DEIRA
I had hurried inside after getting out of Cassius's car, but I didn't want to go back to Dani's apartment when I was so upset. I waited until I saw Cassius drive away, and then I went back out to take a walk around the neighborhood. I had meant to calm down, but I found myself reliving our conversation and soon I was crying.
Cassius not believing me about Mr. White hurt even more than I had let on. I'd let out all my anger on him, but beneath the anger was a deep pain and a sense of betrayal. Why did he think I would make something like that up? What did I have to gain from that? And did our relationship mean so little to him that the word of an employee he barely knew was better than my word?
That last part stung more than I wanted to admit. For all the ups and downs of our relationship, it had never felt meaningless to me, but it seemed for Cassius this always came second to his job. He believed Mr. White over me, just like he had taken a business call instead of watching Makayla. I was starting to think that my feelings for him were blinding me to the reality of how little we mattered.
I had to go around the block twice before I got a hold of myself. I stopped at my car to check in the mirror, trying to fix my makeup to eliminate all traces of tears. I must have failed, though, because the first thing Dani said to me when I walked through her door was, "Are you okay?" She knew I'd gone out to talk to Cassius, but I hadn't told her what happened at work with Mr. White yet.
"I'm fine," I lied, shaking my head so she'd know I didn't want to talk about it in front of Makayla. She got the message and nodded. Then she gave me a big hug.
"Hey Makayla," she shouted over her shoulder to the girl, who was watching a movie on her couch, "how'd you like to have dinner here tonight? I'll order pizza."
"Yes!" Makayla shouted, jumping up and down on the couch.
"You don't have to do that," I protested. "You already helped me out by watching Makayla so I could talk to Cassius."
"Of course, I don't have to do it," Dani rolled her eyes at me. "I want to do it. It's been too long since we had a pizza night. In fact, I think," she raised her voice and walked over toward Makayla, "it's been too long since we had a sleepover. What do you think?" Makayla's eyes lit up.
"Can we, Mommy? Please?" she asked. I nodded, and Makayla resumed jumping on the couch in celebration as Dani laughed and went to order the pizza.
A few hours later, with the pizza eaten and Makayla having finally calmed down enough to go to bed, Dani broke out a bottle of wine.
"Let's hear it," she said as she poured us each a glass.
"Hear what?" I asked.
"Whatever it was you didn't want to talk about in front of Makayla earlier," she said as she handed me my wine. I sighed, and the whole story came spilling out. As I told it, I watched Dani's face go from concerned, to angry, to downright furious. To her credit, she managed to sit quietly and let me get through the whole thing. When I was finished, she gave me a big hug, holding onto me for a long time. Finally, she let me go and without saying a word, went to her freezer and brought me back a pint of my favorite ice cream.
"Where did you get this?" I asked in surprise. It was a tricky flavor to find, caramel cheesecake flavor with chunks of chocolate cookies. And Dani didn't even like caramel.
"What do you mean?" Dani asked. "I always keep a supply of emergency ice cream. Specifically, I keep three pints in the freezer at all times, one for each of our favorite flavors. Caramel cheesecake flavor for you, peanut butter fudge for me, and of course, cookie dough for Makayla."
"Dani! I never knew you did that," I said. I was so touched at this that I started to cry again. Dani grabbed some tissues and then hugged me again. When I finally stopped, she handed me the tissue and said, "I have an idea. Why don't you give me this Mr. White's description, and I can go give him a piece of my mind?"
Dani giving someone a piece of her mind was a sight to see, and I was honestly tempted. I was pretty sure she was joking, though, so I smiled faintly and shook my head.
"No? Okay, what about Cassius? You gave me his number for emergencies. Can I give him a call? I have some choice words for him." She raised her eyebrows at me, and seemed serious. It was very tempting, but I didn't think it would make things better, so I shook my head again.
"Okay, well how about this idea," she said. "Why don't you call in sick for a few days, and you guys can crash here? I feel like you could use a little emotional support and maybe a break from the rest of your life."
That actually sounded really good. I'd been so busy with the new job and with Cassius lately, I had almost forgotten how important Dani was to me and how much I valued our friendship. I nodded emphatically.
"That's a great idea. You're a genius," I said.
"I know," Dani replied, grinning smugly.