“Because this is your first night. It can be a bit overwhelming when you start, but once you get the swing of things, it’ll be fun.”
“I hope so.”
“So where’s Mr. Morgan? Where will he be while you’re here making money?”
“I’m not sure. He’ll probably hang out with Will.”
“I know you don’t like him too much.”
I glanced over at Shantel while she wiped a glass.
“Why you say that?”
“The look you had when you were around him. You just did it again when I mentioned his name. Will can be a bit over the top sometimes, but he’s okay. He’s just someone you have to take in small doses.”
I laughed. “I’m starting to realize that now.”
Shantel smiled as she grabbed another glass.
“So I see you’ve arrived early Hayley,” Kyle said as he came from the back. I suddenly had to catch my breath. He looked good dressed in a purple button-down shirt and dark jeans. He glanced at me as he gave me a huge smile.
“Yeah, I wanted to familiarize myself with everything before the club opened.”
“I like your persistence. Well, Shantel will be showing you the ropes throughout the night.”
“Great.”
“And be prepared because there will be some guys trying to flirt. Just know how to handle them. If it gets too bad, then I’ll be by your side in an instant.”
“I can handle myself.”
“I’m sure you can, but I will still be close by.”
I took a peek at Shantel, who had a displeased look on her face. Even though her and Kyle weren’t together, I wasn’t trying to be in the middle of a lover’s quarrel.
“Why don’t I start showing Hales around?” Shantel asked.
“Cool,” Kyle said and smiled.
He stared at me one last time before going to the stage.
“I think Kyle has a thing for you,” Shantel said.
I smiled. “Well, he can if he wants, but I only have eyes for my man.”
“I know, but you can always sneak a peek every now and then. Just don’t touch.”
I stared at her as she gave a sweet smile. I didn’t know if she was joking or not, but I didn’t like the sarcastic tone she gave when she said that.
“Shall we start with the training?”
I nodded, and she went to the register. This was definitely going to be an interesting night.
Morgan
Once I dropped Hayley off at work, I went back to the house. I really didn’t know what to do with the rest of my night since Will was going out with his friends. I would do the same, but after being with them on New Year’s Eve, I think I’ve had enough of them.
I still wasn’t sold on the fact that Hayley had a job, but I can understand how she feels. She wanted her independence, which I couldn’t knock her for. She’s been this way ever since I met her, so I’ll let her be. I just hope she’s careful though. Since being in Dallas, I hadn’t been approached by anyone, which was kind of weird considering we were approached by someone in Houston. I should be a little happy about that, but something wasn’t right about it. That’s the reason why I was trying to keep a low profile, but since Hayley wanted to work then I guess I would have to go out too. Not just for that, but also so Uncle Rick and Aunt Caroline wouldn’t be concerned about me.
I pulled up into the driveway and turned off the ignition. I figured I might as well see what Uncle Rick and Aunt Caroline were up to, so I walked towards the house. I noticed an unfamiliar car parked by the curb. I started getting nervous, wondering if that was someone for me. I shook my head, realizing I’m probably being paranoid and opened the door with my key. I walked inside and saw them as well as two people I didn’t expect to see.
“Look who’s here?” Aunt Caroline said and smiled.
I slowly played with my keys and stared at them.
“Hey Morgan.”
“Lamar. Hey, Tamara.”
She smiled as she held onto Lamar.
Aunt Caroline looked at the two of us with a confused look.
“I thought you would be happy to see your best friend,” she said.
“Yeah, especially since the two drove a long way to get here,” Uncle Rick added.
“Yeah, I’m ecstatic,” I said and gave a forced smile.
“Well, we’ll give you two some time alone,” Aunt Caroline said while getting up.
“I think we’re going to head to the guest house if you two don’t mind,” I said.
“It’s really good to see you again Lamar. Nice to meet you Tamara,” Aunt Caroline said.
“You too Caroline,” Lamar said.
I went to the door, and the two followed. I sighed, wondering why they were here this early. When I called Hales’ mom, I asked for everyone to come here for her birthday, so this was definitely a surprise.
As soon as I closed the door, I took a deep breath. “What are you two doing here?”
“I know you said to come for Hales’ birthday,” Lamar said.
“Exactly, for her birthday, not now.”
“Listen, Morgan. I know we have bad blood between us now, but I need to speak to my sister. I need her to realize why I did what I did.”
“She’s not here.”
“Where is she?”
“She started a new job today.”
“Really? So I guess you two are making Dallas your home now,” Lamar said.
“I guess so. She’ll probably be back late, so you can try again tomorrow if you two are still here.”
“We’ll just wait,” Lamar said as he sat down on the couch.
I rolled my eyes and went to the kitchenette. Tamara noticed the look I had and pulled Lamar up from the couch.
“I think we can come back when Hales is here.”
“No, I’m not leaving,” Lamar said.
“Of course, you want to be an ass right now.”
