2.26 Secret Revealed

Enzo

It had taken me a while to convince Allie to take an evening walk with me to the park. She was slowly getting used to the medication, getting some of her energy back, but she was still pretty upset about the whole ordeal. I figured taking her out of the house for a while might be good for her.

Allie smiled, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “It’s a lovely evening. Thanks for taking me out, Enz. I really appreciate it.”

 

“No problem. I’m glad you’re feeling a little better.”

Allie nodded and sighed. “It’s just draining, you know. I want more than anything to fix this, but there’s just not much I can do. I hate it.”

I nodded and squeezed her shoulder. “Don’t be too hard on yourself, Allie.”

She gave a little shake with her head and smiled. “I’m fine. Let’s not talk about it. How are you doing, Enz?”

 

Before I could answer, the rhythmic sound of footsteps on gravel came jogging towards us. As the woman past the bench we were sitting on, my heart sank in my stomach. I’d recognize the sway of those hips anywhere.

Unfortunately, she recognized me as well and promptly stopped. “Hey, Enzo!”

 

Michelle walked over to us. I felt my cheeks flush. What was I supposed to do now? I guess my secret had to come out sometime, but this wasn’t exactly how I’d imagined it…

“Hi Michelle,” I said weakly. I saw Allie glance curiously at the both of us, but she didn’t say anything. Michelle tightened her ponytail, grabbing the soft, dark locks and firmly pulling them, and smiled. “So is this a date I’m interrupting, or…?”

“No,” I said quickly. “This is Allie. My sister.” I cleared my throat. “Allie, this is Michelle, my… my boss.”

 

“Your boss. Right.” Allie frowned, and I think Michelle finally realized what was going on. “Well,” she said, uncharacteristically awkward. “I guess I’ll keep running. See you Monday, Enzo.”

She nodded towards Allie. “Nice meeting you.”

Michelle turned around and jogged off. I kept watching her backside jog away at a steady and brisk pace, her butt softly bouncing with every…

“Enzo! What was that?”

 

Allie helped me out of my daydream and gave me a stern look. I hesitated for a second, then decided there was no getting out of this. So I told her.

“You have a secret job? Why wouldn’t you tell us?”

“Have you heard how excited dad was about me having the ultimate college experience? And do you think mom would approve of me working without having a diploma to fall back on?” I shook my head. “They won’t understand, Allie.”

 

Allie frowned. “I get that you’re afraid of their reaction. But I don’t think it’s right of you to keep this a secret. Besides, they’re going to find out about it anyway. I’m actually impressed that you’ve managed to lie to them for this long. They must suspect something is going on.”

I shrugged. “I just tell them I’m at the library studying and invent stories about taking exams every once in a while. Honestly, it’s not that hard.”

“Well, as long as you promise you’ll tell them soon. You can’t convince me to lie to mom and dad for you.”

I nodded and sighed. “Fine. I guess they need to find out at some point, right?”

 

“Right.”

Allie gave me a funny look and grinned. “So, that busty lady was your boss? She’s pretty attractive.”

I felt myself turning red and tried to act cool. “Hm. I guess she is.”

“You think I didn’t notice you were checking out her butt as she was jogging away?” Allie giggled at my embarrassed face. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone that little Enzo has a crush on his boss who’s, like, mom’s age,” she teased. “I don’t have a crush on her,” I snapped, which made her laugh even harder. But I wasn’t even that annoyed that she was making fun of me. It was too good to hear my sister laugh again. And besides, she wasn’t even completely wrong…