Chapter 93: WHAT IS THE RIGHT THING

LAURA

I took Eli grocery shopping with me after I discovered I didn’t have enough ingredients to make the fried rice I’d been craving.

It was a kind of stress relief meal for me, so grocery shopping was unquestionable.

I ran into Mara, who needed some packs of ramen for the night. She was such a sucker for instant food, no matter how unhealthy people yapped that it was.

“Aunty Mara!” Eli shrieked as soon as he saw her, jumping out of the roller like spiderman, and running to her.

“Watch your steps, little man!” Mara giggled as she crouched down and caught him. Then they hugged for a couple minutes, before she finally acknowledged me.

“Look who ran off to Milan with the Pierce asshole, without my knowledge.”

I hated the cynicism in her house. “I did inform you about the trip, Mara,” I spat as I snatched up two large bowls of margarine and tossed them into the cart.

“On the morning of the day you were leaving! Who does that?!”

Eli looked between Mara and I, curiosity marring his cute, thick brows. “Aunty Mara, are you fighting with mom?”

“No, sweetheart.” She patted his chin. “This is what we grown-ups call a conversation.”

Conversation my ass.

“So,” Mara resumed, “did you have fun with Mr. Pierce?” She was closer now, and I could see the stark cynicism in her eyes. She really did not like Tristan. I could understand why…maybe because of how much pain I was in because of him back then…

But I expected her to have cut it down a little…if not for anything, but the sake of the business relationship.

But then…I still could not blame her for how she acted towards him. She and I knew that I was not safe around Tristan. More particularly, my heart was not safe around him.

“Did you have fun, Laura?” she pressed, her tone irritated now. “What is this? Spill the tea, come on. Quit hoarding.”

For a moment, panic seized my being. I wondered if she somehow knew of what went down between Tristan and I back in Milan.

But there was no way she’d know. It was probably just suspicion…speculation.

When she wouldn’t stop following me into every aisle, I heaved a deep sigh and gave her an answer. “There’s nothing to hoard, Mara. It was just a work trip and nothing else.”

Her eyes twinkled with doubt and mischief. “You sure about that now, princess?”

I rolled my eyes and pushed my cart forward. “Suit yourself.” It was getting late, and I needed to go home with my son, so I could make my fried rice.

We had left the house sometime around 7, and it’s been one hour since then. I wouldn’t want to be on the road any later than that.

“You’re really not going to give me the details?”

“What details?” I returned in a tired voice. “You really want to hear about all the clothes I wore for the shoot or what exactly?”

She kept her eyes on my face as we wheeled our cart to the payment stand, Eli bobbing up and down restlessly inside hers.

“Did you hear about the wedding?” she asked after a moment. “Tristan and Madison are really getting married soon.”

“The news is everywhere,” I muttered under my breath, my chest cracking open again. “It’s hard to not see it.”

“That guy is really a prick, you know. Hitting on you when his wedding is just around the corner.”

“He’s not hitting on me.” The lie felt heavier on my tongue tonight.

“I’ve got eyes, you know,” Mara sneered behind me, “and they work really fine.”

I rolled my eyes again and let myself focus on the cashier’s process of packing our stuff in bags. She swiped out cards and issued receipts.

Then, thankfully, Mara and I had to go our separate ways. Until she said something that had me thinking.

“Harlan seems pretty worried about all the time you’re spending with Tristan.”

She’s talking to Harlan behind my back? I mean…to the extent of talking about his feelings?

And why would he be worried about that? Did I not make things clear enough to him about where we stood?

“Maybe give him a call, it’s only right you do,” Mara added before she got in her car. Then she blew Eli a kiss through the window and drove away.

Right thing? Was I even sure about what that was anymore?

I was slower than usual as I packed the bags into the trunk. I couldn’t stop thinking about all the reasons why Mara and Harlan would possibly meet up.

Why did I care, anyway? They were both my friends. Even though I had been sexually interested in Harlan at some point…

“Mama, I’m hungry!” Eli shrieked from the backseat, piercing through my thoughts. I rolled my eyes as I stormed over to where he sat and strapped in his seatbelt. “Keep it down, Eli. We’ll be home soon.”

Then I got into the driver’s seat and drove home as fast as I could.

It was around 8:45pm when the headlights of my car hit the front of my apartment. I frowned as my eyes caught the vehicle at the opposite end of the road. It was a black BMW that looked familiar.

I got out of the car cautiously and carried Eli who had already fallen asleep out of the backseat and towards the house. As I got close, I saw Tristan leaning against one of the four pillars on the patio.

He looked devastated and a little…out of it, with his eyes shut and his head thrown back against the pillar.

Was he…sleeping? What was wrong with him?

Most importantly…why was he over at my house after I strictly warned him that he couldn’t come and go at his whim? Especially at this hour?

My heart sank, and flared hot in the next instant. “What are you doing here?” I lashed out before I could stop to think about being reasonable about my sleeping son in my arms.

Tristan’s eyes flew open and those blue irises attacked me with warmth just like they always did. A warmth that always electrified me to my bones.

“Laura,” he leaned off the wall and rubbed his eyes. “I came to talk to you.” He paused, his eyes moving to the sleeping Eli. “I’m sorry I showed up unannounced.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I just couldn’t help this…burning urge to see you.”

“Why?” My voice slipped out bittersweet. “Did you get tired of looking at your wife’s face already?”

My words stung him, but he did a good job of masking it. He glanced at Eli again, and said instead;

“Do you want me to get him for you?”