All The Odds

Forty

Bella stepped out of her car with her handbag in one hand, the car key and a bottle of chocolate peanut butter protein shake for Lyric in the other hand.

"Huh-uh." She said into the phone wedged between her ear and shoulder bone as she struggled to shut the car's door with her hip. She succeeded but lost the balance of her shoulder for one second and the phone slipped out. On reflex she pressed her lower body against the car to salvage the fall but it was useless, her phone tumbled to the ground and flipped under the car.

Bella hissed in annoyance. Too much stuffs in her hands and what was she even carrying the handbag for? She was just picking her daughter from school and that was hardly an occasion that called for handbags.

Re-opening the car, she tossed the offending bag in the backseat. "There, simple logic." Bella said to herself, feeling lighter. She squat down to retrieve her phone and tapped on the screen to see it still worked and her call was still ongoing. Talk about miracles.

"Hello, Todd? Yeah, sorry about that." She continued her call as she walked out of the parking lot. "I need to get that property. I promised my client they'll be able to move into their new home by September and that house is exactly what they need; big enough for a family of five and in a modest environment."

"I know." Her assistant' voice flittered through the phone. "I gave the dealer a good offer, they're just holding but they'll call us back. You'll see."

Bella hoped so. She hated disappointing her clients, especially ones who have families to shelter. "Listen," She started saying when her eyes drifted to Victoria, the woman from the group session stepping out of her own car too. They made eye contact and shared a familiar smile.

"If they didn't call us back by tomorrow noon, please check with them and make another negotiation. It's still a good deal if you up the current one by ten percent." She reasoned with him, feeling Victoria walking closely behind her.

Bella ended the call after coming to an agreement with Todd and slightly turned to offer the woman behind her another smile. "Hey." She greeted, slowing down for her to fall in steps.

"You know," Victoria started with this strange curious look on her face and Bella could just guess what would come next.

"I've been meaning to ask you this and it's none of my business so feel free to tell me to go to hell but where is Lyric' father?"

"Go to hell." Bella said without missing a beat, watching in amusement as Victoria's eyes went wide and the woman quickly threw her hands up in apology.

Bella laughed. "I'm kidding, I just couldn't resist saying that because you asked me to."

It wasn't surprising, she got asked this question a lot. At the hospital, the Academy, even random strangers at the mall or children's park. Like a woman can't just give birth for herself, because she want to.

Her answer was always either that she didn't know who Lyric' father was and she'd let them form their opinion of the kind of woman she was. Or she would simply glare at them until they got the message to back off her business.

If she told anyone that the famous Clouds was Lyric' father, they'd probably think she was some delusional fan. Or with a luck like hers, the press would get wind of it and decide to have a blast turning hers and her daughter's life upside down.

"Her father really doesn't know about us." She found herself telling Victoria. Bella felt a kindred spirit with the woman, plus she missed having friends.

Lyric was her only friend, God knew she's told the girl more than a child her age should know about their mother.

Since Bella left Metropolis she had been either too disrupted or too occupied to make new friends, not to mention that the first four years after Lyric' birth they spent more time in the hospital than they do outside of it.