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"Lowell, it's Pierce. Your mother just called me. Again."
"Ugh." That was all I could come up with.
"Did Kyle tell you she called me earlier?"
"Yes… but I'm not with Kyle now, sir. I'm at the airport."
He was quiet for a moment. "You're flying out? Alone?"
"Mm-hmm." I figured the less I spoke, the less of a chance there was I'd cry.
"Well, when she called me just now, she said you were cutting her off and that she's in a tight spot. She said she was going to have to sell your story to the press in order to have enough cash to survive."
Wow, my mother wasted no time. If I weren't so sickened, I'd be impressed. "Are you accusing me or empathizing with me?" I asked.
"Uh… both. I just wanted you to know I took care of it."
I sat there, stunned. "What do you mean?"
"I'm giving Caroline the money she needs in exchange for keeping Kyle's situation… private."
"You know she's just gonna keep soaking you for that, right?"
"I'm well aware of your mother's tactics." Pierce sounded as if he were amused. "I didn't mention it to her just now, but I have some leverage of my own. Just in case she gets out of hand, which we know she will."
I perked up a little at that. "What's that?"
"Just some old personal photos of your mother. From when she lived in Texas. She had big hair. Very big. And do you remember what her teeth looked like before she had them done?" He laughed, and I realized that even though he was talking about revenge-blackmailing my mother, he was speaking of her in doting tones, as if she were a spoiled, naughty, favorite child.
"I thought she burned all those pictures."
"She thought she did too." I could imagine him smiling in his office.
"Well, it's good you have them. You'll probably have to threaten to sell them to XYZ." I hesitated, wanting to ask about his son but also afraid to. "Did you talk to Kyle just now?"
"Yes. He didn't… he was his typical monosyllabic self, but he didn't mention anything about you leaving. But as I said before, I can tell that you've turned into a mature young woman. You're doing the right thing by going back, you know. Kyle needs to get his life together."
"I know." I felt my heart break a little bit more because Pierce was right.
"He starts work tomorrow morning."
"He's going to be great. Your launch will be amazing because of him."
"It'll be interesting to see."
"Are you going to see my mother again?" I asked out of morbid curiosity. He'd been kind about her when I'd seen him, but I still remember their red-faced yelling in those days leading up to their separation. "I'm surprised you're giving her the money and being so… relaxed about it. You were anything but relaxed about the divorce."
"I remember. I hated her with the fire of a thousand suns. I felt like every dollar she took was a slap in my face." Then he… chuckled. "Funny thing. She was such a pain in the ass back then… but it's just sort of boring without her around. You know what I mean?"
I ached without Kyle being next to me, and I still felt the sting of my fight with my mother. Even though I felt as if I'd been alone my whole life, I'd never felt as lonely as I did in that moment. Still, I was doing what I thought was right. For both of them.
"Yeah, I do, Pierce. I know exactly what you mean."
* * *
Tori met me at LAX. She spotted me before the photographers did and got to me quickly. "You look like shit. Keep your sunglasses on and put your hood up. There's a ton of press here."
"Awesome," I said. "Just awesome."
