I sneered at her. “Considering you’ve already outed my secret and it didn’t do a damned thing other than make me better known around school, can’t say I’m too scared.”
Trina shrugged, a cocky little grin emerging on her lips. “Suit yourself, don’t say I didn’t give you fair warning. Pictures, videos… You just never know…”
“Noted.” She was not going to intimidate me. If she thought she could, she was sadly mistaken.
Chapter 5
I was beyond my breaking point as I pressed end on my cell phone and tossed it onto the leather sofa beside me. “Who does a girl have to screw to get promotional stuff done in a rush? I even offered the past couple of people a bonus for a rush job! Not just a small bonus, but a big bonus!”
Damien, who was sitting in front of me on the wooden coffee table, leaned forward and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Honey, we’ll get this done. You don’t need extravagant banners and posters. You’re awesome; you stand for the people who come from nothing.”
With a huff, I sank back into the sofa. “Yeah, which equals maybe five percent of the school population. I’ll definitely win with that kind of support. You do realize we attend a school of snobs and socialites, right?” Pulling the tie from my hair, I shook out my long locks, letting my hair fall down my back. I was getting a headache.
He laughed. “I’m a gay mixed-race man originally from the Bronx, attending a school where perfection and pedigree are prized. I think I know a little bit about climbing uphill. Doesn’t make it impossible.”
“Do you think I’ve gotten in over my head? Trina has been through the election already and she’s been planning this since she was a toddler I bet.”
“You’ve already taken her head-on and won. You’re dating the hottest guy in the Upper East Side. You’ve got this.”
“Maybe…” Chewing at my lower lip, I leaned forward and eyed him. “Hey, question for you.”
He shrugged a shoulder. “Shoot.”
“Do you know what Jaxson is up to when he takes off some nights? A couple weeks ago he had a fractured rib and never really told me details on how it happened. Today, I noticed that he had bruised knuckles. Kinda odd don’t you think?”
Damien jerked back and suddenly looked ill at ease. “Not sure what you mean.”
My eyes narrowed at him. “I think you do. I think you do have an idea.”
“I know nothing.” He spread his hands out to his sides. “And stop staring at me like that. You’re making me feel like a piece of meat.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re lying to me. You may not know exactly, but I know you know something you’re not letting on.”
Damien grabbed the bottle of red wine beside him and poured a glass, drinking the liquid down. “Okay. Let me give you a little bit of advice. If you think your man is up to something, then I would strongly suggest that you play Nancy Drew and find out if he won’t tell you directly.”
“How am I supposed to do that? Break into his house and start rummaging through his stuff?”
“Or follow him. If he says he’s going out and isn’t forthcoming on where, then follow him, get to the bottom of it.”
“How?”
He shook his head, rolling his eyes at me. “Do I need to spoonfeed you everything, girl? Have a cab ready and waiting around the block and on call for only you. It’ll cost ya a few bucks but considering you’re a billionaire I think you can afford it.”
I rolled my eyes at the statement that I was a billionaire. I wasn’t—not quite.
He continued, “Follow him to where he’s going and then you’ll have your answer.”
“Will you go with me?”
Groaning, Damien grimaced.
Leaning forward, I took his hands in mine and gave them a squeeze. “Please. I need you.”
“Okay. Fine. Next time he does a disappearing act I’ll go with you and then the mystery will be over.” I began to grin, until he followed up with, “But…”
My half-smile faded. “But what?”
“I want you to do something for me.”
Tilting my head to the side, I eyed him. “Something? Like what?” With Damien you never knew. With Damien, I was quickly discovering, you always had to expect the unexpected.
“Let’s keep this to ourselves, okay.”
I nodded, anxious to find out what was going on. He seemed to be unsure and hesitating, which was very unlike him, and it made me what to know all the more. “Promise. What’s up?”
“Well, I entered my first drag competition and I need moral support. No one knows, not even Olivia.”
