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I would have rather approached him when I was ready, but now he’s here, and I don’t really have a choice.
“I want to talk some more. We can’t just leave things like that. We have too much between us, whether you remember some of it or not. Our daughter, for one.”
Our daughter.
I jerk at the words. The thought brings out a myriad of emotions in me. Sophia is our daughter, not just mine.
“What else is there to say? You want to go back to how things were, and I’m not comfortable with moving in with you. You forget that I don’t know you now.”
He cringes slightly, and the guilt from yesterday is back. I push it down and steady my resolve. He is not going to get his way just because he’s some rich businessman that knows things about me that I don’t.
“I know, and after you left yesterday, I realized how unrealistic that was of me to think. Of course you wouldn’t be comfortable with me, but I’ve come here today to suggest a different alternative.”
It makes me nervous to see the hope in his eyes.
“I want to provide for you and Sophia. She is my daughter. I want to take care of you two and make sure neither of you want for anything.”
He reaches into his jean pocket and pulls out a set of keys.
“I understand you not wanting to live with me, but I want to be part of Sophia’s life, and yours, if you would let me. These are the keys to an apartment in my building. You wouldn’t be living with me, but you would be close. I know Sophia still has school here, so it would just be for the weekends until summer, then we could revisit this conversation and see how we want to handle things. In the meantime, we could all get to know each other?”
It comes out like a question, and I’m left overwhelmed with everything he just said.
“How did you get an apartment in the city while you’ve been here?”
I don’t know why that’s the part that stands out to me, but it’s all I can focus on at the moment.
“Uh, my assistant handled it for me.”
Of course he has an assistant.
“Why would you do this? You didn’t even talk to me about it.”
I don’t understand this man at all, and he clearly doesn’t understand me.
“I did this because I want to make sure you have a place to go that isn’t my home. I can’t stay here, and I want to get to know my daughter; I want the both of you to get to know me. I didn’t talk to you about it beforehand because I just want the place to be there for when you’re ready for it. It’s not like I can’t afford it.”
I scoff at his ego. Just because he has more money than us, it doesn’t mean he needs to go around buying apartments. It makes me nervous to think about being back in his world of wealth and power. I know nothing of that world anymore, and I’m already feeling overwhelmed by it all. It would be a drastic change to our lives, and I don’t know if I’m ready for that.
“You realize how crazy this is, right?”
I’m worried that with my amnesia I will be taken advantage of or trampled over. I stare at the keys on the counter in front of me, a symbolic bridge between my past and my future. Chandler must see the indecision on my face. He leans over the counter and places one of his hands over mine.
“I promise you that I will take care of you and Sophia no matter what. I’m not in this for anything other than getting to know my daughter and her mother again. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
They are nice words to hear, but I don’t know him enough for them to bring me comfort.
I gently slide my hand out from under his and take a step back from the counter. I can see the hurt in his eyes before he closes off and keeps a neutral look on his face.
“I need time to process this. Everything is happening very fast. How am I going to explain this to Soph? She doesn’t know about the accident and how I lost my memories; I have to tell her that before I can tell her about you, but I don’t even know where to start with that. She’s so young.”
He nods in understanding, but I can see that it’s hard for him to hear. I can’t let that get to me, I need to focus on Sophia and me before I can worry about him.
“Do you mind if I’m there when you tell her about me?”
It only seems fair that he be there to tell his daughter about him. I need to start thinking about how to include him in things that are about Sophia.
“I don’t see why not, but I need to prepare her for that. This is going to be confusing for her, and we’ll need to take it slow.”
