2Reid
Igroaned when I saw who was calling me. There was some sort of fuss going on with the royal Cobb family today, from what I'd been hearing, and I had no interest whatsoever in letting my ex barge back into my life with whatever current issue he was having.
Hell, I wasn't even sure why I still had his number in my phone. It had been years now, and our lives had been going in very different directions for a very long time. Maybe it was fondness, or apathy. Two sides of the same coin, neither of which really held an answer for me about what was happening right now.
Why in the hell was James Cobb calling me? Surely there were countless other people he could bother? Maybe he was drunk, and lost in the midst of a bout of nostalgia.
I let the call go to voicemail and went back to what I had been doing, which was pondering what I was going to do with this daughter of mine. Her marks were terrible. She was on the verge of failing two classes, and was doing less than satisfactorily in all the others. I'd tried so hard to help her, but there seemed to be nothing I could do but wait and hope that she worked through this on her own. After all, we were both hurting right now, and I would be a hypocrite if I asked her to do something I wasn't able to do myself.
Sighing, I rested my head in my hands. Haley was in her bedroom, which was where she always was these days unless she was eating or watching TV. She was so quiet, so distant, I often had to check in on her just to reassure myself that she was still alive.
Things didn't used to be like this. She was my miracle baby, born in an age when everyone was losing the ability to have children. Denmark had never been known for its high birth rate anyway, and now we, like dozens of other countries, were going down in population at a rapid rate. Haley's second grade class only had seven kids in it, for fuck's sake.
But now, my miracle, my little angel, she was so far away. The death of her father one year ago had done that to her. As much as I hadn't yet recovered, she was far worse off.
The phone started ringing again. When had it stopped the first time? I hadn't been paying attention to it, not after I saw who was calling. My heart ached, heavy and sorrowful in my chest.
I heard the door to Haley's room open, then shut again. I also heard the bathroom door, its distinctive squeak differentiating it from the others down at that end of the house.
I need to go to her. This has gone on way too long. I need to keep trying.
Maybe it was time to break the normalcy I had been working so hard to provide for her. We should go out for pizza and ice cream tonight, and I should let her stay up late and skip school tomorrow. We'd watch a few movies and have lunch.
Maybe I would be able to tease a smile out of her, show her that it wasn't the end of the world because her father was gone. We could have fun together, too.
I could show myself it wasn't the end of the word because Alexander was gone, even though it felt that way. The man who'd made me smile even when I cried, who consoled me even after his death with a half-written love letter I had found tucked in the pocket of his favorite shirt.
The phone rang again and I snapped, shoving it up to my ear and snarling, "Why can't you take a hint?"
"Because I knew you would give in eventually," a smooth, cultured voice responded. James's voice, like butter. Rich enough to almost be tasted through the phone. "Hello, Reid. I have a proposition for you."
"I don't want anything you're selling," I said. "My day has been bad enough without having to deal with you."
Insults never bothered James. He actually seemed to consider them a compliment, as if it were a matter of pride for people to care enough about him to get riled up over what he did and said. And he seemed very unbothered now, his chuckle warm and infuriating in my ear. "What if I was to tell you that dealing with me will be enough to change your whole world?"