I wasn’t sure what to say. That was a shock. “You don’t strike me as the type to get up in front of people and flaunt it.”
“I’m not really, that’s where you come in. To be my cheerleader.”
“Do I have to be wearing a cheerleading costume or will jeans and a t-shirt do?” When he gave me a blank stare I laughed and leaned forward, leaned over and have him a hug. “Of course.”
“Good, so now I have to pick two songs and come up with a lip synch routine for both.”
“When is this?”
“Next weekend.”
My eyes widened. “Next weekend! Please tell me you’ve already got the routines in the works.”
He shrugged, cringing.
“Two drag routines and an election campaign to prepare for; we’re in for a busy week.”
~*~ TT ~*~
“Are you ready Keira?” my mother called through my bedroom door.
“One minute.” I gave myself another look in the mirror. I loved the Versace jeans and form-fitting yellow t-shirt with the black rhinestone medusa head on it. My mother and I had similar tastes and had become avid shoppers of the Versace boutique. As much as I liked having girl friends, Olivia and Selena just didn’t have the same taste as me—not like my mother did.
We were spending Saturday hunting for a restaurant space. Olivia had asked me to go shopping with her, but I’d made a vow to my mother that I wouldn’t miss a single appointment and I was bound and determined to live up to that. I had a long way to go in order to fix things between us. This was the first step.
“Seriously, we’ll be late. And make sure to wear reasonable shoes, we’re walking and taking the subway. Unlike your friends we don’t need private drivers.”
Applying some pink tinted lip gloss, I gave myself one final look and smiled. As good as I’d ever be. “Putting shoes on now,” I called. Going to my walk-in closet, which was twice the size of my room back in the trailer, I scanned the line of shoes and found a pair of runners and put them on.
Jogging across the bedroom I opened the door to find my mother standing in the hallway, leaned against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I groaned out loud, though I couldn’t help but laugh. She was wearing the same t-shirt. Seeing her wearing the same shirt reminded me how much I looked like my mother. Considering how beautiful my mother looked now in her mid-thirties, I didn’t feel scared at the idea of growing old. Especially with the new energy she’d had ever since we moved to Manhattan. When my mother was working fifty hours plus a week at the diner back home, she didn’t have the vibrancy that she had now. She was a different person now and I couldn’t be happier. If nothing else, the money I won had given my mother the opportunity to enjoy the rest of her life—Lord knows she deserved it.
My mother smiled, the amusement shining in her blue eyes, “Nice choice, Keira.”
“One minute.” Running back into my room, I pulled out the second drawer in my chest dresser. “Gucci it is,” I murmured grabbing a new t-shirt. Pulling the old shirt off, I placed it onto the top of the dresser and pulled on the new one. Almost as good.
Spinning around, I bolted across the bedroom and back out of my room. My mother had already disappeared. Heading for the staircase, I raced down taking two stairs at a time. The elevator dinged and doors slid open just as I was reaching the final
few stairs to the bottom floor.
“Look at you, quick or what,” my mother joked, exiting the elevator and meeting me at the front door.
“Gotta be quick to kick ass on the volleyball team.” Going to the large double-front closet, I opened it up and grabbed a three-quarter-length black jacket and slipped it on while grabbing my handbag and slinging it over my shoulder. My mother followed suit.
Exiting the house, I was pleasantly surprised to discover how beautiful it was outside. We’d been having a number of nice days lately. Considering my mother was insisting on walking and surfing the trains, I was grateful.
I stopped in my tracks momentarily. Wow, maybe I was becoming spoiled. When we had first moved here I’d been more than happy to walk and take the subway. Maybe I needed a reality check.
“What’s wrong?” my mother asked, stopping a few feet ahead of me and spinning to see why I wasn’t keeping up.
Clucking my tongue off the roof of my mouth, I frowned, asking the question that I feared hearing the answer to. “Do you think I’m becoming spoiled?”
