Page 48 of Chalk It Up

“I sold my cottage.” She says between gritted teeth. Lorraine’s face bounces to me in a triumphant grin.

“Well, great. That means this twat is out of there, right?”

“To August.” That must’ve taken every ounce of humility she’s ever had since she was born. Lorraine’s head is bouncing between all of us now taking in everyone’s facial expression. August is smug, I’m floored, and Larissa is simply enraged.

“Are you kidding me? Why would you do that? Everything I helped you with and you threw it all away to sell the house to him?” I didn’t expect Ms. Johnston to get this worked up about it. Maybe she’s concerned Larissa will back out of their end of the deal. “It’s fine. She won’t be able to afford to live there if she doesn’t have a job. Which come Monday, she won’t.” The threat hangs heavy in the air and in my gut.

“Funny you should bring that up, Lorraine.” August is so smug right now that I could maul and kiss him in the middle of this room. “I was wondering how you even knew that Evie and I were leaving for a date that night when you saw us at the axe throwing bar.” She remains neutral, not giving away anything.

“And when I was doing a walk through of the cottage so I could sign the closing papers, something hit me. Evie has a doorbell camera which the property owner would have access to.” No one is moving a single muscle. I’m dumbfounded. I knew the company had access to my front exterior camera for insurance and liability issues, but I never would’ve imagined it would be used to spy on me. I feel disgusted and violated.

“So when I met with the rental company they gave me access to everything I’d need. Keys, documents, and doorbell log ins. Not only did you see us leaving on the camera, you were there. Your car was across the street and the camera detected it. You followed us to our date.”

“That doesn’t mean or prove anything. I didn’t do anything wrong. It’s not against the law to make sure one of my employees is safe.”

“Oh don’t act all high and mighty. And it is actually very against the law for someone other than the renter to access those cameras without the renter's consent. The company let me go through old footage so I could see if there was anything that would be a liability for them before I signed the papers making everything my responsibility. And wouldn’t you know how surprised I was to see your car on her property.” We are all hanging on August’s every word, no one’s breathing or moving.

“So I decided I would go back to past accesses and see who else has been checking the cameras and I was able to trace IPs back to both of you.” He motions between Larissa and Lorraine. “And I know for sure that Evie didn’t consent to that.”

“Try whatever you want, August, you’re not going to catch me in anything. It’s not wrong for a property owner to check her investments if she feels the homeowner is being reckless. And I did believe she was being reckless, it’s just a different way to define it than was intended.” All my hope for August catching Larissa in something nefarious and saving my job deflates. This is a roller coaster.

“Sure, I’ll concede that to you. It’s a stretch for sure, but you can have it.” I see them both puff up a little like they’ve gained the upper hand, but I know August and he wouldn’t just give her that win if he didn’t have something else up his sleeve. “But all of this made me realize that something else would be on that doorbell camera as well.” Larissa’s body shifts slightly like she knows exactly where this is going.

“You have no right to access any of that feed.” Larissa shouts at him like it’s going to stop him from what he’s going to say next.

“You sound pathetic, Larissa. Save yourself the embarrassment and just stop. What else did I find while looking through Evie’s camera?” He glances over at me with a smile that I know says more than his words have. I know he’s feeling the same way about me that I do him and that’s why he’s going through all of these hoops for me. “I found a landlord on the phone with a boss, whose name was mentioned on the call, extorting and blackmailing a tenant and employee for their own personal gain. Every word, every plan, every motive and reason, spelled out beautifully in that camera’s software. Probably should’ve thought of who you were going toe to toe with when you decided to manipulate my woman. Did you forget that I’m a software engineer? And not just that, but a software engineer for cameras? Larissa, you’re never getting that footage back.”

“What do you want, August?” She’s absolutely seething.

“Larissa, the only thing you could’ve ever given me was my daughter. There’s quite literally nothing I want from you. I have everything I could ever need, and more than I’ll ever deserve. But I’ll tell you what you’re going to do.” He looks between Larissa and Lorraine. The latter looks like she’s teetering on the edge of incontinence. “You.” He points to Lorraine. “Are going to leave Evie and Addie alone. You won’t touch her job, her class, or make her life difficult in any way or I will take the footage to the school board, you will lose your certifications and you’ll never work in Pine Lake or any other school again.” Mrs. Johnston looks like she’s seen a ghost, but she takes a big gulp and nods slightly.