“You’re calling me an ass when I should be the one still pissed at you after what you did! You put me in the fucking hospital you punk!” Lamar yelled.
“Yeah, because you deserved it! You invaded me and Hales’ privacy, and you tried to put me in jail. So sorry if I’m not fucking happy to see your ass!”
“Both of you calm down!” Tamara yelled.
“No, I’m sick of his smug ass. I’m only here to see my sister, so I don’t need to talk to you.”
“But you’re in my place at the moment; so if you want to see her, you can at another time or at her birthday party.”
“So why you invite me to that if you didn’t want to see me?”
“I did it for Hales. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I love your sister, and I will do anything to make her happy. If that means being in the same room with you, then so be it.”
“Well, the feelings mutual, punk!”
“Are you going to call me white trash next? Say it, and I’ll knock you back into the fucking hospital!”
“Stop it!” Tamara yelled.
Both Lamar and I looked at her as she shook her head.
“This has got to stop. You two have been the best of friends forever, and now you two want to kill each other. Hell, it almost happened. You two need to sit down like the men that you are and talk out your damn problems. I’ll be waiting outside,” she said.
“No, Tam, stay. We’ll go outside,” I said as I stared at Lamar.
He walked ahead of me and went to the door. I took another deep breath, hoping I wouldn’t have to use my fists anytime soon.
“Talk,” Lamar said.
“Why do I have to talk first? Evidentially, you have the problem with me,” I said.
Lamar sighed and went over to lean on my car. I gave him a dirty look as he shook his head.
“I didn’t think you would change up your dad’s car.”
“I had to. Get to what you have to say.”
Lamar cleared his throat and began. “You know I didn’t like you being with my sister. You were known to be a p
layer and didn’t give a fuck about anyone’s feelings.”
“I’ve changed, Lamar.”
“Let me finish. I know what I did was pretty extreme. I shouldn’t have done what I did, but it happened, and I can’t take it back. I took away not only your trust, but Hales’ as well. For that, I’m sorry.”
I stood beside Lamar and leaned on the car as well. We both stared ahead, not knowing what more to say.
“I know you don’t want me with Hales, but I can assure you that I will never hurt her. I love her so much and recently she has been by my side through everything.”
“What else are you going through?”
“I don’t know if I should tell you.”
“I understand, I mean, after everything. I don’t blame you for not trusting me.”
“I admit, we both kind of deserve some of the things that have happened, but we took it too far. You with your insecurities and me with almost killing you. You know I wasn’t trying to take it there.”
“I know, but I did call you white trash.”
“Yeah, you did.”
“I’m sorry about that too. I know what you went through with Craig, that’s why I helped you cover up his murder. He deserved what happened to him, and I did what I could to make that happen. I don’t regret what I did, so don’t think that I do.”
“So why were you trying to punish me for it?”
“Mainly for revenge. I couldn’t handle the fact that Hales was actually with someone.”
“Yeah, me.”
“No, I’m not stupid. I knew she had a crush on you, just like you did with her. I just didn’t want to see it.”
“I know what happened with Samantha, Lamar.”
He glanced over at me and took a deep breath.
“Why have you never told me? If I had known, I would have understood some of the things you were doing.”
“Because that’s not something I wanted to discuss. I know I shouldn’t blame myself for that, but I kept thinking if I would have done something she would still be alive today.”
“But it wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know what her friend was capable of. That’s something that you couldn’t have avoided.”
“Ever since that night, I knew I had to do what I could to protect Hayley. She had the same mindset as Sam. She’s too trusting to some people.”
“I wouldn’t say that.”
“She was with Paula.”
“Well, Paula was a different case.”
“That’s true.”
“Listen, we have been friends since we were five. You are like a brother to me, and that’s something that I will always be grateful for. I don’t want my relationship with Hayley to come between that.”
Lamar nodded. “I don’t either.”
“Do you think we can squash whatever issues we have and try to be normal again, even though I know it won’t be?”
“It can. We just have to work on it.”
“What about me and Hales? You think you can accept that?”
Lamar continued to stare ahead. It took him awhile to say something which was making me think he still didn’t like the idea.
“I’m willing to accept it. After everything that has happened, there are more things to be concerned about than whether you’ll with my sister.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you all along,” I said.
He laughed. “You know me. I’m stubborn.”
“You damn right about that.”
I rolled my eyes while he smiled. “So does this mean we’re friends again?”
Lamar shrugged. “I guess so.”
“Well, I have to admit, I’m glad that we are.”
Lamar nodded. “So why are you in Dallas? You know you can come back to Houston since I’m not pressing charges.”
I sighed. I knew this would come up.
“I can’t and neither can Hayley.”
Lamar gave a confused look. “Why not?”
“I think someone knows what I did. I’m not sure if it’s someone from Craig’s family or just some random stranger, but someone is after me.”
“What? And what does Hayley have to do with this?”
