Emmy And Me

We stopped by Mary’s house to say goodbye, and the girls hugged each other and cried for a bit, but at the same time the reality that Grace was going to be living a dream made it a sort of happy goodbye at the same time.

We made a quick stop at the local Target store to get Grace a few items including a change of clothes, then went back to the bed and breakfast so Grace could change and we could check out.

Once we were on the road south Grace seemed to come out of her shell and she told me all about her life, and about the girl she had a crush on, and on and on. After about three hours of that I was really starting to wonder what I’d gotten Emmy and myself into. The thought suddenly struck me- I’m a mom now. I’ve got a fifteen-year-old daughter, and I’m not even old enough to drink yet.

O.K., maybe I wasn’t really a mom, but close enough. It had been an impulsive thing to do, but it was the right thing, too, and all I could do is hope it didn’t bite me in the butt.

Just as I was lost in this train of thought a call came through from Nash down in San Jose.

“Grace, this is a business call, so I need to take this,” I said, answering the phone on the hands-free car speaker.

“Nash, do you have good news for me?” I asked.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. Stan and I just finished the walkthrough, and he thinks the work we’ve been talking about should run a lot less than we’d thought.”

“How much less?” I wanted to know.

“The budget was one point five, but he thinks it can be done for nine, plus or minus,” Nash answered.

“That is good news,” I agreed. “Well, let’s do it. I’ll call up the sellers’ agent as soon as we get off the phone and tell them if they’ll accept four point six they can have the cash tomorrow morning.”

“Four point six?” he asked, astounded. “No way will they go for that. I’m thinking five point five is the minimum they’ll accept.”

“We’ll see,” I said, laughing. “In any case, we’re still on for Friday, right?”

“Of course! Jackie’s making her famous pot roast.”

“Well, would it be O.K. to bring along an extra mouth to feed?” I asked.

“Of course! Anybody I know?” Nash asked.

“No, you haven’t met her yet. Her name is Grace, and she’s the newest member of our family. Say hi, Grace,” I said, turning to look at the girl.

“Hi,” Grace said, her voice somewhat timid.

“Hi, Grace,” Nash replied, his enthusiastic voice booming through the car’s speakers. “I hope you like pot roast with grilled vegetables, ‘cause my wife generally cooks enough to feed an army.”

When Nash signed off, Grace asked “Um, who was that?”

“That was Nash Greene. He works for our company as a scout. He helps us find attractive properties to buy.”

“You have a company?” she asked, amazed.

“Yeah, we do. We buy and sell real estate, and manage residential and commercial properties. We do some property development, too. That’s what that call was about. When you called yesterday Nash and I were looking at a warehouse we’re going to develop into a high-tech business incubator,” I explained.

“So when you told him you were gonna offer four point six, was that four point six million?” she asked, wide-eyed.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “Nash might be right about them holding out for more money, but I think the incentive of cash first thing in the morning will tip things in our favor.”

“What does four point six million dollars in cash actually even look like?” she breathed, her mind boggled by the idea.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” I answered, laughing. “It actually isn’t even cash at all. I’ll just have the money wired to their account, and nobody will actually see even a single greenback change hands. The whole ‘cash’ thing just means that there won’t be any loans or financing.”

“Oh,” Grace said, sounding disappointed. After a moment, she said “Still, just the fact that you have almost five million dollars you can do that with is amazing. I can’t even imagine that kind of money.”

“Yeah, it sometimes amazes me when I think about, too,” I agreed.

I called the selling realtors of the large warehouse and they called the owners, all of us connecting on a conference call. When everybody had said hello, I threw it right out and said that if they were willing to accept my offer we could conclude the deal by lunch tomorrow. I pointed out that cash talks really loudly in the current economy and mine was a fair offer given the amount of time the property had sat on the market. I pointed out that I could find a similar property to buy the next day if I wanted, but they weren’t likely to find a buyer so easily. They hemmed and hawed, but eventually accepted my bid and the deal was done. I told them that Nash would come by their office for the paperwork first thing, and we all said goodbye.

