Page 41 of Chalk It Up

We’re walking to the door as the voices from the inside grow louder and seem to be moving to the front door as well. Something itches at the back of my mind and I can’t shake it off. I feel like I distantly know one of the voices, but that’s not possible. I don’t know anyone that would be out here for her inspection. Evie and I aren’t holding hands which is a lot harder than I thought it would be after our date yesterday, but there’s definitely a natural familiarity in how close we walk to each other.

We hit her bottom step and I’m stunned frozen. Birds have stopped flying, the lake no longer laps against the shore behind the cottage, and not a single leaf blows on the trees around us. The itching at the back of my mind disintegrates as the reason for how unsettled I felt stands right in front of us.

Larissa is Evie’s landlord. I was so blinded by how euphoric I felt whenever I was around Evie that I never thought to put two and two…more like four and four together. The timing for Larissa’s visit and the timing of the inspection, the fact that Evie rents this place, and it’s in the same area I lived in with Larissa when she wanted to be closer to her rental properties. I am a bonafide idiot and I know this isn’t going to end well for anyone.

chapter 28

Evie

There are so many thoughts and hypotheticals running through my mind so quickly. August has stopped so abruptly at the bottom of my stairs that it pulled me backwards a little, noticing that he stopped. He’s staring at one of the most gorgeous women I’ve ever seen. She has the thickest, most voluminous blonde hair, high cheek bones, a thin but somehow curvy frame, and the most crystalline blue eyes I’ve ever seen.

My immediate response is insecurity, followed quickly by anger, and the caboose on the train wreck of my emotions is jealousy. I know I’m not unattractive, but this woman is unreal. Any feature I thought I liked about myself is essentially a dull, half concept compared to her.

My stomach is wringed tight with anger and jealousy because there’s no way August is standing this close to me, and has stopped dead in his tracks to gawk at this woman. He literally cannot take his eyes off of her, his chest is heaving like she’s taken his breath away. I’m about to storm off even though this is my house. This must be what an out of body experience is like because there’s no way I’m experiencing this in real time. I feel like a bystander witnessing my own waterboarding.

I rip my eyes away from August long enough to land back on this inhuman personification of beauty to realize there’s something distinctly familiar about her, and then the weight of jealousy and anger that sat heavy in my gut is quickly replaced with the dread of recognition.

This is Larissa. August’s ex-wife. Adeline’s mom. My landlord. I never knew the name of the property owner because I always dealt with the rental company. She hasn’t once come out for any other inspection. I would know because there’s no way I would forget a face like that. So why has she decided to come out for this inspection?

August still hasn’t said anything but it looks like he doesn’t have to because Larissa speaks up first and the words out of her mouth both set me on fire and drown me in the ice cold lake we’re standing near. “Well if it isn’t the happy couple.” She proclaims with a smile that is infinitely less than sincere, and I know something terrible is about to happen. She starts down the stairs and dismisses the two other people that were just accompanying her and they make their way back into the house.

“Larissa, what are you doing here?” I hate hearing him say her name. I hate all of this. I want to scream and rage and tell her to get out of my house, until I remember that it’s actually her house and I’ve never felt so powerless and infinitesimal as I do in this hellish situation.

“Oh August, aren’t you happy to see me, dear? It’s been way too long.” She’s already confidently strode her way down the rest of the stairs and pushes August’s arm flirtatiously. As much as I want to rip my ears out hearing her name come out of his mouth, I think I loathe hearing his name on her lips even more. Knowing it’s not the first time or the only context in which she’s said his name. And I don’t even think I can give myself room to think about her calling him ‘dear’ like they’re not divorced and very estranged.

Her little push on his arm makes me want to shove her into the lake, but I think her dying by hypothermic shock would be considered premeditated manslaughter at this point so I unfortunately have to digress.

“I’m undoubtedly not happy to see you.” He says taking a step back. “And while I don’t mind at all how long it's been for us to see each other, it’s been way too long since someone who calls herself a mom has last seen her daughter.” It seems like the blow hit its intended target because she recoils just a little but regroups quickly.

Witnessing all of this might easily make the list of top three of the worst situations I’ve ever been part of, and I think we’re only scratching the surface of awfulness because somehow she knows we're a couple.

