1.1 | Across the Way

Chapter Five

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Since the night Elijah had been late from picking up Harvey he had been nothing but punctual ever since. I assumed that he might have thought I was upset with him when in reality I was more so worried. He was a cop in a city where the crime rates were at an all-time high and I truly had no idea what I'd do if he hadn't returned. I couldn't imagine how his family felt.

That night I had used the key he had given me to drop off Harvey next door around the time he said he'd be home but when thirty minutes or so had passed and Harvey's barks could be heard through the walls I presumed he hadn't made it home. Therefore, I brought Harvey back over to my place where we watched a movie and he watched me attempt to work out. He seemed to warm up to me pretty quickly, however, and I couldn't help but feel pleased.

Besides the casual pickups, Elijah had made when I fell asleep and forgot to take Harvey home or the infrequent stops he'd make at Elle's bakery we never really hung out again and for a reason, I couldn't explain made me a bit sad. Which inevitably had me spend more hours emerged within my element, baking.

I suppose this was good anyways since Halloween was right around the corner and this was the time we would normally plan the themed cakes and pastries we'd put out on the display. We'd also be doing more full-sized cakes since we encouraged them for the holidays. I was always up for a bit of a challenge.

Time soon passed and by midday, I saw my parents sitting at one of the corner tables waiting for me to get off. To be frank I had completely forgotten my mother had called me when I was with Elijah since I kind of rushed the call not wanting to be rude to my company at the time but when I received a text this morning reminding me they were stopping by the memory quickly recollected.

I had been the perfect pairing between the two as they said, the perfect recipe. I carried my mother's set of brown doe eyes and plumped lips. We also shared the same hair color though mine ran a bit darker. From my father, however, I was told what I got from him was his easygoing personality and nearly troubling ambition. Suffice it to say if we had gone out into a public area people would easily guessed we were related.

"Evangeline," I could hear my mother calling me over. Her voice was soft and hardly be heard by the other people in the bakery making conversation.

"Are you sure you'll be able to get lunch with us?" She asked her eyes showing nothing but concern. "I understand if it's too hard to leave."

"No, Mom. Rosa has it covered." It had been some time since I had seen them as they lived in Connecticut and only visited to see my sister, grandmother, or myself. When I first moved to New York it seemed every weekend they would visit but I believe once they grasped the idea of me living on my own they settled on visiting much less.

Instead of taking a taxi somewhere, we walked two blocks towards an Italian restaurant that we had been to numerous times. The walk was filled with light conversation making the minutes get there a breeze. My mom explained that she'll be changing jobs to work at a private school closer to home and carried on to reminisce about when I was younger and in school which was common for her to do. I truly believe she had wished she had more kids.

Opening the door to the restaurant Massimo, the restaurant owner, had been working behind the desk his eyes brightened at the sight of my parents.

"Ciao a tutti," Massimo said while walking around the desk. He had somewhat become a friend of my parents after the many times we ate here.

"Ciao Massimo." My dad smiled holding out his hand for him to shake.

"I'll give you your normal seats." Grabbing a couple of menus from the bin he led us to a booth closest to the window.