“Just try to engage in the conversation,” whispers Olivia. “Seriously, you can do it.”

I just grunt at her.

But… maybe she’s onto something.

I order pizza for the three of us, and it’s delicious.

“So the Stegosaurus was your favorite?” says Olivia to Laura.

“Yeah,” says Laura, who begins reciting the facts she remembers from the museum. I don’t think they’re all correct, but it’s still impressive.

“I think I liked the T-rex,” I say. Normally, I would never try to talk to Laura like this, engaging her on this level. But Olivia really does seem to have some kind of rapport with her. I might as well try it, if it’s working so well for her. That’s something I learned running my own business—if something is working well for someone else, and you’re struggling with it, just give it a try yourself. Most of the time, if it works for them, it’ll work for you too.

“The T-rex?” says Laura, looking at me with a puzzled expression her face. She’s used to me telling her what to do, telling her she needs to study harder, not talking about her favorite dinosaurs.

“Yeah,” I say, my words faltering for a moment, until I find them. “It was so big and powerful. It was the king of the whole world, right?”

“The Stegosaurus had cool spikes,” says Laura. “And it didn’t hurt animals like the T-rex. It just ate plants.”

“That’s a good point,” I say. “It’s nice that they were just eating plants and not hurting things. I guess the T-rex had to do it, but it’s a little unfortunate.”

The rest of the meal goes stellar. Laura and I are chatting away about dinosaurs and everything else in the museum. Olivia hangs back a little in the conversation, but interjects when I’m starting to falter. But mostly she just smiles at us.

When it’s time to go, Laura goes to the bathroom and Olivia smiles at me.

“What is it?” I say.

“It’s so nice to see you getting along with your daughter.”

“I didn’t know it was this… easy,” I say.

“Why do you have such a hard time talking to her?”

“I think it’s because my own parents didn’t really talk to me.”

“What do you mean they didn’t talk to you?”

“You know, they just ordered me around, told me to do chores, do my work… threatened me.” I’m about to add “beat me,” but Laura comes back from the bathroom, all smiles, full of pizza and good dinosaur conversation.

“Well,” I say. “Looks like we should really be getting back.”

“I’m tired,” says Laura, her whole mood suddenly changing from excitement to satisfied exhaustion.

“I’ll carry you,” I say, and I scoop down and pick her up.

She smiles at me before falling fast asleep in my arms.

“I haven’t done this since she was a little kid,” I say.

“She still is a little kid,” says Olivia.

“You know what I mean.”

At the car, I lay her gently into the backseat and buckle the seatbelt. I lean down and kiss her forehead.

“Thanks,” I say, getting into the driver’s seat, with Olivia beside me in the passenger seat.

“For what?”

“For all this,” I say. “You’ve really helped me, and I don’t know why. You didn’t have to do all this. It’s not part of the agreement.”

Olivia shrugs. “I just wanted to see you two have a good relationship,” she says. “And, it’s not like this is going to fix everything. You’re going to have to work at it, but you can do it.”

I nod.

I don’t know what to say. For once, I’m lost for words with Olivia.

I guess I was kind of a dick to her, in a way.

“Hey,” I say. “Did I tell you yet about the dinner party?”

“Nope,” says Olivia, starting to giggle.

“What’s so funny? It’s just a dinner party.”

“It’s just that you’re not giving me an order,” she says. “Usually when you talk to me you just tell me what to do, and you’re not doing that now.”

I shrug. “I hadn’t noticed,” I say. “Anyway, I’m hosting it tomorrow night.”

“Tomorrow night?” she says.

I nod. “I’m inviting the judge and a couple business partners. This is the chance to show you off as my new respectable bride. And it’s my chance to show them I’m a changed man and all that.”

“You think they’ll buy that?”

“People can be surprisingly gullible,” I say.

“So who’s going to be there? A bunch of other rich guys and their trophy wives?”

“A few,” I say. “You might actually like some of them, though. My old friend, Ryan Hudson, is coming in from San Francisco with his new wife, who I’ve never met.”

“He’s another business guy?”

“Sort of. He’s a programmer. He did it all himself, basically inventing something that earned him his money.”

“Impressive,” says Olivia, but she doesn’t sound impressed.

When we get back home, Olivia walks with me to Laura’s room. I carry Laura, and set her down on her bed. She doesn’t wake up the entire time.

“Those dinosaurs must have really tired her out,” I whisper.

Olivia nods and smiles down at Laura.

“You really like her, don’t you?” I say.

“Yeah,” says Olivia. “She’s great, and I never thought I’d be the type of person to enjoy kids.”

We leave Laura’s room, closing the door gently behind us.

There’s an awkward moment as we look at each other. I can tell that we’re both thinking about the same thing: the awkwardly silent and angry car trip back from the Poconos this morning, and last night.

My cock starts to stiffen in my pants as I remember tearing the dress off of her and plunging my cock deep inside her.

“Well,” she says. “I’m heading to bed.”

“Got it,” I say.

Down at the bar, I pour myself a light whiskey on the rocks, and sit, contemplating a painting that’s been hanging on the wall for years, one that I’ve never paid much attention to before.