“Wow,” Grace breathed. “I can’t believe the way you just totally took control like that!”

“Thanks,” I grinned, pleased with myself. “I would’ve been willing to go as high as five, but glad I didn’t have to. Hey, four hundred grand in my pocket is better than in theirs, right?”

After a quick call to Nash to tell him the deal was done at four six, we settled back into comfortable silence, which was good, because we were just getting in to the Bay Area at about that time and it was time to focus more on driving.

As we headed south I pointed out the sights to Grace, who had never been so far from home before. Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco, I suggested we make a quick stop at Ghirardelli to get some celebration chocolate and Grace agreed. After buying fifty dollars worth of chocolate we walked around a little bit, and I promised her we’d come back soon and see all the sights.

After negotiating our way to the freeway, I said “Grace, look. I know I just came into your life and took over, and I’m sorry about that. No, wait, let me finish. I have no real idea what to do next, or how this is going to work, exactly.” Seeing the look of sudden alarm on her freckled face, I said “No, don’t panic. What I’m saying is now, legally, you’re my kid. Obviously, I’ve never had a teenaged daughter before, so this is going to be a learning experience for me, and for Emmy, too. She’s going to get one hell of a surprise when she finally calls me back,” I said, chuckling a little bit and hoping that Emmy would be O.K. with the developments.

“She doesn’t know?” Grace asked, suddenly panicked.

“No, not yet. When they go into the studio they shut the outside world out, so she may not check her phone for another couple of days,” I explained.

“What if she- I mean, she might not-” Grace worried.

“Look, Grace. There are a lot of things that are going to be very different about your new life than you’re used to, and in fact, a lot of things that are going to seem very strange. Some of this stuff is private and you can’t tell anyone, not even Mary, but some of it you can. I’ll let you know what you can and can’t talk about.”

Looking as if she were about to freak out, I reached over and put my hand on her pale little arm. “Relax,” I said. “None of it is bad, I promise. None of what I’m going to tell you and you’re going to see is… well, you might think it’s cool. I hope you do,” I finished lamely, not sure how to begin. “Emmy and I have a very unusual, um, lifestyle.”

Raising her hands to her face, Grace asked “It’s not some kind of weird sex stuff, is it?” in a horrified voice.

“What? No!” I responded, laughing. “No, it’s nothing like that, I promise.”

Still laughing, I exited the freeway onto University. Since it was still only mid afternoon I figured it was a good opportunity to stop for the things Grace would need. Pulling into the shopping center’s valet parking, we got out and headed straight for the cell phone store. After I bought Grace an iPhone and put her on our plan I suggested she call Mary and give her the new number. “You guys can talk any time you want,” I said, then added “within reason.”

After a few minutes of chatter, I suggested to Grace that she could call Mary back that evening- we still had shopping to do.

I figured there was no need to buy everything today but just get enough for the first week or so, so that’s what we did. We bought a number of outfits, several pairs of shoes, and some makeup from one of the department stores. We stopped at the Apple store and I bought her a small laptop computer and an iPad, too, explaining that she could Skype with Mary if she wanted.

Grace couldn’t believe all the money I’d just spent on her, and kept insisting it was too much, and she didn’t need it all.

“Grace,” I said as we sat down to enjoy some frozen yogurt. “I wasn’t kidding when I said that legally, you might as well be my daughter now. You’re my responsibility. You’re also a good kid who got dealt a tough hand, and I want to do what I can to make your life better. I know that buying you things isn’t going to make up for you losing your parents like you did, but that’s not the point. Like I said, you’re, in effect, my daughter, right? Well, I’m a millionaire, if that hasn’t become totally obvious, so now you’re a millionaire’s daughter. As such, that’s the new life you’re going to have ahead of you. It’s going to be a big change in a lot of ways.”

