It's Been a While

The cloud of smoke rolls out of Leila’s mouth and she holds her cigarette between her fingers, flicking the excess ash off. When a vehicle pulls into the gravel driveway, she doesn’t look up. She looks up and puts the cigarette back between her lips when her ears are greeted with loud footsteps.

“You still smoke?” Daniel laughs, casually taking a seat on the step next to the woman.

She smiles, exhaling smoke and holding the cigarette in between her middle and index fingers. “I actually quit a while back. The stress lately got to be too much, though. Nothing else really cut it.”

Daniel nods, “yeah.”

“Better than pill popping, I suppose.” She smiles with the cigarette in between her lips, gently rubbing her exposed calves.

“A little easier to quit,” he smirks.

“I’ve done it before, I’ll do it again.” She smiles, picking up the pack from between her sandal clad feet, “want one?”

“Why not?” He shrugs.

She hands the pack over to him, “how long has it been since you’ve smoked?”

“Last time I saw you, I think?” He smirks, lighting his own cigarette and setting the pack down between them.

“Shut up; no it has not.”

He shakes his head, laughing when she slaps his arm, “I’ve smoked like three cigarettes since then.”

“What’ve you been up to, besides hockey? And smoking three cigarettes.”

“Well, I host a radio show part time. But… that’s about it.”

“Mr. Joe Hollywood,” she smiles, “on the radio in a big city.”

He laughs, “yeah, sure. If I was Joe Hollywood, I wouldn’t be back here.”

Leila crushes her cigarette under her shoe, “you have a very good point.”

“What’ve you been up to?”

She rubs her hands together, “been hangin’ around here, really.”

“I don’t think you could give me a more vague answer if you tried,” he smirks, smoke coming out of his mouth and nostrils.

Leila smiles, resting her chin in her hand. “I was engaged for a while. That fell through a few weeks ago, though.”

“To who?” Daniel glances at her bare hands, looking back at the natural pout on her face.

She sighs, “a guy named Jeremy.”

“Jeremy,” Daniel says quietly to himself.

“You probably don’t remember him. He played football in high school.”

“Jeremy Cook?”

She nods slowly.

Daniel scrunches his nose, stepping on the remnants of his cigarette.

“He’s a lawyer now,” Leila says quietly. “Does pretty well for himself, too.”

“Well, yeah, that tends to happen when you work for your dad,” Daniel says flatly.

“Bitter?” Leila smirks.

Daniel shakes his head, “no. I just don’t like the guy. Never have.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling.” Leila sighs, slowly bending her head to rest on her arms.

For a while, they sit in silence on the steps of the front porch. They watch cars exceed the speed limit on the straight stretch of the smooth concrete, less than an half an acre away, which is known as King Road. The daylight is dissipating quickly, but they make no move to retreat indoors.

“You still in touch with anyone else?” Daniel inquires, breaking their silence.

Leila shakes her head, “nope. A lot of people moved away the first chance they got. Other people… I just didn’t.”

“I’m sure Jeremy had a hand in that.”

She shrugs, “probably.”

Silence falls again, occasionally interrupted by a passing car on King Road. Darkness falls with it.

“You wanna stay for dinner?”

Daniel nods, “I’d like that.”

Leila smiles as she gently scoops up her pack of cigarettes and stands up, dusting herself off. “C’mon inside, then.”