You never used to be this aggressive before the parking garage incident,says Mildred.
Oh, shut up.
We have been standing there for five minutes, having been let in by a tall, leggy blonde also wearing distinctly nightclub clothes, who then ran over to Elisa and told her, but beyond a limp wave in our direction, Elisa is still glued to her phone and has not come over to greet us.
To my mind, she’s looking amazing despite the subtle greeny gold of the tan. Up close, the thinness looks likeyoga-muscled thinness, which makes me feel envious.Iwant muscles from holding Warrior Two for five minutes and a belly that is definitely not held in withsuck-it-in undergarments. But I have no time in my life for yoga and—
You could do yoga yourself in the morning, the way you pretend to when you talk to journalists. As ever, Mildred is helping. Not.
‘Perhaps Elisa’s too busy today.’ As soon as I say it, I regret the words. This is about Lexi. Not me.
Not me being jealous of where this other woman will fit into my daughter’s life. Or jealousy over where she once fitted into my husband’s life.
‘But we can wait—’ I begin.
Too late.
I have pushed Dan’s buttons and he’s irritated with Elisa.
‘Come on,’ he growls, steering our daughter in the direction of the woman he once married.
Dan does not have a ‘let’s pretend’ voice – another reason I love him. He is straight as a die. Honest. While I feel spectacularly dishonest because I hate being here for a variety of reasons, I can’t say a thing. This is my stuff to deal with.
‘Lexi, let’s go and say hello to Elisa,’ Dan says.
Lexi, ballet trained and walking like she should already be in the corps de ballet somewhere, glides excitedly over with him and I follow.
Instantly, as if she was waiting for this all along, Elisa beams in our direction and hangs up her phone.
‘Darlings, I’m so glad you could come, and early too because we have all the press and it will be terribly boring for all of you.’
If I’m not mistaken, Elisa is nervous.
Her eyes flicker towards me and I realise that something has clearly changed with her. Before today, I’ve only met her five times but there’s something different now.
Gone is the perpetual party girl who thought that the ultimate in cool meant designer clothes, fast cars, never having an actual job and counting manysub-celebrities among her ‘friends’.
In her place is an extremely attractivedark-haired woman approaching forty. To my mind – to my mother’s mind – forty is just the start of another decade.
To the Elisas of this world, forty is Armageddon.
The time of reinvention or a major facelift unless you have married extremely well or have a career.
I feel a hint of pity.
‘You look wonderful, Dan,’ Elisa is cooing and I zone back in to realise that all this time, Elisa is addressing Dan and hasn’t spoken to Lexi or me at all.
The hint of pity vanishes.
‘Elisa, hello,’ I say cheerfully, because you can’t be on TV for a few years without learning a few skills, notably how to sound pleased to see someone when you’re not. ‘This ...’ I gesture with my hands, ‘is all great fun. Well done you. Say hello, Lexi darling, you haven’t seen – er, each other for a very long time.’
I stumbled there but I am not calling Elisa ‘your mother’.I’mLexi’s mother. Even if I don’t have abs of steel or a beauty contract.
‘Hi,’ says Lexi shyly. ‘Nice to meet you. I can’t wait to see the products.’
Elisa smiles and bends to hug Lexi, the child she has seen perhaps seven times since she officially gave Dan full custody and allowed me to adopt her.
I am standing behind my daughter and I instinctively tighten my grip on her shoulders.
