Chapter 3 - The Echo of a Smile
Four years passed,
like a slow-motion film,
unfolding in a small town,
where nobody knew the name Foster.
Leo and Max were three years old,
with golden hair,
and spirits that couldn't be contained.
Leo was the quiet one,
with a serious expression,
and a way of looking at the world,
that made him seem ancient.
Max was the storm,
always running,
always laughing,
with a dimple in his left cheek,
that was a carbon copy of Julian's.
Every time I looked at them,
my heart skipped a beat,
a mixture of intense love,
and a lingering,
dull ache.
They didn't have a father,
at least,
not one they knew.
They had me,
and they had the bakery downstairs,
and the elderly neighbor,
who taught them how to plant marigolds.
I worked as a freelance designer,
spending my nights at the computer,
while they slept in the room next door.
Life was simple,
and it was hard,
and it was beautiful.
There were no designer bags,
only backpacks filled with dinosaurs,
and half-eaten crackers.
There were no gala dinners,
only mac and cheese,
and bedtime stories about brave knights.
The twins were my world,
the center of my universe,
and the reason I kept going.
But as they grew,
so did the questions.
"Where is our daddy?"
Max asked one afternoon,
holding a broken toy truck.
I knelt down,
brushing the hair from his forehead,
my voice caught in my throat.
"He's far away,
sweetheart,"
I said,
trying to keep my hand steady.
"But he gave you his smile,
and he gave you his strength."
It wasn't a lie,
but it wasn't the whole truth either.
I wondered if Julian ever thought of us,
or if he had moved on,
marrying Madison,
and having a family of his own.
I avoided the news,
avoided the business magazines,
but sometimes his face,
would flash on a television in a shop window.
He looked older,
his jawline sharper,
his eyes colder than I remembered.
He looked like a man who had won everything,
but lost the ability to enjoy it.
I would turn away quickly,
pulling the boys close to me,
as if the screen could see us.
We were safe in our bubble,
in our little life in Albany,
far from the twenty-eighth floor.
But the universe has a way,
of pulling strings,
and making paths cross,
when you least expect it.
A new hotel project was announced,
a massive development,
right in the heart of our city.
The Foster Meridian logo,
began to appear on construction fences,
and billboards.
I felt a cold shiver,
running down my spine,
every time I walked past.
He was coming here,
the man who broke me,
May you like
was bringing his empire,
to my doorstep.
