Players

4. Oh Sorry, Correction, YOU What?

_______________________________

.

.

.

“Oh my god, oh my god! He is so into you!” Sally screeched through the phone while I winced. Why did my best friend have to have such a shrill voice which she made even worse when she was excited about something?

“Sal, I am already mad at this dude and also Jeremy for leaving me to deal with that dumb creature all by myself. I do not need you getting on my nerves right now.” I huffed. Why the hell were two of the closest people I have hell bent on shipping me with that crazy human? I get that I have been dormant when it came to the relationship department but that did not mean that they would try to set me up with the first male that showed any kind of interest in me!

I get it – Dominic Grant is a brand name. He is successful and competitive and not to mention, as much as I hate to admit it - drool-worthy. But once I start on the wrong foot with someone, there was no turning back.

“You are getting really riled up about this situation for no reason, my friend.” Sally chuckled. Thankfully, her normal voice was back. “I mean, you are drop dead gorgeous. This is not the first time someone wanted to get in your pants.”

I rolled my eyes. But the man did seem more interested in my skill to deal with the situation than how I looked. And as much as I hated that guy since I first met him, I had to admit that I was impressed by it too - the guy had good eye for talent. Hair flip . I can read people like the back of my hand and thus, I have come to the conclusion that this dude is either genuine or has a mask that even I cannot see through. Whatever it was, it intrigued me. But acting on my intrigue would be nothing but being drawn to a flame. I could have taken such risks back in the days but now that I have a daughter, I could not go and do something like that.

“I get all the entertainment I need from my work.” I said, honking at the i***t who had stopped at a green light. “I seriously don’t want to see any other bullsh*t.”

“Why don’t you just say directly that you just want to be a mom and nothing else?” Sally asked. She knows me way too well.

“Why are you asking me questions after questions when you know exactly what my reaction would be?” I took a deep breath to calm myself and I took the turn which entered into my neighborhood.

“I don’t know. What if you end up surprising me one day?”

“That’s highly unlikely.” I was feeling extremely sleepy right now for no reason. I yawned as I entered the parking lot.

“A girl can still hope.”

I rolled my eyes one more time before I said, “Okay, I have reached home. Come over if you want to, otherwise I will see you on Monday.”

“Kay. Bye.”

.

.

.

“He what?” I was beside myself with anger. “Oh sorry, correction, YOU what?”

“He sounded so desperate that I gave in, Cassie. I know I am the biggest i***t in the world for doing it, but he is my son and how could I watch him sob in front of me? He was literally on his knees.”

I sat down on the couch, glad that my seven year old was downstairs at the park with my neighbor Griselda and her daughter, Gabrielle.

“I wish you had simply called me, Nora.” I sighed. “I would have dealt with him myself. This is what he does all the time. He appears when he wants money and then disappears as soon as he gets it. But you wrote over the house to him? I have no idea when the bank might ask you to move out.” I know I sounded blunt but I just did not like to sugar coat. It was just not like me. And I also had to use my brain cells for other activities like figuring out what to do now that Nora went and made an error of judgement.

“I know I know.” Nora massaged her temples. “I felt like an i***t the moment I signed on that paper, but it was too late because he snatched the papers off the table before I could get my hands on them.”

I had nothing to say. I leaned back in my couch and melted into it.

“I will make a call.” I said finally. “I hope I can talk some sense in to him though he rarely listens to me.”

“You are the only person he ever listens to, even if it is rare.” Nora said. That was true.

I loved my brother in law. He was a sweetheart and he did his best in life. But the death of my sister was so hard on him that he quit his job and ended up being a completely untrustworthy and unreliable person that he was today. I still loved him and that was why I still did things for him but sometimes I just wanted to punch him, break his jaw and tell him to get over Sydney already. Madison was missing out on the love of both her parents because of his careless behavior.

Sydney was gone and she was not coming back. But Liam was alive, wasn’t he? He was supposed to play the role of both mother and father to Madison but it was I who ended up playing both roles.

“I am not going to lie; I am pretty pissed at you just as much as I am at him.” I told Nora honestly. And she understood where I was coming from because she nodded, admitting that my anger towards her was also justified.

But I couldn’t entirely blame her for this, could I? She was his mother after all, and which mother would be able to stand and watch when their child is in trouble. I know for a fact that I could not do it even if Madison was in the smallest of trouble or pain. That’s what motherhood was, wasn’t it? We did selfish things, foolish things and downright bats*t crazy things for our little ones.

I let out another deep sigh. It was like the world wanted to throw all of its bullsh*t at me on this particular day. At this point, I was just glad that tomorrow was a Sunday and I didn’t have to see anyone but Nora and Madison.

Madison was a social butterfly – she took after Sydney in that. Meanwhile, I was a complete loner. And I was the least sad about the lonewolf lifestyle I had going. But Madison could not sit still at one place and especially on Sundays, she needed to get out of the apartment even if it was to go to the same places that we had gone n times before. Anything was better as long as it was not home. I, on the other hand, was a couch potato, asocial loner, and I loved to stay in my bed all day, eat pints of ice cream and unhealthy snacks and watch whatever shows or movies I wanted to watch.

It helped to have Nora, Sally and Jeremy in my life – they made sure that Madison had fun while I took my break. See, this was one of the other things because of which I thought I was a lucky partner. Jeremy was a crazy party animal but he still sacrificed his holiday for me. Ugh. I should stop thinking about all the bloody fools in my life.

I grabbed my phone and dialed my stupid brother-in-law’s number. He picked up his phone at the second ring. “Cass, I know what you are going to tell me…” He drawled out. It was five in the evening and he was already wasted. “…But I have my reasons.”

“Of course you have your reasons, Liam.” I gritted out. “We all have our reasons. But that does not mean that you cry your crocodile tears and manipulate your mother into transferring her house over to you so that you can use it as collateral for loan which you will not repay and waste the money on gambling, alcohol and drugs.”

“Cass-”

I cut him off before he could cut me off.

“Listen Liam, you and I know very well that you won’t be able to pay the loan back so return the ownership bro. Why the hell do you want to snatch the roof over your parents’ heads?”

I looked up when I heard a sniffle from Nora. She had started crying again. It is not that I don’t sympathize with her. I do. I love Liam just like she does, but I just can’t bring myself to be patient with him anymore.

I get it. He lost his wife. He lost the love of his life.

And when he first started acting up, I was also on the list of people who understood him, supported him and empathized with him. But when I had to fight for Madison’s custody so that she doesn’t end up in a foster home or an orphanage, I chucked all my patience and empathy out the window. I was not the one who was supposed to fight for my daughter. It was his responsibility. My responsibility was to be an aunt but I had to become a mom at twenty because of this, and I was not ready either. I was just as confused as he was but it was his thing to do, his decision to make. But I had to do it all. And to top it all, Madison's future with me back then was not bright either - I was dying from cancer. I thanked heavens that I lived because I don't know where my kid would have ended up if I had died. And to this day, five years later, I was doing it all – from taking care of Madison to making sure that Liam didn’t kill himself and throw his parents out of their house. I had to do everything.

God, I need a break. How did my day go from boredom and no stress to stressful and frustrating?

“Cass, I f*cked up.” My brow raised. Did I really want to hear the rest of it? “I sold the house.”

.

.

.

____________________________