burning out with time to spare {eiji}

[✿ngela wingrose]

The internal battle raged within her mind.

It was a waste of money. You should be at home taking care of her yourself!

You needed a break. You deserve a break!

What will happen when Kennedy gets home and he's met with a total stranger?

Isn't that what he gets every night?

Angela had hired a babysitter so she could have a day to herself. She had mother's guilt, seeing as how Kelly wasn't even one yet, and abandoning her felt so incredibly wrong. But she had stayed been together with Kelly 24/7 since the girl was born, and the crying and the screaming and the dirty diapers were really fraying her nerves. It might not be so stressful if she had some help, but Kennedy wasn't exactly in the picture. Literally, actually. Angela had scheduled a family portrait and Kennedy couldn't make it. So the family was photographed as it actually was; Angela and her beautiful daughter.

She was leaning on the rail of the ferry that transported tourists from New York City to Staten island. Occasionally her hands would cover her face, sometimes she'd wipe away tears beneath gigantic sun glasses. Now that the weather was warmer, people were visiting the island more often. The ferry wasn't overly crowded like it would be in the summertime, but it had a fair number of passengers. No one seemed to recognize her when she boarded, but she kept her head down and her face hidden just in case. You'd think that in New York the paparazzi would be intolerable, but when you were out of the game for over a year, the press and the photographers forgot about you.

She tried to convince herself this was what she wanted; she never liked people snapping pictures of her when she was just trying to live her life. But it did symbolize her popularity. It told her she was still making it into the updates section of celebrity gossip magazines. It told her she still had a job. And Angela loved modeling - she loved it as much as oxygen! But not more than she loved her daughter.

Ever since Kelly arrived, her life had been turned upside-down. If she was truly being honest with herself, it was before then, when Tristan broke up with her. But thinking about that was too painful, so her memories blocked that out and blamed it on Kelly's birthday. However, it wasn't Kelly she blamed. Oh, Angela had to put the blame on someone; she was never the one at fault! It was Kennedy she pointed the finger at, but the hard working young man knew nothing of his fiance's accusations. She kept silent, all but ignoring him when he came home late at night and crawled into bed with her. Their love life was non-existent, and Kennedy as beginning to doubt that Angela was as tired as she pretended to be.

It was only 11am, and Angela really was exhausted. Kelly still wasn't able to sleep through a whole night, and instead took her naps first thing in the morning. The babysitter came over to a peaceful child and a list of instructions from Angela. She planned to come home before Kennedy did so as to avoid the awkward 'Who are you and why are you holding my child?' questions, but Angela wasn't sure how late she'd be out. Was forever an option?

The 'no' came faster than the question had a chance to completely ask itself. Angela could never, would never, leave Kelly to the care of Kennedy. His daughter hardly knew him, a fact he seemed disturbingly comfortable with, at least in Angela's eyes. Truthfully he was oblivious to the way Kelly squirmed. She never did that with Angela; she knew Angela and loved Angela and trusted Angela. Kennedy was a stranger Kelly wasn't adjusted to, some strange man who occasionally peeked into her bedroom at night or who watched her eat breakfast when he didn't have early shifts. Angela wasn't overly enthused about Kennedy's absence either, and one day she would explode. That day wouldn't be today though. Nor tomorrow. And likely it wouldn't be the day after that. She suffered in silence. Because she knew how that argument would go.

Life seemed hopeless. She let out a hysterical cry that sounded more like a sarcastic laugh. The blonde hair was tossed over her shoulders so the wind could no longer pull it across her vision.

"I'm done," She said simply, and even she wasn't sure what she was referring to. Motherhood? Kennedy? Her day to herself? She looked to her left, toward the island, and jumped.

[Eiji Almasy.]

His boss, who wasn't really his boss but was rather someone in the chain of people above him who worked for Jonathan England, called him at exactly 8AM to tell him that he needed to be over at The Hampton's before lunch with copies of the previous month's money allocation charts. Wednesday's meant that he had no class and to his extreme fortune, no work either, but seeing as how he was looking at a Marketing paper deadline the next day, Eiji had planned to spend a good part of his morning sleeping before dedicating a good part of his life to some intensive study. The phone call early in the morning meant two things, the first being that he genuinely had no idea what was being asked of him and the second being a foul mood to go with his lack of sleep and rising annoyance at having left things so late. He had forgotten what it was like to be a student and the reeducation, on top of his real education, wasn't being well met.