My mother inhaled sharply. “Sweetheart, we really need to get moving, we have eight blocks to go and we don’t have long to get there.”
She didn’t want to answer. I could read my mother like a book and I knew she was avoiding the question and I didn’t know if I wanted to press her to get her honest opinion or not. I was a coward.
“Okay. Sorry. Just me overthinking things I guess.” I began walking again at a brisk pace. I really needed to stop putting all my focus on myself and start considering others. If I were to sit back and psychoanalyze myself, I could try to defend myself by saying that I wasn’t used to being close to other people. It was always just my mother and me against the world. But now the world had opened up and my social circle had expanded to include a number of people and I just wasn’t equipped to juggle everyone.
My mother nodded. “All you need to be thinking about right now is figuring out which spot we want and what type of restaurant we are going to run. It’s going to take a lot of work for us to get it up and running. We have to hire and train staff. Advertise. Just so much to do, I hope you realize this is going to be a very time-intensive task.”
I had realized it, but I was confident I could handle it. “Volleyball is only for a couple more months and I’m sure being student body president won’t be too overwhelming.”
“Whoa, wait.” My mother frowned. “When did this whole student president stuff happen?”
“Oh. Well, a couple of days ago. I passed my signed nomination form in to Headmistress Witherspoon yesterday.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” She looked genuinely hurt. “Is there anything else you haven’t told me?”
Do you want the list? I said to myself but didn’t dare to say that to her. I huffed, waving a hand at her. “No Mom, of course not. Normal stuff.”
“What about that girl you were having problems with? The one you said took your backpack?”
“Sometimes it’s just best to be the better woman. Right?”
My mother smiled. “Exactly. The last thing you want is drama. You’re swimming in an entirely different pool now, and if you still want to go to an Ivy League school then you need to keep your nose clean.”
Rolling my eyes and grinning, I felt my phone buzz in my back pocket. I was tempted to ignore it, but I was waiting to see if Jaxson wanted to go see a movie later on if my mother and I got done in time. I wasn’t going to rush her, this was our time, but if the day ended early then…
Looking down at the phone, I frowned.
Sorry, babes, I got something to do tonight. See you tomorrow. XOXO.
Chapter 6
.
Damien, I need to call in the favor, I typed the moment I got home from restaurant space shopping with my mother.
We’d found a place and she was over the moon excited over it. She was downstairs on the phone calling a couple of her old co-workers from Florida, offering them jobs. We needed a chef and it happened that the chef at her old workplace needed a challenge that he couldn’t get at the diner. She wanted to give him a shot—if he wanted it. Personally, I’d always thought she’d had a crush on him, even if she denied it. He seemed okay the few times I’d met him but I did get an odd vibe from him.
Luckily, I had an app on my phone that was connected to the front door camera, which also had a view of Jaxson’s front door. I felt like a stalker, but I told myself that it was for a good reason. Jaxson was lying to me and I needed to know what he was keeping from me.
I’ll be right over. Call a cab and have it on the ready.
I let out a sigh of relief. I didn’t have a clue where we were going so it was going to be nice to have a man with me—just in case.
Thank you, I typed back and did as Damien had told me, calling a cab and explaining where I wanted them parked and giving them my credit card number. This had the potential to end up being a hefty bill, but that was no matter; money wasn’t the only thing in life and some things were worth paying for.
Ten minutes later, Damien was at the door.
“Come in! Come in!” Grabbing his hand, I pulled him inside, shutting the door quickly behind him.
“Girl, what’s with the manhandling?” He took a step back out of my reach as if my touch had just burned him through his clothing.
“I don’t want Jaxson seeing you!”
“Why does it matter?”
My mouth dropped open and I shrugged, he had a point. “I’m not sure. Guess it doesn’t.”
I had the video on the door panel display just inside the front door to keep an eye on the house across the street. What I was doing felt so wrong.
