I peered through the peephole and saw Crystal, holding a pint of ice cream in each hand.
“Hey,” I said while opening the door. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here on a rescue mission,” she said.
She barged into my apartment before I could ask her to leave, and I begrudgingly shut the door behind her. I should have expected her to show up after not hearing from me for several days.
“That’s sweet, Crystal, but I’m busy working on my line.” She ignored what I had said and put the ice cream in the freezer, then sat down on the couch and stared at me.
“Bullshit,” she said. “I also brought movies which are in my purse.”
“No, seriously, that’s why I took some time off. I have some ideas for food items, and I need to order more fabric for the yoga pant. Plus, the-"
She held up her hands. “Your laptop is sitting in the corner, fully charged, and your hair looks like you either had amazing sex or haven’t combed it in about a week.”
“That was a bit harsh,” I said, sitting down next to her on the couch.
She put her hands on my knee and rubbed. “Tell me the real reason you took time off, Annie.”
I shook my head. The thought of rehashing everything was too overwhelming. It was hard enough not wondering where Richard was or what he was doing.
“I can’t,” I whispered.
“That’s not what a holistic medical professional says, Annie.”
I laughed a little bit, realizing that she was right. If a student came to me looking the way I did, I'd be concerned too. “I’m just not feeling very ‘zen’ right now.”
“You are one of the strongest women I know Annie, but even the strong ones go through tough times. Talk to me. It’s just us right now, okay?”
I realized that Crystal was hellbent on getting me to talk, and there was little point in pushing her away. So I sat back and closed my eyes, wondering where even to start.
“Remember that night I went to Richard’s house for dinner, after I had been waiting to hear from him all day?” She nodded and leaned into me a little closer. “Well, as it turns out, he wasn’t distant because of our relationship. He had just found out that he had a seven-year-old daughter with his ex-girlfriend, Heather.”
Crystal’s mouth fell open as she gasped.
“It gets better. Not only is Heather demanding back child support for the past seven years, but she also wants an additional lump sum payment and full custody of their daughter.”
Crystal ran into the kitchen, pulled out a pint of ice cream and two spoons, and then raced back to the couch.
“Wait a minute,” she said as we started eating. “Is Heather the one who waited around for, like, five years? Then dumped Richard when he wouldn’t change?”
I nodded.
Crystal took a bite of ice cream, her eyes wide. “I remember you telling me about how stuck-up she sounded.”
“She’s worse than I thought,” I said. “Heather’s made it clear that Addison, their daughter, is too much work, so she and her fiancé are sending her to a boarding school.”
“Is that what she wants the extra money for?”
I shrugged my shoulders, even though Richard and I both suspected that she wanted the money for her wedding.
“Who knows. I think Heather is just trying to milk him dry, then run off with his money and abandon Addison at boarding school.” I put the spoon down as tears formed in my eyes, picturing little Addison far away from her family.
She must have known that Heather didn’t love her. I put my hand over my stomach, wondering how any mother could be so cruel to their child. Crystal leaned forward and hugged me, and we just sat there for a while, rocking back and forth as I sobbed into her shoulder. “I had no idea it was so bad, Annie.”
I pulled away from her and dabbed at my eyes.
“The worst part,” I said in between sobs, “is that Richard doesn’t feel confident that I’d be a good mother figure. How could he even question that, Crystal? He’s seen me with Caley!”
