We're So Familiar

The rain doesn’t affect the proceedings of the day since the funeral is taking place at the lighthouse cathedral; one of the largest churches in the city. The weather is in sync with the mood of the mourners. Black limos overshadow the street outside and the church is filled up now with over a hundred people. “Sienna Behrt-Lehman was a friend to all”, “Sienna Behrt-Lehman was a supportive wife, a doting mother, and a builder of her community. She had influence everywhere she went”. The loud sound of thunder intercepts the voice of the catholic priest as he delivers the eulogy. In the front row of the congregation is Arthur Behrt-Lehman; husband to the deceased, Darius; the first son, Dustin; the youngest son and Dash; the middle child. Maybe it’s the evident sound of rain from outside or the overwhelming number of nameless, faceless people in this place but, in an instant, Lenny is taken away from the moment and transported back to 12 years ago. It had been a rainy day just like t

Dash: So….how did we meet? Lenny:....at work? Someone introduced us but, then you got called and that was it Dash: lol. no. I mean what do we tell my family about how we met? I’m flattered you remember how we really met before the funeral though. Dash: I remember too Lenny: haha. Oh. okay, we can say we met at a work party? Dash: Nah. I don’t want to tie it to work. Lenny: dating app then? Dash: lmao. No way. No one would believe that Lenny: haha. Ok ok. We can say we met at a mutual friend’s birthday party, something like that. Dash: yh perfect and then we started talking before we realized we work in the same company. Good Lenny: How long have we been seeing each other? Dash: good one. A year? Lenny: too much. How did you manage to hide me for a whole ass year? Dash: lol. Fair point. 5 months? Or 6. It was love at first sight so it’s not weird that we’re getting married so soon Lenny: are we engaged yet? Dash: not yet. After tonight. Maybe in a week Lenny: alright

For the rest of the night, Lenny doesn’t ask Dash any questions. They eat the rest of their meal in relative silence, only occasionally talking about things that don’t matter like how good the food tastes in comparison to the fancy food at the dinner and how they looked odd being all dressed up in a fast food restaurant. After eating, he drives her home and they share an awkward goodbye before she gets out of the car and heads inside. Once she steps into her home, she releases a deep breath of both mental and physical exhaustion. She scans her tiny apartment currently devoid of her baby girl and even though she loves the peace, she doesn’t enjoy the feeling of being away from Hannah. It dawns on her that their whole lives would be different in a matter of a year. They would be able to afford a nicer apartment in a nicer neighborhood, she wouldn’t have to borrow money from Lynn anymore, and she wouldn’t have to deprive herself of so much just to put Hannah in a good school anymore. The

“The best seats in the whole stadium”, Toby exclaims gleefully as the group of four make their way to their seats on the 10th row on the 50-yard line. “You didn’t have to do this, Dash”, Lynn is saying but, she is so impressed by the view up here, she doesn’t mean it. Dash has a humble smile on his face as they take their seats. “It was no problem at all. I’m a huge fan of the Knicks”, he lies through his teeth, and Lenny bursts out in laughter out of disbelief. Just as Lynn had suggested, Lenny had invited Dash out to come to see the Knicks game with them, she thought it’d be a good idea because if they were to wed soon; pretend or not, he had to at least have met her sister. Lenny had no idea he was going to put on this ‘I-love-the-knicks’ act and get them such great and expensive seats. Dash and Lenny met up earlier and then came to the stadium together to meet up with Toby and Lynn. From the look in Lynn’s eyes, her first impression of him caught her off-guard. She hadn’t ex