Negotiating Tactics

Fifteen

Alex

I staredacross the ancient card table at my would-be opponent, my gaze unwavering as I kept my eyes locked with hers.

“I’m in a good mood, Aunt Clem. I will not ruin it by playing cards with you,” I said the Sunday after my birthday.

I’d thrown on a gray and black sweatsuit and was looking forward to a few hours off. Noah was spending time with Beau, Tristian, and Dominic, and I hadn’t wanted to intrude, excited that he and his brothers were building their relationship.

Plus, I’d see him later—assuming I got some work in first.

“Smart girl,” Aunt Clem said as she shuffled the cards, her gaze not leaving mine.

She did so with strength and agility in her hands that I hadn’t seen in years. Further confirmation that her health was still holding up. At seeing that, I couldn’t keep the smile off my face.

“What about you, Birdie girl?” Aunt Clem asked as she shifted to look at Birdie, trying her best to look innocent.

Birdie could see right through her. “No, ma’am,” she said.

Aunt Clem shuffled one more time, then put the cards away.

“That’s fine, spoilsports. I’ll get Miranda to play later,” Aunt Clem said, referring to her aide and occasional card partner. “And besides, that’ll give us time to talk.”

“What are we talking about?” I asked, leaning in conspiratorially.

“You and that new man of yours,” she said.

My first instinct was to laugh and then deny it. The denials could roll off my tongue like nothing.

What new man?

What are you talking about?

Do you know all busy I am?

All the usual.

Instead, I looked at Aunt Clem, her brown eyes bright with excitement, yet still soft with the acceptance and understanding that I treasured.

Then, I looked at Birdie, who was smiling. I returned the expression.

“What do you want to know?” I finally said.

Aunt Clem looked proud, and Birdie smiled even brighter.

“I want my five dollars, Auntie,” Birdie said.

“You earned it,” Aunt Clem responded as she reached into the pocket of her white button-down shirt and grabbed a folded bill.

“What am I missing?” I asked, looking between the two of them who were wearing matching Cheshire grins.

Birdie adjusted her full pink and black floral skirt and nodded at me.

“Aunt Clem thought you would try to keep holding out on us, but I told her that you’d come clean,” Birdie said.

“I guess I appreciate the confidence. But you say, ‘come clean’ like I have some deep, dark secret,” I said.

“That’s the way you are treating it. Or should I say him?” she said.

“So you’re aware of the him in question?” I said.

“Alex, I’m not a dummy. And for what it’s worth, I think it’s great,” Birdie said, her eyes bright with excitement

“I do too,” Aunt Clem added.

“Why?” I asked, genuinely curious and buoyed by the conversation so far.

Aunt Clem and Birdie were just about all the family I had left.

What they thought was important to me.

“Because Noah is a good man. He’ll take care of you. And he is strong enough to not back down when you try to push him away,” Birdie said.

“I feel attacked,” I said, though I wasn’t able to deny what she said.

Aunt Clem smiled. “Don’t. I know how hard it has to be to trust somebody, especially after…”

To her credit she trailed off, but she didn’t need to say anything else.

After growing up with a father like yours.

No other explanation was necessary.

“But that one,” Aunt Clem said, nodding, though Noah was nowhere in sight. “He’s a good one,” she said.

“Why haven’t you asked any questions?” I asked Birdie, surprised she hadn’t even let out a peep.

“I didn’t want to pry,” Birdie said.

“Pry? You’re my best friend.” I frowned at her.

“I know, but it was just…” She shrugged. “You’ve seemed so happy, and I didn’t want to do anything to upset that.”

I smiled at her. “Thank you, Birdie.”

“So…” Aunt Clem said

“So what…?” I asked.

“How is it?” Aunt Clem said, her eyes sparkling.

“It?” I asked, my mind refusing to accept what she was really asking.

Aunt Clem never blushed. But she was blushing now. “Well,” she finally said, her voice bubbly. “I wasn’t speaking about that, per se. I was just asking about the relationship, having a boyfriend and all that.”

I smiled, then laughed nervously and looked at Birdie, who shrugged.

I looked away dreamily, then sighed, sounding so lovesick it was disgusting. “It’s great. He’s great. And even though I’ve been working like crazy, it doesn’t seem to bother him at all.

“He doesn’t get mad when I can’t see him, and when I do see him, it’s just…easy. And nice,” I said.

“Not words I think of when I think of Noah,” Birdie said.

“I wouldn’t have thought that either. But it just is. Like, on Friday, I was working late, so he sent over dinner for the office. Or sometimes I’m so tired, I’ll fall asleep while he’s at my apartment, and he doesn’t get mad. He just sends me to bed, locks up, and texts me when he gets home,” I said.

