by Claire Angel
I used to love her. I had admired her, but after high school, she just turned into this uncontrollable wreck, causing havoc in her tread, not caring about anyone except herself. Why did she have to come back? Couldn’t she stay in the hellhole that she had created for herself? I could only hope that she would leave me out of it, but I knew she was here for one reason alone – she needed more money. She would probably try to manipulate me, and no matter how hard I was going to try and resist helping her, I would likely fail and give in to her demands.
Granny placed a hot cup of tea in front of me and asked me to drink it. She also gave me a sleeping pill. “This will help you through the night. I’m glad you weren’t here last night, and I’m happy for you that a man has made you happy. Please try to think of that instead of your sister when you go to bed. Maybe you will feel better in the morning.” Granny bent down and kissed my forehead. “Drink up and go to bed. Everything will be fine. All will work out.”
I gulped down the sleeping pill and the rest of my tea. The warmth that ran down my throat and entered my stomach distracted me a bit from the turmoil inside my head. I stood up, hugged Granny, and told her that I loved her. She dried my tears with her thumb and kissed my cheek. I turned around and went to my room, my body feeling exhausted from the intense emotions of the past two days. I wasn’t sure if it was the pill or just being drained, but I fell asleep without further thoughts on the news of the day.
Chapter 11
Dryden
My phone rang and I saw it was Piper’s mom. What does she want? I answered the phone while I walked to my room, and I closed the door behind me.
“Hi?”
“What? No ‘Good morning, dear,’ or even ‘bitch?’” Piper’s mother’s voice sounded croaky like she had the flu or she was drunk again. I just took a deep breath. What does she want?
“Why did you call?”
“I want to meet my daughter. I want to see her and be part of her life.”
For a second, I had to repeat her words in my mind, and as the words were being processed, my temper started boiling up.
“No, no you cannot just waltz in and pretend nothing has happened, and then a week later get tired of the trend and then leave again. Piper is a sensitive little girl. She has feelings, and Piper will be heartbroken if you come and go as you fancy without any concern for her.”
“Don’t be like that. I’ve changed. Well, I’ve changed a bit.” She started giggling.
I immediately pictured her in her drunken stupor as she would sit and lounge on her back directing wildly with her drink in her hand, giggling about everything, and then the next moment she would be roaring with anger.
“Did you call me while you are drunk? Did you think that I would allow you to come over and mess with my daughter? Never, you cannot see her while you are drunk, and even when you are sober. I will still not allow you to see her. Where have you been for the last four years? You didn’t even stay long enough for her to even look at you. She doesn’t know who you are.”
“I’m not drunk, you fuck! You are a snobbish bastard. Your money won’t buy you protection, I will see her.” She was still screaming her insults when I ended the call. Had she called me to threaten me? How pathetic. How did I ever allow her to worm herself into my life?
A few seconds later, the phone rang again, and again it showed her number. I wasn’t going to answer it. So I turned down the call. I could only imagine her throwing her phone at the wall or the floor. I hoped it would shatter into pieces so that she couldn’t harass us any further.
What a way to start a Saturday. I don’t think I will be able to work this morning.
As if she knew I was about to think of her, Sara rang the doorbell. How can two women be so completely different? The mother of my child was a mess, a drunkard with only one desire –more money for more booze. The other woman—not even Piper’s mother—had only one wish, and that was to make sure Piper was happy.
Before I could open my door and go to the front door, Piper was already halfway down the stairs to meet Sara.
“Hello, sweetheart, did you sleep well?”
When I got downstairs, Piper was in Sara’s arms. Why couldn’t Piper’s mother be like Sara?
“Good morning, Sara. I know this might sound a bit strange, but can we go for a walk? I want to get out of the house for a little while.”
Piper was excited about the idea, and Sara said, “Sure, no problem. It’s a very nice warm morning, and I saw some of the roses are blooming as I came up the driveway.”
