AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No, Margot. I can do this. I swear. Three weeks and I’ll have the two pieces for you to look at. I won’t let you down.”
She looks up at me with her eyebrow slightly arched. “Don’t make me regret this, Bianca. Do you know how many young artists would kill for this chance?”
“I know, don’t worry. You’re going to be blown away.”
“Let’s hope so.”
***
I pull up to the heavy security gate with a guard shack and give them my name. The guard examines the list and asks to see my ID which I hand over. It feels a little excessive, especially because I’ve been a handful of times before. He hands back my ID and the gate opens allowing me to drive through.
I pull up into Gloria’s driveway and shut off the engine. I was about to leave the gallery for the day when I saw Gloria’s namelightening up my phone. Apparently she’s tweaked her back again and she wanted to know if I could take Oliver for a couple hours while her muscle relaxer kicked in and she got some rest. I was happy to help her out. It had been way too long since I’d seen Oliver and I missed him terribly.
I walk along the carefully placed stone path that’s surrounded by perfectly manicured hedges as I approach the oversized house. I’m not sure my one lady needs this much space but it’s a beautiful place.
I wrap my knuckles against the heavy oak door and stand there and wait. Nervous anticipation causing me to shift my weight from one foot to the other. What if Oliver’s angry at me for not being around? I wanted to be, I really did, but it was pretty obvious that it wasn’t what Carson wanted. In fact, I’m pretty sure that Gloria hadn’t even bothered to run this by him or else he would have shut it down pretty quickly.
Well, it’s not my problem. They’re his family. He should be the one to tell them that we broke up, it’s not my responsibility. Plus, I’ll take any time with Oliver that I can get.
After a minute I hear a little voice call out from the other side of the door. “Who is it?”
I can’t help but smile as I call out “Bianca” in response. The door gets jerked open and a little blur of color charges into me, wrapping himself around my legs. I squat down so we’re on the same level and take Oliver in my arms, squeezing him tightly. I haven’t seen him at all since Carson and I ended things and I’m surprised by how much I’ve truly missed him. There’s an ache in my chest as he pulls away and leads me inside.
“Where’s your Aunt Gloria?” I ask. He leads me into the living room where I find Gloria stretched out along her sofa her face tensing in pain.
“Thank you so much for coming, Bianca. I know how busy you are.”
“It’s not a problem at all,” I reassure her. “I’m happy to look after Oliver for a while. But what about you? Is there something I can do for you?” The woman is tough but she definitely looks like she’s in pain.
“I’ll be fine, I’ve just tweaked my back again. I’m waiting for these dang muscle relaxers to kick in so I can move. I’m just not comfortable being confined to the couch when Oliver might need me.”
“I totally get it. He can hang with me for a while, then I can drop him off at home later when Carson is back from work.”
“Actually, would you just bring him back here in a few hours? I’m sure I’ll be feeling better by then and Oliver has been staying with me. Carson’s hours have been crazy for the past week and it’s just been easier if he stays at my house until everything settles down.”
I know I don’t do a good job of hiding the shock on my face. “Really? That seems odd, doesn’t it?” I guess that’s one reason I haven’t seen Oliver lately. I guess he’s been here with Gloria, but it’s not like Carson to hide him away here even when he’s busy. Then again, I obviously don’t know Carson as well as I thought I did.
Gloria just shrugs at my questioning. “He seems super stressed and if keeping Oliver here with me can help that I’m more than happy to do it. Besides, I wouldn’t want to spend my days any other way than hanging out with my great great nephew.” She shoots Oliver a smile. “Why don’t you go gather up a few things so you can play with Bianca and by the time you’re back I’ll have dinner ready for you?”
Oliver hops off down the hallway, presumably to grab a few things while I eye Gloria skeptically. “Are you sure? Maybe we shouldn’t be leaving you alone.”
She waves off my concerns. “Don’t be silly. I’ve taken a muscle relaxer, I’ll have a nice little nap, then I’ll have somethingdelivered for dinner. You’re free to join us as well. Sometimes Carson comes over after his shift and has dinner with us too.”
That bit of information makes my shoulders stiffen. No matter how much my soul is crying out to see him, to spend any amount of time I can with him, I know it’s for the best that I don’t. It will only make things harder for me. Frankly, I’m still embarrassed with how I handled my run in with him yesterday. I wanted to be calm, cool, you mean so little to me you breaking up with me didn’t affect me at all, Bianca. Instead, seeing him touched a hurt I felt so deeply I couldn’t help lashing out at him. I was cold and angry Bianca and I can’t help but feel like I’ve shown my hand. That I’ve let him see how vulnerable he makes me and for that, I’m extremely pissed at myself.
No, I’ll just watch Oliver for a few hours and then drop him right back here. If I’m lucky, Carson will be nowhere in sight.
“Well, if you decide you need anything while we’re out, don’t hesitate to call and I’ll pick it up on our way back.”
“Thanks darling, you’re truly a lifesaver. Carson and Oliver are so lucky to have you.” Emotions clog my throat until I feel like they’re blocking my breathing. I try my best to swallow them down but they want to come bursting out. They want me to sit and cry and tell Gloria everything. Not that I ever would. That’s not how I operate. Instead, I give her a quick smile, grab Oliver’s hand, and we quickly exit the apartment.
***
I’m perched on the concrete lip that surrounds the sandbox in the park, freezing my metaphorical nuts off. Out of all the places we could have gone, of course Oliver wanted to go to the park. I watch him climb the ladder and throw himself down the slide again and again as I blow into my hands and rub them together, trying to stave off the cold.
“Five more minutes, Oliver! It’s cold out here and it’s starting to get dark.” I can see him jut out his bottom lip at me in a pout, but he doesn’t argue which makes me suspect he’s getting just as cold as I am. I bet if I look I can find some kind of indoor playground for him. With us solidly heading into winter and this being Seattle and all, there has to be some place kids get to run around and play, right? I think about looking into it when I get home but realize it’s really not my problem anymore. This will probably be one of the last times I watch Oliver, especially with how cagey Carson was when I asked if I could see him. Then again, he didn’t say I couldn’t see him, just that he wasn’t going to be around much. Now I find out he’s spent most of the past week at Gloria’s. I’m not exactly sure what’s going on with them but something just doesn’t seem right.
I grab my purse that’s been sitting next to me and start sifting through it, looking for my keys and my cell phone before shoving them down into the pocket of my coat. I call Oliver over and he only bothers to argue with me for about thirty seconds before giving in and we’re walking towards my car in the parking lot, his hand firmly held in mine.
