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"Of course, I don't have to do it," Dani rolled her eyes at me. "I want to do it. It's been too long since we had a pizza night. In fact, I think," she raised her voice and walked over toward Makayla, "it's been too long since we had a sleepover. What do you think?" Makayla's eyes lit up.
"Can we, Mommy? Please?" she asked. I nodded, and Makayla resumed jumping on the couch in celebration as Dani laughed and went to order the pizza.
A few hours later, with the pizza eaten and Makayla having finally calmed down enough to go to bed, Dani broke out a bottle of wine.
"Let's hear it," she said as she poured us each a glass.
"Hear what?" I asked.
"Whatever it was you didn't want to talk about in front of Makayla earlier," she said as she handed me my wine. I sighed, and the whole story came spilling out. As I told it, I watched Dani's face go from concerned, to angry, to downright furious. To her credit, she managed to sit quietly and let me get through the whole thing. When I was finished, she gave me a big hug, holding onto me for a long time. Finally, she let me go and without saying a word, went to her freezer and brought me back a pint of my favorite ice cream.
"Where did you get this?" I asked in surprise. It was a tricky flavor to find, caramel cheesecake flavor with chunks of chocolate cookies. And Dani didn't even like caramel.
"What do you mean?" Dani asked. "I always keep a supply of emergency ice cream. Specifically, I keep three pints in the freezer at all times, one for each of our favorite flavors. Caramel cheesecake flavor for you, peanut butter fudge for me, and of course, cookie dough for Makayla."
"Dani! I never knew you did that," I said. I was so touched at this that I started to cry again. Dani grabbed some tissues and then hugged me again. When I finally stopped, she handed me the tissue and said, "I have an idea. Why don't you give me this Mr. White's description, and I can go give him a piece of my mind?"
Dani giving someone a piece of her mind was a sight to see, and I was honestly tempted. I was pretty sure she was joking, though, so I smiled faintly and shook my head.
"No? Okay, what about Cassius? You gave me his number for emergencies. Can I give him a call? I have some choice words for him." She raised her eyebrows at me, and seemed serious. It was very tempting, but I didn't think it would make things better, so I shook my head again.
"Okay, well how about this idea," she said. "Why don't you call in sick for a few days, and you guys can crash here? I feel like you could use a little emotional support and maybe a break from the rest of your life."
That actually sounded really good. I'd been so busy with the new job and with Cassius lately, I had almost forgotten how important Dani was to me and how much I valued our friendship. I nodded emphatically.
"That's a great idea. You're a genius," I said.
"I know," Dani replied, grinning smugly.
The next morning, Dani took Makayla to school on her way to work, letting me sleep in. I laid around her apartment all morning in my pajamas, then went for a quick run before getting myself some lunch. I was very consciously not thinking about work, or Cassius, or anything else. I had half-expected him to call me at some point, but he didn't, and I couldn't help but be relieved. I didn't think I could talk to him until I decided what to do about Mr. White.
In the afternoon, I picked up Makayla from school and took her to the park to play. That night, the three of us made pasta and played board games. It was nice to have some time to just have fun, without thinking about all of the stress of the past few months. The next day, after dropping off Makayla at school, I found myself thinking about my blog. I hadn't thought about it in months. I went to the home page and started looking over some of my past entries. Before long, I found myself writing down ideas for new posts. It had been years since I'd felt this inspired.
I guess Dani had been right that taking a few days break with her to help out was just what I needed. But it was also true that I was using some of the things I'd learned at my new job. It felt like returning to my old dreams from a new perspective. I mentioned it over dinner as we were talking about our day, and Dani gave me a curious look. After Makayla was asleep, I asked her why she'd looked at me like that.
"Well, I actually have some news that I've been trying to figure out how to tell you..." She paused, looking nervous. "You remember my Aunt Margaret?"
"Of course," I replied. Dani had always been close with her aunt, who lived in a small town down south, along the coast. Dani had spent every summer there as a child, as well as staying there for a couple of months during high school. I was always jealous, hearing about that quaint, small town and the big beautiful house that Aunt Margaret owned.
"Well, she's getting older, and finding it harder to live on her own. So, she... Well, she asked me to move in with her." Dani said the last bit in a rush, as if pulling off a Band-Aid.
"Oh," I said, taking a deep breath in. Move in with her? So, Dani might leave her? "What did you tell her?" I asked, trying to keep my face neutral, even though the idea of her leaving was heartbreaking.
"I told her I had to think about it, but honestly, I'm leaning toward going." Dani was watching me carefully, and I knew she was looking to see how I'd react. I forced myself to smile.
"I think that's great, Dani," I told her, trying to sound cheerful.
"There's more," Dani said, and my heart sank. How much more could I take? "You remember she has that guesthouse that I helped her fix up a few years ago so she could rent it out to vacationers? Well, she decided she wants to find a permanent tenant. And I was thinking... why not you and Makayla?"
I blinked, not sure I'd heard her correctly.
"Deira?" Dani said, looking at me expectantly.
"What do you mean, me and Makayla?" I asked, shocked.
"I mean, what if you and Makayla moved with me, and rented the guesthouse from Aunt Margaret?"
"Dani," I gasped, "we can't just up and move!"
