Page 12 of The Infiniteness of Yesterday
“You’re dead to me.”
CHAPTER 4
HARLOW
“Imiss your face.”
“I miss yours, too.” I frown at the image of my sister on the computer screen. “How’s med school treating you?”
My sister is starting her first year of medical school over an hour away at Stanford. She was certain she wouldn’t get in, but I had no doubt in her capabilities. Nearly six years post kidney transplant she’s still glowing and kicking ass at everything. After her experience with her disease, my sister decided she wanted to be a transplant surgeon. Still, one day she’ll need another transplant, maybe even more than one, and I hope I’ll be a match. When she needed one before I was too young to test, but I would in a heartbeat. Willa is more than my sister. She’s someone I look up to and admire. She’s a force to be reckoned with, fighting against every bad thing that’s ever been tossed her way.
“Lots of studying already, but I’m excited.”
“Where’s Jasper?”
“Over here!” I hear him yell and Willa swivels her laptop so I can see her boyfriend cooking something in the kitchen. He waves with a wooden spoon in his hand. “How’s it going, Low?”
“It’s going.” I rest my head on my hand as my sister reappears in the frame. “Where’s Mo?”
I shake my head. “My poor daughter and all her nicknames. It’s a miracle she knows who she is.” I blow out a breath and fiddle with the earrings circling my ears. “She’s spending the weekend at Spencer’s.”
“Whoa.” Willa rears back a bit. “Is that animosity I sense in your tone?”
I guess I didn’t tamp down on my annoyance like I meant to.
“Ugh.” I tug at the hair close to my scalp. “I’m just in a mood.” I puff out my lips. “It’s time for my period,” I rationalize.
“Harlow,” she prompts. “Spit it out.”
“It’s just … he gets three weekends out of the month with her and gets to take her to do fun things, while I’m stuck being the mean parent with the day-to-day things.”
Willa stares through the camera at me, her lips pursed. Willa likes Jameson, but she’s always been firmly team Spencer—as if there are teams—but I guess I can’t fault her since he is a good friend of hers.
“Harlow,” she says in a tone like she’s scolding a child. “You’re the one who won’t give him more time in the week with her. You know Spencer would change up the agreement in a heartbeat.”
I narrow my eyes on her. “And you remember why we settled on this. I don’t want her being exposed to his lifestyle that much. Weekends are bad enough when he’s not off somewhere working.” I don’t miss the grumbling tone to my voice.
She snorts, eyes glittering with amusement. I’m glad one of us is enjoying this conversation. “You make it sound like he’s a drug dealer.”
“Might as well be. Paparazzi are vicious, Willa. Don’t dismiss my feelings on this matter. I want my daughter safe. I don’t want her face splashed in magazines, articles written about her,strange men and women following her. Forgive me for being protective.”
I’ll never understand how family vloggers willingly spill their children’s information all over the internet for everyone to know. As Monroe’s mother I feel like it’s my sole responsibility to protect her and keep her safe. Children don’t belong on social media or on gossip magazines.
“I understand wanting to protect her, but don’t you think Spencer wants the same? I don’t think he’d purposely do something to risk her safety.”
I shake my head. “Spencer isn’t the problem. It’s what he does, who he’s become now. He’s a celebrity. I know that’s hard for you to grasp because he’s always going to be ‘Just Spencer’ to you, to me too, but people chase him in the streets.” I’ll never forget early in his career when we were still together, and he came home to our shitty apartment out of breath with fear practically tattooed on every part of his body. When I asked him what happened he said a horde of girls chased him when they recognized him from the teen vampire show he was guest starring on. That incident just cemented the fact that I didn’t want anything to do with Hollywood. “I don’t want Monroe caught up in that. Running away from people. Constant security. Screaming fans. No, thank you. I told Spencer I was scared for the future with all of this, but he didn’t listen.”
Babe, I’m doing this for us, his voice echoes in my memories.
Willa’s face softens. “He wanted to take care of you and Monroe.”
“I know that, but … why are we even discussing this? Spencer is in my past.”
Willa narrows her eyes on me. “He’ll never be in your past, sis. He’s the father of your child. You’re stuck with him for life.”
I fight the urge to roll my eyes. I don’t know why she thinks I don’t know this. “Valid point, but I’m done talking about Spencer.”
Her eyes glimmer with amusements. “Fair enough. What are your plans tonight?”