We went out the front door and started walking down the driveway towards the rose bushes that Sara had referred to earlier. Piper walked hand in hand with Sara. They immediately started talking about the things they did yesterday and what they wanted to do today.
Piper turned around, and asked, “Daddy, do you want to see where Mr. Mole lives? Please don’t tell Taby. She will want to make him leave our backyard.”
I looked at Sara. “Who’s Taby?”
Sara smiled at me, and said, “It’s Tabitha.” She waited for me to see if the explanation was sufficient, but I just shook my head and shrugged my shoulders. “Your gardener?”
It then dawned on me. “She is also your best friend, right?” Sara nodded and smiled at me. “I really should start concentrating on what goes on around my property and with the people that work and live here.” I turned to Piper, and said, “So show me where Mr. Mole lives, because I will probably have to ask him to pay up on his rent.”
Piper immediately started giggling, and said, “I will pay Mr. Mole’s rent, but Daddy mustn’t ask him, he is shy, he will only go back into his house.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me to a flower bed on the opposite side of the driveway. As we arrived, she turned and looked at me, placing her finger on her lips. Sara was right there with us, and it felt like we were a family on an adventure in our yard. It felt like home, and I took hold of Sara’s hand without thinking, and I could see she felt natural doing it.
After spending the entire morning in the yard, taking walks to secret corners, and meeting all the different animals that lived on our property, I was amazed at how well they had explored every nook and cranny of the backyard.
Sara explained, “We have started drawing a big map that we are posting on Piper’s wall, so every day we add a piece to the map.”
We went back to the house, and Gertrude served our lunch. In the afternoon, I still didn’t feel like working, so we watched some movies together. Piper was sitting on my lap, and Sara’s head was leaning against my shoulder. It felt right, it felt comfortable, but it also felt weird that an employee could be so satisfying. I was paying her salary, and here she was sitting with her head on my shoulder – it just felt weird.
After the second movie, Sara said she had to go, but Piper asked her to stay for dinner. Sara agreed, and we ordered some pizzas to be delivered. Sara asked if we wanted to get some popcorn – she found a bag in the one cupboard. So while Sara popped the popcorn, Piper and I waited for the pizza man to arrive.
“Piper, do you like Sara?”
She looked at me with her big innocent eyes and nodded. I hugged her, holding her small little body against mine, and thought about how much I loved her, and how she had turned my world upside down. How could her mother leave her behind?
Sara came in, and the smell of buttered popcorn filled the living room as she placed the freshly popped corn on the table. The doorbell rang, and I stood up to go and pay for the pizza. Two large pepperoni pizzas and popcorn – the ideal movie food. As I looked at the two girls on the couch, I felt blessed.
We watched some animation movie about pets in the city and Piper was quite scared at some of the scenes, holding on to Sara and then on to me. When the story finished, Piper begged Sara to stay with her for the night because she was scared of the bad bunny. Sara at first explained that she couldn’t stay over because she had told her granny she would be home that evening.
“I’m sure your grandm
a would understand if you called and just told her? Please stay, it is so nice having you here. I’ll even pay you overtime.”
Sara looked at me with mixed emotions. Her eyes were burning into my skull, but her eyebrows and frown looked sad, and her lips were pressed against each other as if she were grinding her teeth. I knew I had said something wrong, but I couldn’t think of what I had said.
Sara got up and kissed Piper on her forehead and told her she would see her on Monday, but she had to go. Piper still pulled a sad face, but quickly agreed that Sara could go. Sara turned towards me, and said, “Thank you, sir. Will see you on Monday.” With that, she left, without another word. I felt like an idiot – it had to be the fact that I had offered to pay her to stay longer.
She was out the front door and into her car before I could even gather my thoughts entirely. Man, I’m such an idiot. What was I thinking of offering her money to stay the night? She isn’t a prostitute. I realized it was because I was thinking of myself as her boss paying her for her services and how strange it was that she felt like home.