Nodding that she understood, Grace finished her yogurt and we grabbed our many bags (we’d already taken a number of them back to the car) and headed back to the valet parking stand. One nice thing about having a really flashy car is that the valet services like to leave it right there to show off, I guess, so they never have to go more than twenty feet to fetch it.

“Welcome home,” I said as I ushered Grace into the townhouse. “Here, let me show you to your room,” I said, leading her upstairs. I showed her into the third bedroom, the one farthest from the room I shared with Emmy. It had only been used a few times when we had guests over, but in some ways was nicer than the slightly bigger middle room. Better windows, for one, and a balcony, which seemed like features that might appeal to a fifteen-year-old girl.

Wide eyed in amazement, Grace looked around. “This is- is this really my room?”

“Well, I figured you’d like this one better. You can take your pick of whichever of these two you prefer,” I explained, and after looking the two over, she chose the smaller room as I’d expected.

We brought up all her new things and I helped her settle in. When we had her clothes put away, I asked her to come to the kitchen and keep me company while I cooked us dinner. “Bring the computer and iPad, too,” I suggested. “You can set them up on the network while we’re talking.”

Still overwhelmed, Grace did as I asked and soon she was perched on a barstool at the counter while I made dinner.

“I expect that our diet here is going to come as a shock,” I apologized. “I’m an athlete, and my dietary needs are very specific. You’re only going to get healthy food here in this house, but I have no objection to you eating whatever you want other times.”

“So, what are the rules?” Grace asked.

Momentarily stumped, I was at a loss. “Well, I hadn’t even thought about it,” I confessed. “O.K., here are some basic rules. Keep the house clean, don’t make a mess. If you do, clean it up. Keep your room clean, too. We make our bed every morning, but you don’t have to do that if you don’t want. Help yourself to anything in the fridge, but if you use something up please add it to the grocery list,” I said, pointing to the small yellow pad on the counter. “Feel free to watch the T.V. or listen to the stereo, but if anybody asks you to turn it down, you’ve gotta do it. Is there anything else I’m forgetting?”

“What about going out?” she asked.

“Well, I don’t think that’ll be an issue for the next few days, do you?”

“Um, how about borrowing the car?” she asked, smiling to let me know she was kidding. I was happy to see it, hoping that all of this was going to work out for her after all.

“Ask me after you’ve got your license,” I replied, laughing.

During dinner Grace peppered me with questions about Emmy, and how we’d met, and what she was like.

“Whoa there, cowboy!” I replied. “Hold your horses. You’ll get to meet her in a few days and then all your questions will be answered.”

Looking a bit worried, Grace asked “But what if she doesn’t like me? I mean, you just took me in and all without even asking her, right? What if she-”

“Hey, wait,” I commanded. “Yes, I did just take you in without talking to Emmy, that’s true. But here’s the thing- she trusts me to make any decisions for us that need to be made.”

“I hope you’re right,” mumbled Grace, suddenly unsure of herself again.

“Don’t worry, Grace. Emmy will be surprised, but she’ll be happy to have you here with us. I promise.”

After dinner I called Sana to ask her to make some arrangements the next day. I explained about Grace and what had happened, and told her that Grace needed appointments with our doctor, dentist, eye doctor and even the chiropractor and massage therapist.

I explained to Grace that these were mostly just checkups, and I didn’t want her health to go ignored. “I’ve noticed you squint to see things far away,” I said. “Has it been a while since you got new glasses?”

“Um, yeah,” she admitted. “You know, we just didn’t have a lot of money, and…”

“Well, that isn’t a problem now,” I told her.

“Why don’t you call Mary, and then it’s bed time. We need to get up really early tomorrow,” I said, before going to the home office to call Emmy. As expected, it went straight to voice mail, so I left her a good night message, but didn’t mention anything about Grace. I figured voice mail wasn’t the right way to broach the subject.

Back at the counter, Grace was talking to Mary, telling her about the drive, the house, her new room, and the shopping trip all without even stopping to breathe.

