The Daddy Arrangement (Sugar 101)

by Paige Parsons

  "Okay. I'm going."

  It took a little longer than he thought it should have, but drunk people moving slowly and with tremendous intent was a within reason behavior, so he decided not to give her too much grief over it when she did finally come back to him. Her sighs of relief put a smile on his face.

  "All tucked in?"

  "Yup, we're all snuggled in. Umm, can I go to sleep now?"

  "As long as you meant I'm snuggled in and not we. You are alone, right?"

  "Yes. Good night, Daddy."

  "Good night, sweetheart."

  "Aw, you didn't say it."

  "Say what?"

  "I did everything you said and I didn't give you a hard time. You were supposed to tell me I was a good girl."

  Jack nearly choked on his own breath, from taking in the air too quickly. This entire conversation had taken him to a place he figured was long behind him. Sure, he'd been there for her and they'd had plenty of fun in a group, but tonight danced on the line of something way too real that he'd been missing. She needed him, and it felt amazing. His spirit was awakened by it, and his heartbeat felt vibrant enough to see through his chest. He hadn't felt this way since his early days with Julia. But, she was drunk. Keila wouldn't remember much of their conversation, and he wouldn't be foolish enough to attach more to a drunk dial than he should.

  "You were a very good girl. Now, keep it up and close your eyes. Keep the phone on speaker and I'll read to you from my book for a little while."

  "That sounds nice. I like your voice. Hey, Jack?"

  "Still here."

  "Thanks for taking care of me."

  Over the years, conversations with Jack had developed into much more than talking. He became her go-to guy. She wanted—and often resisted—the urge to ring him up first when things out of the ordinary happened in her day. She had to remember that he wasn't there to indulge her need for a lifetime of missed male attention. As she snapped out of her thoughts, Keila refocused on her increasingly suspicious roommate.

  They'd decided that it would be best to start sorting and packing up the common areas first, so they could work together. That had been a few days prior, and it didn't look like even a small dent had been made. So far, all that was accomplished was tossing out old medicine from the bathroom and dragging a plastic container of things they'd planned to sort through when they first moved in but never got around to in two years. Talk about procrastination. Now they were going through the cabinets in the kitchen.

  Brianna wanted Keila to take everything. She was banking on wedding gifts and moving into Michael's meant a state of the art kitchen that pretty much had everything already. She didn't need any of the gadgets at all. Keila was the one who enjoyed cooking and testing new recipes. Brianna liked ordering in, going out, and room service. The logic was that giving it to Keila was better than it going to Goodwill.

  "Brianna, this is the worst! Seriously, how did we accumulate all of this stuff? More importantly, how is half of it mine? I don't shop that much, yet my pile is as big as yours. Have you been slipping things to my side?"

  "What slipping? I have zero need to be sneaky or hide my intent. I'm not schlepping this stuff to charity or consignment centers when you're going to need it anyway. Did I tell you that a one bedroom is available two floors up? I think we should say you want it."

  Leaping across the room to shake the shit out of her best friend didn't seem like the best idea, but it certainly felt necessary. What didn't she understand? She was a very intelligent girl. Hell, she was graduating with honors. She normally seemed to have a really good grasp on reality, but when it came to Keila's future plans, she couldn't latch on to said reality, to save her life.

  "And, what do you think we should say when they ask for a deposit?"

  "I planned on going with, "Honey, can you write them a check?" You could try, "Uncle Michael, please." He seems to like that title quite a bit, even though I'm not sure why you felt compelled to tell the building manager he was your uncle when we moved in here. I doubt dude cared who he was, so long as the check cleared."

  "You are impossible. Money might be no object for you and Michael, but it is a big, fat, huge object for me. And how I spend it requires more thought than "I want it!" I know you understand what I'm saying, no matter how dense you're pretending to be on the subject."

  "And, I know where you've been looking at apartments. Job interviews, my ass. That place yesterday, well, just be glad I didn't have Michael show up and flat out stop that nonsense. Or, perhaps I should have called Jack, instead."

