Greener Grass

Riley

"Your family is hoping that we can go over to the luncheon in a couple of hours. Do you think you'll feel up to it?" Charlotte brushed her hand down my back as I stood in the kitchen with my hands on the counter and eyes focused on the view of the street below.

"Hmm? No, I'm good. I don't want to go over there. I can't." I shrugged, not really caring what anyone thought about me not making an appearance. My family was weird at best and now that I had found some semblance of success, they were a little too loving. It was fucked up, and I wasn't in the mood to pretend like it wasn't.

"No problem. I'll let your Aunt Debbie know." She rubbed my back for another few seconds before walking out of the kitchen and leaving me in my numbness.

I couldn't seem to shake the image of Ethan watching me in the foyer of the funeral home. The longing on his face showed me the part of him that I wanted to pretend didn't exist. It made things easier. We were supposed to make movies together, not fa