I opened it and greeted Derek. “Hey, little man.”
He squeezed my waist. “Hey, Dad.” He moved farther into the living room with his backpack on, making himself at home because he was used to being in my condo now.
I turned to Valerie, who was in a long-sleeved sweater dress with knee-high boots underneath. Her makeup was heavy, her hair big. She was definitely going to impress someone tonight. “I’ll take him to school in the morning.”
“Great.” She peeked at Derek over my shoulder since she was even taller than usual in those boots. She still had a prissy attitude, like her annoyance still hadn’t settled.
“Still seeing Jake?”
Her eyes narrowed at the question. “Why do you care?”
Because I hated that motherfucker. He lost all self-respect when he threw Cleo under the bus like that. A man who abused his power over an innocent person was no man at all. I had a small amount of concern for Valerie because she was Derek’s mother, so I felt somewhat obligated to protect her. “I don’t like him.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Ironic. I don’t like Cleo.”
“But I have a legitimate reason not to like Jake. You can do better than him, Valerie.”
“A young, hot, billionaire?” she asked incredulously. “Who’s totally sprung on me?”
Was he that sprung if he’d tattled on Cleo? That was petty and clearly an act of jealousy. “He betrayed her when he told you what happened between them.”
“Betrayed? Lovers talk about old flames. That wasn’t a betrayal.”
“He didn’t have to identify her by name. And he certainly didn’t need to rat her out.”
She shrugged. “I think he did this building a service.”
“Well, she’s back, so that was short-lived.”
“What?” she snapped, dropping her arms to her sides. “Why? How the hell did that happen?”
“Because this building fell apart without her, and you know it.” Matt stopped giving me my things on time. My mail was always days late, groceries were delivered at nine in the evenings sometimes. Without Cleo, everything went to shit. I’d just thought Matt wasn’t as capable as Cleo, but in retrospect, I understood what had really happened.
She shook her head. “She slept with two men in the building, and she gets her job back? What kind of place is this? A brothel?”
My eyes narrowed at the insinuation. “Careful, Valerie.” I didn’t want to argue with my ex right in front of Derek, but I wasn’t going to let her rip Cleo apart and stay silent.
“Well, maybe if the owner knew about the other client she’d slept with, he’d feel differently—”
“He already knows.”
Both of her eyebrows rose.
“Because I told him.”
Now, she just looked furious.
“I got her her job back, Valerie. You and Jake can try anything you want to get rid of her, but Boris would much rather lose you and Jake than lose her.”
Her mouth was open in shock. “You mother—”
I shut the door in her face.
Derek was on the couch, his schoolwork on his lap. “Why did Mom just call you mother?”
He was way too young to know the truth. “I think she was going to say ‘You aren’t his mother.’”
It didn’t make sense, but Derek bought it.
When I looked at my little boy, I stopped thinking about Valerie. He was the light of my life, the person who could erase my bad mood with just a smile. “What do you have there?”
“Homework.”
“Need help?”
“No.”
“Then why do you look so somber?”
“Somber?” he asked.
“It means quiet, sad.”
“Oh. I guess I’m just kinda bored. This stuff is easy.” He held up his multiplication tables. “And this has an error.” He’d circled the word that was misspelled on the document. “And then my teacher said this was wrong, but I checked it three times, and I’m pretty sure she’s wrong.”
I took the papers and examined it, immediately feeling the kind of pride I’d never felt before. “You’re right, Derek.”
“I told her, but she doesn’t believe me.”
I smiled. “Because she doesn’t want to admit a five-year-old is smarter than her.” I wrapped my arm around his shoulders and kissed him on the head. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Why?” he asked.
My hand rested on the back of his head, and I looked at his innocent features. “I just am.”
“Why don’t we ever have pizza?” Derek asked as he looked at his sautéed kale and veggies with sliced chicken breast.
“Just eat, Derek.”
“Mom gives me pizza all the time.”
My response came out like word vomit. “Well, she’s a bitch.”
Derek turned to me, both of his eyebrows raised.
Shit. “I mean…she has a different approach to parenting.”
“What’s a bitch?” he asked.
Oh fuck.
“I’ve never heard that word…”
“It doesn’t mean anything. Just forget I said anything.”
“Are you a bitch?”
Sometimes. “Derek, don’t say that word again, alright?”
“But I’m trying to learn more words—”
“It’s a bad word, alright? Just don’t repeat it.”
“Fine.” Derek went back to eating.
A knock sounded on the door.