"I can't believe you, Sasha!" Alex told her daughter. "Why do you have to do that?"
"Do what, Mom?" Sasha answered innocently. Inside her mind, she was laughing. She just loved to annoy her mom and it gave her so much pleasure.
"Oh, don't give me that innocent look! You know pretty well what you've done. You know we can't stay here."
"Why not?"
She sighed.
How will she tell her daughter about this when Sasha had already decided in her mind?
They were sitting in one of the white large sofa in the living room. Her mind suddenly remembered little bits of memories. Even after ten years, the ambiance of the house was still the same. Nothing had been changed. Paintings of famous artists filled the walls. The cozy plush bean bag was still there, where she used to sit with Robbie on winter nights as the crackling of fire in the fireplace gave warmth to the whole area.
This is where it all happened, she thought and she heaved a deep sigh. The moment my life changed forever.
She didn't regret having Sasha even for once. She was the most amazing thing that ever happened to her but there were times she still second-guessed herself taking her here. She didn't want to see her daughter get used to this kind of life since they're only there temporarily.
"Look, Mom! Dad has this humongous house and had probably about a gazillon rooms in it. Why can't we stay here? This is way better than the hotel room," her daughter added. "Plus you don't have a job right now. Maybe if you tell Dad about it-"
"No!" Alex pointed her finger at her. "It's enough you told him about us being homeless. He doesn't need to know I lost my job, too. So you gotta keep your little mouth shut, or I'll take away your cellphone privileges, you understand, missy?"
Sasha gasped. "Not my phone..."
"Oh, you know I will."
She pouted at her and Alex tried not to smile. She remembered how she was whenever she gets mad. She resisted the urge to smother this girl with kisses.
"Fine," and Sasha blew a breath. "I don't get you grown-ups. You don't want us kids to keep secrets from you but you somehow ask us to keep secrets from others. Not fair!"
"Life is not always fair, dear," reminded Alex, smiling inwardly. She got the upper hand once again.
"Look at this, Mom!" Sasha suddenly stood up. Her attention focused on one piece of furniture, a large conch shell that was sitting on top of the fireplace.
Why didn't she see that before?
The conch shell was something that connected them. Their childhood. Their memories... and he kept it after all these years... but why?
Sasha tried to reach for it and she ran over to take it from up there. She gave it to her as soon as she had it in her hands safely. The last thing she ever wanted was for it to break and completely shattered the last thing that connected them.
Sasha is your connection now, her mind reminded her and somehow it made her feel nervous.
What if Robbie decided to take Sasha away from her? Her heart will never take it but knowing Robbie, he would never do such a thing, or will he?
"Do you like it?" Alex got startled as Robbie spoke behind her. She turned abruptly to him, surprised on how close their bodies were. Robbie held her elbows to steady her. Her eyes met his gaze, and his perfume filled her nose. She couldn't believe she could still remember how he smelled.
She shouldn't be feeling this way and yet, she wondered why. It surprised her how she never forgot anything about him.
She inhaled his perfume. It was one of the first scents he ever made for his company, and his brand just got bigger over time.
Robbie bit his lip as his eyes gazed down to her lips. She's wearing his line, the sheer pink rose lipstick. It suited her, making her lips more kissable.
Damn! he cursed in himself. He didn't dare say it out loud in front of his daughter. One thing his family kept as values was never to curse in front of a child. He soon later learned how to swear through Alex. She was a very spirited and lively woman but now, with what she's wearing, no one would ever think she was a model.
Sasha was so busy leaning in her right ear on the shell that she hadn't been aware of what was happening. Soon enough, she turned and frowned. Placing the conch shell on the nearby side table, she put her hand on her hips.
"Are you going to kiss now? Because if you do, I'm going to leave," she commented that made both of them move back quickly.
"N-No, honey! Don't be silly," Alex replied nervously as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"You know how I hated kissing scenes, Mom. Ugh!" and she even stick her tongue out to express her disgust.
"For all we know, you'll be kissing boys, too, someday," Robbie teased.
"Ewww!! Gross."
Robbie laughed.
"Did you kiss boys, too?" Now it's Sasha's turn to tease. She wanted to know if he was really gay.
Robbie's eyebrows knitted.
"Sasha!" Alex warned. The frankness of her daughter just might be their exit from this house too early in which she didn't mind after all. Yet, it was still rude for her to say such a thing.
Sasha chuckled and made a peace sign.
"I'm kidding. Sorry," and she smiled sheepishly.
Robbie smiled.