If he had to think about it, he wasn't really in a bad mood. Things could have been much worse than how they were now. After he apparently depleted his trust fund and the subsequent refusal from every family member to loan him money, he had been left with a little over $2K. Two thousand dollars would have been more money that any normal person could have asked for, but it wasn't enough to pay for his share of the rent and bills that he split with Draco and Andrew and it definitely wasn't enough to last someone who didn't have a job. He told Elliot as soon as he learned that he couldn't fix the problem, or get anyone else to either. He faked being a NYU student right after telling Elliot the truth and coming to the conclusion that despite all irony, the only thing he seemed to be good at, other than spending money, was managing it. JPMorgan and Chase offered him an internship even with his lack of credentials and he pretended that his family name and connections had nothing to do with it. He refused to look a gift horse in the mouth though and two months later, even with the smaller than usual apartment and influx of commitments, things were coming together. He sold his car and invested the money wisely, though Spring Break and Kellan's birthday gift didn't count. He was, by every definition, growing up.

Writing his paper wouldn't be that hard, and once he accepted that fact, he made himself arrive at Park Avenue by 9 though he hadn't bothered too much with his appearance; he figured if he had to stay any longer on Staten Island, they'd give him a blazer to wear over his white shirt. His stay at the office took far longer than getting to lower Manhattan, where the ferry was, but he managed to pass his time needlessly texting everyone he knew and tweeting from his phone instead of studying, something he regretted once on the ferry, surrounded by tourists and the constant dip and rise of the boat. It didn't take him long to get fed up with being cooped inside and soon, he made his way toward the front deck, heavy messenger bag slung across his chest and with only half a mind to throw it overboard.

He was in the middle of lighting a cigarette, ignoring how he'd quit and promised Elliot to not start up again, when the blonde to his right caught his full attention. He'd glanced over at her a few time while he'd tried to ignore the ocean smell, on all the occasions that she'd reached up to her face. There was something about her that was vaguely familiar but he couldn't make up his mind whether it was just the hair, the despondency she wore or the way he seemed attuned to blondes in general, and so gave up all together. Her laugh though, was difficult to block and just as soon as he turned his head to look at her, he heard her speak.
Oh, he thought after a beat, Angela.

She certainly looked different, but then he couldn't recall seeing her since sometime during her pregnancy, and even then the memory wasn't clear since he had been hurried, tense. He supposed it would have been foolish to expect the same girl he knew and had been friends with back in high school, especially with everything that had occurred since then; since Tristan, since her baby. He wanted to believe a part of him was glad to see her but the truth was that he had maybe been avoiding her for a time that measured up to two years. She looked terrible.

He lit up anyway despite being caught out, a hand covering the flame from the wind, and used inhaling as an excuse for the silence. He was as surprised as she was, even if he didn't look it a single bit.

[✿ngela wingrose]

"Eiji," Her surprise was transparent. She was never good at disguising her emotions, even if living with a ghost gave her plenty of practice.

Despite her mood, a tentative smile found its way. How long had it been since she'd seen the boy? A couple months? No, it was more than that. Was it really a year? Was it more than a year? Wow, how time flies. She of course blamed this separation on herself; Angela hadn't seen many friends aside from Kellan and Tristan since she'd had Kelly. The smile turned apologetic.

"It's been a while," What else was there but to state the obvious? She felt awful, and she'd let him know. All in good time though - they had some catching up to do, she was sure. He didn't look surprised to see her, though he didn't look thrilled either. Then again, Eiji was always the calm, cool guy in high school. She hardly expected the young man to squeal and wrap his arms around her in an ecstatic hug.

She wiped a hand across her cheeks to make sure the tears were all gone, and she lifted her gigantic sunglasses so they sat on top of her head. Thankfully her make-up didn't appear too smeared. It took a great deal of bawling before the mascara ran.

Angela wondered what her former friend had been up to lately. She was so far out of the loop. She'd hear the occasional story from Kellan, but Angela had no idea what it was Eiji did nowadays. He was probably running his own country, she thought with a fond smile. He always seemed so capable, with that confidence of his. Their history was twisted with mixed emotions. They hadn't started off as friends, but somehow they grew friendlier. And then graduation took its toll and like many high school friends, they just parted ways and stopped talking. Different lives took them on different paths. Eiji belonged in his world, Angela was stuck in hers. Overlap was rare.

"Staten Island?" She inquired, curious as to what forces of nature helped reunite them.

[Eiji Almasy.]

