“Who is she?” I asked, still shaken up.
“Mr. Wallace’s mother.”
“Ohhh…”
“Look, if you give me your phone number and contact information, I’ll get it to Mr. Wallace.”
I hugged him abruptly, driven to uncustomary displays of affection because I was so grateful for his help. I began to cry again as I hugged him. “Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. You’re a really great person.”
He pried himself out of my arms and said with a soft chuckle. “Hey, not a problem. So, stop all the crying, ok?”
I nodded and wiped at my tears. He pulled a couple of questionable looking napkins out of his pocket. “Here, wipe your face. You have some…” He gestured to my nose.
He didn’t have to finish his sentence as I wiped at my nose and thanked him again. I realized that I probably looked a mess. No wonder the security guards thought I was a crazed stalker.
“Anyway, I need to get back in before the old witch notices I’m gone.”
He programmed my number into his phone and wished me good luck.
As I sat on the corner, waiting for a bus to take me to my cousin’s home, I didn’t feel lucky at all.
*
I looked around the small ice cream shop that sat across from the beach. There were several families milling around and little kids darted in and out. Some collided with each other and moms spent most of their time apologizing to other moms for the actions of their rambunctious children. I hoped that I didn’t look like a weirdo staring at them, but they all seemed so happy whilst I was sitting there miserable.
I nervously tapped my finger against the table and with my other hand I played with the straw in my milkshake. I guess my fidgeting bothered the guy across from me as he looked up from the book he was reading, looked at my finger pointedly and then glared at me before burying his nose back into his book.
I gave him an apologetic smile and placed my hands in my lap. I leaned forward and took a big sip of my milkshake, and tried to focus on anything but how nervous I felt.
The day after being escorted from the office, I’d received a phone call from Zach telling me that Mr. Wallace would meet me at 1:00 pm at this location. I’d been so torn. Part of me had been ecstatic that Cliff had come through for me, but the other part of me was terrified about seeing Griffin alone again.
I watched the door as I sat drinking my milkshake. I’d arrived half an hour before the agreed time and had seen a lot of customers come and go.
I watched as a family came in with a little girl, around three years old. She was adorable. She wore a summer hat and a cute sundress. She waved to me as she walked by and I waved back wondering what it would be like to have a little girl of my own. I’d find out soon enough, I thought, feeling a little overwhelmed. The idea of being a mom filled me with panic, but also joy. I looked down at my stomach, which barely showed even a slight bump, and rubbed it without thinking.
It was then that I heard someone in front of me clear their throat. I snatched my hand away from my stomach and looked up. And then I promptly began to choke on the remaining milkshake in my mouth as I saw who had joined me. Mrs. Wallace, my unexpected guest, responded by thumping me hard on the back. I wasn’t sure if she had been trying to help me or kill me.
I tried to stop coughing and reached blindly for a glass of water while Mrs. Wallace seated herself across from me. She stared at me as I tried to control my coughing, but offered no further assistance. In fact, she looked bored. She wore a pants suit that looked like it cost several thousand dollars. Her makeup was perfect, and her hair was down for the first time since I’d met her. It was long and a deep chestnut brown without a hint of gray. Either she had no worries or an excellent stylist. I figured it was the latter.
Even after I stopped coughing, I didn’t say anything. I was in shock. What was she of all people doing here? Obviously, she’d found out about my conversation with Cliff or maybe my conversation with Zach? Or had she been responsible for the phone call I received from Zach? And then something dreadful occurred to me. What if Griffin had sent her? No… I didn’t think that was what happened. Granted, I didn’t really know him all that well, but he didn’t come across as the type of guy who would do that. It was too cowardly. No, if Griffin wanted to blow me off, he would have done it himself.
“What are you doing here?” I managed to squeak out finally.
She reached into her purse, pulled out a piece of paper and slid it across the table towards me.
I barely glanced at the paper. “I’m not sure who you think you are, but you have no right to interfere.”
“I have every right to protect myself and my family from predators like you.”
“Predator?” I said in disbelief. It hurt that she thought so poorly of me. “I’m not a predator. Everything that happened between me and Griffin was—”
She held up a hand. “Please spare me your sordid lies.”
“Sordid! Listen, I’ve had enough of you. I’m not sitting around listening to this.”
I stood up and she did too, grabbing the piece of paper on the table and thrusting it into my hand.
“That’s 250,000 dollars. I don’t care what you do with it, just stay away from my son.”
I looked down at the check in my hand and couldn’t believe all the zeros. My heart skipped a beat as I thought of a million and one ways I could use the money. Apparently, I had stared a bit too long because Mrs. Wallace had a small smile on her face once I finally looked up. Actually, it was more of a smirk. As if she knew all along that she could easily buy me. I tried to give it back to her but she stepped away from me.
“Take your money. I don’t want it.”
“Of course you do. You’re an out of work actress. You’re unemployed and living with your parents and sometimes your cousin.”
She’d had me investigated. I felt anger towards her for violating my privacy. No one had a right to do that. She’d gone too far.
