. “Everyone needs a little help sometimes.” When she didn’t respond, I stood up, then held my hand out to her. “C’mon. Let’s go finish dinner. You’ve got a big day tomorrow.”
She took my hand and nodded slightly. I helped her up and led her back to the dining table, where we finished our meal in relative silence.
◆◆◆
“Hey, Ba. How are you? How’s Ma?” Anna was in the other bedroom talking to Cassie.
“I’m okay, just tired. We were pretty lazy today.”
“What’d you do?”
“We walked to the grocery store to buy some fruit. And we finished another drama.” My parents loved watching Asian dramas. I thought it was cute that they watched them together. Sometimes my dad cried more at the end of them than my mom did.
“What happened in this one?” I asked.
“Well, a hardworking country girl gets raped, and she goes blind and becomes pregnant as a result. Everyone looks down on her, except for a handsome doctor who is traveling through the countryside. He stops and helps take care of her, and eventually she gets her eyesight back and falls in love with him. But then his ex-girlfriend gets jealous and tries to poison her so that she’ll go blind again, except that he gets poisoned instead and so he goes blind. So the country girl poisons herself and decides to be blind with him, but then she loses the baby.” He sniffed. “It was so touching.”
“I...see.” Nope. I cleared my throat. “So Ba, speaking of dramas, I have some news.”
“Oh? Did you get someone pregnant?” he joked.
I winced at the memory of how reckless we’d been. “No. But I do have a girlfriend now.”
“Ah, I knew my handsome son couldn’t stay single forever. Is she the girl you had coffee with?” Unlike my mom, my dad still had a sharp memory.
“Yes. Also, she’s...living with me now.”
He paused. “That fast? Is she homeless?”
“No!” Kind of. “It’s temporary. She just needs to stay with me for a bit while she finds her next place.”
“Okay.” He paused. “Can we still come over for Thanksgiving?”
“Of course! I’m sure that she’d love to meet you guys.” My parents were adorable, and I was sure they’d get along great with Anna.
“Ok. But if it’s inconvenient, we don’t have to come. Just let us know.”
“Ba, you and Ma are always welcome here, anytime. I’m sure she’ll be fine with it.”
My dad chuckled. “Uh huh. Why don’t you ask her before you say that?”
“I will.” I made a mental note to do so.
Then I promptly forgot.
◆◆◆
The next morning, I showed Anna the commute: 10 minute walk to the station, M train for 15 minutes, then another 10 minute walk on the other side. I let go of her hand at the door to the building, as we’d agreed to keep it fully professional during the day.
It was clear that someone had let the cat out of the bag, though. I saw Emily and Tom chatting at the snack bar, and when I came up to get my morning coffee, they stopped talking and looked at me. “Hey Ian,” Emily called