He didn't have the heart to be overtly terrible, or to be terrible at all really. Conversations he'd had with Tristan came to mind almost instantly; all the times the other boy had tried to convince Eiji to let go of whatever anger and blame he harbored toward Angela, when Tristan himself no longer gave any indication of hurt or betrayal. He'd stated explicitly in reply that these things had happened though, and it was more that fact that he couldn't forget. However, it was always difficult to hold on to the kind of feeling that only left you cold and confused, and that was what it was like with Angela; two years was a long time to seemingly dislike someone.

Eiji threw his cigarette over the rail after the first drag, feeling disgusted with himself. He had only kept a pack of Camels on him because he knew his boss' boss liked them. The stress from the morning had long since faded and throughout his hour plus wait at the office, he had collected himself enough that boredom and impatience had won out where tenseness and agitation had previously been. There had been no reason for him to pull out a stick and light up, and it certainly wasn't an addiction or habit because he had kicked it before it could take over him completely; he supposed it had only been a moment of carelessness, toward himself more than anything. Angela witnessing the moment had nothing to do with it at all.

"It has," he agreed, and though it was more from a lack of real response, it came across with deep consideration, as if it had weighed at him before. He wore no sunglasses and he wished immediately that he was. Angela could see everything about him and he felt exposed, even it was only a silly thought, but his expression was clear under the spring sun and while there was nothing caustic about him, it made him look particularly bright.

Her hand gesture didn't go unnoticed and having stood beside her for the past few minutes, albeit unwittingly, he knew without much doubt that she had been crying. Angela wasn't a crier, not needlessly anyway, and he did remember her to be expressive, emotive; more than most others he knew. Something else he realized was that she was quite obviously without a baby. He wondered, without really wanting to, if something was wrong. The nice person that still existed inside him, shifted a little at her smile. He ducked his head and made it seem like he was hiding from the sunlight, when really he was pretending to find the remnants of bad feelings he'd kept for her.

That wasn't a fair assessment though; he couldn't explain his calm civility on politeness and he couldn't claim he still thought ill of her. He may not have made an attempt to see her after Kellyn was born, and he may have avoided the Dell household whenever he knew she was visiting, but it hadn't been entirely conscious on his part and it definitely wasn't because he hated her, or anything like it. Angela had always been a hard person to begrudge.

"Yeah," he replied, when the pause became long enough to be rude, but he sounded forgetful, or suddenly remembering, like it just occurred to him what to say to her.
"The Hamptons. My boss and other senior associates are there," he told her, very casually but also carefully. He didn't want her thinking he was on a social or selfish errand; that kind of behavior wasn't like him anymore, or at least it wasn't everything about him and it was a fact he valued.

"How about you? How are you?" he asked, so courteous it could have been a fault.

[✿ngela wingrose]

His boss? The word seemed foreign coming from Eiji, but that was probably because Angela always thought that Eiji wouldn't answer to anyone. He used to speak condescendingly to teachers, or at least level them so they were his equal. The thought of Eiji working under someone was just plain weird. But she finally decided it was silly. These were probably his early years, before he took over whatever company he was working for and claimed the title of CEO or President or Grand Master of Awesomeness. It would happen, she was sure.

She just nodded, tucking more work-related questions aside for now so she could answer his question. How was she?

"Busy," She answered, not getting more specific. Clearly she wasn't working, but she knew Eiji was aware of her daughter, and that one word should sum everything up. She shrugged, making it clear she didn't want to elaborate, and instead turned the conversation back to him.

"So where do you work now?" She wanted to go in more detail, ask more expository questions, but it felt wrong. She would have to ease back into things, if Eiji would let her. Angela wasn't even sure if he wanted to forgive her for being such a stranger. Maybe he'd want to keep his distance so he wasn't obligated to stay in touch. This thought saddened her as she recalled stolen nights playing truth or dare on school grounds back in Britain. A night of partying where they sang a cliche duet of a High School Musical song.

Those memories were so bittersweet they pained her to think of them. When she looked at this Eiji, so much more mature, so much more aware of the realities of the world, he didn't look anything like the boy she used to joke around with. He was so... grown up. And even though Angela now had a child, she still felt like a young girl, waiting for someone to tell her what to do. Eiji obviously made his own decisions nowadays. He wouldn't let his fiance ignore him and his daughter. Why was she comparing herself to him? It would only make her miserable. She tried to stop, but she kept thinking what Eiji would do in her place, and it only made her sadder.

That already forced smile slipped off her face entirely, and she just stared at Eiji with a sense of desperation. The one hand she still had on the railing tightened until her knuckles were white, and she couldn't quite look him in the eye as he thought of a response.

