The Ride Home

Olivia's POV

"What are you doing with my daughter?"

I crossed the distance between us and rested a hand on Lily's shoulder, pulling her a little closer to me.

Adrian stood from the bench, his attention moving from Lily to me. He didn't look surprised to see me. If anything, he looked like he'd been expecting this. "Olivia."

"That's not an answer."

Lily looked between us, her drawing still clutched in one hand, confusion pulling her small brows together. "Mommy, we were just talking."

“I know, sweetheart.” I softened my voice for her, then looked back at Adrian. "Go get your bag from Miss Reyes, sweetheart." I kept my eyes on Adrian. "I'll be right there."

Lily hesitated, glancing at Adrian like she was checking whether it was okay to leave him, that really bothered me. He gave her a small nod. Only then did she walk off, throwing one last curious look over her shoulder.

The second she was out of earshot, I lowered my voice. "You can't just show up at her school." 

"I wanted to meet her."

My hands had curled into fists at my sides. "This is completely unprofessional, Mr. Kingston." I made sure to put emphasis on the ‘Mr’.

“Not at all. Come, let me drive you both home."

"No, thanks." I was already turning toward the gate. "We'll take a taxi."

"I insist."

"And I said no."

"I insist," he said again, like the first time hadn't landed. "I'm your boss, remember."

I stopped, of course he'd use that. I turned back around slowly. "Then why are you driving? Where's Ethan?"

"I gave him the afternoon off."

I didn't believe that for a second, but arguing about it in the middle of a school parking lot with Lily's teacher watching us, wasn't worth it. I exhaled through my nose. "Fine."

------

The car ride was the longest twenty minutes of my life.

Lily sat in the back, buckled in, swinging her legs the way she always did when she was excited about something. She hadn't stopped talking since we pulled out of the parking lot.

"Mommy, guess what Mr. Adrian said."

"What did he say?"

"He said art is his favorite subject too. Well, when he was little." She leaned forward against her seatbelt. "Isn't that right, Mr. Adrian?"

"It's true," Adrian said, glancing at her in the rearview mirror. "Was terrible at it, though."

"He said his mom kept one of his drawings on the fridge for a whole year." She turned to me.

I stared out the window saying nothing.

"He's really nice, Mommy." She said it the way kids say things they've already decided are facts. "I thought he'd be scary because he's your boss but he's not scary at all."

"That's... good, sweetheart."

"You always come home looking tired after work and I thought it's because he's mean to you but he's actually funny."

Heat crawled up my neck. "Lily."

"What? It's true." She wasn't even looking at me anymore, she'd turned her attention back to the front seat. "Mr. Adrian, do you know Mommy sings really loud in the shower?"

"Lily!"

Adrian's mouth twitched. "Is that right?"

"She sings the wrong words to songs and then gets mad when I correct her."

"I do not get mad…."

Why can't she shut up? I gritted my teeth.

"And she talks to her plants." Lily nodded seriously like she was presenting evidence in court. "She says good morning to the one on the kitchen window every single day….Its name is Gerald."

"Oh my God." I pressed my fingers to my temple.

"Gerald," Adrian repeated, and I could hear the amusement in his voice even without looking at him.

"It's a plant, Lily. It doesn't have a name."

"It does, you named it."

I gave up defending myself, there was no winning against a seven-year-old with absolutely no sense of when to stop. Adrian, for his part, kept asking small questions that kept her talking.

-------

By the time we pulled up outside our building, my jaw ached from how tightly I'd been holding it.

"Thank you for the ride." I said it quickly, already reaching for Lily's hand, ready to disappear through the front door before this could stretch on any longer.

Lily didn't move, she looked between me and the car, where Adrian was still parked at the curb. "Mommy." Her voice dropped into the tone she used when she was about to correct me on something she considered very important. "You didn't invite Mr. Adrian in."

I crouched beside Lily, lowering my voice. “Sweetheart, Mr. Adrian has somewhere to be.”

“I do,” Adrian said from the car. “But I can spare a few minutes.”

I shot him a look. “You don't have to.”

Lily turned to me. "You always say it's rude not to invite people in." She put her hands on her hips, a perfect, tiny imitation of every lecture I'd ever given her. "You said it's a bad habit to let people leave without offering them something to drink. Remember? You said it about Mrs. Patterson."

"That's different…”

"She's got a point, Miss Carter." Adrian said, getting out of the car. "Bad habit."

Lily reached for his hand before I could stop her. “Come on,” she said. “I'll show you Gerald.”

She tugged Adrian toward the entrance, and he followed.

I stood there for a second, watching the two of them disappear inside together. “What is happening?”

Seven years ago, I'd been terrified of Adrian finding out about Lily. I'd imagined anger, lawyers, accusations, maybe him trying to take her from me…I had never imagined this.

I followed them upstairs. The moment I opened the apartment door, Lily rushed inside and dropped her backpack by the sofa.

“Gerald!” she called.

“Lily, shoes.”

She stopped halfway across the room and looked down at her sneakers, then she sighed dramatically and came back to take them off.

Adrian stood inside the doorway, looking around quietly. His eyes moved over the apartment, from the family photos, the books stacked on the shelf to Lily's drawings taped to the wall. I suddenly felt self-conscious.

“That's Gerald,” Lily announced proudly, pointing at the plant on the kitchen window.

Adrian walked closer and studied it. “I see why you gave him a name.” He looked at the plant again. “Gerald seems to be doing well.”

Lily nodded. “He's very healthy because Mommy talks to him.”

“Do you want something to drink?” She said,

“I can get it,” I said quickly, already walking towards the kitchen. I stood at the kitchen door, watching them. I felt something close to panic. “This is how it starts,” I thought. “This is exactly how it starts.”