Page 98 of Tomorrow Belongs to Us
“Iamat home.”
“Come home to me. I’m lonely.”
“Vivian. Stop.”
“Please?” She sounds on the verge of tears. I have to nip this now before she lures me into her web. “Is the pool boy not available?”
She says nothing. I wince. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. She is, after all, the mother of my daughter. But I’m already mad about the interruption we’ve had. Were it not for her sister, I would still be in Megan’s bed. I wasn’t done. Neither was she. We had time to take it slow. Now that I’ve tasted her again, and fucked her, and seen her face when she comes, I want more.
“I’m sorry,” I say, when the line is still silent. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“You're so cruel to me.” I hear a sniffle. “I'm by myself. Don't you feel anything for me? We have a beautiful child. A piece of paper doesn't mean a thing. You're still her father, and I'm her mother, and that is a link we’ll always have. You’ll never be able to cut me out of your life, Lance.”
“Stop.” She's doing it again. Luring me in. Making me listen to her twisted, convoluted way of thinking.
“I miss you.”
“No, Vivian.” I don’t miss her.
“I don't want us to break up. A piece of paper means nothing. You'll always have my heart.”
She’s a walking, talking mannequin with a plastic heart and the emotional intelligence of a pen. I grit my teeth together. “We're divorced.”
“Some people get back together after a divorce.”
I hate this, going round in circles with this pointless conversation. “You've had way too much to drink. Go to bed.”
“I'm lonely.”
“Drinking won't solve that problem.”
“What are you doing tonight?” The pleading in her voice makes me pity her. “Can we just be friends? Can we try and stay friends?” she begs.
“We are friends, for the sake of our daughter, we will always be friends.”
“Then come over. We can still talk. Friends talk.”
“You might consider hiring a new butler,” I say, feeling especially evil and vindictive.
“You're horrible.”
“No, seriously. You’ve gone off the pool boy, and there is no one else in the house. I'm sure you had a fling with the last butler.” I don’t ask her outright because I don’t care, but I remember he was a good few years older than Vivian. “To this day I can't figure out why your father fired him.”
“You're evil.”
“I'm not. I'm a good man, and I was good to you. I was loyal.”
“How's your little student whore?”
My insides jerk as if she’s stabbed me with a knife. “Don't call her that.”
“Which one? The girl you saved, or the other one who was in your apartment? You like them young.”
I swipe my hand across my forehead. “That’s despicable. It’s a new low, even for you.”
“She looks too old to be a student.” Vivian doesn’t want to let it go.
I want to shut her up. “I’m in love with her.” I hear a gasp. I continue. “I am. I’m falling for her and I can’t help it.”
