“Thanks for doing this on such short notice.” Evelyn and Kate were on their way to a café in Leeds, where they were supposed to meet Evelyn’s parents.

“Hey, that’s what friends are for and I don’t want to waste this opportunity.”

“Yea, I didn’t expect mum to agree at all, not mention telling me to either do this today or never.”

“You’re closer to your dad, right?”

“I am. He’s the main reason I want to do this. I don’t want him to keep blaming himself and my transition away from being human is a good opportunity to finally get some closure for us all.”

“Let’s hope it all goes well then.”

Evelyn opened the door to the café. “Even if it doesn’t, I still have my demons.”

Kate chuckled and followed Evelyn into the café, where mister Dubois was sitting at a table in the corner while his ex-wife was pacing along the display of cakes. She was the one to speak first.

“Ah, Evelyn. I almost expected you to not show up. You know how people relying on trains to travel are.”

“I asked for this meeting, mum. Why would I bail?”

“Many reasons. Let’s get this to the point you want to make, shall we? We all have much to do.”

“Let’s take a seat then. Kate, would you like to get us something to eat?”

Kate nodded and approached the exhausted looking barista.

Evelyn hugged her dad before sitting down. “It’s good to see you.”

“Good to see you too, Eve. Sorry for not calling enough.”

“It’s alright, I could have called too. But we are here now and there is much to talk about.”

“I can’t imagine what you would want to talk about.” Her mother interrupted.

“Important things.”

Kate returned with cake, coffee and tea. She greeted everyone with a polite nod and sat down between Evelyn and her father.

“Thank you very much, miss…?”

“Kate. You are Evelyn’s father?”

“I am. You must be one of the librarian friends she mentioned.”

“One of several, yes.”

“It’s good to see her make friends.”

Evelyn nodded. “It’s good to have them. All the librarians and their, uhm, support staff are amazing people. They are the reason why I asked you both to meet me.”

“And your librarian here? Just brought her to demonstrate that you actually have friends?” Her mother was unsufferable. It wasn’t just her words but her thoughts too.

“I actually asked her specifically because she has this wonderful ability to pick up on bullshit. So you don’t do your crocodile tears routine to get what you want from dad again. Well, best to get to it then.” Evelyn took a deep breath. “I got a new opportunity to do more with my life. But it will also mean that I might not be available as much. Starting a new chapter for me is also a great moment to resolve a few things, mainly what you two mean to me. Dad, I love you. I know you blame yourself for my childhood but you did your best. I don’t blame you, I am actually rather grateful that you tried to make it all work out.”

Her father didn’t say anything but looked grateful.

“The day we went to the animal shelter and got Mochi was the best day. And mum, the day you kicked Mochi was the day I wanted to kill you. Funny thing that… in a few months I can just do that. When they find your body and call me, I can just tell them I did it and hold a wonderful piece of paper in their face to tell them that they can’t do anything about it. That’s why we are doing this now by the way, so I won’t be tempted to do something dumb. I have fantasized about doing all that... one stab for every time you called late at night, drunk, and screamed at dad for more money. You didn’t see him crying afterwards. We sat there, on the stairs to my room, at four at night after each and every one of your drunken tirades. Mochi did her best to cheer us up. Whatever Kate decides to do to you is her business, I am just here to tell you to get out of our lives. No more messages about how we broke your heart, no more calling dad for money, no more showing up at any of our homes because you were too drunk to drive home.”

Her mother scoffed. “Right. Found your balls after all or did you loan some from your friend?”

“I am serious, mum. This will be the last time you see me. The last time you see my dad and the last time you think about talking to us.”

Kate took a moment to confirm everything Evelyn had said about her mum, reading the minds of both parents. The mother, Nancy Dubois, was an aggressive alcoholic. Looking for a reason for the addiction, Kate found regret over a failed education. The divorce, initiated by her ex-husband Albert Dubois, only drove her deeper into the bottle. Albert didn’t want anything to do with her anymore. He had pushed for a divorce after Nancy, in another drunken rage, hit him and Evelyn, who was just seven at the time. Still, he was a good man but a pushover. He got to keep his house after the divorce, but he felt guilty about it and every time Nancy called because she had drunk away her money again, he relented and sent her some more. A few times she even showed up to his house to crash on the couch after she couldn’t make her way to her own home.

A quick peek at Evelyn’s mind revealed that she had not been lying about her murderous intent. She hated her mother with a passion. The day that woman had hurt Mochi, Evelyn, sixteen at the time, had kicked her mother out of the house and became incredibly protective of the cat, her one real friend. It had also been the day she had decided that she would rather help than revenge. The drive to just grab the nearest kitchen knife had been strong, the need to make sure Mochi was alright had been stronger. That’s what drove her to become a nurse a few years later.

Now though, Mochi was fine, her dad would be fine, Kate wasn’t someone to ever worry about not being fine, her mother was right there and the desire to put all that misery behind herself was strong.

Nancy obviously didn’t get it. As Evelyn knew too well, the usual routine began. “How can you do this to your own mother?” Tears were welling up in her eyes. “You know I did nothing but love you and Albert.”

“Nancy, I…” Albert was about to stand up, but Kate put her hand on his shoulder to stop him.

“Miss Dubois, Evelyn warned you about my ability to see through your act. Why are you still trying it?”

The tears stopped instantly. “And who are you to question my devotion to my family?”

“I am Evelyn’s friend, she already introduced me.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“But it is my answer. I can reintroduce myself if you want.”

“Forget it… all of you, forget it. I’m leaving.”

Evelyn smiled politely. “Remember that you will leave forever. Farewell.”

“You would have to actually murder me for that. Goodbye.”

Kate decided to try something new. Nirrti had taught her about embedding a sort of payload into someone’s mind. For Nancy, this would be a block that only pops up when she was about to contact Evelyn or her family that would prevent her from doing that and cause her to get distracted by something else unrelated. The vagueness made it even easier to put into place.

As Nancy stormed off, Kate turned to smile at the two humans left in the café. “Don’t worry, she will never call or show up again.”

Evelyn raised an eyebrow. “Using your librarian powers?”

Kate nodded. “Just a little reassurance.”

“Thank you. You didn’t have to, but I appreciate it a lot.”

“That’s what friends are for.”

“Well, dad, that’s it then. Mum’s never going to bother us again.”

“Are you sure?” He didn’t sound convinced.

“Absolutely certain. And if for some reason she still manages to call you or show up again, call me. We will sort it out.”

“Okay…”

“Oh dad. I wish I could tell you where I am going and what I will be doing, but please just know that I love you and that I will be fine. Better than fine actually. And I will come visit every so often, wouldn’t miss your Christmas roast for anything.”

“I will keep making it for you. I love you, Eve. Thank you for today. I never could tell her no…”

“But you did. The divorce was the biggest no you could have given her, I only built on what you did all the way back then.”

“Hm…”

“What matters is that we are free now. We can be happy now.”

“Yes. Yes, we are and we can be. I would invite you to some dinner, but I need to get to bed early tonight, I need to be at work at six.”

Evelyn turned to Kate, who returned a nod.

“Why don’t you come at visit my librarian friends? They make great food and you can meet more of them. They are all wonderful people.”

“We can offer any other meal too, we are quite flexible and will adapt to whenever you want to visit.” Kate added happily. “I have also paid for the cake and tea. Don’t worry about all that.”

“You are too kind. I’m sorry, I should be more talkative. You are my daughter’s friend after all and I want to get to know you better, but my mind is in many different places.”

“I understand. I will not go anywhere, just come by the library or tell Evelyn you want to talk and I will be there.”