by Aiden Frost
The woman nodded. “She’s just afraid Mr Avery will need something and she won’t be there.” She paused a moment. “You’re their son?”
Max found himself nodding and moved to Ana. He brushed the clumped hair off her forehead. Her skin was clammy. “What happened to my dad?” he asked the woman.
She looked at him a moment, and he could see the accusation in her eyes. He was supposed to know something that he didn’t. “He needed to start another round of chemo. He wanted to wait until after the holidays, but the doctors didn’t recommend it.” The woman shook her head. “Even with regular scans, it was aggressive.”
“His cancer is back?” asked Max, trying to understand.
The woman shook her head. “Leukemia. It can be a side effect of radiation.”
“So they took away his cancer, just to give him Leukemia?” Max could feel the anger boiling inside of him. He could be rich, he could be powerful, but none of that mattered when it came to saving his father’s life.
“Is it treatable?” he asked her.
“He’s been hit with a higher dose of chemo than before.”
Max looked at her, aghast. “He was miserable through his last treatments.”
“His body has become resistant to the chemo. If he’s going to be saved, this is what the doctors need to try.”
Max held Ana’s hand, although it remained limp within his grasp. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked her. She continued to stare blankly, and when he released his grip on her hand, it fell into her lap. He turned to the woman. “What’s your name?” he asked her.
“Madeline,” she said. “I’m the private nurse your mother hired.”
“You’ll be here full-time? Around the clock, I mean.”
“I’ll be here through the day hours, 7 a.m. through 7 p.m.”
“What’ll it cost to keep you here twenty-four hours a day?”
“I’m not sure I should be discussing this with you, but your parents have already extended themselves as much as they could...”
“I’m not asking you what they are able to take care of; I’m asking you what it will take for you to spend the night here? Ana needs to sleep. She needs to know there is someone else here in case my father needs help.”
Madeline turned her eyes from him and looked at Ana. He could see Madeline’s attitude change. She turned back to him. “I’m sure we could arrange something for me to become a live-in aide.”
“Good,” said Max. “I’ll help you get Ana set up in the room next to my fathers. I want you to give her something that will actually make her sleep. And then you can have your choice of rooms. There’s plenty.”
Madeline nodded, then headed silently off down the hall to get a room set up for Ana. Max kneeled down before her. “Why didn’t you call me, Ana? I would have come. I would have been here so you didn’t need to be so alone.” He rested his head on her leg. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “I’m so very sorry.”
Chapter Fifteen
AMANDA STARED NUMBLY at her computer screen. Nothing made sense today. She’d always been one of those people who tried to do good, who tried to be nice, yet it seemed like the world kicked her in the ass every chance it got. Shandra and her made this pact to get themselves out of a rut, to push themselves, and look what it got them. Shandra grabbed herself a coveted assistant position, and Amanda got rejected by her own mother. Re-rejected if all the other times counted too. Amanda hadn’t told Shandra, but she’d been calling her mother every year for the past five years to invite her to her house for the holidays. Rejection number five. Perhaps Amanda should get that tattooed on her forehead. It’s official, my own mother doesn’t love me. You shouldn’t try either.
She sneered to herself. It was hard not to be cynical this time of year—to watch people enjoy this time with their families. Amanda wanted to fast-forward life until spring. Just skip the holidays and the cheerful damn Christmas music. She turned her face to the ceiling, leaving off a growl.
Carter’s voice came from behind the barrier. “Girly, I am not coming over there because you sound about ready to eat a man. But safely, from over here, I’m going to ask you if you’re okay?”
Amanda jumped to her feet, and standing on her toes, she pressed her top half over the divider. Carter startled when he saw her. “Where’s this awful music coming from?” she asked him.
He looked confused for a moment and she jammed her finger toward the ceiling, indicating the droning music.
“Ah. I think there’s a system in Max’s office.”
“Why would he play this stuff? Does he hate us?”
Carter shrugged. “I’m pretty sure Janice always got it set.”
