on this. I want what is best for you. I’m sure Erica is a lot of fun, but she is not our friend.”
Anya’s eyes grow wide as she stares at me. I’m pretty sure I’m not even making sense to her. And just like that, she bursts into a fit of uncontrollable tears. I feel like I’m going to burst into flames myself.
Anya’s tears don’t stop. Erica runs up to us to try to console Anya but she thrashes against her, crying bitterly, until I have no choice but to lift her up in my arms and rush out of the museum.
I buckle her into the car seat, but she’s still crying. While I drive us home, Anya sobs in the backseat.
“It’s okay, baby; we’ll go home and talk about it.”
“I don’t want to talk to you about anything, ever!” she cries.
Maybe I should call Rachel. Maybe I should call Lucy. I know it won’t work. I’m running out of ideas on what I can do to help calm my daughter.
She’s still sobbing as we walk together into the elevator. She screams even harder when we reach our floor.
“We have to go home, baby. We need to talk about this. Maybe I’ll order pizza. We can watch a movie together; what do you think?”
Anya is still sobbing. As we walk past Blaire’s apartment, the door flings open.
Blaire looks out. She must have heard Anya’s loud sobs.
“Honey, are you okay?” she asks, avoiding my eyes.
Anya breaks away from me immediately and goes running into Blaire’s arms. She pulls my daughter in and lifts her up. Finally, Anya seems to be calming. She rests her head on Blaire’s shoulder while she rocks her gently, stroking her back affectionately.
I know this is not going to help, especially when I’ll have to drag my daughter away from her, but right now, I just want her to stop crying.
“What happened? Did something happen?” Blaire asks, and Anya looks up at her.
“We were at the museum with Erica and Daddy said we couldn’t go for pizza,” Anya blubbers through her fading tears.
Blaire is staring at my daughter. I can see the bright pink spots forming on her cheeks. She purses her lips together and then she finally looks up at me with blazing eyes.
I can feel a throb at the back of my head. Blaire doesn’t need to hear this.
“You were at the museum with Erica?” she asks, and Anya nods. Blaire’s eyes are focused on me.
“That’s too bad, honey. You should have been able to go for pizza. I’m sure your daddy can arrange that for you now.”
“Will you have pizza with us?” Anya asks.
“You can have pizza with me here, if you want,” Blaire suggests. She’s not looking at me anymore. I can sense the rage in her. I can guess what she’s thinking.
I was on some kind of date with my assistant. That’s what she thinks.
“I’m sure Blaire has something else to do. We’ll have pizza together at home, baby. Come on.” I lean in and pull Anya out of Blaire’s arms. She bursts into tears again and I know there’s very little I can do.
Blaire says nothing more, just steps back in her apartment and shuts the door.
“Why can’t I be friends with Blaire? Why are you being mean?” Anya screams.
I carry her home, trying to find the right answers to her questions.
“I don’t know, baby. I don’t know how to make you see that this is the right thing for us. Blaire is not a part of our lives anymore,” I say.
24
Blaire
Work has been a stressful space for me lately. Ever since the whole situation with Trevor took place, I can no longer return to the office because I feel like I’m being watched.
Even though I’m pretty sure nobody else knows about us, I can sense people looking at me differently. The Monday morning meetings at Trevor’s office have, of course, been canceled indefinitely. He wants to make sure, as much as I do, that we don’t have to see each other when we can avoid it.
I keep to myself and work as hard as usual. It’s only Calvin whom I really interact with from Habitat, and even then, it seems like they don’t want to interfere with my work, which is exactly what I wanted in the first place.
But I’m not happy. It’s been over a month. In that time, I have barely seen Anya, Rachel seems reserved if we ever bump into each other, and if Trevor and I