Eloquent Divergence

Chessboard

Sarah hummed, fingers tapping as she stared at the gameboard. "Rook to… mmm." Head tilted. "I don't fuckin' know."

The holographic pieces flickered, anticipating Sarah's command.

"Language." Lynn admonished, sitting, plate clicking loudly as she set it down. "Let's take a look." Glancing over the pieces as she popped a chunk of orange into her mouth. "Okay." Hands rubbed and clapped. "Looks like you have plenty of options. Try harder, hun." Fingers hovered over empty spaces, hinting without telling.

"Fine!" Sarah growled, clawing an orange slice off the plate, chewing slowly. "Rook to C4." She swallowed. "Took your bishop."

"Oh, did you?" Lynn smiled, legs crossing as she settled in her chair, reaching for another bite when the phone rang. "Man." Lynn tsked, pushing off the table heavily. "I just sat." A heavy sigh as she glanced at her daughter, "I'll be right back."

"Yeah, yeah." Sarah's hand flopped in the air, her head not rising from the table. "Go get…" voice lowered as Lynn answered, unable to hear Sarah over her own hushed conversation. "The fucking phone."

It wasn't until Lynn's shoulders stiffened that Sarah fully paid attention to her mother, turning away from the now red board. The hushed urgency in Lynn's tone, the way she glanced over her shoulder only to jerk away as soon as she caught Sarah's eyes.

Sarah rose from the table, ears straining. She tried so hard to breath slowly, quietly, the rush of oxygen into her lungs racing through her nose, heartbeat growing steadily louder as she crept closer.

"... and you're sure it's them?" A heavy sigh as Lynn turned, froze. Wide eyes dragging over a frozen in place Sarah.

She smiled, chuckled.

"I'll be there soon, Cider." Soft, reassuring. "Send me your location."

Sarah exhaled, hand falling over her thundering heart as she sucked in air, veins burning.

"You," Lynn teased, sweeping around the counter for her coat, "are not stealthy."

"Well," Sarah shrugged. "Who was it?" Changing subjects.

Lynn straightened, pulling her hair out of the collar. "Your grandparents." The answer was unaffected. Straightforward and honest.

Still Sarah couldn't help her knee-jerk grimace. "Ew. Why?"

Lynn rolled her eyes, sighing. "Apparently your sister arranged the meeting."

"Again," Sarah emphasized, arms crossing. "Ew, why?"

"Sarah." Lynn chastised. "She misses them. And that's okay." She admonished over Sarah's scoff. "We're allowed to miss people who have hurt us. They're grieving too. We lost your dad, and they lost their son." Lynn bit her lip, sneaking a look at Sarah, who looked surprisingly unaffected by the heavy topic. "Maybe they miss us."

Sarah's face rose to reveal a sneer. "Yeah right."

Lynn sighed, standing in the entryway, breeze tugging at her. "I take it you won't be joining me?"

"N-" Sarah's face morphed for a moment, a second.

Longing, sorrow. Desire.

"Nah." She withdrew, anger shutting down all else with force. "I'm thirteen now. I can chill by myself." She turned away, retreating deeper into the house, falling onto the couch. "I need the alone time. I'll just hang out and watch TV. Wait for you to get back before taking your king." Chin jutted to the unfinished chess game.

Lynn smiled, eyes lingering on the soft glow of check-mate illuminating the remaining orange slices waiting to be eaten in a weak red wash. "Sounds like a date!" She teased, ignoring her eldest complaints as the door closed behind her. The wind blowing at her back, as though propelling Lynn to the cafe her daughter and android were waiting for her at.