“Of course,” Amanda growled. “Leave it to Janice to haunt us even after she’s gone. Where’s Max? Have you seen him? He’s got to change this or I’m going to jump out the frickin’ window.”
Carter eyed her and she thought he was going to ask something else, but then he thought better of it. “Haven’t seen Max,” is all he said.
Amanda spun, glaring at Max’s office door. She marched over to it and rapped so loud on the glass she could hear the shuffling as people nearby turned to her. “Mind your own business,” she said, and knocked again. When she still didn’t get an answer, she tried the knob. Locked. She turned and accosted the next person who walked past her. “Where’s Max?” she demanded.
“Hasn’t shown up today,” he said.
Amanda took to grumbling under her breath. “Stupid, lazy, rich, entitled, son of a—”
“Amanda!” exclaimed Shandra. She grabbed Amanda by the elbow and pulled her off down the hall. Amanda continued to grumble and fought against Shandra’s grasp for a moment, but Amanda couldn’t untwist from the death grip she held on her arm. She relaxed in the hopes that Shandra would loosen her grip and she could regain the circulation in her arm.
Shandra still held on to her as they stood before the elevator bay. The door opened and as a handful of people emerged, Shandra shoved her through the crowd and into the elevator. Amanda tripped forward, gaining her footing only as she grabbed onto the cab’s rails. Shandra sauntered in behind her, cool and collected like she hadn’t just man-handled Amanda down the hall.
The elevator continued upward to the twenty-forth floor, expelling its last occupant, and when another person tried to enter the cab, Shandra held her hand out. “This one’s broken,” she said, and slapped her hand against the button to close the doors.
When they were finally alone, she turned to Amanda. “What is wrong with you? Are you trying to lose your job?”
“It’s the damn Christmas music—”
“You were rampaging outside of Max’s office over Christmas music? Are you out of your... Oh.” Shandra turned to her, wrapping her arms around Amanda’s back and giving her a quick squeeze. “You called your mom last night, didn’t you?”
Amanda scratched an invisible itch on her head, looking down at the floor of the cab. Before the doors opened on the first floor, Shandra jammed her finger into the button to reclose them and she pressed the stop button. The bell rang, and Amanda looked at her with wide eyes. “You can’t...” She shook her head. She knew Shandra didn’t care. It was her way of getting Amanda to talk to her as quickly as possible. “Yes, I called my mom. I called her like I’ve been calling her for the past five years. And yes, she’s too busy for me like she’s been for...well, ever.” Amanda looked up at Shandra, wondering if this little speech was enough to get her off her back. Shandra was silent, just waiting her out. “And I’m mad at you. I’m mad that you get what you want and I can’t even get my frickin’ mother to visit me. And I’m lonely.” Amanda’s mouth kept talking on its own accord. “I get to spend another holiday at home with my bunny. Or go out and get fall-down drunk and go home with some other loser who doesn’t have anyone to celebrate the holiday with.”
“It’s not your fault you were born into a crappy family.”
“But I have no friends that care either...”
>
“And how much have you tried?”
Amanda shrugged. “I try sometimes. It just never seems to work out.”
“Then keep trying.”
Shandra was silent a moment, staring straight ahead at the elevator doors. It was growing stuffy in the cab and the same awful Christmas music poured through the speakers. “I don’t have friends or family to celebrate with either,” said Shandra. She continued to stare straight ahead. “The other night, I told you I left my country because I was offered a modeling position. What I didn’t tell you is that I was only twelve years old.”
Amanda turned to her, aghast. “You moved to another country, away from your family, at twelve years old?” Shandra nodded, her gaze distant. “Were you doing it to give your family a better life?”
Shandra was silent, unmoving. After a few moments, she spoke. “I did it to give me a better life.” She turned to Amanda, looking down at her with sorrowful eyes. “I told you I have a mother and a sister back home. But I also have a step-father. A step-father that started raping me at ten years old.”
