Page 5 of Whiskey and Regret
I rolled my shoulders, loosening the muscles, then shut my eyes and plucked the strings. Music filled the air and the fine hairs on my arms stood on end. That never got old. That’s how I knew the harp was my true love. Nothing else made my hairs stand up that way.
Maybe if I played long enough, all my problems would melt into the sea and wash away. Or maybe that was me being my usual delusional self, swept away by the music.
…
TWO
“Senator Evander Freeman, I hereby grant you full custody of Francesca Freeman. I have taken into consideration Francesca’s wishes along with my best judgment. Miss Freeman, you’re still allowed to see your child as Senator Freeman sees fit. At your request, Senator, visitation will be handled between the two of you.” Judge Parker looked between Alexis and me then closed his folder and stood from the table. “If we’re all done here, everyone is dismissed. Have a good day.”
I begged for us not to have to set foot in a courtroom because I knew it would only bring down more drama and publicity on our heads. I didn’t want that for me, Frankie or Alexis even though she got on my damn nerves.
“Well, I hope you’re happy now, Van. You got what you wanted and I look like a horrible mother in the process. Wonderful.” Alexis stood from the table and smoothed out imaginary wrinkles on her white Burberry wrap dress then shot a deceitfully pleasant smile at me. “So, I guess you’ll let me know when I can see my own daughter, Van?”
“I will. It’ll probably be once I determine if you’re able to sit your ass down long enough to spend time with her instead of taking her out of school so you can go on vacation and then leaving her in a hotel room for days without answering your phone.” It was a sharp and low blow. I knew it. I didn’t care.
When Frankie called me from Barcelona crying, I knew it was time for me to assume full custody. She’d been cooped up in a hotel for three days and couldn’t get in contact with Alexis. The fact that my ex-wife didn’t take it seriously really pissed me off.
“Any other twelve-year-old would have been ecstatic to be alone in Barcelona. I was giving her freedom,”she’d said. Bullshit. Alexis was partying and knew she couldn’t bring a kid with her so she dumped our daughter in a hotel under the guise of a fun experience. She could have called me. I would have gladly watched Frankie. That would have meant admitting to her irresponsible parenting though.
Alexis blinked at my words. The muscles in her face tightened…or maybe it was the Botox injections. Whatever it was, I saw her expression harden.
“Fuck you, Van. I don’t have to stand here and listen to you insult me in front of our daughter.” She snatched her Chanel purse from the conference table and hooked it over her shoulder. “You come in here with your little judge friends, getting them to grant you full custody when you know damn well if you weren’t a senator, they wouldn’t have even heard your argument.” She slid a pair of sunglasses on her heavily sculpted face and glared at me from behind the lenses. “You can’t keep her from me.”
“I’m not trying to. I just want her to be able to go to school like a normal kid. Not hanging out in Barcelona. Alone and afraid.”
“She was not afraid. Please spare me that shit.”
“She sure sounded afraid when she called me at three in the morning crying, Alexis.” I frowned. “You know what? I don’t know why I always let you pull me down to your level. We’re done here. Contact me when you’re in town long enough to see Frankie.” I looked at my daughter, who bore the red cheeks of embarrassment, and cursed myself for acting that way in front of her. “Come on, sweetie let’s go.”
“Mom, I’m sorry,” Frankie said softly before we left the room.
“Save it, Frankie. Mommy needs time to cool off before we can talk about this. Wewilltalk about it though.”
I nearly ground my teeth to dust trying to bite my tongue. I took hold of Frankie’s hand and tugged her into the hallway so we could leave.
“Daddy, you know I wasn’t trying to cause drama between you and Mom, right?” Her big brown eyes pleaded with me once we were in the backseat of my chauffeured Lincoln. I reached over and rubbed the back of her hand.
“I know. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I hate feeling like she’s mad at me.”
“You know your mother. She has tantrums but she’ll settle down and hopefully, you two can talk about it. I don’t want you to feel bad for calling me. You did exactly what you were supposed to do.” Even though I showed my ass in the conference room with Alexis, I wanted to make a point to never badmouth her in front of Frankie. I did badmouth the fuck out of her in my mind though.
I hated seeing my kid so down over something that wasn’t her fault. Frankie was an upbeat girl who always had an answer for everything. She was a smartass, which she got honestly from both parents, and she was smart as a whip. Moping wasn’t like her but Alexis could get inside her head and make her feel bad for nothing at all.
“Hey, what do you say we go to my office and you can raid all my snacks?” I smiled and nudged her side trying to coax a pretty grin onto her face.
“Cool. Are you going to have Apollo watch me?” She cocked an eyebrow up at me and I nodded. Apollo was my personal security guard. Now that I was going to have Frankie with me all the time, I needed him on her. I’d eventually get her a guard of her own but until then, I didn’t mind Apollo guarding her.
“He’s so boring and mean.”
“He’s not mean,” I chuckled, scrolling through my phone, reading emails and texts. “I’m going to set up interviews for a nanny next week. I want you to come up with your own list of questions for her.”
“Nanny? Excuse me?” There was my kid. “I’m twelve not five.”
“Yeah, you’re twelve. Not eighteen. Not even sixteen. You’re going to have a nanny.”
“Why?” She squeaked folding her arms. “I’ve been going back and forth between you and Mom for two years and never needed one before.”
