"Why didn't you come home last night?" Charlotte asked.
There it was, the question I had been waiting for. I rubbed my hands over my jeans and wondered if she could see my visibly sweating. I looked around Kelly's for help, but there wasn't anyone here that I knew. Operation Distraction was already dead in the water. "Well, sweetie, it was just like you said. Your papa was hurting and I stayed to see if I could help. I think that's why you can go home today."
"Yeah, but you and pa-pa hate each other," she said, turning the pink crayon, over and over in her hand. Ignoring the Princess Peach coloring book with settings in France that sat underneath her hands.
I raised an eyebrow at her. "Excuse me, but we do not hate each other. How could we with the way we love you? I'm not happy with him all the time, but you'd be surprised how even the smallest things can unite someone. And in those moments, it's okay to help someone even if you don't like them."
"It's good to see that you and pa-pa could be friends," she smiled. Her eyes twinkling.
I groaned inwardly. "Okay, that's great, but-"
I couldn't say anything in the face of that bright smile. What kid didn't want their parents to get along? At least she wasn't trying to get us hitched. She saved that adoration for Nina. I repressed an eye-roll. I couldn't turn into meany mom either and tell her that wasn't possible. Or that whatever fleeting headway we have made disappeared as soon as he opened his mouth.
I woke up this morning screaming as I found myself in a nightmare. He groaned about his head and quickly recovered as he accused me of roofying him. He should be so lucky. I gathered my things and pretended I was blind. Surely, there was some temporary blindness involved as to why it even happened.
"Mom, what's great?" she probed.
"That smile. Go, get a muffin from the counter and then will leave to drop you back off at your father's," I said, standing up to gather my things. "Be quick. I don't want to miss the ferry to your fathers."
"No need," he whispered from behind me.
I merely jumped out of my skin.
"I'm on to you."
I swallowed the lump in my throat. "What are you talking about?"
"Last night's little game was all a ploy to get more information about the codicil."
I scrunched up my nose and frowned. "The what?"
"Don't play dumb. You're up to your neck in this with your mother. Except you've decided to whore yourself out. Whatever this codicil reveals must be pretty darn important."
Did he just call me a whore? "At least you admit that you pay for it. What happened with Nina? Did she realize that the diamonds and jewels weren't enough?"
He lowered his voice to barely above a whisper. "You keep her name out of your mouth."
"As long as you do the same. After all, mines taste better." I spoke before thinking. A blush heating up my cheeks at my words.
"Your cheap tricks are beneath you and you still won't win."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "I have no idea what my mother is up to but thank you for the heads up. I'll be sure to brush up with her. As for last night, it didn't happen. Speak of it to no one. Or I'll deny, deny, deny and you'll like the crummy snake you are."
"Dad, you're here," Charlotte said, coming to give her father a hug.
"Of course, mon coeur bat. Go get your things."
I smiled. "Can your mother have a hug first?"
She gave me a hug and looked up at me with her cute little dimples. "Thanks for coming to get me."
I booped her little nose. "Whatever you need." Looking back up at her father, it felt like I tasted something awful. "We're done here."
He grabbed my arm, halting my retreat. "Smurfette, why do you look at me like you want to blesse moi?"
My mouth instantly went dry. Visions of my moans flashing through my head like a volcano. Heating up parts of my body that I thought dead. His firm yet gentle grip on every inch of my body causing me to cream my panties. "Don't touch me," I said, a little breathlessly.
"I'm going to get to the bottom of what happened?"
"That's fine by me because I really enjoyed it when you were on the bottom," I said. My eyes widened and I turned away from him on a dime. Since when was I filled with such cringe-worthy sex puns. I just needed to stay away from the man once and for all. Maybe have a proxy like my mother pick up Charlotte. At least for the next six months or so. Not long at all.
"Look at you two. If I didn't know any better I'd say that you two were flirting," Nina said, walking through the door in front of me.
I groaned inwardly, this nightmare just would not end. "Is that really what you see? Looks like someones having wedding remorse already. That's okay, no one ever accused you of being smart."
"Nina?" He looked on with love in his eyes.
It made me sick, looking at the pair. I seriously almost threw up my lunch.
"Nina?" Charlotte said, excitedly. She was about to run-up to the woman when she stopped herself. "You were mean to pa-pa and now he's mad at you. Now I'm mad at you too."
I got down on my knees and looked up at my little girl. "Your father doesn't want that sweetie. Carrying anger around in your heart, only makes life harder for you. Nina had her reasons for doing what she did. But she'll always love you."