Amanda’s breath filled her throat but wouldn’t move past her lips.
“My mother didn’t believe me. To this day, she doesn’t believe me. She chose him over her own daughter. So I left.”
Amanda nodded, unsure what to say. She slipped her hand into Shandra’s, squeezing against the cool, dampness of her fingers. “Were you okay here? I mean, when you moved here, did you move in with a family?”
“No,” said Shandra. “I lived with the agent who’d found me. He was nice enough, but he was a stranger to me. And growing up in the modeling world, without a parent to look out for you...”
“You were a target there too. Because of your looks.”
“Yup,” said Shandra. She released the lock button, sending the elevator on a lazy route back up to the twenty-second floor. People entered and exited along the way, and they remained silent.
“I’m sorry,” said Amanda, as the doors opened at their floor.
“I know,” said Shandra. “This holiday brings out the best and the worst.”
They stepped off the elevator, heading to Amanda’s cubicle. “You want to go out together for Christmas? We can go get wasted together and come back to my place and pretend we’re watching movies as we pass out on the couch.”
“Yeah,” said Shandra. “That sounds really nice.”
Amanda chuckled, sliding into her desk chair. Shandra stood silently, staring down at her. “There’s not someone else you’d rather spend the holiday with?”
Amanda looked up, raising her eyebrows. “You mean the man I just cursed about in front of the whole office staff? Not likely.”
“Why don’t you just go home today?” asked Shandra. “The boss isn’t here; you don’t have anything pressing to hand in. You could go do some shopping. Go buy us some treats for our Christmas pity-party.”
“Yeah,” said Amanda. “I think I will. I actually have five days I should be taking off that doesn’t roll over into next year’s time.”
“Good,” said Shandra. “Do it. Get out of here. Clear your mind. Go do something fun for yourself. Call me next week though.”
Amanda stood up, giving Shandra a quick hug before she walked away. Amanda wrapped her scarf around her neck, then put on her coat and gloves. She’d pick herself up a bottle of wine on the way home. Maybe some alfalfa cubes for Bunny, and they’d have themselves an afternoon treat. She wanted to plan something nice for her and Shandra. A lazy day shopping on Monday sounded like a better idea than dealing with the crowded shops on a Friday.
Chapter Sixteen
“I DIDN’T THINK YOU’D be here today,” said Carter. He’d apparently been using Amanda’s cubicle as a kind of catch-all when she’d been gone, because her desk was stacked with papers and Carter’s coat was slung over her chair. He stood quickly, moving to clean up his mess.
“No worries,” said Amanda. She draped her coat over top of Carter’s and after shifting some of the papers aside, she discovered her own work hiding in the back.
“You’re in a good mood,” Carter said as he moved back to his own cubicle.
Amanda shrugged. “No sense being crappy just because I feel crappy. Shandra and I are going to go out together on Christmas so I’m going to make the best of it.”
“Okay,” said Carter. His voice told Amanda that he didn’t quite believe her.
“Plus,” Amanda went on, “I’m actually really looking forward to our Christmas party tonight.”
Carter had settled back into his seat, but he couldn’t help himself, he popped his head back over the divider. “You’re looking forward to a Christmas party?”
“Yeah,” she said, turning and smiling. “It’s a gorgeous location. I like you and your family, Shandra, and even a couple random people from the office. I figured some good food and drinks—even if the occasion is about Christmas—isn’t going to kill me.”
“Hmmm,” mulled Carter. “Okay. You going home first?”
“No,” said Amanda as she shuffled through some papers, one catching her eye and causing her pause. She opened her mouth to ask Carter about it, but then decided better of it. She looked up at Carter, realizing she hadn’t really finished answering his question. “I live too far out of the city. There’s no sense of me going all the way home to get dressed and then driving all the way back. Traffic will be terrible tonight.”
Carter nodded. “My wife is coming early with the kids. They’ve never been in a limo, so I figured we’d hitch a ride there. You want to join us?”
