“I’m not saying that you’ll never be able to see your daughter,” she said. “But I’m giving you a heads up that you’ll probably end up paying a large amount of back child support and a reasonable chunk of change monthly until the child is grown.”
“Fine,” I said. “But only if I can see my daughter. If I can’t see my daughter, then she’s not getting a penny.”
“Look, you have every reason to be upset right now. But please calm down. There’s no point in getting upset over something that you can’t control, especially since that won’t fix anything. Can you give me the afternoon to see what I can do? Let me go over some paperwork, make a few phone calls, and try to find out as much as I can.”
I nodded, once again realizing that she was right. I was just wasting energy by being so angry at Heather. Danielle was an exceptional attorney, and if there were a way to see my daughter and not bend to Danielle’s wishes, then she’d find it.
“Of course, I’m sorry, Danielle. And thank you for letting me just barge in here. And I’m sorry I kept repeating myself.”
“No need to apologize. I deal with this stuff all the time. I do have a suggestion, though, Richard.”
“What’s that?”
“We need to get the hearing set to order the DNA test before spending too much time trying to schedule visitation. I’ve seen far too many men get roped into paying child support for children that weren’t their own, and I’d hate to see that happen to you.”
I shrugged. That was the least of my worries, though. “Yeah, I guess. Given the timeline of events, honestly, I really have little doubt that I have a daughter. Although Heather was pretty desperate to get out of River Valley, she may have hooked up with someone she thought could help.”
“You never know. I’ve had over a dozen child support cases this year alone, and most of them believed they were the father, but I convinced them to take a DNA test. Nearly all of them turned out to be false.”
I thought about what she was saying, but deep down, I knew that I was the father. Heather just wasn’t that stupid. She had to know I would demand proof.
9
Annie
Isat back in my office at the yoga studio with articles about intuitive eating littering my desk. Tightening my ponytail, I tried again to concentrate on developing my brand of holistic health food but still found it hard to focus on anything other than Richard.
Suddenly, I had an idea. To ease my mind, I should do a handstand with my legs pressed up against the wall. This particular pose was supposed to help center my thoughts. That day, however, all it did was make me feel lightheaded.
“Centering yourself again, I see.” Crystal gracefully slipped around the corner, into our office and sat down at her desk, placing a brown paper bag on top.
“I’m trying to,” I said, letting myself down. “What’s in the bag?”
She reached inside and handed me a granola bar. The label said that it was organic and made from quinoa, steel-cut oats, and raw honey.
“There’s a new health food store down the street, and these looked good. Maybe they’ll carry your holistic line of food and supplements one day.” I gave her a half-smile while biting into the granola bar. “What’s wrong?”
I shrugged. “Richard. I don’t know what to do, Crystal. He came down here to ask me out to lunch.”
“That’s wonderful,” she said with a giggle that quickly morphed into a frown. “But wait, I didn’t see you leave. You didn’t go?”
I could hear the disappointment in her voice and see her confused expression, and a part of me immediately regretted not going. “It’s not like I didn’t want to. I was just… and by the way, this granola bar is delicious. It doesn’t taste healthy at all.”
“What are you afraid of, Annie? The guy seems like the whole package.”
“That’s the problem, Crystal. You know guys like him. You have to wonder why a guy his age never settled down, which only confirms my fear of being treated like all the other women he’s been with.”
She let out a sigh and put her feet up on the desk. Crystal had a good head on her shoulders, especially when it came to relationships. She knew all of the characteristics of a womanizer.
“Look, no woman who’s had her heart broken wants to go through that again. But you should give it a shot. Just remember what you learned from your ex-boyfriend, keep an eye out for those warning signs, and have a good time.” Crystal bit into her granola bar and nodded, “Not to change the subject. But this is really yummy.”
“Yeah, these are amazing,” I agreed, taking another bite. “Back to the subject. You know, Julianna has been bugging me to date him for a while now,” I said. “At first, it was his age. I mean, he is significantly older than me.”
“He has sugar daddy written all over him, which is fine by me. Actually, I wouldn’t mind a sugar daddy.”
I laughed and threw my granola bar wrapper at her. “Well, I, for one, am not looking for a sugar daddy. But now that we’ve been together, his age isn’t an issue at all. I wouldn’t say that it’s a turn on, but good God, Crystal. That night we spent together in bed was some of the hottest sex I’ve ever had!”
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that some of the students suddenly stopped moving and were snickering. Crystal slid her chair over and quietly shut the door the rest of the way.