“And you.” He spits it like venom in Larissa’s direction. “You will never threaten Addie’s custody again. You’re not going to come back into her life. You can talk to her tonight if you want. You will tell her good job and that you’re proud of her. Then you’ll say goodbye and you’ll have no contact with us again until she’s eighteen and she decides it. You’re volatile and toxic and I’ll protect my daughter from you until my dying breath.” Her anger is so terrifyingly palpable. There’s no way she’s going to give him what he wants.

It hits me that I haven’t had a panic attack. This is exactly the kind of situation where I would lose any bit of control. It has to be because of August. I know a man isn’t magically going to undo what someone else did, but his presence obviously helps so much.

“Absolutely not. I’ll never agree to that.”

“Absolutely you will. Because if you don’t agree to let us live in peace, I’ll send the footage to your superiors and have your licenses revoked for invading a tenants privacy, breaching your contract, extortion, black mail. Need I go on?” She doesn’t show a thing and I’m horrified that she’s not going to back down. “Don’t waste our time, Larissa. We know you’re going to choose your real estate license over your daughter. You’ve already done it once before.”

With that, August and I turn to find Addie outside with Ms. Wilma leaving Lorraine and Larissa floored behind us. We catch up to Ms. Wilma and Addie who are talking animatedly with some of her friends about the program when I hear rushed footsteps behind us. Larissa is on our heels, probably to have the one last conversation with Addie that August is so kindly allowing her to have. It seemed like a really harsh and uncharacteristically August move to make but I understood his reasoning. Addie needs more stability than the emotional ride that her mom has her on.

August turns around to narrow a stare at Larissa. It’s definitely a warning for her to not make a scene or to upset Addie on her big night.

“Mommy!” Addie’s enthusiasm sounds forced. Almost as if she knows she should be excited to see her mom, but deep down she isn’t and that makes me so sad for her. I understand the feeling of not having that emotional connection with a parent that you should or desire to and it’s not fair for any kid to have to experience that. It's unnatural and even their DNA tells them that no matter what their parents do to them, they will still love their parents. But she’ll reach an age where logic will start to replace emotion and she can work to accept something she never really had. I wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone, but I hope August lets me stay around long enough to help her through it.

“Hey Adeline!” It doesn’t escape my notice that her mom doesn’t even have a little pet name for her. Just another sign of their strained, distant relationship. To Larissa’s credit, some maternal instincts kick in and she lowers herself to Addie’s level. The rest of us sense the tension of the moment and move slightly to give them a modicum of privacy. But August doesn’t trust Larissa one iota, so he doesn’t move an inch.

“You did such a great job, Adeline. I’m really proud of you.” I wish that, as her mom, Larissa could find something more to say than that. A mom should be aware of all of the obstacles Addie had to overcome to accomplish what she did. But all Larissa can offer her is a generic ‘I’m proud of you.’ It’s definitely better than nothing and better than her not showing up at all, but should be better.

“Oh, thank you. I had fun.” Poor Adeline is radiating discomfort, like she’s talking to a stranger that her dad is forcing her to meet for the first time. Larissa looks around at us like she doesn’t quite know what else to say.

“You did great!” She redirects her attention to Addie. “Hey I wish I could stay longer, but my flight leaves tonight. I just came in to town do some work really quickly.” Adeline adjusted slightly at that like she somehow picked up on the fact that her mom isn’t really in town for her but work. Most likely settling something more into Addie’s subconscious that she’s not her mom’s first priority.

“But I’m so glad I got to see your little speaking part.” She glances around again at us and I genuinely have second hand embarrassment for this woman. I don’t even have this hard of a time talking to Addie. You would think her communication skills would be better for her being a real estate agent.

Larissa lowers her voice in hopes of a little more privacy. I’m not sure what she’s telling Addie now, but August is definitely close enough to hear. He’s never going to stop being his daughter’s biggest protector. She wraps Addie in an awkward hug, stands back up to look at August one last time, then leers at me, and then walks away. With all of that, her final decision was made and obvious. Larissa once again chose her job and freedom over her daughter, but forever this time.

chapter 33