Chapter 12
Sara
On my way home, in my car, I felt offended and slightly dirty. The day had been amazing. Why would he turn around and offer me money? I wasn’t staying over for money. I was staying over because I wanted to. Maybe I had overreacted. He did know that I need as much money as possible to save up for my studies. It still made me feel upset though.
I was starting to fall for him, and I thought he was beginning to feel the same. It felt so good walking in the backyard hand in hand, exploring with Piper. The moments were precious, and I’m sure he felt the same. Circumstances had created this thing between us, where I needed the money and had to work to earn it, and Dryden had money, and Dryden had a role for me to fulfill. I wished we could have done all of this without the factor of money, but then again, would everything still have felt the same, or would it have been different?
*
When I got home, Granny was watching her movie, and I joined her in front of the TV. “Good evening, my dear. I thought you were going to stay over again.” I kissed her cheek and just smiled at her.
After I sat down next to her, I rested my head on her shoulder and told her, “Oh, Granny, I was oversensitive, and I think I might have appeared rude.”
Granny rested her head against mine, and said, “Don’t worry, everyone is allowed to make mistakes as long as you learn from them and then apologize.”
I just sat there next to Granny and knew I had to call in the morning and apologize – it was the right thing to do. For now, I would sit and spend time with the best granny in the world.
The movie was almost at the end when my phone rang. I got up and answered it. It was Dryden.
“Hi, Dryden, is everything okay?”
“No, it’s not, I acted like an idiot. I’m sorry that I offered you money, it just came out without thinking. I didn’t mean anything foul, I just thought it would be a nice way to thank you, but I didn’t think clearly.”
“It’s okay. I overreacted. I got offended over nothing. After I left, I did realize that you had good intentions, but I felt too silly to do anything about it. I was planning on calling tomorrow morning to apologize.”
I saw Granny looking over her shoulder, smiling at me and giving me a thumbs up. Dryden was quiet over the phone for a second, and then he asked, “Can you come over, please? I want to chat, I don’t feel like sleeping yet, and I don’t want to be alone.” I thought about his offer, and before I could respond, he added, “I will send the car over to pick you up?”
“Okay, I will be ready in five minutes. This time, I just want to take my toothbrush with me.”
“Thank you, I won’t offer to pay you again, but I will say thank you, I appreciate it.” I could tell that he was teasing me slightly. I ended the call, and with a smile on my face, I went to my room to pack a night bag.
The car arrived just as I had finished packing my bag. I kissed Granny’s cheek, and she told me to enjoy the evening and not to worry about her. She had a good book she wanted to read in any case without being disturbed. She winked at me and I went out the door with a smile on my face.
*
By the time I arrived back at the house, Piper was already sleeping in her bed, the nightlight was on, and I just went to check on her. Dryden came up behind me and asked if we could go and sit outside for a while.
We went to the back of the house and sat on the porch. There was a slight breeze, and Dryden offered to get a blanket from inside. When he came back, he had two wine glasses, a bottle of red wine, and a fleece. Dryden handed me the blanket, and I placed it over my legs. He was pouring two glasses of wine and gave me one. Dryden came to sit next to me, and I offered him a corner of the blanket. He gladly took it and moved closer to me.
We both sat there looking over the backyard and looking at the stars in the night sky in silence. It was a peaceful evening as we sipped our wine and just sitting there, it felt quiet and calm.
Dryden looked over at me and broke the silence. “I enjoy your company, and Piper likes you so much. It sometimes makes me forget that you’re not her mother. I have to remind myself that I’m your employer, but even saying that makes it sound wrong. I like spending time with you. You have a calming effect on me. This morning, I received a call that had upset me, but while I spent the day with you and Piper, I almost completely forgot about it.”
I was sitting there and listening to him, looking down at my glass of wine, not sure if this was appropriate or if he was telling me he wanted this to change. I felt unsure if I could look into his eyes – not sure if I was ready to see what I suspected was showing on his face. I felt like I was falling for him, and if what he was saying was what I was hearing, he felt the same about me as what I was feeling about him. I didn’t want to work for him anymore. I wanted to be by his side, making this my home and not just my workplace.