“I don’t want or need your money,” I said coldly, my voice shaking. I felt nauseous, but I wasn’t going to show weakness around this woman. I said with conviction that I didn’t actually feel, “I’m going to reach Griffin. And you can’t stop me. It’s not illegal to speak with him.”
I could feel the tension between us as she carefully considered her next words. Her eyes flashed with anger, but she managed to control herself. She took a deep breath and gave me a tight smile. “Then go speak to him. He’s right across the street.”
I stared at her, not believing that she was telling the truth, and she smiled tightly again. “Trust me. He’s right outside. If you want to go talk to him… go do it.”
“I will,” I said decisively.
I turned away and marched out the door. I heard her coming behind me and I ignored her as I scanned the beach in front of me.
I saw him then. He had his hands on his hips, wearing swim trunks and a plain white t-shirt. I couldn’t help myself, I smiled upon seeing him again… completely forgetting my reason for needing to speak with him. He looked so attractive and happy.
I moved toward him and noticed that something to his left had caught his attention. And then I saw them. A tall, attractive, young lady and a little girl. They were waving to him and he smiled and moved in their direction. He picked up the little girl and spun her around. She seemed to be about four. He placed her down and bent to tickle her while smiling up at the woman who beamed down at him. They walked away together, Griffin holding one of the little girl’s hands and the woman holding the other. They continued to walk down the beach, the little girl happily skipping along between them.
“Is that his family?” I asked softly, ignoring the pain in my gut that made me feel as if I had just been kicked in the stomach.
She nodded and said, “That’s my granddaughter, clearly.”
“So, he’s married, with a family?” I forced myself to ask.
“I’m sorry,” she said in response, but she didn’t sound sorry. S
he sounded satisfied. And why shouldn’t she be? She’d gotten exactly what she wanted.
I didn’t want to believe what I was seeing. And I forced myself to think of any explanation. Something else, anything else. But I watched him playfully toss the kid onto his shoulders and then toss an arm around the shoulders of the woman. They were clearly a family and I felt like a voyeur, an intruder.
I turned away, not saying another word to Mrs. Wallace. I hurt so much, I could barely breathe and I didn’t want her to see me like that. I didn’t realize until I almost ran into someone that I was crying. I made it about a block before I couldn’t see any longer because that’s how fast my tears were flowing. I found a bus stop and sat there and sobbed. I must have been loud as even the nearby homeless people moved away from me.
I didn’t care that I was making a scene as I buried my hands in my face and let it all out. I was disappointed in myself. I felt dirty. I was an adulterer. I was a terrible person. And now I was pregnant by a man who already had a family. I’d just been his entertainment. I laughed bitterly to myself. After all, wasn’t I supposed to be an entertainment specialist?
I felt someone tug at my sleeve and it was the little girl I’d seen previously at the ice cream shop.
“Here,” she said handing me a tissue. “My momma said you could probably use this right now.”
I realized her mom was standing next to me. “Whatever it is, it’ll get better,” she said simply before giving me a kind smile and taking her daughter by the hand and walking away.
Her daughter looked back and gave me a small wave, I waved back to her. She turned away and her mom smiled down at her. I stared at them until they were out of my view and suddenly I didn’t feel as scared anymore. I had to move on from the pain and move forward. Life was moving forward and, whether I liked it or not, I had to make a choice. I could wallow in self-pity and uncertainty, or I could grow up and be the person I needed to be for my daughter. The type of person who didn’t sit crying at a bus stop.
I wiped my nose and buried the pain, at least for now. It was time to stop with the self-pity. Hadn’t it been Griffin himself who’d told me to be more confident? And if I didn’t feel confidence, that I should fake it? That’s what I decided to do. I ignored the self-pity that clawed at me like a bad stomach bug and made a promise to myself that I would do what I needed to do to provide for myself and my daughter. I was like a single tree being blown around by a tornado, but I had to stand strong for my daughter. I was done taking a beating. I had a little one who was counting on me to be strong. I’d forget about Griffin for the moment and focus on her.
I pulled out my cellphone, dialed my mother’s number.
“It didn’t work out, but I’m coming home. We’ll be ok, Mom.” I truly felt that I’d be fine with the baby. And with confidence that I didn’t need to fake, I said, “I’m scared, but I know I can do this on my own.”
Part 3
My Happy Ending
Chapter 6
“Sadie, don’t touch that. Sadie, I’m only going to tell you one more time… do not—”
I lunged forward as she squealed in delight knowing that she beat me to the punch. The screen on my laptop went dark and I realized that hours of work were now probably gone.
I narrowed my eyes at her and shook my finger. She grabbed it and started giggling. I tried to keep my expression stern, but there was no use. Her big smile and dimpled cheeks were too much. She was adorable even when she was harassing me.
I swooped her up to tickle her. Her giggles turned into deep belly laughs. Her laughs were infectious and I found myself laughing too until I was out of breath.
I looked at her smiling face and recalled how much she smiled even as a baby. It was hard to believe that she was almost four now. Her unruly curls stuck up around her head and she looked as if she had been zapped by lightning. She hated for me to do her hair and I learned early as a mom that I needed to pick my battles so unless we were going somewhere in public, she spent her time looking like a little wild child, as my mom would say.
