Common Ground (The Common Ground Trilogy Book 1) (29 page)

“You too Marie, I’ve missed you!” I said cheerfully, forcefully returning the hug.

“Wow, have you been hitting the gym Zoe?” she panted. She pushed away from me and rubbed her side arduously.

“Um, not really, I’ve just been doing lots of yoga,” I replied. The smile on her face faded slightly while she studied me for a moment.

“Mom, this is Liam” Annie interrupted, putting her hand on his shoulder.

“It’s great to finally meet you Mrs. Johnson,” Liam said, pulling Marie into a surprising hug. “I’ve heard so much about you. Where’s your husband?” Marie seemed taken aback by the hug, but returned it just the same and continued to rub the same spot on her side.

“Oh, he’s working late tonight, trying to get some last minute stuff done so he can enjoy the holiday!” she stuttered, not looking too confident in her response. “But, we’ll talk in the car, let’s get your bags inside.”

The car ride back to the Johnsons’ house was the one bright spot in an otherwise depressing day. Marie’s barrage of questions about our semesters took up the whole ride, specifically when she asked about classes. I sat there quietly while Liam and Annie filled Marie in about school. It was interesting to hear about Annie’s recent struggles. She told Marie that classes were getting harder, but I knew the truth. Hanging out in a fraternity house was not the most efficient way to spend time. But, I held back my thoughts and remained silent until the comforting sight of the Johnsons’ house came into view. Annie and Marie continued to chat until we all entered the familiar foyer of the house.

“Well, here we are,” Marie declared. “Annie, yours and Zoe’s room is ready upstairs if you want to go unpack. Liam, I’m sorry that we don’t have an extra room but we’ve set up the couch in the living room for you.”

“That’s perfect. Thank you Mrs. Johnson,” Liam said, gazing around the entryway of the house.

I could barely hear anymore of Liam’s charade. It was bad enough he had brainwashed Annie into complete submission. The last thing I wanted was for the other most important person in my life to be sucked into his act.

“Please, call me Marie,” she smiled, pulling him into the living room.

“I’ll be right back,” Annie said, bounding up the stairs with bag in tow, leaving me alone.

A feeling of nostalgia swept over me while I gazed around my home. Being there, away from all the chaos at school was very refreshing. There was calmness to the house, a feeling of safety and warmth that I couldn’t find anywhere else in the world. I still felt on edge, knowing that Liam was going to be sleeping downstairs and could do something horrible at any moment. But, standing in the middle of the welcoming house brought an unexpected feeling of calm that I hadn’t felt in weeks. I lifted my bag and followed Annie up the stairs, relishing the relative normalcy for once.

Being back in Annie’s room was a surreal feeling. The décor was the same with all of the rock group and sports team posters on the walls. Both beds were in the exact same place, with my bed situated next to the window overlooking the Sound.  But for some reason, it just felt different. Annie’s bag was resting on her bed and she had already flown back down the stairs to Liam. I tossed my bag onto my bed and collapsed next to it. For what felt like the first time in months, there was nothing constricting my thoughts and my eyes began to shut effortlessly.

I couldn’t tell how much time had passed when my eyes opened again. For the first time in months, it wasn’t the glaring brightness of the sun that greeted me in the morning. Instead, a dark layer of clouds covered the sky while I slowly sat up in bed. My hands reached over the headboard and grabbed the clock, which read 7:00 am. In an attempt to avoid waking Annie, I slid out of bed, put my slippers on and quietly glided out of the room, shutting the door behind me.

I heard low voices whispering behind the kitchen door while I groggily approached. Before entering, I stopped and put my ear to the door. If the trip to Seattle was uncomfortably quiet, sitting in the kitchen with the Johnsons and Liam, without Annie, would probably break the world record for awkward silences. The only deep voice that came from the kitchen was the one I’d been hoping for and I entered with a smile on my face. Mark was in his usual spot at the table, switching his gaze between the newspaper and outside. Marie was in the kitchen, checking on her turkey.