Why can't he get mad at this girl at all?
"By the way, where's my room?" she asked and before they could both react, she sprang her feet towards the winding staircase.
"Sasha, wait!" Alex ran after her towards the staircase.
"First door to your right, honey!" shouted Robbie from the bottom.
"Thanks," Sasha answered back as she kept going up.
The winding staircase was surely grand with more than twenty steps up to the second floor. Its steps were made of polished wood that most loved to admire especially when it was the first thing that dawned on them after opening the front door.
The pictures of Robbie's family and childhood were posted on the sides of the wall. Sasha stopped in front of a gold-plated frame.
"Is that you, Mom?" she pointed at a picture of two children, a boy and a girl dressed in shorts and matching red shirts that said "Camp Grizzly". "Who's the boy?"
"Robbie," she answered briefly.
"So you two were friends since you were kids?"
"Yes. Didn't I tell you that?"
"You never told me anything about him, Mom, except that he is nice."
"Oh!" and they started walking up the steps again. She heard another set of footsteps behind her and she turned to look at Robbie. He looked back at her with questioning eyes. She snapped back her head forward. She couldn't answer his questions now. Not yet.
As soon as they reached the top floor, Sasha ran towards the room.
"This is it?" Sasha stared at an all-white theme room. Everything was white! From the curtains, the walls and to the bed.
Alex froze by the door. She remembered this room. This was her room before... and now it was stripped to nothing but a standard color.
He kept our conch shell but he won't keep my room, she thought.
She felt like part of her was erased by seeing the room too empty.
"Sorry, honey. Nobody has been occupying this room for years that's why it's so basic," then Robbie side-glanced her and she looked away. She knew it was meant to insult her. The pain was still there...
She cleared her throat, trying not to get affected by him.
"Can I decorate it then, pleeeassse?" pleaded Sasha.
"What color are you going to put then?"
"Pink."
"Okay, done," and he took out his phone, dialed a number, then spoke, "Yes, Frances. I need you to come. I have a project for you."
Then after awhile, he hang up.
"That was my interior designer. She is going to come by and show you some samples. You can choose whatever you like, Sasha. Sky's the limit!" Robbie told her and Sasha was so delighted.
"Really? Omg! My own room. Haaa..." and she threw herself on the bed. "I need to take a selfie."
She took out her phone and smiled widely as she took a selfie.
Alex pulled Robbie to the side.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked, angrily. "You know we're not going to stay here long."
"That's for me to decide, Alex."
She narrowed her eyes at him.
"This is not part of what we agreed."
"We haven't agreed anything yet on paper."
"What do you mean?"
"I also called my lawyer just in case. I won't let you take her away from me, Alex. So we need to make an agreement."
"What agreement?"
"That you will let me have custody of Sasha."
"You're out of your mind! What made you think I will agree to such a thing? I have raised her on my own without any help from you."
"And you took my right to be her father for ten years, Alex."
"You didn't want to do anything with her when we first came."
"That was when I didn't know that you got evicted from your apartment and had tons of credit card debts. I know it all, Alex. You got fired from the diner you're working with two days ago, isn't it?"
"Shit!" she cursed.
"You didn't think I'll know, do you?"
"So what's your point? That she's better off with you than me? Is that it?"
"No, Alex! All I wanted is for you to give me a chance to be a father to her, even in my own way."
"And what way is it?"
"You know pretty well by now who I really am."
"Just because you got me pregnant that doesn't mean you're straight."
Robbie was about to say something when Sasha interrupted them.
"Are you guys fighting?" Sasha asked all of a sudden that stopped both of them.
"No, honey, we're just talking," lied Alex. "Are you hungry?"
"Well, yeah. We only had munchkins this morning."
"There are plenty of food downstairs. You can ask the maids and they will serve it to you. Go ahead, Sasha and I just have to talk to your mom about some important matters," Robbie told her and gave a look to Alex.
"Okay. Can I have pancakes, bacon, eggs and chicken nuggets?" Sasha asked.
"Yes, honey. Cynthia," he called to the maid that just came in the bedroom. "Please bring Sasha downstairs."
"I don't need a babysitter."
"No, honey. She will just watch you but not your babysitter. More of a guide so you will know where to go in this huge house." He emphasized the word "huge" to make a point and Alex rolled her eyes.
"Okay. See you later. C'mon Cynthia!" and they both head out of the room and to the stairs.
As soon as they were gone, Robbie turned to Alex.
"You, come with me!" he demanded, dragging her by the arm into his bedroom.