[Eiji Almasy.]

Angela, who had always been so expressive, could be read even while he wasn't trying. Something very closely resembling guilt made his insides churn. It reminded him of the time during her pregnancy, when he had gone to the Dell's to see her. Despite everything, then and now, she had looked glad to see him and he could tell by simply being near her, that she believed him to be the talked about things that he had always pushed for; cool and collected, calm and intelligent. Angela had always voiced her belief in him and her simple acceptance of his position as an intern made him smile, just a small one but it brought slight half circles to his cheeks and made him look younger, more humored. He shifted a little, and regretted not initiating a proper greeting.

"I bet," he agreed again, but this tone he used was more familiar; the one reserved for two people who clearly knew each other, and well too even if it had been a time ago. Tristan's nephew was one of the smartest children he had ever met, and that went to say a lot as he had many, many cousins, all whom were home schooled from a very young age. That didn't mean that he wasn't like other babies though. From Eiji's understanding of babies, toddlers and children in general, it was that most of them were cute and occasionally fun enough to make him want his own, but they were all downright troublesome. The crying and the diapers definitely put him off.

He shifted again, and this time it was to pull a hand through his hair; he could feel the sun seeping through his dark head, but it wasn't too uncomfortable.
"I work for JPMorgan," he told her, thinking how everyone always forgot to mention Chase, which sucked but it did make the company name sound longer than he was willing to speak.
"Since February. As an intern in Investment Management."

He wasn't gloating, but the note of pride was hard to conceal. He was only an intern, but it was in an area of banking that wasn't the easiest and he was getting paid real good just to learn, on top of doing some grunt work for other people too of course. Angela couldn't possibly know that he no longer had the financial support of his family, and perhaps that was meant for another conversation someday, but he had brought himself to where he was now and he liked that. If he ever had children, this was definitely a story he wanted to tell.

"But I'm only part-time, I study at Columbia every other day. It's pretty full on," he said, nonchalant. He couldn't remember if Angela had ever wanted to go to University. They had probably talked about it at least once, but he did recall the conversation when she had lost her job as a model; she had been so set on making it big, he wondered if anything had changed. Just the fact that she now had a baby, of course, and other things.

He thought about asking her if Kennedy was looking after her baby today, and that alone made him school his expression into a polite one; it did no good to reveal bad things about the father of the child of the girl standing before him. He glanced at her hand though, an offset of glancing away from the way she was looking at him and perhaps as a result of being overly perceptive, and from the way she'd been behaving, he concluded that maybe Cavan was not the best choice of things to talk about. He could never figure out how such a sour topic of a guy could get a girl like Angela, especially when she'd been with Tristan first. He was savvy though, like usual, if Angela's visits to Tristan and Eve's apartment were anything to go by.

"So, what's going on? What brings you out here today?" he asked, in place of inquiring if she was okay; she didn't seem to be, not really, but he decided not to broach the issue, not yet anyway. This was too early to jump back into Angela's life. He wasn't ready, at least he didn't think he was.

[/blockquote]

[✿ngela wingrose]

"Oh wow," Angela breathed when he announced his workplace. Her own bank accounts were at JPMorganChase. The strength behind his words, that certain fierceness, made Angela smile. She was thrilled Eiji loved what he did. It was always easier to be proud of someone if they were proud of themselves first, and that held true for this conversation. "Eiji, that's huge! Congrats. I bet you're dominating over there," She added, her smile turning into a full-blown grin.

Maybe it was the way she stood, or the way she avoided the topic, or maybe she was sending out some serious vibes that told Eiji not to ask about Kennedy. She silently thanked him for being so tactful, whatever the reason, so she could keep smiling, even if the expression became a little less natural when the conversation turned back to her.

"Just... needed a break. I feel like I've been stuck inside the house for almost a year. I just needed a day to be me again." It sounded normal enough, and it was true enough, but that pang of anxiety from leaving Kelly made her heart speed up. She deserved today for herself, she knew she did, but it didn't make the feeling go away. That was when she knew she'd have to cut today short, and she didn't thrill to the realization. But for now she was stuck on a boat, and she may as well catch up with an old friend while she could. Flying off the deck probably wouldn't be the best idea.

Angela removed her sunglasses from the top of her head so she had something to fiddle with. She was nervous, talking about being away from her child. If Eiji thought she should be back at home though, she might not be able to resist the need to be with her daughter. The two desires fought with each other while Angela picked at the designer logo.