He took my hand in his, and I looked at him. He was stressed about something. “I just want to let you know that if this thing between us doesn’t work out, that I don’t want it to get between you and Piper.” He looked down at his glass, and then he looked up at me again. “I’ve got real feelings for you, but I don’t want us to rush into something that we will regret later.”
“I feel the same. I am developing feelings for you as well. I’m quite in love with you, but I don’t want to hurt either you or Piper. I’ve grown fond of her. She is such a curious little girl, full of adventure and with an amazing imagination. I’m sure she will become a brilliant woman one day, maybe a scientist or an explorer. It’s exciting to be part of her life, and I’m enjoying every day with her.”
We sat there together chatting about some of our adventures that Piper had imagined and the games we’d played. It was great to hear Dryden laugh, and I could see he imagined the scenarios as I told them. After a while, he asked, “Would you mind staying over? Please sleep with me, and I don’t mean to be intimate, I just don’t want to be alone.” I was a bit unsure at first, but I could see he was going to be true to his word.
“I want to take things a bit slower because I don’t want to rush and then cause pain when things don’t work out. You know I’ve had a previous relationship that ended badly with Piper’s mother, and I don’t want to go through a repeat of that.” He was silent for a moment, and then quickly added, “Not that I think you would abandon your child.” He looked like he had stepped onto something sharp. “I don’t mean I’m going to get you pregnant.” He slapped his forehead. “Please forgive me. My words are tumbling out all over the place.”
I started giggling as I saw he was trying to get out of the hole he was digging for himself. Every time he opened his mouth, he made things worse. “It’s okay, I think I understand what you are trying to say, and I think it will be fine if I stay over if you promise you will behave.”
Dryden straightened up, drew a cross on his heart, and said, “Cross my heart and hope to die.” We giggled a bit and
then when we finished our wine, we went inside and upstairs to his bedroom.
I took my bag into the bathroom and changed into my nightgown, brushed my teeth, and went back into his room. Dryden looked at me and quickly looked away, and then moved towards the bathroom, pointing to the sink and looking everywhere except at me. “Please make yourself comfortable. I just want to brush my teeth as well.”
I got into the bed and felt that the sheets were soft and slightly heated. Dryden must’ve had an electric blanket. I had always thought that such a luxury would be unnecessary, but after feeling it, I had to admit it was impressive. Not too hot, but at least nice and toasty.
Dryden came back into the bedroom, dressed only in his boxers. He climbed into the bed and lay next to me, placing his arm around my shoulder as I rested with my back towards him. Dryden only put his hand on my arm. There was a moment when he was unsure where to put his arm, but he found a way to be comfortable but still safe from any of my privates.
His body was warm against mine, and I could feel that his breathing was soft and close to my neck. I took a deep breath and relaxed into his embrace. It did feel like home, and as if this was all as natural as breathing. I was lying there for a while still slightly awake, aware of his every movement until he finally stopped moving.
Chapter 13
Dryden
As I started to wake up, something felt as if it were standing on my penis. Man, it was painfully uncomfortable. I became aware of holding someone, and that’s when I remembered that Sara had stayed over last night. Her body was warm and soft, and I had a boner. Her silky nightgown was such a turn-on. My senses were suddenly wide awake, and I started to kiss her neck softly and pulled her closer to me.
She woke up and started turning around to face me. One of her breasts didn’t stay tucked away, and a small nipple peeked at me, and I had to go down to kiss it. Sara giggled as my morning beard tickled her soft, delicate skin. Oh her giggle made me feel wild inside, so I went down deeper and licked and sucked on her nipple. She crossed her arms, and with one smooth motion, she had pulled her little nightgown off. She turned me on my back, kissed me, and sat up on my stomach.
