“Yes, he is,” my mother replied with emphasis. “Never a dull day with that one.”
“I bet you forgot what it was like having a little minion always chasing you around,” my father said, taking another bite of food.
“No, I actually missed him a lot,” I said. “And honestly he has matured a lot since I left, it’s kind of crazy.”
“He missed you, too,” Mom assured me. “I wasn't the one who insisted on sending you all those cookie care packages.”
“And lord knows we appreciated them,” I told her. “I'm pretty sure that Caroline and I ate nothing but cookies for several meals.”
“If I had known that, I would have sent you food!” my mother replied, looking shocked.
“It's what you do in college,” my dad assured her. “Builds character.”
“Or diabetes,” Caroline whispered to me and I had to hold in a laugh.
Tommy returned to the table and slumped into his seat as only a pre-teenage boy could. He stared at his phone for another minute before putting it back in his pocket.
“Oh, welcome back,” I said. “Thanks for joining us.”
He looked at me and made a face that looked like it should have been accompanied with a stuck out tongue.
“The waitress is coming back to get your food,” my father told him. “We told her you didn’t want it.”
Tommy rolled his eyes, knowing that our father was just messing with him as he dug into his cheeseburger and fries. “Thanks, Dad.”
“Did you go outside?” I asked, taking a bite of my chicken. I looked past him to the windows and saw the twilight softly creeping in over the sidewalk, almost expecting to see some sort of tempting attraction instead of the city street.
“Yeah,” he replied with a shrug, as if my question was a mere waste of time.
“And?” I prompted.
“And what?” He took another bite of his burger and shrugged.
“Nothing I guess,” I told him. My mother just shrugged at me. Apparently this was usual for him.
“Have you sent in your application to ZephTech yet?” Caroline asked between bites of her fettuccine alfredo. I looked up at my father and wasn’t surprised to find him looking over his glasses at me, waiting for me to answer.
“Almost,” I told her. “I’m almost done. This application is more work than applying to grad school.”
“What all do you have left?” Caroline asked. “I think last I heard you were working on some essay.”
“I finished the written questionnaire,” I said, stressing the term so as not to sound like a high school senior. “I have all the testing done and I met with their recruitment person for an interview before school ended, so that's done. Now, I just have to submit my resume with a cover letter.”
“Submit or finish?” my father asked bluntly.
“Submit,” I informed him, feeling a little defensive.
“That’s intense,” Caroline said. “Makes my applications seem easier.”
“Well, it’s a pretty competitive internship,” I said, speaking more to the table than to Caroline alone. “Like, incredibly competitive. They only accept ten applicants out of the hundreds that they get.”
“I know you'll get it,” Caroline said and nudged me with her elbow. “I’d hire you in a heartbeat.”
“Actually, I was hoping you could read over my cover letter before I submit it, if you don’t mind,” I said. Caroline did have her degree in English after all.
“Oh, absolutely,” said Caroline. “Email it to me.”
“Thanks, Caroline.” I smiled at her. “I appreciate it. I really want this.”