“Who’s there? My mother? She’s there? In the office?”
He didn’t need to answer because I could hear her yelling “ESTHER? Esther, I know you’re here! You better—”
“I want to speak to her and I want to speak to her now!”
Sighing I covered my mouth to keep from screaming. Was she insane? No really, was she in need of actual mental help?
“Ma’am—”
“Take her to my office and put her on the line,” I said when he spoke again.
“Oh, so you do answer calls just not mine—”
“You will get nothing if you do not stop causing a scene!” I yelled into the phone. “That is my work. If you act like this again, mother or not, I’ll have you thrown out and banned from ever stepping foot in there again!”
“And that’s not making more of a scene?” She scoffed. “I can see it now. Ungrateful spoiled Esther Noëlle throws her own mother out of the company.”
&
nbsp; “Look who decided to acknowledge me as her child, almost twenty-four years too late. But hey, it’s a start, right?”
I knew it would piss her off. I wasn’t sure why I said it but I felt good too.
“I need you to wire me some money,” she demanded, completely changing the subject.
Breathe, Esther, breathe.
“I wired you money two weeks ago, how did you spend it all already—”
“Stop being such hardass. We get it. My father trusted you, that’s why you’re the gatekeeper. But remember if you weren’t alive thanks to me that money would belong to me anyway.”
Days ago that would have hurt deeply. It would have felt like she was clawing out my heart but today it didn’t. Because today I remembered kinder women who had been my mother before her.
“I am alive. The money is mine and I don’t see why I need to give you any more than what was agreed…”
“I have some debts.”
She had to be kidding. “From what?”
No answer.
“If you’re on drugs or—”
“Do not lecture me!”
“Wait until next month for your next wire!” I yelled back as I hung up. Sitting down on the couch, I felt exhausted. In less than a minute she had sucked all the energy from me. That’s what she was, a leech trying to suck me dry.
“Nooo,” I whined as my phone rang and without looking I knew it was her…again.
“Your mother?” he asked as he leaned on the wall opposite me, dressed in only his silk pajama bottoms. He watched me closely and I couldn’t read the expression on his face.
“Yep. But don’t tell her that. I’m just her ATM and she wants it that way.”
“I’m sorry. Are you alright?”
“I’m fine and you shouldn’t be the sorry one.” I sat back up and smiled as I added, “Apparently, life doesn’t stop even when you were reconnecting with your long lost soulmate.”
He didn’t say anything. Instead, he looked down and crossed his arms over his bare smooth chest.