"I'm sorry we fell out of touch," She said at last, giving him a regretful look, "I shouldn't have let everything fall apart. We were good friends, and I'm sorry that stopped on account of me." She felt oddly grown up, saying those words. Taking responsibility for their distance. She wasn't happy with herself, by any means, but she felt more mature by taking the blame. She shouldn't have waited for a chance encounter like this. Angela supposed it was because she feared Eiji's opinion of her, but she couldn't divert the fault to anyone but herself.

[Eiji Almasy.]

He wanted to make some inappropriately obnoxious joke about how he was also better looking than anyone else there; a vain line of kidding that ran naturally amongst him and his friends, since none of them ever took it seriously. He stopped short, even before the thought to say it occurred, remembering two things simultaneously. The first being that people who didn't know him were always assuming that he was too full of himself and unapproachable because of it, and the second being that Angela and he hadn't been friends for a while. Impressions had to be made, or at least he shouldn't be misleading.

"It's okay," he said, shrugging and while he appeared to be genuinely modest, it was still strange for him to be that way.
"It makes me appreciate working and the role of being an employee even more."

There was a faint smile on his face and he could only imagine just how arrogant that sounded of him. He had tried to refrain from appearing too vain, even if it had been in jest, and yet every other thing he managed to say made him sound like spoiled trust fund kid. In all honesty, Angela had known him quite well for their last 2 years at high school; they had even modeled together on one occasion. He had tried to sound neutral, but to his ears, Eiji spoke in the tone of voice of someone who wasn't accustomed to doing what other people told him to do, and while he made a good employee, he knew he would make a better employer. It was to his chagrin that his age and lack of qualifications were the two main things held against him. Just another thought that further encouraged the belief that a few years in the work force would do him some good.

'That's right, you have a baby,' he thought, but was too much of a gentleman to let the sarcasm play out over his face, and too intelligent to appear as if he'd just remembered the fact that she was a mother. He'd known she was pregnant as soon as Eve had known (Tristan hadn't told him anything, and he couldn't remember if the other boy had known before him back then, or even at all until it was too late) and to this day, the Italian was still the one that gave him a heads up on the girl standing before him.

He waved off her apology and chose brief silence as a response; what could he have said to her? That, yes, the main reason he never saw her was because of what she had done to Tristan? More truthfully than logically, Angela had been more his friend than Tristan had been, on top of having been his friend first. It didn't make any sense how he and the other boy had gotten off so well; Tristan was the polar opposite to his ostentatiousness but he could only remember Game nights in their early days, not yet coined Game nights, and how they'd all encouraged Tristan to stay over their London mansion. While Tristan had become endeared to all of them, Angela and Kennedy was something that had struck a personal chord and he had let that disappointment and feeling of antipathy carry him for the next year and a half. He couldn't say any of these things, as it felt like neither the time or place, and so he said nothing though he was sure Angela would have appreciated some words.

"So, how is Kelly?" He asked her and while he supposed his shift in conversation could have been more subtle, he didn't particularly care. He actually did want to know about the baby, even though he never listened much to Tristan when the boy tried to tell him. Something about 'sins of the father,' ran through his head, a thought he often carried when thinking of his own father when he had been younger. He would never fault Kellyn, or Kelly, for anything Kennedy had done, and it was important that he let Angela know that now.

[/blockquote]

[✿ngela wingrose]

Angela nodded at Eiji's description of how he enjoyed working. She didn't think him conceited for expressing his viewpoint. Angela was the same way; she'd never put in a hard day's work in her life. She'd been given everything when she grew up, spoiled by her mother and then when Wingrose was gone, Travis replaced her with any material object Angela could wish for. Modeling wasn't hard; it came naturally to her, and she loved every minute of it. Being paid for something you wanted to do your entire life couldn't really be considered 'work', could it?

Before she had Kelly, she never appreciated just how much time and effort a mother had to sacrifice to raise her child. Now that she was aware, she was very much like Eiji. At least she shared his opinion when it came to hard work.

Not sure what to make of his pushing her apology aside, she let herself assume she was forgiven. His change of topic made her smile, even if the subject itself was the reason for all Angela's worries.

"She's good. She's getting big," But there was so much more than her words, the transparent affection in her tone spoke of her daughter in ways carefully thought-out sentences never would, "She'd love you," Angela added, but thought better of offering a meeting in case that was pushing their timid reunion too far. She hurried to change the direction of their conversation. "She can walk now, which gets her into all sorts of trouble. But of course she loves it. She's much more adventuresome than I ever was. She likes to do things on her own too." Thoughts of her would-be independent daughter had her genuinely smiling once more. Angela could really be beautiful beneath a mess of make-up if she smiled.