Grace was so different from the way I’d been at her age, and none of my friends back then had been such… ‘airheads’ popped into mind, but that wasn’t fair, I told myself. If anything, she was the typical one and I’d been the oddball when I was fifteen.

At a loss for what to do, I went upstairs, turned on some soft music and did yoga for a while, until Grace and Mary finally wound down about an hour and a half later. Grace knocked, then entered when I said ”Come in.”

She’d changed into her new pajamas, and wanted to say good night.

“Don’t forget to brush your teeth and wash your face,” I reminded her.

“O.K., Mom,” she said, rolling her eyes, but I could tell she was teasing.

“Don’t you take that tone with me, young lady,” I replied in an old lady voice, shaking my finger at her, which got her to laugh.

“Hey,” I said, turning serious. “When I mentioned getting up early, I meant really, really early. We need to be out of the house by 4:45.”

“You’re kidding me!” Grace exclaimed. “What for?”

“Workout,” I answered. “It’ll just be for the next couple of days, until Emmy gets home. She sleeps in late.”

“Oh, O.K. G’night, then,” she said, heading to her new room.

“Don’t forget to brush your teeth!” I called after her.

Four o’clock rolled around way too soon for Grace’s tastes, but she did drag herself out of bed and got ready in time for a quick breakfast of granola with rice milk.

I felt bad about dragging her out of bed so early just so she could watch me work out, but surprisingly, Grace seemed to enjoy it. In fact, after I was done she even asked if she could maybe take kick-boxing classes, which surprised me. I mean, she was so soft and girly it seemed unlikely that she would be interested, but I do think it’s important for girls to be able to defend themselves, so I was in favor of it. If it helped her shed a few pounds of the baby fat she still held onto, so much the better.

Returning home so I could take a quick shower and get dressed in a business skirt suit, I suggested Grace dress up a little, too. “We need to stop by your new school and get you signed up,” I explained. “It wouldn’t hurt to make a good impression right off the bat.”

After the stop at the high school (which went far easier than I’d expected) we stopped by the office.

Sana stood up from her receptionist desk as we entered, and exclaimed “This must be Grace!” in her refined English accent, as she walked over to us. Grace looked a bit stunned, but broke out of it when I introduced the two of them.

As soon as the pleasantries were over, I asked “Have you heard anything from New York?”

“I got a text from Eddie last night. They are going to be done recording today, so they will be back home late tonight,” Sana replied.

“That’s great,” I said, but inside I was a little bit upset that I didn’t get this info direct from Emmy herself.

I took care of the necessary paperwork to authorize the payment transfer for the warehouse, then asked Sana if she and Donny would like to come over for dinner later. She said she’d talk to Donny, but she thought they could make it.

When Grace and I were back in the car, I could tell that she was thinking about Sana’s unusual looks.

“That lady, Sana? She’s like Emmy, isn’t she?” Grace asked, clearly unsure how to frame the question.

“Yeah,” I answered, but unsure myself how to explain the Night Children to Grace. “You remember how I told you there were some things you were going to learn that are sort of secret?” When she nodded yes, I continued. “Well, this is sort of secret, and sort of not. Let’s just say it isn’t common knowledge.” I went on to explain a bit about the Night Children, giving her a quick overview.

“You’ll learn all about them soon enough, I promise. But meanwhile-” Just then the phone rang, and I saw on the car’s screen that it was Emmy, so I pulled over to answer the call.

“Hey, baby!” I said as I answered the phone.

“Oh, Leah, it is so good to hear your voice!” replied Emmy on the car’s hands-free system. “I have missed you so much!”

“I’ve missed you, too, Em,” I said. “It wouldn’t be so bad if you’d just call every so often, you know,” I chided.

“I know,” she agreed, “but when we are recording we try to shut everything out, and it seems to work well for us. I am sorry.”

“Em, I understand,” I said, softening my tone. “But hey, I’ve got big news for you!”