“You know what…” I sighed. We needed to abort the plan. “Maybe this isn’t—”
“There he is!” Damien grabbed my arm and turned me so I could see my boyfriend leaving his house.
“Oh shit. Perfect timing!” Grabbing my sneakers, I pulled them on and texted the cab driver, requesting him pull up. The moment Jaxson was in his car and it pulled from the curb, our cab was pulling up. Throwing the door open, I raced down the front steps with Damien in tow.
Opening the back door of the cab before it had even fully pulled up. I slid in with Damien directly behind me.
“Follow that black SUV,” I instructed, leaning forward in the seat, feeling like I was in some sort of crime movie. “There’s an extra hundred dollars in it for you if you don’t lose him.”
“Yes, consider it done, ma’am.” My gaze caught that of the cabbie in the rearview mirror and I could practically see the dollar signs in his eyes. The car lunged forward and we began following.
“But don’t make it obvious that we’re following them,” I added.
“Of course ma’am.”
Leaning back in the seat, I secured the safety belt across me and sighed, turning my head so I was looking at Damien. “Thank you for doing this for me. I really appreciate it.”
“You can thank me when you’re zipping up the back of my dress next weekend.”
Laughing, I gave him a pat on the knee. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world. I’ve always wondered about those contests. Where’s it at?”
“It’s at a club in Brooklyn.”
“Club. Like nightclub? How am I supposed to get in?”
Grinning he gave his head a shake. “You’re so naive. Don’t worry, I have you covered already.” Pulling his wallet out of his back pocket, he opened it up and pulled an ID card from it, passing it to me. “It’s perfect. You’ll need it to get in.”
“Cool. Thank you.” I looked at the card. It looked identical to my real driver’s license, but in this card my name was Lacey Flint and I was twenty-one years old. So cool; I’d never had a fake ID before, it made me feel so grown up.
He wiggled his eyebrows at me. “I’m Zack, by the way.”
I leaned into him, lowering my voice. “So this will work at liquor stores, bars, everything...”
“Sure will.”
>
“Sweet.” Grabbing my purse, I opened it up, pulled out my wallet and inserted my new ID in the ID slot, placing my old ID in the hidden inner slot so I wouldn’t get them mixed up.
Sitting up in my seat, I frowned. “We’re heading into Brooklyn.”
“Seems like it.”
Leaning forward in the seat, I knocked on the window to get the cabbie’s attention. “When the SUV stops to let the passenger out just drive by a little, okay? I don’t want them seeing us.”
“No problem, ma’am.”
We seemed to be driving for ages before we finally came up to a club, with a line at the front. The SUV pulled over. Damien and I scrunched down in our seats as the cab drove past. I turned and peeked over the badly cracked leather seats to see Jaxson’s driver opening the car door for him. Jaxson got out and slung a large duffle bag over his shoulder.
The cab got stuck at a red light, so I was able to watch Jaxson bypass the line of club goers and go up to the side door. The doorman seemed to recognize him, gave Jaxson a nod and opened the door, letting him in.
Sitting back into the seat, I frowned, looking at Damien. “What is he up to?”
“Dunno.”
“Driver, can you circle the block and let us out at the front doors?”
“Of course, ma’am.”
A few minutes later the driver was dropping us off at the requested spot and receiving a very nice payout for his time.
Getting to the back of the line, we waited for close to ten minutes before we made it to the front. My heart was thumping in my chest as I passed the doorman my ID to check. I’d absolutely die if he called me out on it being fake and called the cops on us. Could a minor get arrested for using a fake ID? I had no clue and I was sure I didn’t want to find out.
“Good.” he nodded and handed the ID back to me. “That’ll be twenty-five.”
“Okay. Sure.” Digging into my purse, I pulled out several twenties and paid for me and Damien.
“Enjoy the show.” The doorman handed me the change and quickly dismissed us for the next couple of people.
Power Play: Upper East Side (Greisbach Academy #2) Page 4