[Eiji Almasy.]

It was his conscience that was making guilt run rampant inside him. He could only credit his knowledge of right and wrong to his parents, who had always taught him to choose what was right over what was easy. He could remember a moment of honesty and an open expression of weakness that made his father seem strangely human to him during a time of adolescent bitterness and causticity, when the man sat him down for a quiet word; 'a parent's job is to make good human beings out of their children.' He must have been either sixteen or seventeen, and it had been after his long-awaited return to England. He had spent nine or so months in Ireland, torn up about a girl and angry at the world but more specifically, his father. Eiji remembered lines of age and sadness on the older man's face, and a softness more likable to frailty in those shoulders, and it was then that he realized his father must have suffered the then six year hospitalization of his wife more than he let on.

He thought about life as it could have been - for Angela, at least. He didn't know if her and Tristan would have ever made it after high school, but he knew that his friend definitely wouldn't have been a father. Maybe he would have been the first of all the boys to become either a husband or a dad, but they were only 20 now - or not even yet, in his case, or turning 21 like in Tristan's case, and domesticity was something that they were all just beginning to learn. Could they all have been friends? He remembered believing that Andrew was more snarky than even a bitch during high school - would they have ever gotten along if Tristan had remained with Angela? Would Tristan and he even be as good as friends as they were now if nothing had changed two years ago?

Certainly though, the what-ifs aside, if it weren't for his deep-seeded, irrational enmity toward cheating, he would have kept in contact with Angela; he would have seen her through her pregnancy and he would have wanted to be there when she gave birth. The irony of Tristan being present when her water broke almost a year ago didn't escape him, and it was then he was reminded of the other boy's constant reproach of his unnatural apathy - while Tristan would never force anything, it became pretty obvious that he was uncomfortable with how his friends reacted to the issue of Angela, and one quiet and brief conversation during the previous year had been enough to quell Eiji's unpleasantness.

He was a different person now than who he was all that time ago; than who he was merely two months ago. He could pick out the affection in Angela's voice, and could tell by the way a smile curved in her eyes before any other lined her mouth, that she loved her daughter more than anything else in the world. He recognized a parent who only thought good things about their child, one who wanted only the best for them, having seen it enough in his father despite the number of times he denied the fact, and in Charlotte every time he visited the woman. Eiji could respect that even if he managed to still have trouble reconciling anything else.

"I'm glad," he told her, which was the truest thing he could have said. He really was happy for her - there was no mention of Kennedy and he often heard complaints from Eve whenever Angela came over to visit Tristan. He could only imagine that maybe Cavan wasn't playing as big a role in their lives as anybody would have first guessed. The assumption made him want to frown, but he didn't want to show his displeasure to Angela. This was for the man that came in between the blonde and his friend, and the incontestable knowledge still stirred conflict and bad thoughts inside of him. He was genuinely glad for Angela, to have someone in her life who needed her perhaps as much as she needed them, he just wished that the person who started it all was present or at least capable as Kelly to make love shine about her.

"So who's watching her now?" he asked, leaning on the rail, posture much more laid back and open than before but still sticking to neutral topics of conversation.

[/blockquote]

[✿ngela wingrose]

Her smile loosened to something more casual, and she let her eyes wander as a comfortable silence covered their conversation. However, the comfort vanished even more quickly than it arrived at Eiji's next question. Still so innocent, yet very sensitive.

"Ah... her father. Mhmm, she's with her father," She wasn't sure why she was lying to Eiji. How awful would it be to say Kelly was being babysat? Angela had her cell phone, should any emergency arise. But there was an inexplicable need to paint the illusion that she was happy. Not only her, but the family she was so desperate to save. Maybe if she talked about how perfect they all were, it would come true. Or at least she might be convinced enough that all her pain might go away.

Pretty thoughts, but rather useless in the long run, "He just can't get enough of her," which was true, "and she loves him so much," or she would, if Kennedy gave the little girl a chance to get to know him, "I couldn't say 'no' when he asked," and she wouldn't, if he ever thought to. "So... here I am."

Hopefully the slight smudge of mascara wouldn't give her away. Such a happy mother wouldn't be crying by herself on a ferry to Staten Island. She willed the boat to go faster, because she wasn't sure how much longer she could lie. Angela was never good at lying, Eiji must remember that about her from their school days together. The less she had to, the less likely he'd catch on. Right?