“What is that?”

“We have a lovely new daughter!” I proclaimed, smiling at Grace, so she’d see the humor in the situation.

“A daughter? That is very fast! I did not even realize you were pregnant,” Emmy said, going along with the joke, even though she was clearly not really understanding what I was getting at.

“Well, you have been out of town for a while,” I said, teasing. “Emmy, I’d like to introduce you to our new daughter, Grace.”

“Grace?” Emmy asked. “That is a lovely name, Leah. You know that I have liked that name ever since Ferndale.”

“Grace, say hello to Emmy De Lascaux, your new mom,” I urged.

“He-hello,” Grace said, stammering in her nervousness.

“Leah, what is going on?” asked Emmy, suddenly realizing more was going on than some odd joke.

“Em, the short version of the story is that Grace here called me, thinking the phone number was yours. She was in desperate need of help and was in a terrible situation. Not knowing what else to do, but knowing I needed to do something, I drove up to Arcata to see what I could do,” I explained. “Grace’s parents had found out she was gay, and kicked her out of the house.”

“This is Mary’s friend, that same Grace? The one I recorded ‘I can see clearly now’ for?” Emmy asked, starting to see the picture.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “That Grace. Well, Mary’s parents weren’t gonna take her in, and I couldn’t just leave her to fend for herself, so I got her parents to sign some legal papers that said that I’m now her legal guardian. She’s going to live with us,” I announced, crossing my fingers that Emmy would take it as well as I’d hoped.

There was a moment of silence from the other end of the phone line, just long enough for Grace to start to panic.

“Grace, are you there?” Emmy asked.

“Ye-yeah,” responded Grace, still at a loss for words.

“Grace,” Emmy asked, “Does this seem to be a good answer to your problems?”

Grace took a moment before she understood the question. “Do you mean, do I think Leah did the right thing?”

“Yes, that is my question. Do you think Leah did the right thing to make your situation better? To solve your problems?” Emmy asked, her voice very serious.

“Um, yeah, I guess. I mean, yeah, I do. I didn’t know what was gonna happen to me, and I didn’t know who could help. I called Leah, thinking it was you, and she came all the way just to help me out. It was amazing, you know? She just showed up and took control- I didn’t ask for this, I couldn’t have asked, you know? But she did it. She just… Yeah, this is amazing. I mean, I hope it’s O.K. with you,” Grace added, turning timid again.

“If Leah thought it was the right thing to do, then it was the right thing,” Emmy said. “Welcome to our little family, Grace.” Then, changing the subject, she asked “Did you like the song I recorded for you?”

Grace gushed about how much it meant to her, and how nice the house was, and so on. The two chatted for a while, but then another call came buzzing in.

“I hate to interrupt, but it’s Max. I need to take this,” I apologized. “I’ll call you back in a few minutes.”

“Love you,” Emmy said as she hung up.

“Max,” I said in greeting.

“Good morning, my queen,” responded Max, making me roll my eyes.

“I’ve told you there’s no need for that, Max,” I said.

“I’m sorry, my- Leah,” he replied, catching himself.

“So give me some good news,” I said. “How are things going in sunny Vancouver?”

“Sunny is not a word I would use to describe this place,” Max said, chuckling. “And for the good news, I do have some.”

“Let me guess. You also have some bad news.”

“Yes, I do. First the good news. I think I’ve found someone who can do the required paperwork. He comes highly recommended. He works mostly with the Chinese gangs, and they think highly of his abilities.”

“Excellent,” I said, glancing over at Grace, to see how she was reacting to this conversation. “If he can do what we need, try to negotiate a blanket price. Tell him that we could bring a lot of work his way if he does right by us.”

“I had already spoken with the man, and told him that there was a possibility of continued work for him in the future. He seemed pleased at the thought of an additional revenue stream.”

“Cool,” I said. “Make certain that nobody ever mentions my name or Emmy’s to him, ever. Got that?”

