Page 14 of Beautiful Beast

Learning through play is a critical piece of the programming I offer.

There’s something special about all the age groups I get to interact with and teach, but I love Tiny Tots the most. They are so interested in everything I’m saying, and the world of literature is still so new to them.

Hell, the world itself is new to them.

And I love being one of the people who help them open doors into worlds they didn’t know existed. So many adults let me down, and it’s another cycle I’m determined to break. Even if I’m just the “library lady,” I want them to know that I care and they matter.

After the morning class, I stop and talk to Vi and then rush home to walk Buster. I’m back in time for my afternoon sessions, and then spend a couple of hours working on the final details of our upcoming summer programming.

Before heading home for the evening, I make a quick stop in the children’s book section. My first plan to thaw Adam only partially worked. I’ve given him some time and space, so now maybe this next idea will finish the job.

Ariel is waiting for me in the lobby of my new building, and she doesn’t even try to hide her awe.

“I still can’t believe you’re actually living here. Holy. Shit.”

“I still can’t believe it either,” I admit.

We head to the private elevator, and Ariel tells me about the auditions she had today. She’s not only stunning, but she has the most beautiful, powerful voice. My best friend often earns comparisons to Whitney and Mariah.

One day, her name will be in lights, I just know it. Until then, she’s waitressing in between jobs like so many other acting hopefuls in this city of dreamers and achievers.

Buster greets us at the door, and when he wags his little nub tail, his entire body wiggles. He’s so happy we’re home that he’s spinning in circles and making excited rumbling sounds that are exclusive to boxers.

I lean down to kiss his head. “I missed you, too, buddy. I wish that I could bring you to work. The kids would love you.”

We head onto the balcony that offers unobstructed views of the Empire State Building and the famous city skyline, and it makes me sad to picture my grandmother living here alone. I hope that she had lots of friends and hobbies to keep her busy.

But it still pains me to no end that I’ll never get the chance to know her.

And it’s all my mother’s fault. I’d confront her, but experience has taught me that would be a total waste of time.

She’s the most jealous, insecure, and bitter person I’ve ever met, and her immaturity wouldn’t allow her to even listen to the words I was saying while she waited for her turn to speak. Or, more accurately, yell.

I really hit the parent lottery.

Ariel has her hands on the railing, and she belts out the chorus of the current play she’s in that’s off-off-Broadway. I’ve gone to see it six times, and it never gets old watching my best friend on stage.

“When are you going to sell this place?” she asks.

I shrug. “I should sell it now. I’m still broke despite my surroundings.”

My grandmother left the bulk of her fortune to the hospital where she was receiving treatment, and they’re building a wing in her honor.

She gifted me this incredible place and enough money to upkeep it for a year, but I plan to move sooner and get something that’s actually in my price range. The monthly fees alone for this place are exponentially higher than any rent I could ever hope to continually pay.

And then, as written in the will, I’ll have a financial advisor manage the proceeds of the sale so that I don’t burn through it. Not that I would, but I can understand my grandmother’s concern and why the money comes with so many stipulations.

Lots of poor people who come into money don’t have any left in a very short amount of time. I was a stranger to her, so she had no idea that I’m a responsible young woman. She probably couldn’t have ever imagined my mother could raise someone like me.

But I became who I am despite my parents, not because of them.

“I can understand why you don’t want to leave,” Ariel says with a dreamy sigh.

“It’s like a vacation from my life,” I explain. “It will be so hard to go back to living in a hole after…” My voice trails off and I gesture around us, spinning in a circle. “…all of this.”

“Maybe you’ll marry Adam and get to keep living here,” Ariel says with a big grin. She has the most overactive imagination of anyone I know.

“Oh, sure,” I agree with a gigantic eye roll. “I’m going to marry the guy who literally won’t even look at me.”

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