  Brianna did not miss the swallow, she'd venture to say gulp, Keila took before turning her back to her. She couldn't look at her, and it was happening more and more when Jack came up. She knew they talked, but these responses were telling a different story. Her single semester of psychology wasn't much, but that combined with her relationship with Michael and she could read an in trouble with daddy look a mile away. But, that wasn't the relationship Keila and Jack had, so it was definitely odd.

  "Are you following me?" Keila asked.

  "No, of course not. Do you not remember that we share locations with each other?" Brianna knew what her answer would be to that question.

  "I remember setting it up once, for a very specific reason, but I never use it."

  "Well, I do. I especially do when I'm worried and have too much time on my hands. Keila, please let Michael help, and as soon as you figure something out, you can take over the expenses."

  "There is no part-time job I'm getting that will ever pay me enough to take over expenses here."

  As she moved in closer, and slightly calmer than homicidal, Keila silently self-talked that Bri was coming from a place of love and concern and not overbearing control. Brianna wasn't her mom or grams. A take-charge man was sexy and intriguing, but a bossy woman, even one she loved, set her teeth on edge. It made aggressive resistance bubble up in her, and lashing out came next. She didn't want to do that to Brianna. Bri didn't deserve it, but resisting the impulse was hard.

  "Sissy, I know that you and Michael would do anything for me. I love you so much for that, but once you're married, it wouldn't feel right to have you pay my way. I'm able-bodied, and I have a family."

  "We're your family, too. Next excuse."

  "I already joined the website and agreed to a date. Please hold up your end of the deal and let me figure it out."

  "I will. I am, but this apartment on hold is a security blanket. Not for you, but for me."

  "I can't wait to hear how you make sense of that statement."

  "Getting married doesn't mean I won't want some girl time with you. I'm planning on coming to sleep over at least once a month. Michael sure as hell won't let me stay anywhere near the Adam's District."

  "Such a snob."

  Brianna whacked her with one of the throw pillows on the sofa. "Take it back."

  "You know what I mean."

  "No, I don't, so take it back."

  "You don't get to be hypersensitive and controlling all in the same breath."

  "I do when I'm right. I'm not a snob, and you know it. You also know that if I tell Michael, this entire argument will be moot."

  "You wouldn't dare."

  "Over you even thinking about moving to the Adam's District, yeah, I would do it in a second. Remember, I could do worse than that." Brianna held Keila's stare. She refused to break first, and when Keila finally blinked, she continued. "I'm pulling the big sister card."

  Keila knew she should put her out of her misery, but her rational, reasonable side was in a battle with her stubborn-refuse-to-give-in side. She couldn't get out of that dump fast enough the other day, and now she was behaving like she was seconds from signing a lease. Brianna was just as stubborn, though, and would one hundred percent do what she threatened if it meant her safety and well-being were handled. Knowing one another so well was a blessing and a curse. They could entrench themselves as good as any soldier.

  "Fine, I'm willing to talk about
the apartment in the building, and I'll even go and look at it. Just ease up a little, okay."

  "The Adam's District is all the way off the table, right? I'm serious; it's not negotiable. I don't even want you thinking about that neighborhood, and you definitely aren't allowed to go there."

  "So, when I said to ease up, what you heard was proceed as usual."

  Brianna kept her very mature, I'm in charge face in place. It was the one she'd started using on her niece and nephew whenever she was home. They saw her as an overgrown kid, herself, and never felt they needed to listen to her in the same way they did her parents or theirs. Her last trip home, she adopted her adult face and actually followed through with a punishment. That five-minute time-out had been painfully long for all of them. But, thanks to Michael's advice, she stuck it out and even held up through the twenty-four-hour chanting of, "mean ol'Bri, mean ol'Bri!" Okay, the last bit did sting. The next morning, she was geared up for battle, but instead, was greeted to hugs and an offer to share smiley face pancakes with them. Holding on to the face, she hoped Keila had the bounce back of an eight-year-old.

