Masking Amaya Frazer

{14} Sign of the Times

The door to my temporary bedroom rattled on its hinges, slamming shut in Marcus's wake. I cringed and clenched my jaw as I stared at the closed door, wondering about what Milo's older brother had meant by rhetorically asking, "What didn't I do?".

I scratched my head, climbed out of the bed, and made my way out into the hall to find Mandy. After all, I was being paid to take care of her, not sit around in bed all day worrying myself with a grown adult.

I found Mrs. Black in the living room where she was typing away on her laptop with her face illuminated by the bright screen.

Clearing my throat, I awkwardly took a seat on the couch in front of her as I looked around the room. Milo had said that his family had money, but I didn't know they had this much.

A wooden mantel decorated with family photos rested above a marble fireplace devoid of flames. Pristine white couches with fuzzy pillows were set up around a large glass coffee table, and white pillars held up the arched ceiling. Floor to ceiling windows took up an entire wall, showcasing the pool complete with a waterfall and hot tub in the spacious backyard.

Mrs. Black paused typing to look up at me. "Hi, honey. I'll be picking Mandy up soon if you want to come."

"Sure."

"Milo's coming home this weekend to pick up a few more of his belongings to bring to his dorm room," she continued. "I'll have to spend tomorrow driving there to pick him up and bring him back here so you and Mandy will have the house to yourselves."

I couldn't help the way my eyebrows rose in surprise. I wasn't ready to face Milo after having not seen him since the night we finished our project for the art showcase.

My heart pounded in my chest at the news, but I kept my face carefully neutral as I nodded. "Okay."

"Let me just finish up this email and we can leave," she said.

Once she was done, Mrs. Black closed her laptop and stood up. I followed her to the three car garage where she climbed inside of a sleek black Mercedes. It didn't take long to get to the daycare center Mandy had been attending for the past week.

Mrs. Black found her daughter in a sea of children and waved her over with a warm smile. Mandy skipped over to the two of us, blonde hair flying out in every direction as her blue eyes sparkled in happiness. Throwing herself into Mrs. Black's open arms, Mandy giggled as she was swung in a circle and hugged close.

I watched their exchange of love, wondering if my mother had been as loving when I'd been Mandy's age. As of now, she wouldn't be caught dead showing any type of affection for the daughter who tainted the Frazer family's name by practically sleeping with every guy in the grade.

It was an overstatement, but it was the truth nonetheless. The issue was that my mother refused to acknowledge that she was at fault just as much as I was, if not more. It was her fault that I started to spiral out of control after she hooked up with Greg's father behind my own father's back.

Setting Mandy back on her feet, Mrs. Black turned to me, saying, "This is Mandy. She's four years old and has a lot of energy. She's kind of the opposite of my two boys."

From what I saw with Marcus and what I already knew about Milo, Mrs. Black was right. Her sons were masters of constructing walls around themselves to keep others out.

Mandy's blonde hair came as a surprise to me since Mrs. Black's other children had such dark locks compared to the lightness of her daughter's waves.

"Hi," I said, squatting down to Mandy's height. "I'm Amaya."

"Hi, Amaya!" She greeted with a grin.