“There have been no names at all,” Max agreed. “He does not know mine, yours, or anybody else’s, and I do not know his. I only know him as ‘the paperboy’.”

“Yeah, good work, Max. Good work. Any other good news?”

“The owners of the nightclub you were interested in purchasing have indicated they may be willing to sell, if the price is right. They want to talk to you.”

“O.K. I guess I’ll have Sana set something up. Is that it?”

“For the good news, yes. For the bad news-”

“Let me guess,” I said, interrupting. “It's Rahsett, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” confirmed Max. “Rahsett has been contacting your people, trying to intimidate them into turning away from you.”

Knowing this conversation couldn’t sound good to Grace, I plowed ahead anyway. “Max, I want you to talk to him. You tell him that they are my people now, and are no longer any concern of his. I have been very patient with him and made him a generous offer, but my patience is just about at its limit. I want you to make it very clear to him that if I hear one more time that he’s harassing my people, he will pay. Tell him that if he says one more word to my people, he had better run and hide as best he can because my knife is very, very sharp and it will drink his blood. I will have him buried where no one will ever weep at his graveside. Tell him that I am a very dangerous woman, but,” I said, emphasizing the next point. “Tell him I am also generous. If he gives up his opposition, I will allow him to live in peace. I will not come after him if he stays away from my business and my people. Make it clear to him that I am still willing to consider granting him my protection, but there will be new requirements from him.”

“I will tell him, Leah. I will make your position very clear to him,” Max said.

“Good,” I said. “If I have to come up there to deal with him, it will be a very bad thing for him.”

“I will tell him.”

“Anything else?” I asked, lightening the mood.

“No, that is all,” Max said.

“O.K. then. Thanks for the update, Max. I’ll have Sana set something up with the club owners. Talk to you soon,” I said, hanging up.

I looked over at Grace, to gauge her reaction.

“That sounded like something from the Sopranos,” she said, wide-eyed. “Are you a gangster?”

Laughing, I told her, “Something like that, but actually, something totally different.” Pulling the car back into traffic, I said “Come on, let’s get some lunch.”

After a few minutes of silence, Grace asked “Do you have a sharp knife?”

Stopped at a red light, I looked over at her, and in a very serious voice said “A very, very sharp knife,” then broke out laughing at the look on her face.

She gave me a shove on the shoulder and said “That’s mean! You really had me going!”

“I’ll show it to you when we get home,” I said, returning her shove.

We went to a local organic restaurant for lunch, where I took the time to explain some things to Grace. “You asked if I’m a gang boss,” I mentioned. When Grace nodded, I continued. “You heard Max call me ‘my queen’, right? Well, like I told you, Emmy’s people have their own culture, and one of the things about it is that they’re very, uh, well, they’re divided into, like, clans, or something, like the Scottish used to be, or something like that. Emmy and I, well, we’re the rulers of one of these groups. They call them ‘nations’. So as far as Max is concerned, and Sana, too, who you met earlier, I am their queen. They have to do what I say.”

“You’re kidding me,” Grace said, doubt showing on her face, her turkey burger halfway to her mouth.

“No, I know it sounds crazy, but it’s the truth. We have a little nation of these folks and it’s up to Emmy and me to lead them. They work for us, and we provide them with what we can to make their lives better.” Ignoring my quinoa salad, I continued. “You heard the conversation with Max. The background to that is that we are expanding our reach, and we’ve been moving into new areas. We moved into Vancouver and found a small community there, led by this guy named Rahsett. We offered them a better life if they joined us, and most of them did. Rahsett is pissed off that he’s lost his little domain, so he’s been trying to make life hard for the people that left him to join us.”

Taking a moment to let it settle in while I had some of my lunch, I waited and eventually Grace had a question.

“So, when you told Max to tell this Rahsett guy that you would cut him, you didn’t really mean it, did you?”

