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“Hello,” she says shyly and looks away.
“I believe we’ve already met, Miles,” her brother shocks me by saying.
Upon closer inspection, I realize I’ve seen him before.
“At Brearley, right?” I ask, and he nods.
At the beginning of the academic year, the school had organized an event for new families, where our paths had briefly crossed. I was there as a parent of a child in the fourth grade, and Gabriel was a newcomer.
“Yes,” he replies and laughs softly. “The Upper East Side sure feels like a village right now.”
I laugh. “True. I can’t tell you how many people I know from work or somewhere else that I keep running into.”
“Same here. It’s almost like I know everyone.”
“Indeed.” I turn to Giselle, who is staring at me with Maddie still in her arms. “Goodbye, Giselle.”
“Goodbye, Miles.” I wince inwardly at her icy reply. But who can blame her?
I nod at Gabriel and wink at Maddie before striding away. I itch to kiss her goodbye, but I can’t do that in front of her family, especially since we haven’t agreed on what we are to each other. Just a week ago, I was certain I wanted to pursue a relationship with her, but now I’m having second thoughts.
* * *
“Dad!”
The joy on my daughter’s face is a delight to my soul as she rises from her chair to rush over and throw her arms around me. Warmth spreads through my body as I envelop her in a bear hug.
“Welcome back, Mr. Carrey,” her babysitter says with a smile on her face.
“Thanks, Mrs. Harrison. Why don’t you take the rest of the evening off?”
“That would be nice, thank you.” She looks at Ashlyn, who is still clinging to me as if she’ll never let go. “See you tomorrow, Ashlyn.”
“Good night, Mrs. Harrison.”
“How was your trip?” she asks as the babysitter lets herself out of the apartment.
“It was fine. But I missed you. Did you miss me?”
She pulls away and tilts her head to the side with a thoughtful expression on her face that makes her look so much like her mother. “I suppose.”
My heart drops. Is she upset with me for not calling her back last night and this morning? “Look, sugarplum, I . . .”
She bursts into a fit of giggles. “You should see your face, Dad. Of course, I’m joking. I missed you too, especially when you didn’t pick up my calls.”
“I’m sorry, sweetie.”
She shrugs. “It doesn’t matter, Dad. I know you were busy with your meeting.”
Meeting my body with Giselle’s, you mean.
Her naive response makes me feel even guiltier. I couldn’t even have the decency to answer her calls simply because I was with a woman.
“I’ll make it up to you,” I promise.
She smiles. “Pizza and ice-cream?”
I burst into laughter because that’s what she usually asks for whenever I want to give her a treat.
