Chapter 10: Bearer of Bad News

Lulu only signed up to deliver a letter. That was it.

She absolutely did not want or expect to be the one who had to figure out how to gently break it to this stranger that her only remaining parent was dead.

Lulu's lips parted, then pressed into a thin line. She glanced at Henry, who was standing beside Elise, his expression frozen somewhere between hope and dread.

Henry's hand twitched at his side, like he wanted to reach for his daughter but knew he couldn't. His gaze softened, his voice a whisper only Lulu could hear.

"She doesn't know…" he murmured, his words thick with emotion and a bit of relief. I guess a part of him had been fearing the fact that the reason she hadn't yet returned home or arranged his burial arrangements was because she hated him that strongly.

Knowing that she just hadn't been informed yet was a welcome relief to him.

'That only makes one of us…'

Lulu swallowed hard and turned back to Elise. The woman was still standing there, arms crossed, waiting for an answer—waiting for Lulu to explain why some random girl had just shown up at her doorstep talking about the father she hadn't seen in years.

Lulu shifted uncomfortably. This was a bad idea. A terrible, horrible idea. Why had she agreed to this again?

Right. Because otherwise she'd have a new dead roommate, and because she already accepted his money…

Elise raised an eyebrow, her patience wearing thin. "What about my father?" she repeated, this time sharper, her voice clipped.

Lulu sighed, bracing herself. "Look, I'm not sure how to say this, so I'll just come right out with it." She met Elise's gaze. "Henry's dead."

'It's better to just rip the bandaid off with these things, right?' Lulu really had no idea if this was the appropriate way to go about this…

The air in the doorway shifted.

Elise's expression didn't change at first. Then, ever so slightly, her brows knit together. "…What?"

"He—" Lulu faltered, then cleared her throat. "He passed away a about a week ago. Heart attack."

Silence.

Elise blinked. "I… what?" She laughed, but it was a disbelieving, hollow sound. "No. That— That can't be right."

Lulu winced. She really hated this part—the denial that your parent was suddenly gone. But she could empathize…

"I know it's a lot to take in, but it's true."

Elise's lips parted, as if she wanted to refute it again, but the words caught in her throat. A mix of emotions flickered across her face—shock, anger, something else Lulu couldn't quite place.

Finally, she let out a sharp exhale. "You're serious?"

Lulu nodded. "Yeah."

Elise took a step back, pressing a hand against the doorframe as if steadying herself. "I didn't even…" She swallowed. "I didn't even know he was sick. If I had known…I don't know. I don't know!"

"He wasn't," Lulu said. "It was sudden."

Henry, who had been silent up until now, finally spoke, his voice trembling. "I— I never wanted to leave things like this."

But, of course, Elise couldn't hear him.

Lulu watched the two—one visible, one not—and felt an unfamiliar pang in her chest. This was messy. And it was only going to get more emotional.

After a moment, Elise exhaled sharply and straightened. "Alright. So why are you here? You didn't come all this way just to tell me that, did you? A phone call could have simply solved it."

Lulu hesitated, then reached into her bag and pulled out the letter.

"No," Lulu admitted. "Henry and I know each other." Lulu decided to gloss over the fact they'd become acquainted after his death.

"He left this for you. He would talk about you so often and wrote you this letter to reconnect with you. Unfortunately, he passed away before he could send it to you.

Elise stared at the envelope in Lulu's outstretched hand. For a moment, she didn't move.

Then, with a guarded expression, she took it.