Players

11. I Don't. I Won't.

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"What are you doing here?"

I look up from the book I am reading - The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I have always liked this book - it makes me feel motivated.

Sally is wearing a peach floral dress and sneakers, a tote bag hanging from her shoulder. Her hair is in a fish braid, with small flowers pinned to it.

Sally Jenkins is the main character. Oof.

"Hello?" She moves closer to me. "Can you hear me? Did someone break you, Cassidy Meyers?"

I sigh. "Why are you late to your own shop?" I ask.

"I am late because it is my own shop, darling." She shrugs, taking a seat opposite mine and turning to Harry, who was already looking at her.

Why can't cute baristas come after me? Why does it have to be the worst billionaire nutcase in New York City?

"Harry, can we have two iced caramel macchiato please?"

"Yeah, sure."

I almost snort at his attempt to sound unbothered. He is so adorable.

"So?" Sally turns her whole attention to me. "What are you doing here?"

"Too much going on in life." I shrug. "Too much."

"Work life or personal life?" She asks.

I narrow my eyes at her tone. I know exactly who she is talking about.

"Please get your head out of that fairytale nightmare. It's not happening." I say and then I admit this, "I seriously don't know why he is trying to confuse me."

"Huh?" Sally leans in. "What did you just say?"

"What? Don't over-analyze anything." I sigh and then turn to Kendra, the waitress. "Hey Kenny, can you ask Paisley if she has any leftover cinnamon cookies?"

Paisley Fisher is an amazing baker, second to whoever is baking at the cafe opposite the hospital. She is just amazing.

"Why?" Kendra pops her gum. "There's a fresh batch right there." She pointed at the cookie jar.

"She likes to age it before she eats it." Sally shrugs. "Just ask P."

Then she turns to me, her eyebrows raised as she gives me a questioning look. As if I did something wrong.

"What?" I ask.

She raises her eyebrows higher, and I did not know that was possible.

But why? What's with her?

"What?" I repeat, my patience running short. "Sally, you know I hate it when you do this."

Sally takes a deep breath as if she is exasperated with me. I should be the one annoyed, right? Or did I miss some important point? What on earth is she building this up into?

"You really are out of sorts, aren't you?" She asks instead of answering my question.

"There's a reason for it. I am here to talk to you about it, among other things." I say and this piques her interest. "But before that, tell me what you are making such a big deal of."

"You saying that Dominic Grant is confusing you." She shrugs as she sits back on the chair, assessing my every expression.

Harry interrupts us with the drinks and I am thankful.

I cannot stand the scrutiny any longer. This also makes me realize something.

Who am I? I mean, who the hell am I?

I am Cassidy Meyers, for f**k's sake. I manipulate people. I leave people speechless. This is all the things that I do. But lately, I have been letting other people do that to me. And honestly, it is not a good feeling. Now I know why a lot of people do not like me.

"You don't understand. You will see that I am right when I tell you what is going on."

And I told her.

I told her about everything that has been going on.

About the midnight 'date' and the morning meet up and his new plan to move into the penthouse.

And I told her about how Liam is getting married and he has proclaimed that he wants Maddie to go back to him.

I told her how all of this is whirling in my head that I am not able to think straight. While Dominic Grant is nothing but an inconvenience, except for his obsession with things which could be a problem until he grows tired and bored of this and move on, Liam, on the other hand, is a whole disaster where a lot of people are going to get hurt because I just can't give my daughter up.

I know I always maintained that I will be taking care of Maddie only until Liam is stable and settled enough to take her back, but now that the point has come, I just can't bring myself to do it.

Maddie is mine. I am the one who fought her custody at twenty years of age and simultaneously fought cancer to make sure that she does not get swept away in the foster care system, so that she stays with her family.

My parents were so against it. They thought it was solely Liam's responsibility to take care of her. And the problem is that they think so to this day. Not an encounter has gone down between my parents and me where they don't ask me to rethink my decision. As if I don't cherish every single moment with my little girl and only see her as a responsibility.

I mean, what is wrong with them? And people wonder why I am so messed up.

"So you do not want to give away Maddie." This is the only sentence that comes out of her lips after I am done narrating the events of last day to her.

"I don't. I won't." I tell her.

She does not look at me with judgment or surprise. She looks at me as though she had seen it coming a lot time. As though understands me.

And for that, I am thankful.

I know that only Jeremy and Sally are on my side in this. Only they understand the extent to which I love my kid.

Nora might understand but she sees no one but her son at all times. She will not care about anyone but his happiness.

And as for my parents, they want to get rid of Maddie from my life so I will have to keep them far away from this case because there is no way they will be speaking in my favour.

"I know." She says. "And that's actually the right thing to do. In all aspects worth considering, you have always been her mother. Her only parent. No one else has fought for her the way you have. She calls you Mom. It's only right that she stays with you. It's only right that you fight for her till the end."

I nod. That is actually soothing to hear. Usually, nothing can faze me. But this is about my kid and it really is... scaring me.

I have to win this case at all cost.

"And as for Dominic Grant-"

I try to shoot her down with a stern look but Sally is adamant.

"Listen to me!" She glares back.

"I came here to have some peace, lady. Why do you want to discuss about situations I want to desperately forget?"

"Are you sure he just wants you for his company?" She asks, not paying heed to my silent plea to be exempted from all this circus show that has been going on lately.

Things had been so simple that Friday morning a few weeks ago when I was making heart-shaped pancakes for her little girl and she had mutilated her poor doll.

Now, everything was big heap of mess.

"What are you trying to say?"

"It's just that it can't be that this man flirts and makes everyone confused romantically and sexually when he wants them to work for him, right? He has been at your tail as if he has nothing else to do. He takes you on midnight dates-"

"It was not a date." I interject, glaring at the thought of the slip up that I had made because I was so stressed out about Liam that had given Dominic Grant the confidence to go ahead and step over the boundary and do as he pleased.

"It sounded like a first date." She shrugs and before I can say anything in my defense, she continues. "Anyway, it's not about whether it was a date or not. It's just that, by the way that you have been describing everything that has been going on, he sort of likes you."

"No."

"And you sort of like him."

"Double no!"

"Cassie!"

"Sally, do not romanticize just anything just because you are a romantic yourself." I say. "I have said this to you before and I will say it again - your world and my world are very different. Yours have a chance of a fairytale while mine is all about bloodshed and treachery. There's no scope for a chance romance or a happily ever after."

"And when will you understand that every fairytale have bloodshed and treachery?" Sally is not ready to let it go and all of a sudden, I feel as thought this place isn't a safe place for me either.

I wish Nora was not staying with us - I really need some alone time.

"I can't."

"And that's okay." She finally says. "Focus on Sally's custody now. But just don't overrule this possibility."

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