At Dusk

Sudden lights

Reluctant to leave the vicinity of the university, at last, she agreed to go with him. She could do no good standing in the rain.

He called a cab and in fifteen minutes, they were at his house. 

She just stood there, in an unfamiliar poorly-lit living room, not knowing what else to do. 

"Theo?" A sleepy female voice called, coming in from the corridor. It was already half-past one.

"Hey, honey," he said as he rushed in the direction of the voice. "Come here," he said, after a while. 

"Tina, this is Laura." He introduced them.

"Hi," she said in a sleepy voice. 

"Hi," Laura replied. 

"Wasn't she supposed to be pregnant?" She asked Theo directly, visibly more awaken. 

"Angela is pregnant. This is her sister."

"Oh, sorry.."

"It' ok. I'm sorry to be here at this late hour."

"You are welcome here, anytime," said Theo. 

"You are," repeated Tina. "Please, sit down. Can I get you anything?"

"A glass of water, please. Thank you."

She sat on the couch. Tina soon came back from the kitchen with a full glass, which she quickly drank in one go.

"Is your sister going to be ok?"

"I hope so. Yes," she kept answering. "I know she will be. They'll take care of her."

"Who?"

"The family... our family."

"What is it to worry about then?"

"It's complicated. They are complicated."

"How so?"

"Tina," he intervened. "I think our guest is tired. Now is not the time for questioning."

"No problem," she said to Theo, and then to Tina: "My family and I... we don't see eye to eye. I ran away as soon as I could from that place, Angela stayed... I guess in the end they did find a way to come between us."

"I'm sorry to hear it," Tina said, sitting down at a table chair and holding her head with a hand, showing interest. "Where is the place you ran away from?"

"The south."

"And that's where they are taking her sister now."

"Oh boy. Why do you dislike them so anyhow?"

"It's a long story. I'm too tired to explain it now, sorry."

Tina nodded. If she had more questions, she kept them to herself. 

"You can spend the night here, all right? And tomorrow we'll think about what to do next," Theo jumped in. 

"Thank you, you're very kind. You too, Tina. I'll accept your offer because I have nowhere else to go, but tomorrow I'll do the only thing I can do. I'll go back."

There was silence for a few minutes. 

"Right. I'm off to bed. Please, make yourself at home, Laura. I'll fetch you a pillow and some covers. You can sleep on the couch."

Laura thanked the woman again. Soon she came back with the covers, kissed Theo good night, and was off to bed. 

"Can I use the toilet?" 

Theo pointed her in the right direction. When she returned, ready to go to sleep, he was still there. She could tell he was lingering on purpose.  

"I do have something to confess," he said.