“Yes!” Lizzie threw her arms up in the air and stepped into the elevator when the doors opened.
Emerson chuckled then followed her inside.
When they were gone, I shut the door and walked back into my penthouse, the weight off my shoulders.I was sitting at the dining table writing my book when my mom called.
It was late in the evening for a phone call, so I quickly answered to make sure everything was okay. “Hey, Mom. What’s up?”
“Hey, honey. How’d it go?”
“How’d what go?”
“Tutoring Lizzie.”
My eyebrows furrowed. “How did you know about that?”
“Emerson told me,” she said, a smile in her voice.
It was weird to think that Emerson already had a personal relationship with my mother before she was even my girlfriend. Now, that relationship had deepened. It was like they were girlfriends. “It went better than I thought it would.”
“I knew it would be fine. Wasn’t worried one bit. What did you think of her?”
I shrugged even though I was alone in my penthouse. “She’s like a lot of students in the system. They think they’re stupid because they’re not absorbing the information based on the way it’s being taught. But if you give them instruction in a different way, they absorb the information. It really started to click for her…and she improved. Her confidence seemed a lot higher at the end of the session versus the beginning—”
“I meant, what did you think of her personally, Derek.”
“Uh…I don’t know her.”
“You guys didn’t talk about anything besides schoolwork?”
“No. My job was to tutor her. That’s what I did.”
“I understand that, honey. But maybe next time, ask her a few other questions in the beginning. You know, what are her friends like, does she have hobbies, does she play sports…stuff like that.”
I was just relieved we’d made it through the session without me saying something really stupid and making her dislike me. “You know, Mom, I’m just trying to take it slow. I’ve never done this before. When we’re focused on the work, I’m comfortable. But if we aren’t doing that, I panic, so…”
“You’re right. Take your time.”
“But I think she’s a bright girl with a bright future…and she’s beautiful like her mother.”
“Emerson has shown me pictures. She is beautiful.”
I wasn’t sure if Emerson noticed, but her daughter had her same fiery attitude, so she tried to discipline Lizzie for it. But I knew exactly where Lizzie got it from.
“I also wanted to check in…about that phone call you made to your father.” Her voice turned quiet, handling the situation delicately.
“I just realized I should spend more time with you. That’s all.”
“Where did that come from, Derek? Was it the book signing?”
“No.”
“Then where…?”
I decided to tell her the truth. “Dex told me he feels guilty about being away from you guys for so long. He’s been in college this entire time, living outside of New York, and he looks forward to the day when he moves back and can see you more. He’s almost a decade younger than me, and the fact that he had that epiphany and I never have made me realize how obtuse and ungrateful I’ve been…”
“I think you’re being a little harsh on yourself, honey.”
I wasn’t being harsh enough.
“And you and Dex are different people. He jokes around a lot, but he’s very sensitive. He’s always been that way. He wears his heart on his sleeve easily and has to remind himself to tuck it away.”
Then maybe I should be more sensitive.
“I think you’re perfect the way you are, Derek. You’ve been through a lot… It’s understandable.”
I stared out the window, not wanting to go this deep.
My mother seemed to read my silence. “When are you seeing Lizzie again?”
“Thursday.”
“If you’re not busy on Sunday, want to come over for dinner?”
I wanted to ask them to do things instead of them always asking me, but the offer was on the table and I wouldn’t reject it. “Sure.”10Emerson“So, Derek is a good teacher?” We stepped into the dark apartment, and I flicked on the lights.
“Totally.” She slung her backpack onto the kitchen table even though I’d told her a million times not to do that.
But I let it go this time.
“I thought he would be one of those nerds that is just so smart, you have no idea what they are saying, but he was cool.”
“Cool?” I asked with a smile.
“Yeah. He didn’t make fun of me for not getting stuff, and when I couldn’t get there, he explained it in another way until it clicked. And then he taught me different ways of doing the problems, and it was way easier that way.”
It meant the world to me that she had positive things to say about him. Normally, she complained about her teachers all the time, said they were all stupid, so maybe she was actually being honest since she didn’t say it about Derek. “That’s great, sweetheart.”