“So nothing happened on the carousel?” she asks.
“What do you mean?” I ask even though I know where this is going. I might be able to hide my entire life from the public, but I can’t hide shit from Demi.
“I’m talking about how things were going amazing at the zoo and then two seconds later you looked like you were going to puke.”
“So, the phone call I got? While Zane was changing Bentley? It was my boss,” I explain.
“Prudy called you on your day off?” she asks with disgust.
“No. My boss. It was Deborah,” I say, and her expression shifts to surprise.
“What?”
“Yep,” I nod, kicking rocks along the dirt path.
“Since when does the Queen Bee lower herself enough to make a phone call?”
“Since she wanted to personally demand I get candid, shady photos of Zane without him knowing,” I say.
“What?”
I nod. “And if I don’t do it, I have to find a new job,” I tell her.
“Ashlyn, that’s basically blackmail,” she says.
“It’s basically the paparazzi business,” I say.
“God, you guys suck,” she shakes her head. “No offense.”
“None taken,” I smile sourly.
“You know what? Nevermind her. She’s like the witch handing Sleeping Beauty the poisonous apple. You’re fucked if you do and you’re fucked if you don’t,” she says. I love when she gets her Disney movies mixed up; it’s cute. Snow White was the apple; Sleeping Beauty was the pricked finger. Obviously, I know what she means. So I just agree.
“Yeah,”
“So…what are you going to do?” she asks.
“I don’t know. But I know what I’m not going to do,” I answer. “I’m not taking those photos. I’m not that kind of person. Not only that, but I could never, considering everything.”
“Everything?” she asks as her lips quirk in a smile.
“Yeah…” I say, matching her expression. “I love him, Demi.”
“I know you do,” she says.
“I know it’s crazy. He used to drive me crazy. But the more I get to know him, the less I can avoid that fact. Honestly, I don’t even want to ignore it anymore.”
“And Bentley?” she asks, although guessing by the look in her eyes, she already knows the answer to that.
“I love him too. So much,” I admit with a shaky voice. “The idea that someone could just leave him blows my mind. The moment I saw him, my heart just kind of took over. And now, I can’t imagine losing him,” I say before pausing. I need to swallow back the lump in my throat before going on, and Demi’s teary eyes aren’t helping.
“If this is the closest I am going to come to motherhood, it’s good enough,” I tell her. “I love him like he’s my own.”
Demi laugh-cries and pulls me into a hug. “I love this. I love all of it for you,” she says.
“Even though you don’t believe in romance or happily ever after?” I ask.
“I never said I don’t believe in it,” she says. “I just don’t want it for me. But you deserve it. The man. The family. You deserve it more than anyone, Ash. And I’m so happy for you.”
