Chapter 17: Not Tonight

We talked about our families for most of the evening. He grew up in New York, and had a magical childhood filled with love and lots of adventures. It was similar to mine except the adventures part. They moved to LA when he was twelve, so his father could be close to work. He talked about his brother who was a doctor, now based in London.

I told him about my parents. Being an only child, there wasn't much to share. It had always been just me and my parents. I didn't travel to fancy places, or have vacations in different countries each year. I spoke a bit about what my parents did: my dad was a banker, while my mom was a florist. The house always smelled like roses, and that was a memory I was particularly fond of.

He listened attentively, asking me questions. Declan seemed to be genuinely interested in me, because he asked specific questions about my childhood.

"Are you happy?" he asked, suddenly.

I was taken aback by his question. "You mean right now?"

"No. Generally, with life. A