Rosaleigh, NY

This building actually hasn't changed. You know how, sometimes, buildings go through renovations and make 'em look newer and more modern. Not Edison Inc. It still looks like it came right out of the '80s and I really want to cringe, but instead, I walk right inside into my father's office.

Turns out, he's one of the top dogs of the whole destroying Rosaleigh project or whatever it actually is.

"Hey, dad," I say, walking into his office.

My dad looks up from the mountain of papers on desk and says, "Hey, son."

I plop down in a giant, cushion-y chair. On his desk, I notice, is a picture of mom that I believe was taken on their honeymoon. They were in Greece. On the other side is a picture of me and Jonathan when we were kids. I was wearing an Incredible Hulk t-shirt and Jonathan had a Yankees cap on. What a perfect depiction of who we are.

"So, uh," I speak up as my dad continues to scribble on some papers. You think I'm joking when I say he has a mountain of papers. I'm not, "this whole 'destroying Rosaleigh' thing...it's happening?"

My dad nods his head once without looking up. "Yep."

"That's–that's all you're going to say?"

He shrugs his shoulders and says, "What else do you want me to say, Levi? I can't reveal much information until the meeting."

This frustrates me because this is exactly how our relationship has always been. My dad just never wants to talk to me. I sigh and say, "Dad, I'm not asking you to tell me every detail of the project. I'm asking you what's going to happen? Is the entire town going to be demolished? Is it just the lake?"

My dad drops his pen and looks up at me. His expressions is like stone. "Levi, the last time you were here, you shoved a finger in my chest and told everyone to go to hell and that you think Rosaleigh should go to hell and then proceeded to move a few hundred miles away and never come back. I'm honestly very surprised you're here right now. You hate Rosaleigh, so why do you care about what's going to happen?"

I feel like my eye is twitching but I don't know. "There is a difference between caring and simply wanting to know. And I'm back because I thought my dad would want to see his son, but no, he's in Boston right now." I stand up and mutter, "See you at the meeting."

I hear my dad sigh and I can imagine him pinching the bridge of his nose and then going, "Wait! Levi, come back!" but instead, I close the door and he missed his chance.

I knew this was a bad idea.

I walk through the hallway with my eyes on the ground. I'm trying to think of ways to forget about this conversation. They all include alcohol somehow, which wouldn't really be a good idea if I'm going to this town hall meeting that includes everyone I ever grew up with.

But fuck that shit, right?

My thoughts are going haywire because I hate my father so much, and don't even get me started on how much I despise my brother, and my shoulder rams into someone as I'm going towards my car in the parking lot. I keep walking and glance back. The girl I hit is on the ground, picking up her papers and I do a double take and think of how much of a douchebag-move that is. I sigh and double back.

"Fuck, I'm sorry," I say, kneeling down, picking up the papers that looked like a blanket on the asphalt. What is with this company and its employees having more paper than a paper company?

"It's fine," the girl mutters.

We pick up all the papers and I hand it back to her, smiling. She looks at me and before she could say thank you, she stops. I stand up and she follows, holding the stack of papers in her arms. She's looking at me like she knows who I am, so I ask, "Uh, do we know each other?"

The way she's looking at me now makes me realize that we do, in fact, know each other. But I have no idea who she is.

"I have to go," she says, brushing past me and hurrying towards the double doors. I watch her and I still can't pinpoint where I know her from. I sigh, giving up, and turn around, climbing into my car. My thoughts keep going back to my dad. At least in here, I don't have to talk to anyone.

That's always a nice thing to say, right?