It seemed so simple, but the way Noah cared for me was beyond anything I’d ever experienced.

“I’m so happy for you, Alex,” Birdie said.

I was happy too, more than I could say.

And as happy as Noah made me, he wasn’t the only thing that was going well.

Even though I wished I could spend more time with Noah, I was so very close to hitting my goal.

I’d saved fourteen thousand so far and knew that after a couple more closings and maybe another weekend doing notary work, I would have all the earnest money.

I tried to think of a time in my life had been going this well and couldn’t.

Finally, after what felt like years of being stagnant, I was moving forward.

And I was determined to enjoy every minute of it.

I cleared my throat and smiled at Aunt Clem and Birdie. “Well, ladies, I have to…”

“Go see your man?” Aunt Clem asked.

“No, Aunt Clem. I have some work I need to finish up,” I said.

Aunt Clem frowned. “It’s Sunday.”

“So it is, but duty calls,” I said.

Aunt Clem harumphed but didn’t say anything else, though her displeasure was clear.

I just smiled and hugged her and Birdie and then headed out.

As I walked, that silly smile still on my face, my phone buzzed. That smile kicked up brighter when I saw my father’s number.

Even though I hadn’t spoken to him since before my birthday, Noah had kept me distracted. So I was happy to hear from him.

That happiness was short-lived when I read his message.

Call now. 911.

I returned the call without thinking, my heart racing a million miles an hour as a thousand possibilities—none of them good—galloped through my mind.

The last time I’d gotten a call like this, my mother had been gone.

I couldn’t help but fear the same thing now.

“Alex?” my father said, having answered before the phone had completed the first ring.

I had stopped in the center of the sidewalk, breathless as I forced out words. “Daddy, what’s wrong?” I asked.

“It’s…one of the boys. He…” My father sounded panicked, and when he trailed off, then gulped, my worry increased.

“Did he get hurt?” I asked.

“He needs help,” my father said.

It was my turn to gulp. “What can I do?”

“I need you to transfer six thousand dollars to my account,” he said.

I was so distracted, I didn’t even see the person standing in front of me when I started to walk.

“Sorry,” I said, stepping to the side after I bumped into the annoyed-looking man.

I put the phone back to my ear, confusion—hurt—making my movements shaky.

“What?” I asked.

“We need six thousand. The boy’s in trouble, and he needs it quickly. I’ll have it back to you in thirty days,” he said.

I started to lean against the building, the cold of the bricks seeping through my jacket, though the shock of the cold was nothing compared to the shock of what my father was saying.

“If you’re going to have it back in thirty days, you shouldn’t need it now,” I finally said.

“Alex! I don’t have time for this. He needs help, and I don’t know what else to do. If you can’t help, hang up, so I can stop wasting time with you and find someone who can.”

He wasn’t yelling, he was seething, and the disdain I could feel oozing across the line cut me deeply.

In the space of that sentence, I felt the years of his rejection all over again.

Would do anything to make that feeling go away, even though the little voice in the back of my head whispered that this wasn’t right.

That voice lost to the urgent need to help him—the need to prove that I was worthy of his love.

I pulled the phone away from my ear, my hands trembling as I pulled up my banking app.

“What’s the account information?”

The weak, feeble voice that came out of my mouth didn’t even sound like mine, but my father didn’t seem to notice.

He hurriedly gave me the information, and with the click of a button, I completed the transaction.

And wiped away my dream.

No!

I shook my head, tried to reframe my thoughts.

He’d give me the money back.

I had to trust that.

Then told myself that even if he didn’t, I could take on more projects and earn it back.

I can still do this, my mind said.

My heart felt like a boulder in my chest.

I put the phone back to my ear. “I sent the money.”

I could literally hear his smile, the turmoil and angst of just seconds ago gone completely.

“Thanks, baby girl,” my father said.

He hung up the phone before I even said good-bye.

I shoved the phone back into my pocket and walked back to my place, my mind a jumble.

Mostly, I tried to reassure myself, told myself I could do this.

But never, not for a single moment, was I convinced.

By the time I reached my apartment, the tears had come.

The phone buzzed again.

This time, I saw the number I hadn’t even bothered to program into my phone.

Noah.

Thinking of him didn’t send my heart soaring like it usually did.

In fact, it made me feel worse.

I looked at his message.

Come over in 30?

I typed out the answer without giving myself time to think.

Busy. Will call later.

By the time I sent the message, I was inside of my apartment.

I closed and locked the door, threw my phone on my makeshift table, and headed straight for bed.