Classy

Chapter Seven

Oh dear, it's my least favourite character, William Collins. Although I suppose he's slightly less pompous than the book. Slightly.

Love, Cam

♡

Frankie Bennet

In which I have two arguments

When Will answered the phone, I was so surprised, I nearly dropped it. "Hello?" he asked, and then there was a moment of silence. "Hello? Frankie?"

"I - yes, I'm here," I said, stumbling over my words. "Will, where the fuck have you been? I've been calling and calling-"

"Yes, I'm sorry, I've been on a work trip," he said, as though his work trip could possibly have lasted three months and prevented him from looking at his phone. "I'm here. What's up? Did the payment not come across?"

"What?" I asked, frowning, and then realised it had been the child support payment date three days prior. "No, that's fine. I'm just... a water main burst on our road. The apartment is flooded. We're staying with some friends for a few weeks while it gets sorted."

That clearly took him by surprise. "Your apartment flooded? Is Thomas okay?"

"He's fine, he's enjoying being at our friend's place," I said, wishing I could say the same of myself. "But you should know. And... Will, you haven't had a weekend visit in months. You promised me. You swore last time that you'd be here for Thomas, regularly."

"I know, I know," he said, sounding tired. "I just - work has been so busy and by the time I get home, all I want to do is sleep and-"

"No, no excuses," I said firmly, my hand shaking a bit. "I can't do this with you Will, I can't see Thomas disappointed every fortnight because his dad has forgotten about him - or worse, didn't forget, he just didn't care."

"That's not fair, Frankie, I love him."

"Then act like it!" I said, my voice rising. I hoped no one in the house was nearby. "You haven't visited, you haven't called - he's started asking me if he's ever going to see you again, for God's sake Will."

There was silence for a moment, and then Will said, "I'll do better. I'll keep up the weekends, I promise."

I scrunched my eyes shut. "You said the same thing last time."

"I mean it," he insisted.

"You said that last time as well," I snapped. "I... Will, I'm taking this to the court. I'm going to petition for sole custody."

"What?!" Will asked, sounding genuinely startled. "I - Frankie, no, you can't-"

"I have proof that you have been outright failing to meet your obligations," I said, my voice shaking - with anger or fear, I had no idea, I hated going through court proceedings when it came to my kid. "I want Thomas to be settled. If you can't do it-"

"No, please," Will said urgently, his voice humming with an undercurrent of panic. "Please, Franks, just one last chance. I promise, if I fuck it up this time, you can take me to court, I'll up child support, anything you want - just let me have one last chance."

I bit back a retort. "I want you to be in his life, but it's on his terms, Will. If he wants to see you every other weekend, he will see you every other weekend, or not at all."

"I promise," Will said, and I had no idea if I could trust that.

"Will, this is serious," I emphasised. "I mean it. One more missed weekend or skipped phonecall without a very good reason, and I'm going to the court."