I mentally run through literally every interaction we’ve had the last few months and I come up woefully short on how she could possibly know that. The only people we’ve told in confidence are Thea and Emmett, and they would take that information to the grave if they had to. We’ve only had necessary, professional interactions around school, and we didn’t see anyone while we were on our date.

“Aw, August. You don’t have to be so harsh.” Her words are said so sweetly but I can taste the poison each word is laced with. “I’m just here to check on my properties, and like we talked about before, negotiate custody.” She looks at me like she’s hoping the conversation they had about Adeline’s custody is brand new information to me. But August and I have better communication than she could imagine, so I keep my facial expression easily neutral.

August stays still next to me, giving nothing away on how he’s feeling either. “Why now? You’ve never come out here to negotiate Adeline’s custody one time and you hire a company to take care of your properties for you. Why the sudden interest?” Larissa shoves her hands into the pockets of her ridiculous pants suit, not in nervousness but as a power move.

And I hate to admit that she radiates authority. I’m sure that confidence she exudes is something that attracted August. I have to derail that thought before it leaves the station. I can’t let my emotions get the best of me right now and show this woman any kind of weaknesses I have.

“Why now?” She parrots. “Well imagine my surprise when a little birdy tells me that my ex-husband has been having another woman around my daughter without my knowledge.” She shoots daggers in my direction like I’m the one who willingly left Addie and not the other way around. “And imagine how much more surprised I was to find out that woman is my daughter’s teacher.” This time she looks down her nose at me like she’s repulsed by my presence. “How grossly inappropriate. And the icing on the cake being that she’s a tenant to one of my most coveted lakeside properties, and also has a fixed rent rate that’s much lower than the surrounding homes.”

I have a feeling I know exactly where she’s going with all of this and I hate everything happening right now. I hate that August and I can’t just live in peace, we have to sneak around, and I hate that I’m fairly certain something is going to be ripped out from under me. I just don’t know if that something is August, Addie, my home, my job, or all of the above.

“Get to the point, Larissa. Your dramatics are exhausting. They always have been.” The acknowledgement of their history really grates on me, but it’s not like I can pretend it didn’t happen. I can’t tell if any of this is making him nervous because this might be the most stoic I’ve ever seen him.

“Well, dear, I have many points I’m very excited to cover with both of you.” I want to crumple right here. I’ve spent two minutes in this woman’s presence and I despise her. It’s a horrible thought so I keep it to myself, but I’m glad Adeline wasn’t raised by this woman. I would hate for her to have picked up on any of this evil manipulation. “First off, I want full custody of Adeline. Your attention and priorities are obviously split and you can’t give her what she needs.”

“Over my dead body. You know full well that’s a lie. My relationship with Evangeline has no effect at all on Adeline.” He shifts his body in front of me slightly like he’s trying to shield me from Larissa’s words. “It just so happens that Adeline adores and looks forward to seeing her much more than she does her own mother.” Him using my full government name instead of ‘Evie’ sort of feels like a slap in the face, but I know it’s not. She pulls her hands out her pockets and crosses them over her chest.

“You know, I figured that would be your response. I just needed to see how dedicated you really are to whatever this charade is.” She waves her hand between August and me. “We both know you’re not capable of keeping a woman around and she’ll tire of how emotionally unavailable you are. I’m not sure why you’re trying to fool yourself into thinking you can have a successful relationship with anyone when your first one blew up in your face.” Larissa doesn’t hold back any punches and it’s taking everything in me to not physically assault her. These words are so cruel and entirely untrue.

“Regardless, you are going to give me Adeline and on top of giving me Adeline, you and Evangeline are going to break up.” I think that might be the most condescending way anyone has ever said my name and I want to take those letters out of her vocabulary so she can never string them together again.

“Why on earth would I do any of that?” I know August is falling right into step of exactly where Larissa wants him, but I really don’t know what else we’re supposed to do but follow her lead.

She giggles, actually maniacally giggles, and it sends a horrific shiver down my spine. “I’m enthused that you asked. See, you’re going to give me Adeline and you two are going to break up because if you don’t, I’ll report Evangeline to the school board for misconduct and I’ll evict her from her house.” She can. She can really do that. And she honest to God would do it.

Larissa might be beauty personified but she is equally a standing embodiment of evil. I can’t even wrap my head around the fact that she and Adeline share DNA. “And you’ve all but confirmed in this little conversation that you and her are in a relationship so everything moving forward would be very easy to prove. Plus, I have witnesses to your escapades.”