Page 33 of Prudence
“Sure,” Deirdre replied, taking the keys and heading downstairs. Once she was gone, Milly cast me an uncomfortable expression, running a hand through her long hair as she sighed, “Look, I understand this isn’t ideal.”
I emitted a joyless laugh. “You could say that again.”
She frowned, eyeing me speculatively before continuing, “You clearly want nothing to do with me, and I have every intention of staying out of your way, but I’d really appreciate it if you’d let our daughters continue to be friends.” There was something vaguely pleading in her tone that had a measure of my hostility fading.
“Deirdre’s had to upend her life to come here with me, and she was having trouble making friends the first few days of school. Now she’s met Gigi, and she seems so much happier. They like a lot of the same things, and I’d really hate for anything to upset their friendship.”
I stared at her, a thick lump forming in my throat. She had no clue the lengths I would go to make Gigi happy, especially with how things had been for her the last few months. Swallowing down the lump, I forced myself to put my own personal feelings about Milly aside as I revealed, “Gigi’s actually been going through a hard time lately, too. Tonight was the first time I heard her laugh in months.”
Milly’s expression flickered before empathy filtered through, her pretty lips forming a surprised ‘O’ shape. She obviously hadn’t expected me to reveal anything so personal. “Well, I’m glad the friendship with Deirdre has cheered her up some.”
A short, awkward silence ensued before I said, “I won’t get in the way of their friendship.”
“Okay, thank you. I won’t either.”
I cleared my throat and rubbed at the tension in my jaw. “I heard them arranging to have dinner at your house after school tomorrow.”
“Oh, okay. Well, Deirdre hasn’t mentioned it to me yet, but I’ll be happy to have Gigi over.”
“Good,” I said gruffly. It was about as much cordiality as I could manage.
“All right, well, goodnight, Derek.”
“Good—” Before I could finish, Milly turned and walked away.
Well, I guess I deserved that. I’d certainly been doing it to her an awful lot lately. The barest hint of amusement tugged at my lips as I stood in the doorway, watching her petite frame and graceful gait as she disappeared around the corner at the end of the hall. I remained in place, listening for the recognisable ping of the lift, the doors opening and closing, signalling her departure. Then I turned and went back inside my apartment.
12.
Milly
I was still bristling the following day as I replayed the encounter with Derek in my head while cooking chicken parmesan for dinner. It confounded me that the one girl Deirdre had found a connection with at school just so happened to be his daughter. A higher power was surely trying to mess with me. Still, I was immensely relieved she’d found a friend—even if it meant I now had to contend with her grump of a father.
As Deirdre told it, she and Gigi were in the same geography class when she noticed Gigi had a Purple Beatrice badge pinned to her bag. They were an all-girl pop band from Korea that my daughter was fanatical over. I’d brought her to see them in concert twice when they came to London and had to admit their songs were incredibly catchy.
Deirdre struck up a conversation with Gigi about the band, and that was that; they were fast friends. I’d been so relieved because, after nearly a week, she hadn’t made any inroads with her other classmates. Then I’d turned up to collect her from Gigi’s place only to discover who her father was. The look of pure irritation he’d levelled at me had my hackles rising, and when he’d commented on me still being college age when I’d had Deirdre, I was ready to commit murder.
Thankfully, I was able to rein in my temper for my daughter’s sake. If Derek wanted to act like I was a piece of gum that kept sticking to his shoe, fine, but I wasn’t going to stop Deirdre and Gigi from hanging out. My daughter’s happiness would always come first.
The food was just about ready when I climbed the stairs to get the girls. They were sitting in Deirdre’s room listening to a Purple Beatrice album and doing their homework. The music must’ve prevented them from hearing my approach, and the door was open, allowing me to pick up some of their conversation.
“I just never thought she’d do something like this to me,” Gigi said, a hitch in her voice.
“Hey, I get it. I don’t know what I’d do without my mum,” Deirdre replied soothingly. “But at least you have your dad.”
“Yeah,” Gigi allowed. “My dad would never do what she did. He’s always there for me and Pablo.”
My heart clenched a little hearing that because, despite his attitude towards me, I could definitely see Derek being a present and reliable father. Always there for his kids. It was just how he was. When we were teenagers, I could rely on him to show up whenever I needed him, no matter what. A faint pain pinched at me. Our friendship had been short-lived in the grand scheme of things, but I still mourned the loss of it in certain ways. I’d been in a handful of relationships, but I’d never felt that sort of soul deep connection with any of my past boyfriends. Perhaps it was a teenage thing, and we all just felt like everything was so much more vital and intense at that age.
“You shouldn’t take it personally,” Deirdre said to Gigi, pulling me back to their exchange. “My dad works a lot, and even when we lived in London, I didn’t see him all the time because he was constantly on call. He’s very committed to his career, but I know he still loves me more than anything. The same probably goes for your mum. Just because she needs to focus on her music right now doesn’t mean she doesn’t love you.”
God, Deirdre’s maturity continued to amaze me. I didn’t know where she got her wisdom from sometimes. I mean, I was smart at her age, too, but not nearly as emotionally mature.
“I guess so,” Gigi agreed, though she didn’t sound entirely convinced.
Not wanting to eavesdrop any longer, I knocked on the door before stepping inside. “Hey girls, dinner’s ready if you want to come down.”
“Yes, I’m starving,” Deirdre declared. “It smells amazing.” She glanced at Gigi. “You haven’t lived until you’ve tried Mum’s chicken parmesan. It’s sooo good!”
