On the inside of my forearm, there was a pink mark where my arm had thawed. My eyes widened with shock. There, perfectly formed in my reddened skin, was a child-size handprint. I glanced around, doing a full sweep, listening for what I then knew was a giggle. I wondered if I could follow the breeze, and set off in the direction she took.
I am strong! The words sang inside me as I struggled to contain my growing rage, the iciness at war with the red I saw. I can control this. This will not affect me. I took a deep breath as I finished reading, letting the words sink into my cold bones and quell my boiling anger. I ran my hand through my hair to ground myself, then rolled the letter up and sighed loudly.
“I’m actually here for an interview,” I say. “One of my ex-husbands told me I need to get a job.”
I take a tiny sip of my drink, maintaining my indifference. I do so love watching the mortals attempt their own tricky schemes. They are all such amateurs. But then no one can match me. “Are you sure?” I rest the glass on the arm of the chair. That will be quite enough of that for the time being.
“Daddy, Daddy!” Charlie came running into the room, tears streaming down her face. Her cute little blonde curls stuck to her flustered cheeks. She was my sun in this cold, dark world, the constant glow in my life, and the only reason that I stayed in this shit hole.
Funny how you just never know what’s really in a book until you crack it open and look inside. Bob was just like that. He was a gentle giant, a hard worker, a good husband, and a father. He’s going to need more than his strength alone to fix this situation.
I scooted closer to her, placing my hand on her knee. The flash of victory images flashed the end results before me. I pulled my hand away. That had never happened to me before.
Hell, I was the Revolt House’s secret benefactor who allowed all of them to live in the house, pursue their education and careers, fight for what they believed in, and for a greatly discounted rental price. Honestly, the only appeal about the paycheck was that it would help enforce the persona and history that I presented. And that was beyond valuable to me.
I kept quiet, because it wasn’t often that he admitted I was right about anything. “Why are you really here? It’s certainly not to critique my color choices.”