Valentine came up and stood beside me. "Yes, mon coeur bat. You don't have to be angry at anyone on my behalf. I can handle myself, but its sweet the way you take care of me."
Her gaze darted between her father and me. "Okay, but I'm not ready to forgive her yet."
"That's ok." We said simultaneously.
"Charlotte, I love you, really, and I'll wait as long as you need me to." Nina begged, looking upon the child-like she was a sad sack.
"I don't want you talking to me until I say so," she said angrily.
I sighed, looking down at my purse. "Why don't you put these headphones in and listen to some music on your fathers phone until he's ready to go."
He looked at me surprised and I raised an eyebrow at him. "Right," he said, pulling out his phone from the breast-pocket of his suit. Before handing it to his daughter. "Just don't delete anything."
We both stood up and faced Nina who looked like this was tearing her into pieces.
"Let's take this outside," Valentine ordered.
"What, Valentine? What? Am I not allowed to have a bagel anymore?" she asked, allowing herself to be lead out.
I followed behind, keeping one eye on Charlotte through the window.
"You know I would never intentionally hurt that little girl."
"That's funny that's exactly what you did when you left her father at the altar at the same wedding where she was a flower girl."
"Lulu, help me out here. Charlotte is only angry because her father is. He is actively destroying a relationship in his little girls life that she cherishes," she said, looking to me for help.
"I'm staying out of this." My gaze darting to the ground.
She looked on aghast. "Sure you are. Bonding over a mutual hate of me, are we?"
I shook my head. "Its nothing like that." Outside of Charlotte, I hardly thought about the woman that I had grown a love/hate relationship with. These days it skewered towards hate. However, not for anything that she did at the wedding. She should have left him a long time ago. No, I disliked her because of the continued disrespect she showed me. And I'd never use that as some sort of get out of jail free card with Valentine. The enemy of my enemy is not my friend.
"No, I get it perfectly. That smoldering look that you gave her in there wasn't because you wanted to chop her head off."
I looked around, hoping no one I knew walked up. What was she getting out? She had won her revenge. Now just walk off into the sunset.
"I've seen that look."
"I'm with Lulu on this one. If you want to get back together, you just need to say so. I'll forgive you for all of this. You don't need to conjure up some fake relationship with Lulu.
She scoffed and looked up at him incredulously. "You're forgetting that I know you, Valentine. This has nothing to do with any residual guilt. Which I do not have?"
I had to say something to get this jealous hound dog off my scent. "Listen, you know better than anyone that Valentine has flees. Thankfully, I've been sprayed."
She tucked her purse underneath her arm and approached me. "Just because your husband abandons you. Doesn't mean you have the right to rub your twat against any old tree. Even if nothing's going on, save yourself the heartache now."
Maxie and Peter approached with smiles on there faces, that quickly died as they saw the seriousness of our expressions. "What did we miss?"
"Nina is accusing me of sleeping with Valentine."
They shared nervous expressions, before busting out laughing.
"I'll have you both know that I'm an extremely eligible bachelor."
This only caused them to laugh harder. It was like they could have gone on forever.
Peter was the first to come to his senses upon seeing Nina's face. "Nina, if you want to be back with Valentine. Just say so. It's not fair of you to drag Lulu into this."
"Like she dragged herself into my first wedding," she spouted as if that was all that was needed to explain this whole mess.
I shook my head. "This has all gotten out of hand. I'm dating Dustin."
Maxie hedged. "Mmm, sure, but I think you could stand to be with someone who challenges you a bit."
I looked at her as if she were about to sprout wings. Having talked about this at length last night, I thought we agreed that I needed stability. Rocco needed someone that could truly guide him. Coming home to someone like Dustin who was sweet and nice would be Hallmark card worthy. Not the card that you get from Hot Topic that's covered in blood on the front. And if none of that were true. Now was just not the time.
"Not that, that, person should be Valentine. I mean of course not. That would just be crazy. Nina is clearly having wedding remorse."
Nina and I both rolled our eyes and sauntered off into different directions. Clearly, our girl's night out talk was not meant to be gossip for my boss and my babies father. Who I did sort of sleep with? Not that Nina should know that either. She was being psychotic. F***ing wedding remorse. The girl was stupid. They'd be back together by the end of the week and my problems would be over. I stopped in my tracks and hid behind a gate as Valentine and Charlotte headed to the docks.
For the briefest of moments, our eyes connected, and my heart stopped. His mouth hadn't moved, yet it felt like he was calling out to me. This definitely was not going to be that easy.
