Where the Skies are Blue

Chapter Three:

"What happened to your eye?" Henry asks as we take our seats at a fancy dinner overlooking the ocean. He did not warn me that this was going to be fine dining, or I would have changed out of my car ride clothes.

Except, into what? I don't own anything nice. Anything that fits me properly. With the amount of weight loss I've experienced in the last few months, hardly anything fits me. All my money from work went into savings, and the money that didn't went into making sure our electricity wasn't cut off. So, that meant no food. I was living off old butter in the fridge or stashing as much lunch food from school as I could get away with.

My jeans are loose on me, my tops baggy. I'm in desperate need of new clothes before I start school in the next few days.

Henry looks at me with concern, as if he genuinely is worried about my wellbeing, and it's weird. It catches me off guard. Takes me a moment to gather my words together. "Uh, a football hit me in the face on the beach."

He frowns. "Are you okay?"

I snort. "I'm fine."

Katherine rolls her eyes, obviously irritated with the attention being on me. She reaches over and places her hand on top of Henry's. "Thanks for bringing us here tonight. This place is beautiful." She has on a red slip dress, her shoulder-length brown hair pinned back neatly in a bun. Her lips painted red. She looks like a woman pretending to be rich, but it's very obvious she's far from it.

He gives her a tentative smile, leaning closer to her. "Only the best for you."

I swallow down the vomit in my mouth, just as the waiter comes over and takes our orders. I try to hold back on not ordering one of everything on the menu and settle on soup.

"So," Henry starts, and keeps his fingers locked with Katherine's. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, Auden. Feel free to ask me anything."

This makes Katherine stiffen, I feel her heavy gaze on me, trying to tell me to be careful. "How long have you lived here?" I ask and take a sip of my water.

"My whole life. Grew up here, met my ex-wife here, we were high school sweethearts. There's no place I'd rather live."

"Where is she now? Why did you guys divorce?"

"We just wanted different things in life. We grew apart, fell out of love. It happens. She moved out and went to be with her sister in Rhode Island."

I look closely at his freshly ironed, linen button up. His neatly kept hair. The checkered greys that blend in with the dark. I can't figure him out yet. "Where did you and my mom meet? On a sugar daddy site or something?"

She kicks me hard under the table, "Auden!" She hisses.

Henry's head falls back with laughter. "Not exactly. We did meet on a dating app though. We were messaging back and forth for a long time. She's everything I've been searching for, so I'm very happy."
"So, what? Are you wanting to marry her?"

"Well," he says sweetly to her."That would be the main goal, eventually."

I fight the urge to roll my eyes as they lean over and kiss one another. Bullshit. It's all bullshit. Smoke and mirrors. The rest of the dinner goes by smoothly, and I try to dissect his every move. To figure out what game he's playing. What does he want with us? Or is he really just completely naïve and oblivious?

***

"I'll meet you in the room, baby." Katherine says in a seductive tone to Henry before slipping up the stairs, leaving him and I alone in the kitchen.

Cautiously, I take a seat at the bar stool behind the counter, watching as he pulls out a tub of ice cream from the freezer. "Do you like sweets before bed?"
I've never had the luxury. More like moldy bread before bed. I nod quietly as he creates a bowl for me, then slides it over. "I know you're weary of me, Auden. I would be too. I hope you're not too upset about moving here."

"It's fine." I mumble and jab my spoon into the chocolate ice cream.

"I hope you can grow to trust me though." He gives me a smile. "What was life like for you two in Arizona?"

I want to laugh. I have no idea what he knows. So, I decide to keep it vague. "Hot and boring."

"Yeah, I hear it gets really hot over there." He leans against the counter and swirls his spoon around in his bowl. "Might be a touchy subject, but is your dad around at all? Don't answer if you don't want to."

"No, I've never met him. I don't know who he is." I shove a spoonful in my mouth.

He gives me a sympathetic look, like that's so awful for me. Yet, it's always been the least of my worries. "I'm sorry about that. I bet that's been hard on you."

"Are your parents around?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "Nope, died when I was in high school. Not much family left for me. I had an older brother, but he died about five years ago now, and my sister is a wild child. She's constantly on the move, traveling around. She's a wildlife photographer."

"I'm sorry." I tell him.

He shrugs. "It's life." Henry places his empty bowl in the sink. "It's nice to see how close you and your mom are, though. It seems like you guys have a great relationship."
I bite on my bottom lip to prevent myself from laughing hysterically. "Oh, super close. Like two peas in a pod." Sarcasm rolls off my tongue, but he doesn't seem to notice.

"Well, I'll see you in the morning, Auden. Night." He gives me a wave before heading up the stairs.

I stare down at my soupy ice cream. For some reason, my eyes begin to fill with tears. My chest heavy. Why the fuck am I here? I can't bring myself to finish the ice cream. My stomach suddenly felt sick. Bringing it over to the sink, I rinse both Henry's and my bowl, then place them in the dishwasher before dragging myself up the stairs.

In my room, I turn and lock the door behind me. Can't take that chance. Regardless of how nice Henry seems, I don't trust him not to come into my room at night.

I wander over towards the window seat, sitting down so my back is leaning against the side, and my knees are turned towards the window. I look out at the dark sea, the moon reflecting off the water. I begin to imagine myself sailing off to sea, venturing far away from Katherine. Somewhere I can be brand new, away from her destruction. I spent so much of my life feeling sorry for her that now all I feel is resentment. Bitterness. The sympathy has all but washed away.