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I’ve always thought a major problem in the world is that smart people have to be quiet about it, meanwhile, idiots can be as loud as they want.
“Are you coming with us?” she asks as I walk over and ruffle her hair.
“Not today. But I’ll be back soon. Probably before your next visit with Dr. Smith."
"You know Dr. Smith?"
"Of course," I donate a lot to that hospital, and the only reason I allow her to go to him is that I'm aware of his expertise. "He's a friend of mine."
“Okay,” Mimi says, then she turns to Chloe. “I passed out at the spelling bee last week. I'll be fine, though. It’s not life-threatening.”
“Oh…okay. That's good,” Chloe says distractedly staring at me like I grew two heads. I guess it’s because she's never seen me interact with a child before, since I’m usually not a kid-friendly person.
But how could you not like a kid like Mimi?
"Okay, Mimi has to be at school soon, so you guys should probably head out." Ava squats and kisses her daughter on the cheek. "You be good, okay? Mommy will be back soon. And don’t give Chloe a hard time.”
“Okay, Mommy."
Ava hugs her daughter, but Mimi appears to get tired of the hug before Ava does and starts moving around impatiently. Ava wipes her eyes when she lets go, teary-eyed as she kisses her daughter on the cheek again.
“Why are you crying?” Mimi asks.
“Because I’ll miss you so much, baby.”
“I’ll miss you, too, Mommy,” she says. “But I’m also happy because I’m going see Aunt Chloe’s new tarantula farm.”
Ava eyes Chloe in alarm and the latter waves her hand. “They're totally harmless. Trust me.”
"They better be," Ava warns.
I wait in the living room after they leave, and Ava goes back up to finish getting ready. As tempting as it is to intervene, I leave her to finish dressing on her own. Within a few minutes, she's back down in a T-shirt and jeans with a small bag at her side.
"Okay. I'm ready." She puts on her sunglasses.
“Are you sure my sister is the right person to watch Mimi?” I ask. I love my sister and all, but it’s hard not to see her as a little snotty teenager who required watching herself.
“Yup. Trust me, Chloe is the absolute best for Mimi,” she says. "She’s attentive and the two of them adore talking to each other. They get each other, you know, for some reason.”
I get it. Actually, in a lot of ways, Mimi reminds me of Chloe when she was young. Chloe displayed the same inquisitiveness and used to say whatever was on her mind. But my mom hated it and actively discouraged that habit. I remember whenever my sister would say something that my mother perceived to be rude or strange, she would take Chloe aside and lecture her for hours about it. My sister would occasionally come back looking subdued but tended to bounce right back after a few minutes.
Until she didn't anymore.
When I came home from college, I noticed that my sister had morphed into a withdrawn girl who would rather stay silent during dinner than say the wrong thing.
I told my mom to lay off, but it was too late. Chloe was firmly and comfortably in her shell.
As we drive, I glance at Ava by my side and see the wistful look on her face. I imagine how Chloe would have turned out if she had a mother like Ava, someone who encouraged her, loved her unconditionally.
“Mimi's in kindergarten?” I ask.
“Yeah,” Ava sighs. “It's not doing much for her, though, and she’s already mentally graduated past that point. I’m trying to enroll her at Atlas Academy but, so far, it’s proving challenging.”
“Mm," I say. I've heard of the school for gifted children and definitely think Mimi would fit in a lot better there. I can pull some strings to get her in, but I won't reveal that to Ava now. She won't accept any help I offer blatantly, so I have to do it covertly.
Just like with the Nixons.
I strongly believe in my employees getting sales on their own, but I won't deny that I may have called Nixon to smooth things over. I explained about her daughter being in the hospital and even though the man was hesitant, I told him to give her a chance, fair and square. I'm not a man who asks for favors often, but the look on Ava's face when she announced that Nixon texted her was worth the trouble. I would take the fact that I helped her to my grave.