“Ah, I see someone finally decided to wake up?” Mark joked from the table.

“Oh quiet you,” Marie snapped playfully. “Happy Thanksgiving Zoe! How’d you sleep hon?”

“One of the best sleeps I’ve had in weeks,” I said honestly, thankful for a break from my troubling dreams.

I walked over and slumped into the chair across from Mark and stared out at the picturesque scene. In most places, an overcast sky would probably seem unattractive and depressing, but Seattle had a beauty about it that made gray dawns appeasing and beautiful.

“I would hope so, Marie told me you slept for about twelve hours,” Mark chortled. “I didn’t even get to see you last night.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry I missed you,” I said. “How have you been Mark?”

“Staying busy,” he huffed. “Last night was actually the latest I’ve stayed all year.”

“He hasn’t even met Liam yet,” Marie chimed in from the kitchen.

The fact Mark hadn’t seen Liam yet made me a little anxious. I wanted nothing more than to see their first interaction and watch Mark’s reaction to Liam’s pretentiousness.

“Yeah, well, I’m still not sure I like this whole arrangement” he growled. “She hasn’t even known the guy for more than what? Three months? I’m not very comfortable with him sleeping on our couch with my daughter just a few steps away.”

My appreciation for Mark’s protectiveness and judgmental side had never been higher. Everything I felt and wanted to scream out to the world the past few months was being said by that wonderful man. 

“Oh, don’t give me that look,” he sighed at Marie, who just stared at him with fury burned into her aging face.

“Don’t you go starting that,” she hissed at him. “Our daughter is happier than she’s ever been and it sounds like they’ve really hit it off. Isn’t that right Zoe?”

Her question caught me off guard. I was so focused on Mark’s diatribe that I’d almost tuned her out.

“What? Oh, yeah, she’s real happy,” was all I could muster. The corners of my lips cracked upwards in a sad attempt at a smile.

Another hour passed without any sign of Liam or Annie. Marie whipped up some eggs and toast for me and we sat and talked about my semester. She wanted to know everything that happened since we got to school, so I told her about my easy classes, the toga and Halloween parties, and even brought up Professor Woodward again.

“Did you ever find out how he knew your parents?” she asked while I finished off the rest of my orange juice.

“Oh yeah, they went to school together at U-Dub,” I replied. “Apparently they were best friends and I didn’t even know it. It’s just been strange getting to know him. Outside of you guys, I’ve never met anyone else who knew my parents.”

Marie just nodded in approval and sipped her coffee without response. Her eyes stared straight ahead into the kitchen, seemingly avoiding my gaze. The mention of Professor Woodward had brought back thoughts of Common Ground and Simi’s warning. My normalcy couldn’t even last a full day before the turmoil found me again.

“You know, that reminds me,” she added. “A few days ago, I was rummaging through some of your parents’ old things and found a few belongings from their college days. There were a handful of old letters that they’d written to each other during that time-” she started, but was interrupted by the opening of the kitchen door.

“’Mornin,” Annie muttered from somewhere beneath her disheveled hair.

It had been weeks since Annie and I had stopped talking, but I couldn’t remember a time where I didn’t want to see her more than at that moment. Marie appeared to have found something, a hint maybe, which could possibly explain more about Professor Woodward’s relationship with my parents. There may have been hidden clues about Common Ground in those letters, but I didn’t get the chance to find out because of Annie’s horrible timing.

“Ah, good morning sweetheart!” “Marie exclaimed, jumping up. “Happy Thanksgiving.”

“Yeah, you too Mom. Hi Pop,” Annie mumbled, dragging her feet slowly across the kitchen floor. She plopped into the seat between me and Mark and stared out the window.

“Good morning hon,” Mark replied from behind his newspaper. “Have a good trip home?”

“Sure,” she yawned. “Is Liam up yet?”

At that moment, Mark’s burly face appeared as the copy of his newspaper slammed into the kitchen table.

