Picture Perfect

Chapter Eleven - Tyler

Apologies for this being a day late! I have been Tired(tm). Covid truly sucks.

Love, Cam

♡

Chapter Eleven

I swear a lifetime hatred against paint

I had spent most of Saskie's first day ever at school a few months back thinking of four thousand ways in which her day could have gone wrong. I had, of course, promised myself not to do that again once she transferred to her new school. Predictably, I did the exact same thing, except this time I had more to worry about.

Typically, none of it was necessary. When I picked up Saskie, she was happy. She had made a new friend, called Nathan, and they had played together at lunch time. She had enjoyed her packed lunch, which I had made for her as usual, and she had a painting of leaves to show me. It had a gold star on it and a smiley face from Mr. Rose.

Saskie had, in fact, settled in seamlessly. I wished, for not the first time, that I was as resilient as a five-year-old.

When we got home, Sorcha confirmed that she'd called the interior decorators and booked them for a viewing and a quote tomorrow. It had been a stroke of luck that Elliot's sister and husband were available, and I was pleased to have been useful to Sorcha.

"Nice of him to help out," Sorcha said, and then eyed me meaningfully. "Super helpful, that handsome man that you couldn't stop beaming at."

I was saved from conjuring up a decent response by my phone buzzing. I took it out and resisted the urge to grimace. It was Colin.

"Don't answer," Sorcha suggested.

"No, I should," I sighed. "I can't just ignore him. He's Saskie's dad, too."

"Should've thought about that when he stuck his dick in someone else," Sorcha muttered under her breath so Saskie wouldn't hear, but I got the message loud and clear.

I swiped to accept the video call and forced a smile. "Hi, Colin."

"Hey, Tyler," he hesitantly smiled back. "How's things? How's the gallery?"

"We're meeting with some interior decorators tomorrow," I supplied enough information to maintain a polite conversation, as Saskie had emerged from her room at the sound of Colin's voice, looking excited. "We just got in from school - Saskie's here, I'll hand you over."

"Thanks," he said, and the relief in his voice was strong.

I handed the phone to Saskie, who took it carefully and said, "Hi daddy! I had school! Do you want to see my leaves?"

"Sure thing," Colin said, requiring no further context than it being something Saskie wanted to show him. I smiled a little to myself; I was glad he was dedicated to her despite the distance. Saskie excitedly got her leaf painting and showed him. It was very good for her age, with the leaves distinguishable, different colours, and sizes. She had an eye for colour, my daughter.

"Nathan says I'm way better at painting than him," Saskie babbled, forgetting to hold the phone up properly and showing Colin only about a third of her face. I took the phone and propped it up on the coffee table while she sat next to it. "But he's better at reading. We read a book today, Mr. Rose read it to us, but he's got a cat to act it out."

I supplied, "Finger puppet," in response to Colin's baffled expression.

"Thank God," he replied.

"He does have a real cat though," Saskie interjected. "Three of them. Pumpkin is really fluffy and Spice is naughty."