Victoria put her handbag on the hallway table and started to remove her coat. It had been a long day, one where getting away early was simply impossible. She’d phoned earlier and asked Holly if she would mind watching the children. Holly, as predicted, had said it wasn’t a problem and to get home when she could.
She hung her coat in the closet and frowned as she heard footsteps hammering down the stairs. She turned around.
“Mom!” Alexia cried out, tears streaming down her face.
“Darling?” Victoria started to panic. She walked towards her daughter, her arms outstretched.
Alexia threw herself into Victoria’s arms.
“Darling, what is it?” Victoria held her tightly, a thousand thoughts running through her mind at what had Alexia in such a state.
“Mom, you have to fix it. You have to,” Alexia mumbled.
Victoria knew in that second that she would fix it. Whatever it was. Whatever had reduced her darling girl to tears would be fixed.
“Fix what? You’re frightening me, sweetheart.”
Alexia took a step back and rubbed at her red face. “Holly’s leaving. She’s got a job, and she’s going to leave in a couple of days.”
Victoria felt her blood run cold at the news. She’d been expecting it, but, as long as she hid herself away in her office, she could pretend that everything was fine. Of all the things that Alexia could demand she fix, this was the one that she knew would be impossible.
“It’s your fault, you have to fix it,” Alexia said, her face becoming impossibly redder.
“I-I can’t fix it, sweetheart. There’s nothing I can do, Holly has her own life, and if she chooses to go and—”
Alexia wrenched herself out of her mother’s grip. She looked up at her with a glare that was apparently genetic.
Victoria froze. Alexia’s face was venomous at not hearing what she wanted to hear.
“I hate you,” Alexia said. She burst into tears and run back up the stairs.
Victoria stood in shock. She knew she should do something, but she had no idea what. Holly was leaving. Alexia blamed her, correctly so.
She couldn’t fix it. Too many things had happened in the past to be fixed like that. Not that she could adequately explain such things to Alexia.
She brought her hands up to rub her upper arms. She wasn’t used to not knowing what to do and she didn’t like the sensation.
“She doesn’t mean it.”
She turned around to see Hugo appear from the kitchen. He bit into an apple and leaned on the doorframe.
“She sounded like she meant it,” Victoria said.
She could feel tears forming and quickly turned away. Hugo didn’t need to see her weakness.
She felt an arm around her shoulder.
“Come on,” he said softly, “let’s go into the study.”
He guided her across the hallway and into her sanctuary. When they were safely inside, he closed the door behind them and walked her over to the armchair.
The touching gesture caused a few tears to fall. She plucked a tissue from the box that sat on the side table and dabbed at her eyes.
Hugo grabbed a bottle of water from the mini-fridge in the corner of the room and poured a glass for his mother.
“Thank you,” she said through a sniffle. She took the glass and sipped the cool water.
“You really like her, don’t you?” Hugo asked.
“Alexia? Of course I do! She’s my daught—”
“I don’t mean Alexia, Mom. She’s said mean things to you before and it didn’t affect you like this. I mean Holly. You… it’s… more than just friendship, isn’t it?”
“No,” Victoria denied. “I don’t know what you’re insinuating, but Holly is just an ex-employee. Nothing more.”
She dabbed at the remaining tears and sat up a little taller.
“I’m just upset with Alexia’s reaction, and it was a long day,” she added.
“Mom, I’ve seen how you look at her. How she looks at you. I know something’s going on. And I know you’ve dated women…”
She nearly dropped the glass of water. “Wh—How?”
“The Internet. Before Dad, you were seen out with women. Please only deny it if it’s not true,” he said softly. “Don’t deny it because of what you worry I’ll think of you. Nearly everyone at school says they’re bisexual because they want to be cool. It’s not like it’s a thing anymore. If you’re bi, you’re bi. Or gay. Or whatever other label you want.”
She lifted the glass to her lips and downed a couple of large mouthfuls of water to quench her suddenly dry throat.
