CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
MY cell phone woke me, making me struggle out from underneath Jarrod’s arm and reach around on the nightstand for it.
“Hello?” he said.
“Dad?” Billy’s voice said, and I was awake in an instant, sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Billy? God, I’ve missed hearing your voice,” I said. “Where are you? At home?”
“No, I’m at Will’s place. I asked his mom if I could use the phone.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. There was less chance of him being caught breaching the order if Billy wasn’t at home.
“How are you?” I said. “How have you been?”
“What’s happened, Dad?” Billy said. “Why can’t I see you?”
I could hear Billy was in tears, and I said, “Don’t cry, love, and I’ll try to explain. Your mom’s taken out a court order stopping me from having any contact with you. I’m not even supposed to be talking to you like this.”
“She said you’d done something bad, something that might hurt me. Is that true?”
“It’s not true,” I said, and Jarrod’s hand was resting on my shoulder, giving me support. “It’s grown-up and complicated and I don’t think you’re old enough to know.”
There was silence, then Billy said, “Bullshit, Dad. You said you’d never lie about important stuff.”
I took a deep breath in. “Do you know what a prostitute is? A hooker? A brothel?”
“Yeah,” Billy said. “I know what a hooker is, and a brothel is where they work. What’s that got to do with you?”
I closed my eyes. “I lied to you about where I was working. I’ve been working for a brothel, driving hookers around.”
“You’re kidding me? That is so cool. Wait until I tell the kids at school.”
I swallowed and waited for Billy to work it out. The kid was smart; it wouldn’t take him long.
“Oh,” Billy said, and his voice was small.
“Yes, Jarrod is a prostitute. Your mom has said I shouldn’t have let you meet him. That’s why I can’t see you.”
“But he seemed ordinary. Not weird.”
“I’m fighting this, Billy,” I said. “I’ve got a lawyer, a superb one, and she will get you back for me. I’m not letting your mom get away with stopping me from seeing you.”
Billy was crying; I could hear him making snuffling noises. “It’s not fair,” he said.
“It isn’t fair. It’s your mom doing what she thinks is best for you,” I said. “Please don’t cry.”
“I want to see you,” Billy said. “Can’t you come and get me?”
I considered it for one insane moment. The three of us— Jarrod, Billy and myself— could get in my car and drive for the border. It wasn’t far to Mexico; they’d get there before Daniela could list Billy as missing.
But then he’d be doing what Daniela was, stopping Billy from seeing both of his parents.
“I can’t. I have to do the right thing now, and that means not seeing you for the moment.”
“Dad,” Billy sobbed, and I was crying too.
“I love you, sweetheart. No matter what happens, I’ll always love you.”
I needed to ask Billy to not tell Daniela about the call, but that would break one of the basic rules Daniela and I had agreed on: that neither of us would ask Billy to keep secrets from the other parent. I couldn’t do that; I would have to take his chances with Billy telling Daniela.
“I love you too, Dad.”
I could hear a woman’s voice in the background, and Billy said, “I have to go, Dad. Bye.”
“Hello?” the woman’s voice said, and it wasn’t Daniela. “You must be Billy’s dad.”
“Yeah,” I said.
“I’m Will’s mom. I gather you’re doing the whole family court thing at the moment. I wanted to let you know I’ll look after Billy now; he’s pretty upset.”
“Thank you,” I said. I could hear Billy crying in the background now and I was almost sobbing myself.
I put the phone down and crawled into Jarrod’s waiting arms.
Half an hour later, the Xanax that Jarrod had given me had kicked in, and I felt human again.
I rang my agent’s PA, Brittany, while Jarrod was showering, hoping I’d catch her before she left for home.
It took Brittany a moment to find my file, then she said, “What can I do for you today, Sebastian?”
“I need work,” I said. “Absolutely anything. I don’t care what it is, you’ve got to get me to work.”
“I thought you had a day job,” she said. “Didn’t you ring us up to say you weren’t looking anymore?”
“I did,” I said. “But I’ve got a child access hearing coming up, and I need to have real work before then.”
“I’m sorry to hear,” Brittany said, and she sounded genuine. “I thought you’d had a civilized break-up?”
“It isn’t now,” I said.
“OK, love, I’ll put you at the top of our active list and push you hard for a while, and I’ll let Zoey know to do the same. I’m sure we can find you something.”
Jarrod sat down on the bed beside me, damp from the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist, and I slid my arm around him.
“Thanks, Brittany,” I said. “I’ll be in touch.”
I would be too; I would go back to my early career tactics of dropping into my agent’s office, hoping to annoy her into finding me work. Sometimes irritating persistence was the right thing.
Jarrod’s skin was cool to touch, and I pressed my cheek against Jarrod’s shoulder.
“You all right?” Jarrod asked.
“No,” I said.