Chapter 4: Saturday Afternoon

We watch three episodes of some reality show Chloe likes about people who buy houses in cities I've never heard of and I fall asleep halfway through the second episode and when I wake up she's gone and I check my phone and it's two in the afternoon and I slept on the couch and my neck hurts.

I find her in the backyard. She's sitting by the pool with her laptop and she has earbuds in and she's watching something and I can see from the reflection on the screen that it's TikTok or Instagram or something like that.

I make coffee. Nespresso capsules in the Vertuo machine, oat milk from the fridge that expires tomorrow. I pour it in a mug that says SUNDANCE 2019 on it and go outside and sit in the chair next to her.

She takes out one earbud. "Hey."

"Hey," I say. "You sleep okay."

"Yeah. You snore."

"I don't snore."

"You definitely snore."

She's wearing cutoff shorts and a tank top and she has sunglasses on, large round ones that make her look older, and there's a glass of something on the table that looks like orange juice but might not be.

"What do you want to do today," I say.

She shrugs. "I don't know. Nothing."

"We could go somewhere."

"Where."

"I don't know. The beach. A movie. Get food somewhere."

"Maybe," she says and puts her earbud back in.

I sit there and drink my coffee and watch her watch her phone and I think about when she was small and we would spend Saturdays at the Santa Monica pier and she would eat cotton candy and go on the carousel and make me take photos of her with the Pacific behind her and she would pose like a model even though she was six.

My phone buzzes. It's a text from Jennifer.

"How is she," it says.

"Fine," I type back.

"Can you have her call me later."

"Sure."

I put my phone down and Chloe is looking at me.

"Mom," she says.

"Yeah."

"What did she want."

"She wants you to call her later."

Chloe makes a face and goes back to her phone and I finish my coffee and it's cold by the last sip.

"I need to tell you something," I say.

She doesn't look up. "What."

"I'm going to New York next month. For work. I'll be gone for like ten days."

She pauses whatever she's watching and takes out both earbuds. "Okay."

"You'll stay with your mom while I'm gone."

"Okay."

"I wanted to tell you. I didn't want you to find out from her."

She nods and puts her earbuds back in and I think that's the end of the conversation but then she takes them out again.

"Can I come with you," she says.

I look at her. "To New York."

"Yeah."

"You have school."

"It's not like I'm learning anything anyway."

"Your mother would never go for it."

"So don't tell her. I'll say I'm staying here. You'll say I'm staying there. No one checks."

I should say no. I should tell her that lying to her mother is not an option and that school is important and that she can't just skip ten days because she feels like it. I should be the responsible parent.

"Let me think about it," I say.

She smiles. Actually smiles. "Really."

"Maybe. I don't know. I need to figure some things out first."

"If you let me come I'll go to the stupid dinner thing at Mom's tomorrow."

"There's a dinner thing."

"She didn't tell you."

"No."

"Her and Derek and me and you. Tomorrow night. At Nobu."

"Fuck," I say.

"So can I come to New York."

I look at her and she's smiling and she looks happy for the first time in months and I know this is a terrible idea and I know I'm going to do it anyway.

"Yeah," I say. "Okay. You can come."

She jumps up and hugs me and I almost spill my coffee and she's laughing and I'm laughing and for just this moment everything feels possible.