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“Don’t stop asking her.”
His smile deepened. “I’m stubborn as well.”
*****
"Please come in. It's brutal out there." Tiffany ushered her into the foyer and took her jacket. "I was hoping you wouldn’t change your mind. I know you’re busy and-" She shook her head. "How are you? I’m just rambling on."
"Fine. If you set aside the fact that I threw up right after breakfast. This is very nice." Macayla murmured as they made their way along the wide passageway and into a cozy blue sitting room.
"Thank you. I made tea and some sandwiches and ordered pastries from Lucille's. It's this sumptuous bakery-"
"I know the place and you didn’t have to go through all this trouble."
"Please, sit. It's no trouble at all." Tiffany had her blonde hair scooped back into a ponytail and she was wearing loose shell pink pants and a matching chunky sweater. "I’m just so happy to have company."
She poured the tea into delicate white cups with pink borders and handed one to Macayla. "I unloaded on you yesterday and I feel pretty embarrassed about it.
"You could always blame it on hormones."
"I suppose I could." The woman fiddled with the cup in her hand and blinked back tears.
"Hey."
"I’m sorry." She said with a sniff, reaching for a sandwich. "I was stupid." Putting the cup aside, she touched the slight bulge of her belly. "I knew Ivan was married-"
"Would that be Ivan Polinski?"
"You know him. Of course, you do. Your mother is Michelle."
"We also know his wife. Sara happens to be a friend of my Mom's." Putting down her cup, Macayla gave the girl a hard stare. “This makes it very uncomfortable. Sara is a sweetheart and their kids – Nicole and Devon are friends, casual ones, but friends nonetheless. How on earth did you get caught up in all of that?”
“I suppose you want to leave.”
“I’ll decide on that after you tell me the whole story. You don’t look like a moron who’d believe a man, especially one like Ivan, when he said he was going to leave his wife of thirty something years and set up home with you. If you did, then, well-" She left the rest unsaid.
"It's easy for you!" Tiffany cried; the tears evident in her eyes. "I wanted to become a serious actress and was on the way to making that happen. Ivan-" She took another gulp of tea. "He was charming and sweet and, at first, I just wanted a father figure and he offered that. Then it started getting to be more."
"You had the idea that he could advance your career." Macayla couldn’t help the disgust from showing. "You could have used protection."
"I never thought of that. I was caught up and it just happened." She pressed her lips together. "Now he doesn’t want to have anything to do with me. It's not right and you can’t agree it is."
"None of it is and that's the point. Ivan is mature and old enough to realize he should stay away from his actresses, and have respect for his family. You should have known better than to fall for that tired line. Now a child is going to be involved. What are you planning on doing? Using the kid as a bartering chip?"
"How dare you talk to me like that? I’m the victim-"
"The kid you’re carrying is the victim." Macayla reined in her temper with great difficulty. "Look, I’m not here to be judge or jury-"
"Yet you’re doing just that. You have your tidy world. A best-selling author, Mom is a well-known and respected actress and now you’re carrying the baby of a multi-billionaire who happens to be there for you.
You don't know what it's like to be alone or unloved because you always have people in your corner. You have a man who dotes on you. I have seen you two together and he holds your hand in public.
He isn’t ashamed or afraid to let people know how he feels. I have no one!" She cried, pushing to her feet, eyes blazing and spittle flying. "I just wanted someone to understand and be there for me and I thought someone would be you. I was wrong. Get the hell out of my place."
"Tiffany-"
"Go!" She screamed. "Just go."
With one last look at the quivering woman, Macayla made her way out.
