Page 27 of The Warmth of Our Closest Star

“Okay, I suppose,” I said. “I have been working a lot since I finished university. Money is good and it keeps me from thinking too much, so I like to work.”

Peter nodded along but made no attempt to interrupt.

“I have a couch,” I said happily. “I think I told you that?”

He smiled and indicated I had told him that already.

“And a rug,” I continued. “A small television. New sheets and a few warm blankets. I have good shoes now. My pantry and fridge are never empty. I have a bus pass. Which is nice?”

“What about friends?” Peter asked. “You said one time you’d made some new friends in your classes, so—”

“I have been working a lot,” I said. “I have not seen them much.”

“Are you lonely?” he asked.

I shrugged. Peter was asking me about my life because he actually cared to know about my life. He wanted to know everything about me. I didn’t want to lie to Peter. So, I realized a shrug and interjections would not do.

“Yes,” I said. “I suppose I’m lonely all of the time.”

“I am, too,” Peter said.

Our eyes met and we both couldn’t help but laugh.

“I have a new, good coat of my own,” I said through my laughter. “I brought your coat back to you. I took care of it.”

Peter shook his head. “I don’t want it back. It was a gift.”

“Well, it is in my suitcase if you change your mind.”

“I won’t,” he said. “I like that you have it.”

“Okay. Um, yes. I guess I’m okay. My job is good. I really love it, even if it is a little boring.”

Peter laughed, as though he understood this concept, so I smiled and continued.

“I’m still taking ESL classes with Monsieur Paquette. He has helped me a lot. Not just with my English but with life, I suppose. He’s a very kind man. He retired from his primary job recently and we had a party for him. I think he will not teach ESL much longer, but we have coffee together once a week. I suppose he is a friend, too?”

Peter sat back in his chair and smiled, as though settling in happily to listen to anything I had to tell him about my life in Montreal.

“Sometimes I still clean houses for extra money, but I don’t have to if I don’t want to,” I continued. “My salary is enough. Maybe one day I’ll have an even better job and…well, I try not to get ahead of myself.”

“You will one day.”

I nodded. “It’s not so difficult to not have my family anymore, I suppose. I only miss Noe and Ila and my parents and grandmother five or six times a day.”

Peter smiled warmly at me; his eyes glistening with understanding.

“I do not have time to go to church every day, but I go on Sundays,” I said. “Pray for them—to them. I have started going to the basilica? I…I don’t like going anywhere but there now.”

Another warm smile greeted me from across the table.

“It’s my favorite place now. Besides home.”

“Do you ever eat at The Lazy Duck?” Peter asked, sitting up to lean into the table excitedly. “Have you recreated our feast?”

I chuckled. “I would love to, but that is outside of my budget.”

“Damnit,” he said, sitting back once again. “I wanted to hear what the courses were.”