Page 77 of Flawless

She’s a ball of endless energy and brings sunshine wherever she goes. I love how well she and Dani are getting along. The daily check-in calls to Larisa have stopped.

Or at least I’ve stopped checking in with her. She can have her daughter check in all she would like, but I owe her nothing. I understood her fear initially, but I’ve done all I can to squelch that.

Zee Zee is safe and happy, and that’s all she can ask for. There have been pictures of my daughter, myself, and Danica on the internet. There have been wild stories accompanying those pictures.

They have ranged from accusations about Dani and I kidnapping Zee Zee to stories that we ran off and eloped. I don’t allow those stories to bother me. The only thing that bothered me was seeing my baby girl’s image in the stories when I’ve done a wonderful job of protecting her image until now.

Even after the fiasco a few years ago, that man never obtained pictures of my daughter. This is a new thing altogether, especially now that one of the pictures that he took of Zee Zee has gone viral.

Images are all over the internet talking about how beautiful she is and whether she is going to be the next supermodel.

Those ideas are out the door, and I told her that the moment that she showed me the story. Thankfully, she hasn’t said anything about wanting to be a model, and her interest is still in becoming an anesthesiologist.

“Almost, honey. Can you check to see if Dani’s ready? I’m going to grab these last cans of soda to pack in the cooler, and I’ll be ready.”

“Okay,” Zee Zee says, leaving the kitchen.

My phone rings, and I pull it out of my pocket to see that it’s my friend, Mattia.

“Hello.”

“Ciao!”

“Mattia! How’s it going, man?”

“It’s wonderful. I just wanted to check in on you. I saw that you were in the States, and I wanted to see if things were going well with you.”

Laughing, I say, “Oh, you saw that I was in the States, huh? Well, I’m sure that whatever you saw didn’t paint me in a positive light.”

Chuckling, Mattia says, “No, it did not.”

“Well, suffice it to say, my friend, I am actually doing better than I’ve ever been before.”

“And Danica? I saw that she was involved in that little skirmish, too. I didn’t realize that the two of you were back together.”

“I wouldn’t say that we’re together, but I will say that we unexpectedly ran into each other.”

“Unexpectedly?”

“Well, I was at her cottage, and she came here after being away for some time.”

“Doesn’t sound like you weren’t expecting her to me. Are you sure that you didn’t go there with hopes of seeing her?”

“Maybe I did. I don’t know. I’ve been asking myself that a lot lately, too.”

“I will never tell a man how to run his life, but after she hurt you that last time, you weren’t in a good space for a long time. Do you remember that?”

“How could I forget, Mattia? I thank you for being there for me to this day. I don’t know how to ever repay your kindness.”

“You repay it by remaining whole and sane. Don’t find yourself in the bottom of a bottle again.”

“Never that.”

“Do you still love her?”

“I love her more than life itself, Mattia. I just wish that I could get her to see it.”

“Okay, well, if you ever need anything, you know where to find me. Make sure that when you return home, you drop by to see me.”

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