  "What I didn't hear was the Adam's District is off the table. I hear that, and I'll be easy as a Sunday morning."

  "Fine. Snitch. Remember, nobody likes a snitch."

  "Sure, they do. Some people even love them." Brianna bounced up, excited for a completely unrelated reason.

  "What are you doing now?"

  "Look what's in this box. I saw it sitting on top when we dragged it in here earlier."

  Bri pulled out two identical super soakers and held them up Rambo style like she was about to attack. Even though she was being stared at like the wild woman she was portraying, Brianna held her pose.

  "Why do you still have those, and why are you pointing them at me? Bri, do not wet me. I'm serious, Brianna. Behave yourself. We're supposed to be packing. You're gonna wet our stuff."

  The words hardly passed her lips when a steady stream of lukewarm water hit her forehead and trickled down toward her gaping mouth. Stunned. Well, there was only one way to answer an attack of that nature. Keila leaped off the couch and lunged for one of the guns, accepting the obvious ploy to get her to play had totally worked. As soon as she released the rival weapon, Brianna took off behind the kitchen island and fired again. Keila's retaliation was immediate. The girls hadn't had that sort of abandoned fun since they acquired the weapons during their last year in the dorms. As they ran in and out of rooms and dove behind boxes, the idea that they weren't in the park this time sort of got absorbed by the excitement of the moment. They also didn't hear the front door open and close as they stumbled from their respective bathrooms, after refilling their guns in the tub.

  "This round is mine! Come on out, you lily-livered—oomph!"

  "Oh, name calling is going to cost you. Do not jump out at me, Bri."

  "Don't worry; she won't."

  Throwing her hands up in surrender didn't seem too far-fetched as an entrance. Taking a deep breath, Keila hoped it didn't look as bad as she suspected it did. They'd only reloaded once. The second reload never got used. It was only water. There was no way he would be that upset by a little water. Keila went for the humorous retreat by swinging her weapon around the corner, dangling from her pinky and ring fingers. Next, her head snaked out, but as soon as she saw he wasn't alone, Keila almost fell from behind the wall. She managed to get her footing seconds before making herself look even more juvenile than she was already feeling.

  "Jack."

  He was the last person she expected to see amid the ruins of their living room. He and Michael were supposed to be in meetings all day. She was positive the words tied up were actually used. Yet, there he was, a portrait of professionalism in contrast to her teenager gone wild look. Brianna was tucked up against Michael's side looking just as guilty and in complete contrast. Jack held his suit jacket over his arm and his muscular tan forearms peeked out from his rolled-up sleeves. His tie was loosened, and the bemused look on his face was so different from the uber-serious one Michael wore that all of her nervousness turned to uncontrollable giggles. Her brain urged her to stop and get it under control, but the ridiculousness of it all consumed her. Once she locked eyes with Brianna, all bets were off for pulling it back together.

  "Ladies, I am not amused. You haven't put a dent in this packing, and this entire place is one big slip and slide."

  "Sorry, Michael."

  "So sorry, sweetheart. We got a little distracted and carried away."

  "Well, Jack, it looks like our surprise to take them out to dinner for a job well done isn't in order after all."

  "No, no, we can get it together. Honest. Give us like thirty minutes." Brianna used her best and most adoringly pleading look, but her fiancé wasn't moved.

  Jack wasn't a hundred percent sure why he was, or why the offer slipped from his mouth, but he couldn't take his eyes off of Keila and he had no intention of letting the evening slip through his hands.

  "How about we order in and supervise this packing party, so that there's more packing and less partying? Look, my sleeves are already rolled up."

  "You want to reward this behavior?" Michael stared at his friend like he didn't recognize him.

  Keila could have hugged Bri's neck, when her friend's power of speech gave way to the answer that was forming in her head but unable to come out of her mouth.

  "A little music, a little Chinese food, and two extra sets of hands. We could make this work. Keila and I will take the low ground, and obviously, all things water related, and you guys can be in charge of the heavy lifting. We haven't exactly gotten everything down and out from the closets."