So the Internet had outed her. She wondered why she hadn’t heard about it before. Then again, there were hundreds of thousands of news outlets and blogs, so maybe it wasn’t a surprise that some sailed under her radar.
There was no need to lie about it now. Hugo was mature enough to understand that his mother had a life outside of being a parent.
“I’ve never really put a label on it,” she admitted. “After I married your father I thought that was that. That it was all rather irrelevant. And then, after the divorce, I didn’t think I’d have to think about it. Who wants to date the dragon lady?”
“Anyone would be lucky to have you,” he said sincerely.
She put her glass on the table and walked over to where he leaned on her desk. She pulled him into a big hug.
“Anyone would be lucky to have you as their son,” she told him.
He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly, reminding her just how big he was growing and that he wasn’t her little boy anymore.
“I don’t believe you, by the way,” he said, his chin perched on her head.
“About what?” she asked.
“That you were just upset by Alexia’s reaction.”
“Yes, well, that’s your prerogative, I suppose.”
“It’s not too late,” he said.
She stepped back and cupped his cheek with her hand. “It is, darling. It is. Whether or not I have feelings for Holly is utterly irrelevant. She’s young, I’m old, divorced, I have two awful children who are practically monsters.”
He chuckled. “Hey, I didn’t say I hated you.”
“No, thank goodness.” She took a step back and grabbed another tissue. She felt she looked a mess, so she wanted to repair any damage before she set about dealing with Alexia.
“Holly didn’t mean to tell us,” he added. “I think she wanted to talk to you first. But then Alexia was trying to get her to take us to the movies next week and Holly had to come clean and tell us. She’s downstairs, she felt bad for upsetting Alexia, and I suggested she give her some space.”
Victoria swallowed. She examined her reflection in the mirror above the sofa.
“She has a job?”
“Yes, receptionist, part-time. It fits around her medical appointments,” he said.
“I see. And… somewhere to live? Please tell me she’s not still thinking about a hostel.”
“She mentioned sharing a house, renting a room. It’s, like, a million miles away, though.” He wrinkled his nose. “You have to take New Jersey Transit to get there.”
“I see.”
“So, she’s ruining her life,” Hugo added. “Taking the first job she can find, it’s not what she wants. She said it will pay the bills, but she won’t be happy.”
“She has her own life, Hugo, I can’t stop her.”
“You can talk to her. She looks up to you.”
Victoria laughed. “No, she doesn’t.”
“She does. She talks about you like you’re her hero. While you’re down here, hiding from us and pretending to be so busy with work. She’s watching movies, playing games, helping us with homework, and all the time she’s telling us how great you are and how lucky we are to have you.”
She swallowed again. She turned around and took a deep breath.
“That may be. But first I need to check on your sister.”
Hugo shrugged. “Whatever,” he mumbled. Clearly, he’d had enough bashing his head against the brick wall that was his mother’s stubbornness. Thank goodness.
She couldn’t think of anything to say to him. So, she walked silently out of the study. Her mind was spinning with new information. This wasn’t how she had expected the evening to go, but she supposed things had been building. Something had to give eventually.
The games room was quiet, the living room, too. It seemed that Alexia had gone straight to her room to sulk. Victoria walked up another flight of stairs to the top floor of the house. She approached Alexia’s door and gently knocked.
“Sweetheart? Can I come in?”
She waited a few moments.
Silence.
“Alexia?”
She realised the door wasn’t quite closed and softly pushed on the door. It opened to reveal a darkened room. She stepped in and squinted while her eyes adjusted to the lack of light.
“Alexia?” she asked.
She turned on the light and saw that the room was empty.
“Damn,” she mumbled to herself. If Alexia wasn’t in her room or the main living areas, she must be in Holly’s room. Presumably throwing herself on the floor and begging the girl to stay.
While she didn’t feel strong enough to confront Holly just yet, she knew she had to speak with Alexia. With a deep breath, she started to make her way downstairs.