The Perfect Fix (Perfect Kisses #5) - Miley Maine Page 0,13

child? As far as I’m concerned it is absolutely no reason for her to be embarrassed, but she is and she’s full of hatred as well, all directed at me...

6

Aisha

December 21st

“I... I can’t pay you back,” I feel compelled to admit. I hate having to say this, it’s incredibly awkward, but Marc needs to understand what wrong he’s done. “I can’t afford this, that is why I pulled Travis out of school. I didn’t want to; this isn’t something I find particularly enjoyable. My son loves that school, and I enjoy him being there as well, it’s the one place I know he’s comfortable and safe, which is something that neither of us had a lot over the last few years. I can’t teach him at home either. I have full time work that I can pleat at home. I find it challenging enough to get through that, never mind adding that on top of everything...”

Shit, now I feel like I’m about to weep. I really don’t want to cry, that’s the last thing I can handle doing. I’m angry, I’m absolutely furious at Marc, I want to stay with that emotion because it’s much easier to deal with than sadness. Being upset leaves me vulnerable, it shows Marc too much of myself.

“But I don’t want you to pay it back,” he tells me. “I never expected you to pay me back anything. That isn’t why I did it. I understand you don’t want to owe anyone else anything. I just wanted to do something nice. Something to help you and Travis out.”

No, I can’t handle that, I can’t have him being nice to me. No one has been nice to me ever since Travis was born, ever since I ended up pregnant with him actually, and it’s making me irritated.

“I don’t want you to do anything nice for me,” I yell. “I don’t want you to do anything for me or my family. I can do it all by myself. I have been doing it all by myself. There is a reason why I don’t let people in, and you are just confirming that that’s the right thing to do.”

He looks a little horrified at me saying this, I might have spoken too fast and I’m probably being too harsh on him, but if I don’t go with the rage then I will definitely cry. It definitely isn’t the sort of thing that normal people do anyway. Obviously, Marc isn’t a normal person because he weirdly stays living right here when he could definitely afford better, he doesn’t flash the cash usually, but now he’s doing it for me and Travis when we are virtually strangers to him.

“This isn’t some weird attempt to get me to date you, is it? Because I want you to know now that I have been saying no to you for a reason. I’m not trying to be a bitch or play it cool. I just can’t date you, I can’t date anyone, and this doesn’t change that...”

“I haven’t done it for anything,” he insists. And if I’m not wrong, he sounds a little irritated by now. But I don’t care. If he doesn’t understand where I’m coming from that’s really his problem. “I just did it for you, I just did it so you can get Travis back in school.”

We fall in to an awkward silence again just staring at one another. I want to shake him to make him understand where I’m coming from, I want to tell him that I’m not as blessed as him and that people have to fight through endless battles to just do anything, I want to scream at him that just because life is easy for him that doesn’t mean it’s easy for other people, but I really don’t feel like he’s going to hear me. Marc seems deafened to me right now. He can’t hear anything I’m saying. He’s just spinning out a load of nonsense to me as well which I’m not listening to either. Right now, we aren’t getting anywhere.

“Fuck this,” I spit out angrily. “I can’t talk to you. You don’t get it. You live in your little bubble and don’t understand the rest of the world. You’re never going to understand the rest of the world. I’m going to get your money back from the school and give it to you right away.”

“Please I don’t want you to do that,” he calls out before I can walk away. “I don’t want