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I watch her talk, and it feels like she’s been practicing this speech for a while. I may have been an inconsiderate jerk when we were together, but I know her well enough to know when she’s in a state over something. And she’s definitely in a state now.
“I don’t hate the idea. But I can’t pretend I don’t feel a little weird about you working for me. You being my employee… it feels odd, I guess?” I glance over at Chloe again and she’s still smiling, waving to try and get Arie’s attention. “But it looks like the squirt likes you and I’m not going to argue with her judgment. If she wants you to stay, you’ll stay. How does $4000 a week sound to start?”
Arie’s cheeks go red. “That’s a lot of money, Pierce. Maybe you could pay me a little less and… let me stay here with you?”
I choke on my coffee. “You want to stay in my apartment? Here? With me? Like… live with me? Together?”
“I don’t want to get married, Pierce,” she says with a laugh. “Lots of people have live-in nannies. Don’t they? I assume you have more than two bedrooms in this palatial top-floor penthouse?”
“Well, yeah. Of course. But I wasn’t exactly expecting to have someone else living here. I’m not averse to it. I guess the idea of us living together, after all our years as couple, is a little…”
“Weird?” she says with a smile, finishing my sentence. “Seriously, Pierce. If I have my own room, you will barely know I’m here. I’m just in the middle of a bit of a tra
nsitional period, and if I could stay here, it would save me the stress of having to find an apartment. You can pay me half of what you were planning, and I will be on hand to watch Chloe day and night. If you think about it, it works out best for everyone.”
I can’t argue with her logic. “All right, you have a deal. When can you move in?”
She holds up her bag. “Yesterday.”
“Wait, that’s it? That’s all of your stuff? No boxes? No suitcases?”
“I travel light these days. Now, why don’t you get dressed and go to work and let me get acquainted with this little beauty?”
I finish off the last of my coffee in a long slug and nod. “That sounds like a plan. And Arie?”
“Yes?”
“It’s good to see you again.”
I don’t think I’ve ever meant a sentence more in my life.
Arie
As soon as Pierce is out of the apartment and I see him leave the building entrance via the security camera, I run over and grab Chloe out of the playpen. When I pick her up and squeeze her to my chest, I burst out crying, unable to hold back the wellspring of emotion that has bubbled over at the sight of my baby girl. I never imagined I would ever get to see her again, so the fact that I am holding her in my arms is almost too much for me to process. When Chloe reaches up and touches my face, as if she is surprised she is seeing me again too, I think I may never recover from the pain of the love I am feeling.
I spend the rest of the morning in the living room with Chloe, just watching her play, making her snacks, and pretending that I hadn’t just missed the last six months of her life. But she looks so different, almost like she’s grown up into a whole new little girl. Her white-blonde hair is sandier now, and her green eyes sparkle even more emerald, with the same air of mischief that Pierce’s have always had. I am so enamored just watching her, I have no idea how much time has passed when my phone rings and startles me.
I look at the screen and see it’s Bailey.
“So? What happened? I’ve been on pins and needles all day!” he shouts into the phone. I can hear the cigar moving around between his teeth, and it almost makes me laugh.
“I’m working here. He hired me.”
“That’s fabulous! And did you tell him you needed an upfront on your next fifty paychecks?”
I sigh, and look over at Chloe, who is happily watching a TV bigger than our old apartment. “I can’t do it, Roger. I just can’t. I’m going to work here for the next four weeks. Pierce said he’d pay me $2000 a week, so that’s $8000 by the time Danny comes calling again. Maybe if I show them I’m making a good faith effort to get them their money back, they will see some repayment is better than no repayment at all?”
I can hear the gentle hum of Bailey thinking to himself. “That’s certainly an idea. But just in case. I’m going to get you that expedited passport. Stay in touch, you hear?”
I agree to call him as soon as I have any new information, and hang up just as Pierce comes walking back in. He has his suit jacket draped over his arm, and he looks exhausted. I realize I still have no idea what time it is.
Pierce sits down on the floor next to Chloe and twirls a lock of her hair around his finger, then gives her a kiss on the cheek. I get a feeling in the pit of my stomach that gnaws at me uncomfortably. It pangs of guilt.
“So, what have you ladies been up to all day today?” he asks as he tries to draw Chloe’s attention away from the TV. But she doesn’t bite, more interested in the dancing pastel-colored ponies on screen than either of the adults in the room.
“Nothing too exciting. Just getting to know each other, really.” Suddenly, Chloe turns and looks at me with a smile, almost as if she’s in on our secret. It’s disarming. “How was work? Anything exciting happen?”
Pierce lays back on the floor with a groan, then stretches out his leg. His pant leg creeps up just a bit, and I can see intense scarring around his ankle. It makes my heart ache.
