Brandon

Macie and Lyra had been noticeably happier since being back at the shop. I, however, have been more stressed.

Even with the best security company watching over them, I still don't feel at ease and I won't until the police catch whoever messed with Lyra.

"Mr. Cole?"

I turned to face Mrs. Cook, my housekeeper. She came today while the girls are out shopping to clean the bedrooms upstairs.

"Yes?"

"I found this in Miss. Mitchell's room, I thought you'd want to see it."

Mrs. Cook handed me a piece of paper and as much as I knew it was wrong to snoop, I couldn't help it.

"Thank you Mrs. Cook," I said and took the paper. Once she left, I unfolded the note.

Stay away from Brandon Cole.

My blood boiled upon seeing the note. This must be what Lyra shoved away the other day. Why would she hide this from me?

I paced back and forth across the living room floor for the next hours until the girls returned home. Their giggles floated from the elevators but halted upon seeing my face.

"Macie, go up to your room," I said, deadly calm.

Macie knew when I was being serious and went straight up to her room. While I had never directed my anger at my daughter, she knew not to antagonize me any further.

"What's this?" I asked, showing Lyra the note.

She shifted back and forth on her feet while fidgeting with her hands. She was nervous.

"Lyra," I warned. "Where did you get this?"

Lyra's eyes were cast down to the floor when she answered me. "The apartment," she mumbled.

"When?" I growled. I already knew the answer, but I wanted to hear it from her.

Lyra shook her head, looking like she was on the verge of tears. Sighing, I ran my fingers through my hair.

After taking a few calming breaths and reminding myself that it's not Lyra I was mad at, I walked forward and lifted her chin so she was looking me in the eye.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, my voice much softer than before.

Lyra shrugged. "I'm sorry."

"Look Lyra," I said, placing my hands on her shoulders. "I'm not mad at you, but you need to tell me about things like this so I can keep you safe."

Lyra's gaze once again dropped and my heart went with it. I hated that I was making her feel like this, but I needed her to know how serious this was. This brought vandalism to outright threat, her safety was on the line.

"Why?" Lyra asked softly, bringing me back out of my head.

"Why what?"

Lyra shook her head, like she hadn't meant to voice the question. But I wasn't going to let her off that easy.

"Why what, Lyra?"

"Why do you care?" Her voice was barely a whisper, but I didn't miss her words or the small crack in her voice.

"Why wouldn't I?"

Did she really think I didn't care about her? She couldn't be more wrong.

"It's not your job. I'm just Macie's babysitter, that's all."

Lyra still wasn't looking at me so I lifted her chin again. "You know that's not true."

Lyra was so much more than just Macie's babysitter. "You're family," I told her. But once again she shook her head.

"I don't have a family."

And then she turned and left the penthouse. And I was too shocked to go after her.

____________________________________

Lyra

Where did all that come from? Why was he saying things like that?

I'm currently sitting on my new couch pondering the events of today. It had been perfect, Macie and I went shopping and got lunch, but then Brandon happened.

I didn't know what to think about the whole situation. He said he cared, but he couldn't. He said I'm family, but I'm not.

I'm just Macie's babysitter, that's all. I'll never be more. I can't be more.

My phone rang at that moment and Hailey's name came onto the screen. I thought about letting the call go to voicemail, but I really needed someone to talk to and Hailey was the closest thing I had to a friend.

"Hello?" I said after picking up.

"Hey Lyra, what's up?"

"Um, nothing much. You?"

The line went silent for a few moments before Hailey spoke up again. "Ok, so I'm not gonna lie, Brandon called me. He's really worried about you?"

"Why?" I asked, slightly hurt that she only called because of Brandon.

"He cares about you," Hailey said softly.

"Again, why?"

Why would he care about me? There's no reason for him to. He's Brandon Cole, a fricking billionaire, and I'm just me. Unremarkable, plain old, me.

"Why wouldn't he?" Hailey retorted.

"I'm nothing special."

"That's where you're wrong. Lyra, you're amazing. I don't understand how you can't see that."

I sighed. "It doesn't matter anyways. I'll get the boot soon enough anyways."

"What makes you say that?"

"Claire doesn't like me." If she knew Brandon said he cared about me, she'd be livid.

"So? Claire's a bitch."

I gasped, shocked by Hailey's statement.

"What?" She asked. "You know it's true."

And I did. "So why is he with her?" I couldn't help but ask.

"It's complicated. Claire used to be nice. I never liked her, but she at least tried to be nice and Brandon fell in love with her. Now I think he feels obligated to stay with her since it's been so long."

"Oh."

"Well, I've got to go, but I wouldn't worry too much about Claire. She's all bark no bite."

I laughed and said goodbye to Hailey. She left me a lot to think about.

I need ice cream.

My new freezer was empty, so I made the trip to the store and bought three pints, that way I wouldn't have to go back anytime soon. For ice cream at least. I'll still need groceries.

My new couch welcomed me and my ice cream. This was my first ice cream session on this couch. It felt like a momentous occasion.

And on such a momentous occasion, why stick to one flavor when you can have three?

I placed the three cartons on the coffee table, also new, and rotated between the three of them as I let my thoughts whirl through my head.

Most of them involved Brandon and Claire, but then there were the occasional random ones that popped up.

After I had eaten more ice cream than I probably should have, I felt much better. My thoughts were more clear and I felt less insecure. Because Hailey called Claire a bitch and not me. I don't know why it mattered so much, but it did. It felt like winning an award.