Page 6 of Blurry Little Lines
“Max doesn’t get grumpy like you do, Mom.” Mallory pops her hip out and angles her head, full of sass. She’s the spitting image of her mother, with dark curls and brown eyes. And maybe a bit more attitude than I remember her mother having.
“Mallory.” I drop my tone. “Your mother wouldn’t be grumpy if you listened the first time.” I can’t stand hearing any child talk down to their parents.
“Case in point, mini me,” Kelsie chimes in. “You know our morning routine.”
“Ugh, stop ganging up on me.” She puts her backpack on with an eye roll.
“Go. You’re going to be late.” Kelsie kisses the kids goodbye, and we head to the elevator.
Mallory hits the ground floor, then looks up at me with a smile. “I think it’s cool you have been best friends with my mom since she was my age.”
“Well, we didn’t becomebest friendsuntil a couple of years later.” I chuckle.
“Oh, right. You and uncle Adam annoyed her. She told me about the elevator fiasco.”Just the one time?
“I annoyed your mother even after thefiasco.”Mallory and her fancy words make us forget her actual age at times. Another thing she and her mother have in common.
“I can’t imagine being stuck in any small space with Julien Beaumont.” Damn, this girl has held a grudge toward this boy since kindergarten. She’s not the only Wheaton bloodline that has something against the Beaumonts.
Chapter 3
Kelsie
I look like hell. Stress, insomniatic children, and indulging in too much caffeine and wine is starting to catch up to my thirty-two-year-old self. Even with a full face of expensive makeup, my designer work attire, and hair perfectly in place, I can’t mask the look of a defeated mother, daughter, and employee. I won’t dare complain out loud. I am extremely fortunate to be brought up in such a loving family and a part of a billion-dollar legacy. But with everything, there’s always a cost.
Max’s help over the past few months has been monumental. He has provided me with a glimpse of the life I intended for when I accepted Benson’s proposal and started a family. Benson and I were supposed to be a team. It’s an odd mix of thankfulness and failure having my best friend step up to the plate. Max has seen me kick ass in life and I shouldn’t let his help be such a hit to my ego, but it is. That and my unruly disaster of a divorce. I want to do it all. And I can… eventually. When the kids sleep through the night, magically lose their attitudes, and listen when I ask them to do something.
I swallow a shot of espresso and ignore the burn down my throat and into my chest. Picking up my work bag, I quickly walk past the elevator to take the stairs to my work floor. I’ve always enjoyed being able to work in the same building where I live. I’m a damn good marketer. I feel a sense of my old self again as I walk down the office hall, greeting the other employees.
“Hey, sis.” Adam pokes his head into my office, and I finish up a slew of endless emails. “Don’t forget, the meeting is in ten minutes.” I’ve missed working with him. As much as I enjoyed my three years at home with James, my maternity leave might have been too long.
“Right.” I smile, hoping to hide the panic of my scatterbrain. “I totally remembered the meeting is about to start.”
“You’re on time.” I only work three days a week, but arriving on schedule is hit and miss these days. “You look great too.” He smiles.
“Max did the school and preschool drop off for me this morning.” I fail at masking my defeated tone.
“Their schools are on his way.” His brown eyes mirror mine. “I’ll take them tomorrow for you.”
“No, I should be able to.” I mentally start counting how much earlier we need to wake up in order to get out the door on time.
“Kelsie, it takes me twelve minutes to get ready and be out the door for the corporate world.” His smile spreads into his mischievous, charming grin. “Five, if Lauren is beside me.”
I don’t hide my contorted face at hearing him mention my friend. “Wow, a whole seven minutes. Lucky her.”From her bragging, it’s still probably better than any round in the sheets I’ve had.But, whatever.
“Feel free to drop the kids off whenever you’d like tonight. Lauren is off early, so we are going to take the kids to the pool and burn their energy.”
“Oh, right. I have my fitness class.” We head down the hall toward our boardroom meeting. Max and Adam have been teaching fitness classes in Max’s parents’ gym for years. I have found fitness to be a great way to focus on myself, rid stress, and channel my frustration toward Benson, my unfinalized ex-husband. Max has transitioned to personal training full time and is able to work around my schedule. So luckily, he’s my on-demand personal trainer now.
“Here you go, James.” I want to have a hot shower and crash on the couch for a few hours, but when I get home from work, it’s supermom mode with the typical homework, laundry, and dinner. “Cut these mushrooms and be a good little chef.” I push his stool closer to the kitchen island and hand him a butter knife.
Not to mention, if I hear him ask for another damnschnackwhileI cook dinner, I might lose it. Mallory skips into the kitchen, still wearing her school uniform, but I don’t have the energy to tell her to change for the fourth time. She climbs on the counter and takes a seat next to the stove, smiling. Not just any smile. Her condescending grin is one I know all too well. She wants something.
“Mom, I have a proposition.”
“And what is that?”
“Can I go to brunch with Rebecca and some friends on Saturday?” I pause, waiting for the proposition. “I’ll never argue in the future when you tell meno.”