Page 85 of Puck Drop
“Why then?”
I take a moment to think whether there’s any chance that Elizabeth would ever meet Sebastian’s aunt in person. I’m pretty sure she would make her cry with all these questions.
“She needed to work on her time management skills,” I reply.
Aunt Kathy frowns in confusion. “Time management skills?” She thinks it over. “Oh, she was late all the time…”
She goes back to running over things in her head. I can see her every emotion reflected on her wrinkled face as she figures things out, one at a time. But then something else confuses her, and she starts over.
She grabs her purse and takes out some candy. She offers me some, which I decline.
“You should eat your sandwich first anyway,” she tells me. “No candy before food. Make sure to teach your kids that, too.”
The corner of my mouth lifts in a smile that I’m not really feeling. I’ve never thought of having children, and now that I basically broke up with Elizabeth, I doubt I’d suddenly get the itch to have a family with someone else.
The thought of never seeing her again is ripping me apart, though, making me wonder if what I did was actually a good idea. But then I have to remind myself that I don’t have anything to offer to her.
My cell phone suddenly buzzes in the pocket of my jeans, distracting me from the random thoughts about Elizabeth. I shouldn’t be thinking about her anyway.
“I’ll take this outside,” I tell Aunt Kathy when I see that it is the Sliders’ head of PR calling me.
Stepping over the chair, I don’t wait for Aunt Kathy to say anything before I open the door and walk out in the hallway.
“Leyla,” I greet the caller. “What’s going on?”
First, she sighs.
“Logan Mantei,” she starts, “I don’t know how it happened that you became so problematic in my life.”
“Me?” My voice comes out unintentionally high-pitched.
“Yes,” she sighs again. “Just when I think we have it all squared away with you, something happens, and you remind me why the high salary I get paid is actually a must. You are stressing me out.”
Feeling more confused than ever, I blink at the wall, unable to come up with any explanation for whatever it is that she’s mad at me for.
“What did I do?” I finally ask.
She lets out a low laugh that drips with sarcasm.
“What did he do, he asks… Let’s see here…”
There’s some shuffling echoing from her end, and I wonder if she’s looking for an actual list of all my faults.
“Let’s start in chronological order, shall we?”
She sounds way too happy for my liking. Nothing good can come out of this, I decide.
“First, you start a relationship with a woman who just so happens to be the daughter of the one person who can make or break you…”
My stomach is suddenly in knots. I start walking down the long hospital hallway, hoping to find a more private spot for this call, just in case I actually have to speak once Leyla is finished with me.
“You then go ahead andhidethis relationship from her father…”
“Not on purpose,” I protest.
“Once you were found, did it matter whether it had been on purpose or not?” she asks in a sharp tone.
“No,” I admit.