“Ok, Mommy has to work. Go see if Grandma is outside.”
She did as I said, which was pretty rare, and ran towards the back door that led to our modest backyard. I knew my mom was back there reading a book on the porch.
I could hear Sadie’s voice as she questioned my mom about what she was reading.
“I’m reading a book.”
“A big book?”
“Yep.”
“With dinosaurs and monsters?” I heard Sadie ask excitedly.
I’m not sure how my mom answered but apparently it tickled Sadie who began to laugh.
She was such a happy kid I thought to myself. I remembered how hard it had been in the beginning. But her sheer happiness had given me a happiness of my own. She had truly been a ray of sunshine. Instead of coming home exhausted every night from school, seeing her had energized me and motivated me, especially when times were tough and loneliness was my best friend.
I’d started going to school again when she was about three months old, studying coding and web development. Since I preferred the idea of keeping Sadie at home over sending her to a preschool, I knew I needed a job where I could set my own work hours and have plenty of flexibility to raise her. I did some research and then dove headfirst taking classes on the weekends and evenings, even signing up for online classes.
And to my surprise, as soon as I was done I landed a job. Two years on, I moved out of my parents’ home and settled into a little rental house a few miles away.
I knew having a baby meant I had to be practical and I knew my career as an actress in small-town Georgia wouldn’t exactly help pay the bills, so I did focus on going back to school, but I never stopped acting. It was a stress reliever for me. I starred in several plays put on at the local theater. One had actually gone viral, and I’d been pretty proud. But besides working in web development, I starred in little commercials for a few bigger businesses, mostly furniture places in the area. I’d visited Atlanta a few times to do some modeling work, but not much had come from it except for a few extra thousand dollars every now and then.
I was stunned when I received a casting call from a company in L.A. After a few Skype interviews, I landed a role that would make me and Sadie comfortable for some time.
It had been a month since I’d agreed to the assignment. I was going to play the role of a confused girl in an insurance company ad. I was going alone to L.A. The assignment was only going to be for two weeks tops. I was leaving Sadie behind which was something I’d never done before. In fact, I hadn’t spent a night away from her since she was born. The mere thought made me sad, but she adored her grandparents and I knew she’d be well taken care of.
I was leaving in the morning so I’d packed her bag and decided to have a taxi pick me up instead of having Mom drive me. Her sight wasn’t as good as it used to be and she tired quickly. My dad was at some sort of convention, so he couldn’t do it. But he’d told me to Skype him as soon as I got settled at Kenny’s place.
I checked in online and then tied up a few loose ends at work. I was sending an email to a prospective client, letting her know that I’d get back to her in a few weeks. She was a long-time client so she was flexible and always willing to work with me.
As I finished up the email, I heard my mom telling Sadie to come inside. Sadie, of course, whined and tried to convince my mother to let her stay outside with the bugs, but Mom won that fight. Sadie came in pouting and I placed my hands on my hips and gave her a stern look.
“What’s with the sad face, young lady?”
She angrily said, “Granny won’t let me stay outside.”
“Well, do you want to live outside?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure? There’s no ice cream outside. If you live outside then how are you going to get ice cream?”
She thought about it long and hard and then she said, “Ok. I’ll live here.”
I laughed and picked her
up. My mom reached for her and said, “Go ahead and finish up your work stuff. I’ll get her into a bath and then to bed.”
I kissed Sadie on the forehead and she hugged my neck. “Love you, Mommy,” she said, burying her head in the crook of my neck. The next two weeks were going to be painful. God, how I was going to miss her.
I passed her over to my mom and blew her a kiss. “I’ll see you in a little bit, sweetheart.”
She smiled at me and waved goodbye as my mom walked down the hallway into the bathroom with Sadie in her arms. She was tall for her age. Mom told me that at Sadie’s age, I’d just been… well… round.
I turned back to work, responding to emails and finishing up some tasks on my own web page that I was revamping.
About half an hour later, I made my way to Sadie’s room. Sadie had helped me paint it with every color of the rainbow. She had a rainbow that she’d made during story time at the library that hung above her vibrant green headboard. Stars of various shapes and colors hung from the ceiling. It had been quite an art project to say the least.
The lights were low so the little stars attached to the ceiling began to glow courtesy of the glow in the dark spray paint we had used to create them.
“How’s my little monster?” I asked, pinching her nose playfully.
She swatted at my hand and giggled. “I’m not a monster.”
“Oh really?” I said, tickling her and then roaring like a lion. She couldn’t stop giggling and I heard my mom laughing from the doorway.
“You two are silly,” she said.
“Mommy is super silly!” Sadie yelled.
I nodded. “I sure am.” I tucked the sheet around her and thanked my lucky stars that she wasn’t going to fight me about going to bed tonight. I figured it was because her granny was here. Sadie was always on her best behavior when her granny and grandpa were around.
I found her favorite stuffed animal, a duck-billed dinosaur that I couldn’t readily identify, and stuck it next to her. She promptly wrapped her arms around it and began to snore.
Billionaire Retreat Page 6
