•Before I Let Go•

•Chapter 9•

Alida saw that Cory seemed confused by her answer. She sighed, "I don't know. I think about him sometimes and... I just know that he wouldn't want me being down about it. He'd want the best for me... for Zora—if he had ever met her."

"Did Aidan know Zora's Dad?" Cory asked.

The question caught Alida off guard. She swallowed hard, unsure how to give an answer.

"Not really." Alida admitted. It was true; Aidan didn't know Zora's Father like he thought—not the way she did.

Cory's mind wandered again. He began questioning Alida's faithfulness from when they were kids. He wondered if she had been two timing him with one of Aidan's other friends he didn't associate with.

          Alida wouldn't have done that.

It didn't matter how many years had passed, Cory knew that she had loved him at one point in their life—enough to never do that.

It had to have been after he left; when she had sought comfort in someone she trusted—someone that knew Aidan—someone that took advantage of her. Aidan was the type, and so were his other friends.

"Has Zora ever met him?" Cory asked. He was unsure exactly why he seemed to be pressing it. He supposed that he wanted a reason to hate Aidan—an unrelated reason that didn't involve him.

"Zora doesn't know who he is, but she's getting curious about him. For spite of it," Alida sighed, shaking her head, "she calls me Spinster."

"Spinster?"

"Yeah."

"She does it for spite, so it's... derogatory?"

"Oh yeah." Alida admitted with annoyance.

"Pardon my ignorance—forgiven me for being an idiot, but... what the hell does that even mean?" Cory's eyes were grinning, trying to think of what the word meant. He recalled the little girl saying it so casually, as if it were Alida's true name.

"It means I'm too old to ever get married."

Cory's shoulders shook as he covered his wide smile to muffle his laughter.

"You're only twenty-seven." Cory stated as straight-faced as he possibly could. "Where did she even hear that? How the fuck does she know what that word means?" Cory asked, no longer trying to hide his laugh.

"Zora is... intellectually odd? I don't know how to explain it. She's really smart—she's so smart. But, she misinterprets a lot of... social cues? She's completely inappropriate most of the time. She has an answer for everything though. You can't joke—you cannot joke with her, she takes things literally. Sarcasm?" Alida moved her hand over her head with a quick zip, "completely goes over her head—completely misses the point. You tell her to put something down, she will literally set it in the floor, no shit. You have to be specific with her."

Cory found himself smiling with joyous endearment, taking an unusual comfort in Alida confiding in him about the good and the bad of motherhood. He couldn't recall the last time anyone had ever spoken to him like this—so freely and unrehearsed.

"She sounds interesting." Cory smiled, peeling his eyes off Alida and looking to the road ahead.

He found himself fantasizing about a life he'd never have; getting to know Alida and her daughter, becoming close with the small family—the strange dynamic he'd never experienced before. Cory knew it was wise to pull himself out of it.

"I shouldn't have told you any of that." Alida mumbled. Her tone hummed with a familiar vexation Cory remembered from years before.

"Why not?"

"That was your nice way of saying you think my kid is weird." Alida seethed.

Cory's brows furrowed; a visible wrinkle appeared prominently above his nose as he looked to Alida offended.

"Excuse me, but uh- I do not think your kid is weird. She sounds pretty fucking remarkable, if I'm being honest." Cory spat.

He was insulted Alida presumed him to think so negatively of someone other than himself. Especially that of a child, a little girl belonging to the first love he'd ever experienced—the love of his life.

Alida grinned as her eyes suddenly brimmed with tears by Cory's words. No one really spoke about Zora's excellence, they harped on her unique ability that made them uncomfortable. Which is exactly why Alida would die a Spinster. No man would ever good enough for Zora.

Alida wondered if Cory would be proud to know that the remarkable little girl he spoke of was also his. She thought of all the possibilities, but decided that Cory had only complimented Zora to appease Alida's distaste for his former remark.

With that thought, the tears edging her lower lids vanished.

"How old is Zora anyway?" Cory asked. His face twisted in confusion when pulling up to a school, Alida turning on her blinker to get into the carpool lane. "Wait, I thought we were gonna look the house?"

"I told you, I gotta pick Zora up at 2:30... it's 2:30." Alida pointed at the clock on the dash, relieved that Cory seemed to forget his previous question.

Pulling around the curb outside the school, Cory grinned at the blonde little girl standing by the stoop. She was displaying the same expression she had when Cory had first arrived—when she had answered the door in her matching pajamas. Zora looked tired, and peeved.

Alida rolled down Cory's window, giving Zora a guilty smile. "Hey-"

"What's he doing here?" Zora asked.

"He came with me to look at the house-"

"Why is he in the front?" Zora interjected again.

"Well, because he's our guest."

"But he wasn't invited."

"I invited him—now stop being rude and get in the back." Alida demanded with wide eyes, speaking through her teeth.

Zora did as told, putting on her seatbelt without debate. When the car began moving, however, Zora continued.

"He may be our guest, but he's not welcome."

"Zora!" Alida looked to the little girl through her rearview mirror—threatening Zora with her eyes.

"No, she's right." Cory turned his body around to face her, "Is this about the seat, or... do you just not like me?" Cory asked Zora.

"It's about the seat." Zora confessed without hesitation.

"Good—Alida, pull over up here and we'll switch."

"What? No!" Alida scoffed at Cory's suggestion.

Cory and Zora both looked to Alida, waiting for her to explain her baseless objection.

Alida said, "You can't let her do that. She has to understand that life doesn't work out the way you want all the time and sometimes... you just have to deal with it."

"But there's a solution." Cory said. "That's only good advice if there's not a solution."

"Who's side are you on right now?" Alida whispered, stealing glances from Cory before looking ahead at the road.

"There's too many people in the world that don't like me... I don't wanna make another enemy... over shotgun." Cory admitted.

Alida would've laughed had Cory not been so serious.

"How about we get something to eat, and then on the way back, Zora can ride up front—does that sound okay to everyone?" Alida suggested, looking between the pair for a compromise.

Cory, however, only looked to Zora to give him the answer.

The little girl nodded in approval before moving her eyes toward the window.