I was unsure if I should tell him since we’re friends again.
“She wasn’t involved. In fact, I was trying to get her to stay in town, but you know how she is.”
“I know she’s stubborn as hell.”
“Anyway, I decided to let her come, but once we were trying to head out of town, someone was following us. I decided to stop and confront the person. He had a gun and kept saying either give Hayley to him, or he’d shoot. I tried to get the gun. We struggled, and before I knew it, the guy was shot. Turned out Hayley shot him. She found the gun underneath the seat in my dad’s car.”
“What the fuck? Morgan!”
“I know. I fucked up.”
“Is the guy dead?”
I sighed while Lamar shook his head.
“So now my sister killed someone. Fucking unbelievable.”
“At first, I thought it was someone you had hired to get me to come back, but it turned out it was someone Craig knew. I found a picture of the two in his wallet. After what happened, we’ve been hiding out here ever since.”
“Well, you’re not doing a good job if Hayley has a job.”
“We have been here for awhile, but Hayley did that without me knowing about it. She told me after she did it. Now that I think about it, I think it would be more suspicious if we weren’t out in public. Will even started to question why we were always here.”
“That’s because Will is nosey as hell. You know I could never stand him.”
“First Hayley and now you.”
“Great minds think alike.”
“You only met him once.”
“Yeah, and I didn’t like him. You know first impressions determine what you think of a person.”
“Anyway, Hales told me not to trust him which is hard to do since he’s family.”
“You know I’m not going to tell you what to do, but you do need to watch your back with him. There’s something about him that I don’t like.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Lamar smirked. “So, I guess Tam and I should go back to the hotel. I’ll see if I can catch up with Hales before we leave tomorrow.”
“You know the two of you can stay here.”
“You sure? I don’t want to impose.”
“It’ll be fine, Lamar. I’ll probably have to warn Hales that you’re here though.”
“No doubt, but are you sure?”
“I’m positive.”
Lamar smiled and went over to the car that was parked on the curb. He went to the trunk and opened it, taking out two bags.
“What the hell? I thought you had a room?”
“I sort of lied,” Lamar said.
I shook my head while Lamar laughed.
I’m not even going to lie, it’s good to have my friend back. Now that things have sort of been resolved between the two of us, maybe he could help me with the shit that’s happening with Craig.
Hayley
Two hours into my first shift and I was already exhausted. I couldn’t believe how much I had to do! If it wasn’t for Shantel helping me, I would have been screwed. She showed me all of the short cuts to serving drinks and to keeping people happy. There was a couple of guys who were a little too touchy feely towards me, but like I told Kyle, I knew how to handle myself, so that wasn’t an issue.
As soon as Kyle said I could take a break, I went straight to the back and quickly sat down. My feet were aching as I took off my heels and began rubbing them.
The door opened, and Kyle walked in. I smiled as he sat beside me.
“So, how’s your first night going so far?”
“It’s actually good and you were right about the tips. I already have a hundred so far.”
“Damn, you only have been here for two hours.”
“I know.”
Kyle gent
ly took my foot and placed it on his thigh. I glanced at him as he began to rub it. I should have told him to stop, but at that moment, it felt too good for me to say anything.
“How does that feel?” He asked while giving me a sexy grin.
“Good, but you can stop now.”
He nodded and touched my leg before he stopped.
“Kyle, I think we need to set some boundaries.”
“Hayley, you don’t have to say anything. I know you’re in love with your man, so I won’t pursue you in any way. It was just a friendly gesture. That’s all.”
“Okay, I guess.”
“I have to ask though, how did you and him get together? I mean, he doesn’t really look like your type.”
“Why, because he’s white?”
Kyle laughed. “You think I’m that shallow? That’s not what I was getting at.”
“Then what is it?”
“He seems like a wannabe and you’re so real.”
I gave him a confused look. “What in the hell does that mean?”
“Actually, when you thought of me as being the one who was shallow, that’s your boyfriend.”
“Technically, you called yourself that.”
“Well, I think he is the shallow one.”
“Morgan is not like that. He doesn’t care about what’s in. and he doesn’t try to fit into anything. He has a presence that is all his own. That’s one of the reasons why I fell in love with him.”
“So you really are in love with him?”
I blushed. “Yeah, I am. We have been through so much together in such a short amount of time, and we have grown so much individually. We have learned so much about each other, and that’s what makes us a strong couple.”
“Hmm,” Kyle said and got up.
I turned around to stare at him. “Okay, what was that for?”
“What? You gave your thoughts, and that was my response.”
“Fine, so tell me, why you’re not in a relationship? I mean, Shantel is really digging you.”
“I know she is, but that doesn’t mean I want her. Sure, she’s probably be good in bed, but as relationship material, no.”
“Why would you say that? She seems pretty cool.”
“I know Shantel and let’s just say she gets around. Word has it she slept with your man awhile back.”
Something Just Ain't Right Part 2 Page 4