“I had a one-night stand with Lexi, years ago,” I told Renée. “Three years and nine months ago, as a matter of fact. The girl, Emma, she's our daughter.”
“You have a daughter,” Renée said flatly.
“I have a daughter,” I agreed. I took a sip of my drink, running my hand over my face. “I didn't know that when we first started dating. Actually, I just found out about Emma right before my business trip. That's why I've been so out of touch lately. I've been trying to figure things out.”
“What's there to figure out?” Renée snapped. “Do you even know if the kid is yours?”
“She's mine,” I sighed.
“You did a paternity test?”
“No, I didn't do a paternity test.” I shook my head. “She looks just like Katherine used to, though. There's no mistaking it. Besides, I don't think Lexi would lie to me. If she says that Emma must be mine, then I believe that Emma must be mine.”
“She's probably just using you for your money,” Renée spat.
It was on the tip of my tongue to point out that I was pretty sure Renée was just using me for my money, but I managed to refrain. I shrugged. “I'm enjoying getting to know Emma,” I said simply.
Renée sneered at me. “You're not a dad. You might have fathered a child, but you're not the kind of guy to stick around while the kid grows up. You're not the kind of guy to help her with her homework or plan birthday parties or any of that.”
“I'm not,” I agreed. “But I'm trying to be.”
“Why is she here all the time anyway?” Renée asked, pouting. “She was here even when you weren't here.”
“She happens to be living here at the moment,” I said. “It's a long story, but she doesn't have anywhere else to go. It's just temporary.”
I thought Renée was going to explode. “She's living here?” she snapped. “I, your girlfriend, am only allowed to come over a couple nights a week at the most, and she's living here? What the hell!”
I rubbed at my temples, feeling a migraine start to form behind my eyes. “Like I said, it's a long story. It's all an unusual situation, but I didn't know what else to do. It's not as though I've ever had to deal with this situation before.”
“I can't believe this,” Renée said. “I don't even know where to begin: with the fact that you lied to me, or the fact that that good-for-nothing, gold-digging whore is living here with you. Or the fact that you never seem to be able to find time for me, and yet today, you had no problem blowing off work to spend a whole day with her and her little brat!”
“Let's not resort to name-calling,” I suggested icily. I was livid at the fact that she would call Lexi a good-for-nothing, gold-digging whore. I was even more upset by her calling Emma a brat, especially after she had scared the poor kid out in the hallway. But I was trying my best not to yell at her. I didn't want Emma to possibly overhear. I knew the place was reasonably soundproof, but all the same, I didn't want to stoop to that level.
“Some defense that is,” Renée snarled. “You've been putting off dating me all week so that you can hang out with them, and you aren't sorry at all. Not yet, anyway. But you will be. I should dump you. I deserve better than this, and you know it. I could really make you sorry.”
It was her threatening to break up with me that did it. I started laughing. “You're right, we should break up,” I said, enjoying that brief look of horror that I saw flash in her eyes.
“You're not serious,” she said, tossing her head and letting her hair swirl down behind her.
“I'm totally serious,” I said, narrowing my eyes at her. “Renée, I'm done with you.”
“You're going to choose some one-night stand over me, the woman who you've been dating for months?” Renée scoffed. “Come on. She clearly wasn't worth hanging on to three years ago. Why would you want to have her back in your life now? Sure, she had a kid, and she says the kid is yours. But who knows what the real story is. And even if that is your kid, you don't have any responsibility towards it. Just pay your child support check every month, and no one will complain. She definitely doesn't have to be living here!”
“She's a guest in my house,” I said simply, shrugging.
“She isn't welcome here,” Renée sniffed.
“You're not welcome here,” I corrected. “I'm not in love with you, Renée. I never was in love with you, and I don't think I ever will be in love with you. I wanted to be in love with you, but to be honest, at the moment, I'm having a hard time remembering why. You're selfish, and you're jealous, and you're a bitch. I don't want to see you anymore. I'm done with you.”
In retrospect, giving her a drink was a stupid decision to make. The next thing I knew, she had thrown it in my face and slammed the glass down on the wooden coffee table with enough force to shatter the glass.
“Do you really think you can get away with choosing that bitch over me?” Renée asked, apparently still not finished with the theatrics, even as I sputtered and wiped the alcohol off my face with the hand towel from behind the bar.
“I'm not choosing any woman over any other woman,” I told her, trying to be reasonable, despite the fact that she had very nearly just blinded me with her gin and tonic. “I've decided that I need to take a break from dating for a while. I'm so tied up with work at the moment, and then there's everything with Emma to think about, as well. I still need to get my head wrapped around all of these changes. I'm not choosing Lexi over you. I'm just choosing not to be in a relationship with anyone at this time.”
Renée laughed, sounding almost manic. “And how long do you think you can make that last, Andrew?” she snapped. “You never were the celibate type. Bet it takes you one week before you come crawling back to me, begging me to get you off. But I'm not going to let you do that. Once you break up with me, you are never going to get a minute of my time, ever again. Do you understand me?”
“I understand you,” I said quietly. I felt a pang at that. I really did want to somehow make things work with her. In some way. I was definitely attracted to her, and I liked her spirit. I liked that she knew what she wanted from life and wasn't willing to put up with any bullshit.