“Yeah, sure,” said Amanda. She was distracted, but looked up to Carter, smiling. Carter took that as his cue to get back to work. Amanda folded the paper and shoved it in her skirt pocket. She walked down the hall, standing before Max’s door. She listened but didn’t hear anything inside. Shandra had insisted that she was not going to sit on display outside Max’s office as part of her assistant duties, so her desk was now off to the side in a small open room that used to be an old kitchenette. When Amanda walked in, Shandra was chatting up one of the office staff, while pouring them a cup of coffee. When she caught sight of Amanda, she thanked Shandra and left. “What’s with her?” she asked Shandra.
Shandra snorted. “I think you scared half the office staff with that display outside Max’s office last week.”
“Was it really that bad?” Amanda asked. She accepted a coffee from Shandra.
“I’m pretty sure it was a lot worse than you thought. But I changed the music.” Shandra tipped her nose up, indicating the speakers on the ceiling.
Amanda listened for a moment, then smiled. “Much better. Thank you.” She sipped at her coffee, then spoke. “What did you tell people, about my... outburst.”
“I told them that the holidays are stressful and you were just having a bad day. About 99% of them completely understood.”
“Good. Hey, umm, you and me, we’re okay?”
Shandra smiled. “Yeah, we’re good.”
“Okay,” said Amanda. “I’m sorry I never called you during my time off. I just needed... I don’t know, to get some distance. I’ve had too much on my mind lately.” She paused, silent a moment. “And you know what I realized? I’m going to stop torturing myself every year. I’ve called my mother every year for five years. Every year I invite her to my house. Every year she tells me she’s too busy. And then I mope and try to figure out what’s so unlovable about me.”
“Why have you kept calling her for so long?”
“I guess I just kept hoping that one year she’d say, “Why yes, darling, I’d love to visit you!”
Shandra chuckled. “Does your mother really talk like that?”
Amanda laughed. “No, not at all. But in my head, that’s what she’d say.” Amanda looked disgusted with herself. “I don’t know why I continue to torture myself. She’s perfectly capable of calling me if she wanted to see me. I just know she never would...”
“I think your task should have been to
not call your mother.”
Amanda gave Shandra a wry smile. “Yeah.”
“Hmmm, I think this means you need another task, since the one you chose is something you do every year anyway.”
Amanda groaned. “Haven’t you gotten me in enough trouble lately?”
“Not me,” said Shandra in mock horror. “You get yourself in plenty of trouble all by yourself.”
“I know.” She lowered her voice. “Which is why I plan on staying as far away from Max Avery tonight as possible.”
“That may be easier than you think. I haven’t seen Max all week.”
“What?” asked Amanda, aghast. “He never misses work.”
“I told you something was going on with him.”
“But now you believe me it had nothing to do with me?”
Shandra shrugged. “There was a bit of talk that both you and Max missed the whole week.”
Amanda groaned. “Of course there was. Did you at least set them straight?”
Shandra looked at her a moment, then busied herself re-filling the coffee pot.
“You didn’t, did you?” asked Amanda. “There is nothing going on between Max and I,” she said. Then, “There isn’t.”
“Okay,” said Shandra. “Whatever you want to tell yourself.”
Amanda growled at her, and then turned to leave before remembering the reason she sought her out in the first place. She pulled the paper from her pocket and handed it to Shandra.
Shandra unfolded it, looked at it briefly before turning to Amanda. “Where’d you get this?”
Amanda shrugged. “It was on my desk. It’s nothing I’ve seen before. Carter had a bunch of his work piled there, but he would have said something to me if he’d seen it.”
Shandra moved to her desk, shuffling through her papers. “It must have gotten mixed up with the last set of papers I handed Carter.”
“You knew about this then?
Shandra turned to her, visibly upset. “Amanda, you can’t tell anyone.”
Amanda opened her mouth. Closed it. She moved so she was standing right next to Shandra. “If we had insufficient funds to even pay the caterer, where did Max get all that money for a whole new Christmas party then?”
