now, proud of himself, as well he should be. “Sixty million.” She was hurt though that he hadn't told her about it sooner, it was only now when she pressed him.
“That's a nice chunk of change for a boy from New York,” she praised.
“Cute, huh?” he grinned, looking like the man she'd fallen in love with.
“Very. I'm proud of you.” It was a funny thing to say to a man who wouldn't come any closer to her than to stand across the room, a man who had hurt her as badly as he had. But she was willing to give him his due. A sixty-million-dollar deal in Hong Kong was a real coup. “It must feel pretty good.” It did. And he had had Daphne with him. But more to his own amazement, they had continued to abstain even in Hong Kong. It had driven them both crazy, but he still didn't want to cheat on Alex, no matter how great the temptation. But he also didn't want to sleep with Alex now, he couldn't. The only one he wanted physically was Daphne, and he refused to let himself have her.
He went back to their bedroom then, and watched TV for a while, but as usual, by the time she went in half an hour later, he was asleep, and she shook her head as she looked at him. He was hopeless. He was so afraid of getting close to her again that he would have done anything to avoid it.
“Maybe he's narcoleptic,” she whispered to herself as she picked up her briefcase and went back to the study. Whatever he needed to warm up to her again, he was definitely not getting it, and she was just going to have to be patient. A woman in the group had had similar problems with her husband, and they had even separated for a year. He just couldn't face her raw need, and the fear of her dying, so he had shut her out. And she had left him. But now they were back together. And she had been free of the disease for six years. They had been back together for four of them. Hearing those stories gave Alex hope. But it still didn't make it any easier to deal with Sam. And the next day they had a huge fight after Annabelle's bedtime.
Just before dinner, Alex had explained to Annabelle that the next day she was going to the doctor and they were going to give her some medicine. And it was going to make her pretty sick. Eventually, it might even make her hair fall out. It was pretty bad stuff, but it was kind of like vaccinations. Taking it was going to make her sick for a while, but then strong again, and it would keep her from getting bad sicknesses. But Annabelle was going to have to be kind of patient with her, because sometimes she'd be okay, but sometimes she'd feel sick, and sometimes she'd be very tired. It was the best she could do, and when she was finished, Annabelle looked very worried.
“Will you still take me to ballet?”
“Sometimes. If I can. If I'm too tired, Carmen will take you.”
“But I want you to take me,” Annabelle whined. She was good about Alex's being tired most of the time, but sometimes it really scared her.
“I want to take you to ballet too, but we have to see how I'll feel. I don't know yet.”
“Will you wear a wig if your hair falls out?” She was intrigued by that, and Alex smiled.
“Maybe. We'll see.”
“That would be really ugly. Will it grow back?”
“Yes.”
“But it wouldn't be long anymore. Would it?”
“Nope. It would be short like yours. We could be twins.”
And then suddenly Annabelle looked terrified. “Will my hair fall out too?”
Alex was quick to put her arms around her and reassure her. “Of course not.”
But after she'd gone to bed, Sam was furious and went after Alex with a vengeance. “That was the most disgusting thing I've ever heard. You scared her to death.” His eyes were blazing at Alex, and as always, she was hurt by his complete lack of compassion.
“I did not. She was fine when she went to bed. I even got her a book about it. It's called Mommy's Getting Better.”
“That's disgusting. Did you see the look on her face when you told her about your hair?”
“Look Goddammit, she has to be prepared. If I'm going to be too sick to do