“No, not yet,” he said coldly. “But, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get some work done before the game starts later. Marie, I’ll be in my office. Don’t bother me unless either the house is on fire or someone is dying!” Without another word, he pushed his chair out and strode out of the door before anyone could say something.

“Huh, must have touched a nerve,” Annie chuckled, picking up a slice of apple from Mark’s plate.

“Don’t start today young lady,” Marie said sternly from the kitchen. “Your father has been overworked lately and you know how he gets on game days. Now that the Seahawks are playing on Thanksgiving, he’s extra nervous. Just cut him a little slack, okay?”

Marie may have tried to blame Mark’s shortness on work, but I knew better. Liam’s presence in the house was doing exactly as I’d hoped. Mark was not happy about him being there and because of that, he was going to be in a foul, untrusting mood the whole time. It was a small price to pay for extra vigilance.

“Oh, whatever,” Annie said nonchalantly. “Anyway, I’m going to go wake Liam up. He wanted a tour of the city before the game this afternoon. Sound good?”

Marie folded her arms skeptically and glanced around the kitchen, where the counters and sink were full of plates and dishes. She was going to say no, but before she could, I realized that there wouldn’t be a more perfect opportunity for me to corner Marie about the letters she had found.

“I can help you this morning while they’re out and about,” I interjected before Marie could respond. “I don’t have any plans and I’d love to help.”

Both of them looked at me with very different looks. I kept my eyes focused on Marie, who seemed a little uneasy. After a moment of looking back and forth between me and Annie, she nodded once and turned back towards the ever growing mess that had become her kitchen.

Without a word, Annie leaped out of the chair and ran through the kitchen door towards the living room, leaving me and Marie alone for the rest of the morning.

Mark remained locked away in his office while Marie and I handled the cooking duties for the day. We continued on with more small talk about my classes and her job, seemingly avoiding the one topic that I knew we were both thinking about. My parents’ old college letters had revitalized me, even though they started to bring the thought of Common Ground back into my mind. Marie held more potential answers and I couldn’t keep waiting any longer.

“Marie,” I started. “Can I see those letters my parents wrote to one another?”

Marie froze on the spot in front of the oven. Both hands were gripped on the counter and her knuckles were turning ghostly white.

“I’m sorry Zoe, but I shouldn’t have said anything. I don’t even have them with me, they’re still in my room at school,” she replied nervously.

“Your room? Why are they there?” I asked.

“Well, we don’t have much storage space in this house so I kept a lot of their stuff locked away in my classroom. I’m really sorry I forgot them,” she said.

“But couldn’t we-,” I began to ask, but she was two steps ahead of me.

“Look Zoe, when I go back next week, I’ll look through everything again and make sure to bring them home. Then, when you come back for Christmas, you can read whatever you want. I would take you over there today, but we’re already behind on dinner…,”she said with an air of finality.

Marie’s abrupt change in attitude caught me off guard. I couldn’t help but feel that she had found something in those letters that she didn’t want me to see quite yet. Not wanting to upset her, I pulled back.

“Thanks Marie. I’m sorry to pester you about it. It’s just weird how nobody had ever heard of Professor Woodward and now he’s my advisor at school…”

“You’re not pestering me,” she smiled. “You’re curious, I understand. Trust me when I tell you that I’ll give you whatever I can find. Now, there’s nothing else you can do in here. Why don’t you go upstairs and get yourself cleaned up? Annie and Liam will be back in a bit and the game will be starting soon.”

I couldn’t have cared any less about any of those, but Marie sounded like she needed some alone time.

“Okay. Again, thanks for helping me Marie. I really appreciate it,” I said on my way out of the kitchen door.

The Johnsons were all passionate and loyal Seahawks fans that followed every game. Very rarely did the Seahawks play games on Thanksgiving, so it made for an extra special occasion. Annie and Liam got back right before the opening kickoff and sat down on the love seat, while I sat on the longer couch by myself. Mark was still nowhere to be found when Annie spoke to Liam.