“Well, no. I don’t want violence. The thing is, Rahsett has to believe that I’m as deadly as a heart attack or he won’t take me seriously. He’s heard my rep, and has to believe that I’ll kill him if he makes too much trouble. Unfortunately, it’s all he knows. We’ve tried being nice, so now it’s time to get tough with him.”

“You have a rep?” Grace asked, her burger totally forgotten.

“Yeah, I do,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Everybody is convinced I’m a stone cold killing machine, just looking for an opportunity to do some nice, enjoyable slicing and dicing,” I laughed.

“I can believe it,” Grace said, her eyes wide.

“Believe what? That I’m a psycho?”

“Um, no, I don’t think you’re a psycho,” Grace said, picking her words carefully. “I mean, like, you came up and saved me, right? I mean, you didn’t need to do that, but you did. Just because it seemed like the right thing to do, and because you felt protective, you said. A psycho wouldn’t do that.” I kept quiet, because Grace was still thinking about what she wanted to say. “But the way you just came in and took over, saw what you thought would be a good solution, then didn’t even ask for anybody’s permission, just bullied everybody into going along-”

“Wait. Is that how you feel?” I asked, surprised.

“Well, no, I guess you’re missing my point,” Grace said, trying to clarify her position. “What I mean is that that could be how it looked to others. That you just came in to the situation, looked it over and came to a decision, then did what it took to make it happen, and you didn’t care if you stepped on anybody’s toes, right?” She looked up at me, hoping I wasn’t offended. I just nodded to let her know I was listening. “Well, most people aren’t like that. Most people don’t want to make waves. Most people don’t want to take charge. But you did, like it was no big deal. I mean, my life has been turned completely upside down-”

“Which you’re dealing with really well, by the way,” I interrupted.

“I’m trying,” Grace agreed. “But anyway, you just rolled in like a boss, and everybody did exactly what you told them to do, because you’re so… I dunno, forceful, I guess. It didn’t really seem like anybody had any choice but to do what you told ‘em to do.”

I ate my salad in silence while Grace gathered her thoughts. Eventually, Grace continued. “It’s everything about you,” she said. “I mean, you’re amazingly beautiful, tall, and confident. You drive a car that’s like some kind of fierce animal, the way it growls. You dress super nice, and you’re- well, you’re like a female James Bond or something. Good looking, mysterious, confident. Heck- even that scar is intimidating.”

“Jane Bond?” I asked, laughing.

“Well, yeah. And this morning, watching you train with that Brazilian guy, the way you threw him to the mat and started just punching the shit out of him-”

“Please watch your language, Grace,” I admonished, well aware of how much like my mother I sounded.

“You had him down, and just, like, went to town on him. It was freaking amazing,” Graze said, correcting herself. “I mean, I saw there on the wall of the gym he’s some kind of UFC champion, and there you were, working him over.”

“Ruben could take me any time. Like you said, he was world champion. That was just training, just sparring.”

“Yeah, well, it didn’t look like he was holding back to me,” Grace said. “It looked like you caught him when he wasn’t expecting it and took him down.”

Suddenly remembering her lunch, Grace took a big bite, then continued. “I was watching your faces. When you grabbed him and slammed him to the floor, he was surprised. But there was no expression on your face, Leah. You looked like, well, I don’t know. It’s hard to describe.”

I leaned in, curious. I really wanted to hear where Grace was going with this.

“It was like when my mom does her crosswords. She’s focused, concentrating, you know? But there is no emotion there. I mean, why would there be? It was like that. You blocked his kick and hooked his leg, then lifted him and threw him down. You jumped on him and started pounding away, and not once did it look like you cared one way or another. It was like it was just something you do while waiting for the bus, or something.”

I sat back, unsure how to process what Grace had just said.

“So, I guess, I mean, I can understand why people would think you’re a stone cold killer. When people say ‘Like a boss’ that’s exactly what they mean,” she said, looking unsure of herself, as if she might have just put her foot in her mouth.

“Well, thanks, I guess,” I replied, not too sure how to deal with this information.