Page 20 of Stage Dive: Short Stories & Novellas
“Regardless of what it looks like, I don’t need protecting.You can’t really want me living here constantly in your face all the time,” I said.“The house is big, but it’s not that big.Trust me, it’ll get old.”
“Are you kidding?Since Jimmy and Lena moved and the studio got relocated to our place, it’s been designated band headquarters.People are over all the time.It’s a big part of why we got this place.”She crossed her legs, kicking one foot idly.“Unless it’s running into the guys all the time that has you worried.”
I said nothing.
“And then there’s Sam, of course.”
Still nothing.My trap could have been wired shut.
“And all of the assorted wives.”
“Are you seriously trying to head doctor me right now?”I asked.Her sudden smile was beatific, making it hard for me to hold on to the grumpy.Luckily, I had a lot of experience with being in a bad mood.“Please don’t.”
“Just because you have a complicated history with people doesn’t mean you can’t have positive future interactions with them.”After my comment, she’d clearly decided to move into full-throttle psychologist mode.“Apologies and a little attitude adjustment can go a long way.”
“Sweet baby Jesus, just strike me down,” I said to the plain white ceiling.“Take me now.”
“That’s a lot to put on a baby, don’t you think?”
“After chasing around your child all day, I believe he’d be up to the mission.”
She smirked.“You see, Martha, I feel like we’re not only sisters-in-law.But we have the potential for besties here and it would be a shame to see that potential wasted.”
“Oh, do you now?”
“I do.And if nothing else, imagine how much it will irritate your brother to have us ganging up on him.”At this thought, she outright evil-giggled.The woman’s ability to tolerate no bullshit and yet still have fun was impressive.
“Valid point.”
With all due grace, Lizzy rose to her feet and meandered over to the door.“Tell me you’ll think about it.”
I didn’t say a word.
“Damn, you’re stubborn.Just like your brother.”She pushed my bedroom door wide open as if she was inviting the whole damn world in.“You’re going to think about it and then you’ll decide to stay.Imagine it, Martha, you won’t have to be alone anymore.”
I frowned, unhappy at the choice of words.“I’m notaloneexactly.There were people I spent time with.Acquaintances I guess you could call them…and I was casually seeing someone for a little while.”
Mouth shut, the woman just watched me.So much judgment in her eyes.How ridiculous.She couldn’t possibly know no one had even bothered trying to call me since leaving the East Coast.
“I’ll have you know I appeared on numerous society pages and influencers style blogs almost every other week.My life was very full until this little upset.”
“Wow,” she said flatly, obviously unimpressed.“So you basically had some fake friends, a dude you did it with once or twice, and a job that made insane demands on you and did your head in.What a full, rich, and complex life indeed.”
“You didn’t used to be this sarcastic.”
“You didn’t used to be this bruised.”
I swore extra quietly beneath my breath.Guess spending time with a kid had already started to rub off on me.“Take your shrinking skills elsewhere.I do not need a therapist, Lizzy.”
“No?What about a friend?”And with that parting shot, she was gone.
Amoment, that’s all it had taken.One short moment when I was deleting the bulk of my New York contacts off my phone and the child had disappeared.Of course the problem was, the great room where we generally hung out to watch dog cartoons on repeat and spread his huge collection of toys far and wide didn’t have a door.Instead, it joined a hallway running the length of the house.The same hallway I now ran along looking for the short evil one.And we all know where he got the evil from.That’s right, his mother.Not my side of the family.No way.
“Gib?”I called, looking into rooms as I passed.“Gibby, where are you?”
For two and a half days we’d gotten along okay, my nephew and I.Mostly due to my bribing him with his favorite foods.Chocolate chip cookies (made by the housekeeper who came in during the day, Greta), chicken nuggets, and grapes.A not completely unhealthy diet.After all, the five food groups were all roughly represented.Today, however, no amount of bribery worked.Gib was in a foul mood for some reason and hell bent on taking it out on me.Reminded me of a few years back when I’d been working for a big time fashion model and she’d thrown a next-season Louboutin at my head.Lucky me, we’d been the same shoe size.So it served her right that I caught the shoe and took its mate as an unspoken apology for the incident.
But back to child wrangling.