  "The question is did you get anything down, other than those things?" Michael pointed to the offending weapons.

  At least the looks they both wore showed a minimum of shame. There really was an extraordinary amount still left to be done. Michael was hard pressed to be stern while watching his best friend practically gush over Keila. Where the hell did he get that adoring gaze? Time to get the girls moving and get his buddy alone.

  "Fine. Kitchen, you two, and hand over the weapons."

  Brianna turned hers over and stretched up to plant a kiss on his cheek.

  "So, we're forgiven?"

  Naughty and irresistible, she was exactly what he loved in a woman, with an adorable round spankable backside to boot. As he smacked said bottom, he kissed her mouth and let her know that her forgiveness was conditional on how the rest of the night went.

  "Do you require the same motivation, young lady?" The look Jack fixed her with made Keila's body react in a way she was sure they could all see and that she certainly knew was inappropriate. Clearly, he was kidding. He had to be kidding? Even as a joke, it was making her want to squirm where she stood.

  "No, sir. I absolutely do not. Brianna, let's go."

  Bri found herself being yanked from Michael's hold and dragged toward the kitchen.

  Jack's eyes followed their movement and his look didn't falter until his buddy's words grabbed his attention. However, by the time he responded, he was once again fixated on the young woman who had worked her way into his subconscious and other very aware parts.

  "Jack, what the hell was that about?" Michael's voice was laced with suspicion. Could Brianna be right about their friends? He was quick to shut down her meddling, to match Jack up, but he was hard-pressed to deny the observations she'd been bombarding him with the last few months.

  "I'll let you know when I work the details out for myself. Let's just say, things are more complicated than I've let on."

  After he had pulled Michael into Brianna's room, they ended up by the closet and he hoped out of earshot. Then Jack proceeded to tell his friend about their last phone call.

  "She called you what?"

  "Listen, I know. She was—"

  "She was what?"

  "I sort of promised I wouldn't tell you. Just know I dealt with it, and don't bring it up."

  "All right."
>
  "She called me, completely drunk. Some of what she said was way out of context, but honestly, a lot of it was stuff she's danced around telling me before. I never pushed, but now I'm thinking I should have just come clean about my feelings about what I felt was happening between us."

  "I don't want us running down an awkward hallway of emotions, but have you… Are you saying you have feelings for Keila?"

  "She's so young, but God help me, yeah. I think we could have what you found with Brianna. I'm twice her age. What the hell could she possibly see in a future with me?"

  "I think the fact that you were her drunk dial and she called you daddy, more than once, she knows what you would bring to her life and her future. Maybe she just needed liquid courage to tell you."

  "After all this time?" Jack ran his hands over his head and clasped them behind his neck, stretching up to look at the ceiling.

  Michael watched his friend process his feelings. Secretly, he was cheering. It had taken everything he had and several spankings to keep his fiancé from meddling, but they had been in agreement. Keila and Jack were well matched. They'd watched them, weekend after weekend, heads together laughing, conspiring against the two of them during mini golf, Jack teaching her to cook more and more and how much Keila embraced all of his lessons in and out of the kitchen. The thing Michael noticed most was how Keila didn't bristle at Jack's scolding the way she did at his. Brianna would cuddle up to him at night, when they'd all been together for a few days, and tell him how many times Keila worked Jack into all their conversations and how many times she'd caught Jack staring at her best friend. She would tell Michael they needed a little help, a little push, and they could have what they had. Michael wasn't about to play matchmaker and was more than adamant that Brianna not play one, either.

  When he turned back around, Jack asked, "What do I do about it?"

  "Well, whatever it is, you'd better do it quickly. That little girl, and make no mistake, she still has a lot of little girl in there, is about to seek a daddy elsewhere. She needs you, buddy. Are you ready to take her on? I bet there are a few more drunk nights, late nights with no calls, and twenty-something angst and meltdowns to go through. It'll definitely be interesting."