Page 27 of Not Mine To Love

“She said don’t pay her, so don’t pay her. It’s not like you’re made of money suddenly. Because if you were, I wouldn’t have to be paying for all this.”

“You’re paying for all this because you insisted on all this,” Julius surprised me by saying.

“Well, excuse me for wanting the best for my daughter. The best that you clearly can’t provide.”

Oh wow. I wanted to disappear. The tension and anger between them was almost palpable.

“I’m sorry you feel that way,” Julius said visibly trying to hold his anger in check. Ana stepped between them interrupting their argument.

Perfect timing. I didn’t want to be the only thing in between two ticking bombs. And to be honest, I was more afraid of what Claire would say than Julius.

She seemed determined to make his life a living hell.

“Hi, Becca,” Ana said, giving me a smile. “Sorry about all this. We’ll pay you for today.”

“She doesn’t need to be paid for today, she didn’t even do anything.”

“But she came out of her way—"

“I’m fine, Ana. Really,” I said nervously, feeling like another fight was going to break out.

“It’s only fair, “ Ana said.

“Oh, god, you bleed hearts and fairness. Fairness is a privilege. Life isn’t about being fair.”

“Thanks for the life lesson, Mom,” Julius said deadpan, and Claire seemed ready to blow a fuse. I guessed she didn’t like being called mom by the one person she hated. Or maybe she hated more than one person. She seemed to have a lot of hate to spread around. An equal opportunity hater, I thought to myself as I suppressed a bubble of inappropriate laughter. “We’ll pay you for the day, Becca, Ana and I insist. Enjoy your day off.”

“Thanks,” I said, feeling sort of bad.

Claire looked pissed. “But I—"

“Mom, please,” Ana said, looking embarrassed. “Enjoy your day off, Becca. I’ll call you, Mom.” Ana and Julius walked away and got into their car and drove off.

I headed to my car, and Claire called me as soon as I was about to pull off.

“Follow him. Find something on him. Anything. He’s too good to be true. He’s no prince charming. Just another frog. Do your job, Becca.”

And just as abruptly as she called, she hung up.

I sighed. I guessed I was working today.

I hoped that Ana didn’t plan on spending the day with Julius. They still lived separately so I discreetly waited until he dropped Ana off. He didn’t stick around at her place.

I got my camera ready.

He drove to a little candy shop on the south side of town and just for the heck of it, I took pictures of him going inside. I needed proof that I had at least followed him. He smiled at the cashier, and I took pictures of that. It wasn’t incriminating, but at least it would give Claire something to smile about at night. I kind of pictured her as Cruella De Ville. If I had to play the role of a Disney princess, then she would definitely play the role of the villain.

She was kind of horrible. When I was younger, I sort of gave everyone the benefit of the doubt. But then I married, divorced, and grew up a heck of a lot. I liked to think I wasn’t as gullible or silly as before. Gosh, I was definitely still a little flighty, but hey, I was a work in progress. Everyone was, right?

I followed him some more and took pictures half-heartedly. This was an absolute bore.

While I stalked him, he received a phone call. He was laughing with whomever was on the phone with him. I imagined his laugh. It was the best thing about him, and that was saying a lot. He was gorgeous and nice, and he had a great laugh. A wonderful laugh.

I couldn’t help but compare him to Tom. Tom rarely laughed, unless it was at someone else’s expense. Tom was a killjoy and not fun at all. I hadn’t really dated much since Tom. I hadn’t been in a serious relationship at all, actually since my marriage ended. Not that I wanted to be in another relationship. Or did I? No, I said to myself, a relationship definitely wasn’t in the cards for me. I didn’t want to turn into an old cat lady though, but that seemed more appealing than being alone. Maybe I would just get a dog. No. I didn’t have time for a dog. Maybe just one cat then. Hmmm…

* * *

Two hours later, I was standing in front of the local animal shelter with my father who looked bewildered.