And maybe, with a lot of luck, she wouldn’t have any clue who I was.
“Where are you going to sleep tonight?” Oliana asked, scrunching her nose as she looked around at the empty space.
“I’ll get an air mattress.”
Mah’s eyes lit up with horror. “No, no, no! You cannot sleep on an air mattress, that is terrible for your back.”
“We used to sleep on air mattresses all the time when we had sleepovers!” I reminded her.
“You were ten. And about half the size you are now.”
“It’s just for a little while, Mah,” I assured her with a smile, framing her arms in my hands. “I’m meeting with an interior designer later this week, and she’s one of the best in the city. Next time you visit, it’ll be a whole new place.”
“I could be your interior designer.”
I chuckled. “I know you could be. But hey, this is a new city with a new style. It’s different from anything we’ve ever seen. Don’t you think it’ll be fun to let one of the Chicago professionals who knows the city best bring that new style to life?”
“I think no matter how professional they are, there is nothing Chicago has that is better than Hawai’i.”
Oliana laughed, wrapping her arms around our mother to replace mine. “Alright, I think it’s time we leave Makoa and let him settle in. We should get some sleep, anyway.”
“But our flight is not until ten in the morning!”
“Makuahine,” Oliana said, giving her a look. “Kiss your one and only precious son goodbye and let him breathe for once in your life.”
Mom pouted, but I had her smiling at the end of a bear hug. And with a whispered Mahalo in my little sister’s ear when I hugged her, we said a hui hou — until we meet again — and then I was blessedly alone.
The sun was slowly setting over the city and the lake, casting everything in a warm, orange glow that leaked into my empty condo like rays from heaven itself. Slowly, lights twinkled to life, and I smiled, feeling the newness that only a big move like this one could ever bring.
Moving to California had felt big, but not in the same way. After all, I was still close enough to catch a short flight home to feel the culture and warmth of Hawai’i, and my family was never too far away. But now, I was in Chicago — the Midwest, a city as unfamiliar as the team I was about to play with.
And I had something to prove.
I wasn’t a rookie anymore, but I was new to the team, and that meant I’d have to fight for my spot. While the veterans could rest easy knowing they had a position regardless of what happened in the pre-season, I would have to work my ass off at training camp just to earn the chance to play and show coach what I could do if he kept me on the team.
And I wanted more than just a position.
I wanted a starting position.
Or, at the very least, enough playing time to surprise anyone who picked me up for their fantasy football team.
I blew out a breath as the last of the sun dipped away, the city somehow coming more alive in the twilight. There was no ocean, but instead, a grand lake that seemed to hold completely different possibilities. The palm trees had been traded in for European buckthorns, the albatross for starlings, the city on the bay for the city by the lake.
There at the window in my empty condo, despite the mounting pressure I felt and the uncertainty of a new home, I smiled.
Because everything was different.
And I was ready for a change.
Belle
I smiled at the family photo in my hand, one from a couple with their newborn child in their lap. The little threesome was situated right in the middle of the grand family room I’d designed and decorated for them in the spring when Mrs. Albers was pregnant. That family room was only a small piece of the re-design, as I’d done everything from the nursery to the master bath. But that room had been the one that stole my heart.
There was always one.
It was a bright room, with all white walls and white trim, save for the cherry wood beams that sprawled across the ceiling. We’d chosen a gorgeous French empire chandelier for the centerpiece of the room, and it hung over the luxurious cream push pin couch that the family