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“Do you live here? It would be cool if you did.”
“No, but I have an office.” He looked over his shoulder. “Justin, you’ve got the bar. I’ll be back.”
“Sweet,” Justin said, slinging his rag over his shoulder and turning around.
“Right this way. Trina?” Lorenzo looked over at her, his eyes hopeful. “Will you come with us?”
Katrina only hesitated for a moment, but it was long enough for Lorenzo to notice. “Of course,” she said, standing, wiping her hands down the front of her jeans.
He nodded once, and Katrina followed them into the office, where Lorenzo shut the door, drowning out the noise. He shuffled papers and invoices around on his desk and set Miranda’s Shirley Temple down. “Have a seat,” he said to his daughter, who proceeded to take the chair that spun. Katrina and Lorenzo took the other two chairs in the room, and Katrina’s heart pounded.
What now, she wondered.
“Does Emily know you’re here?” Lorenzo asked, and Miranda shook her head while she took a drink.
“She doesn’t really concern herself with me,” Miranda replied. “Hi, by the way. I’m Miranda, your daughter.” She held out her hand, which Lorenzo shook. “Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Lorenzo, your...your dad,” he said, his voice soft. “And this is Katrina.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Katrina said as she took the girl’s small hand in hers, her heart fracturing a little more as the girl smiled.
“Can you braid my hair again?” she asked excitedly. “Tommy Crenshaw liked it. He’s, like, the most popular boy in school and he said it made me look older.”
“You don’t really want to impress the boys yet, right?” Lorenzo asked.
“But he’s Tommy Crenshaw.”
“But you’re nine.”
“But D...what do I call you? Do I call you Dad?”
Katrina watched Lorenzo’s eyes gloss over with unshed tears. “Yeah,” he said. “I’d like that.”
“Okay, Dad, it’s never too early to make a good impression. You never know, I could end up dating him once I’m old enough. How old is old enough?”
“Thirty,” Lorenzo replied, and the girl’s eyebrow shot up.
Just like Lorenzo’s would whenever Katrina would say something he didn’t like.
“I think...I think that Emily should know that you’re here.”
“Yeah, but Emily would make me leave, and I don’t want to. Who are the Spidermonkeys?”
Lorenzo opened his mouth to reply, then he grinned. “Want to meet them?”
Miranda’s eyes lit up. “Meet an actual band? Yes, please. Wait!” She turned to Katrina. “Can you braid my hair first, please?”
“Of course,” she replied, and Miranda spun her chair around so that her back was facing Katrina, who stood and began the task.
“How do you do that?” Lorenzo commented, and Katrina shrugged as she carefully braided Miranda’s hair.
“I learned from Judith, who was teaching everyone during a sleepover.”
Miranda piped up, “Emily says that Judith is a real bitch.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t repeat that,” Lorenzo said quickly.
“Well, maybe she shouldn’t have said it in front of me.”
