Page 38 of Maid For Each Other

Wakes up Sunday morning in her own house, alone—someone moved her back while she was sleeping because the arrangement is over. Knock on the door—it’s the cops with an arrest warrant. She asks them to call the billionaire to vouch for her, and they inform her that HE was the one who called them.

Uses her one phone call to reach him and he can’t talk because he has a tee time. When she starts crying, he reminds her it was all fake.

I was beyond excited because suddenly I had these vivid details and descriptions that I hadn’t been aware existed until two days ago. Custom luxury vehicles, a team of makeover artists, doormen who were available twenty-four-seven to notarize financial papers—my writers workshop professor would probably say it was too fantastical to be believable, but I was running with it.

Daphne was getting the full treatment.

I got lost in writing for a few hours, which was so easy to do when I was on a balcony above the city, entirely checked out of life as I knew it.

But I was only checked out until my mother called.

When I saw it was her I wanted to ignore the call, but that usually meant she’d just call more often and maybe even bother Lauren.

I sighed and set down my pen. “Hello?”

“Hey, how’s it going, kid?”

“Good,” I said, wondering why she was calling. “What’s up?”

“Do you have any moving boxes?” she asked, sounding agitated. “Daniel might be moving out and he’s got shit all over the place.”

I sighed and wished I would’ve let it go to voicemail, because the last thing I wanted was to listen to the many adventures of my mother’s boyfriends. I said, “I don’t—sorry. What do you mean he ‘might’ be moving out?”

“Well,” she said, sighing loudly. “Apparently his ex-wife isn’t comfortable with their daughter staying here on his weekends with her because she doesn’t know me.”

“Sounds fair,” I said, feeling so much empathy for Daniel’s daughter.

“No, it doesnot,” she snapped, “because Daniel is Elsa’s father, so if he thinks I’m good enough for his child, that’s all that should matter.”

“So,” I said, wanting to divert her from her anger. “He’s getting his own place, then? For when his daughter’s over?”

How absolutely…parentalof that man.

I’d only met Daniel a few times because I’d kind of retired from meeting boyfriends, but bravo to good ol’ Danny Boy.

If only my mother had cared that much.

To be fair, my mom was a good person and had always been a good mother. I’d never doubted that she loved me, and she’d always made sure I had what I needed in terms of food and clothing.

But she was…scattered and selfish and utterly unable to be alone.

I don’t know that I would’ve learned that about her if my dad hadn’t died when I was in fifth grade. Before that, we’d been a happy little threesome who engaged in typical suburban things like annual vacations and daily evening dinners.

But when he passed and my mother started dating, everything changed.

It felt like, when I was a child, there was always someone new coming in and out of our lives. Boyfriends I loved who just disappeared at random, boyfriends I hated who moved into our apartment, and boyfriends with children whose homes we moved into.

My mom took care of me, yes, but she also burned to the ground any sense of stability we might’ve had in our lives.

Which, according to Lauren, was why I was a control freak now.

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