“How is your mom?” I asked.
“She’s doing better. In fact, she’s been cancer-free for three years.”
“That’s good to hear,” Lamar said.
E He “And the private rooms are not for my benefit, it’s for Corey’s. He figured since I used some of the money to open the club it was a good way for him to do what he wanted since I still owed him.”
“How much do you still owe?”
“$10,000.”
“How much did you take?” I asked.
“Close to $70,000.”
“Damn!”
“Of course, I’m not proud of what I’d done, but if I had to do it all over again, I would in a heartbeat to help my mom.”
I sighed.
He got me there. He did what he had to for his mom, just like I did with mine.
“I’m sorry. Now I feel bad about what I done.”
“And you should. I should have you arrested for what you did.”
“I wouldn’t go that far. Anyway, what if I say I could help you with your little problem.”
“You can’t help me.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. Unlike you, I still have my trust, so I could pay off your debt and you don’t have to worry about Corey anymore.”
Kyle gave me a strange look. “Why would you help me? You don’t even like me.”
“Let’s just say we have something in common and that’s our love for our mothers. We will move heaven and earth for them, so I can relate to your situation.”
“Okay, what’s the catch?”
“Who said there was a catch? I’ll give you the money, and you can pay Corey.”
Kyle shook his head. “There’s a catch, so tell me so I’ll know whether I want to agree to it.”
I nodded. “Now that you mention it, there is. I need you to seduce someone.”
Kyle gave me a crazed look while Lamar had a shocked one.
“What the hell, Morgan!” Lamar exclaimed.
“What, this is perfect. That way that part of our lives can be resolved.”
“Wait, hold up. What the hell are you talking about?”
I took my phone from the desk and went to my photos. I found what I was looking for and handed it to Kyle.
“This girl with Hayley is Paula, who used to be Hales’ best friend. You might have seen her at Hayley’s party earlier. Anyway, she suddenly reappeared in her life with some news that could be damaging to both Hayley and me. You see, she has a thing for me, but, of course, I’m not going down that road. I need someone to sweep her off her feet or give her the best fuck ever. Just something so she can leave Hayley and me alone. That is where you come in.”
“You want me to be some damn gigolo? Hell no.”
“Do you want the money or do you want Corey to still use you until the balance is paid? Knowing him, he’ll add more on because he can. So, would you rather get rid of him now or continue to be under his debt for years to come?”
Kyle laughed. “You’re serious about doing this?”
“I’m giving you a way out. It’s up to you if you want to accept it.”
Kyle still looked shocked while I leaned back in my chair.
“So, Kyle Carter, that is your last name, right?”
“It’s actually Baxter, my mom’s last name.”
“Well, Kyle Baxter, what is your answer?”
He stared at the ledger and then at me.
“How soon do you want this done?”
I smiled. “There’s no time limit, just make sure it gets done. Once you fulfill your end of the bargain, I’ll fulfill mine. So, are we cool?”
“I guess so.”
I stood up and extended my hand to him. “Pleasure doing business with you, Kyle. I’ll be in touch soon.”
Kyle wouldn’t even shake my hand as he pushed it away.
I laughed as I turned around and left the room.
“What the hell I just witnessed in there?” Lamar asked.
I smiled. “Just doing what I needed to do. Now, hopefully, he’ll live up to his end of the deal. Now that’s resolved I have to know who is following me.”
“You eliminated Kyle from the list?”
“I don’t think he’s behind it. He has his own issues he couldn’t figure out. That doesn’t mean I still won’t keep an eye on him.”
Lamar sighed. “I still think you need to watch out for Will. He was too quick to give up info on Kyle earlier.”
“I noticed that too. Let’s not forget about Shantel. She was a little too eager also.”
“Well, only time will tell.”
I nodded. Time will definitely tell whether everyone is who they claimed to be.
Hayley
“Thanks so much for taking me out for dinner. I really appreciate it.”
My parents smiled as they both gave curious glances. I gave one of my own as I stared at them. They haven’t been themselves since they arrived to see me earlier. It was if they were hiding something.
The entire day has been sort of weird anyway, from Shantel being at the party to Paula making her outlandish request, my entire birthday was pretty much ruined. But as I stared at my parents, something else was going on. I could feel it.
“Okay, you two, what is going on?”
Tamara, who went with us to dinner, gave everyone a tiny smile. “I think that’s my cue to leave. It was great seeing you both.”
“You too, Tamara.”
She smiled and went to the main house.
I went to the guest house door and opened it. They stepped in after me, and I closed the door.
“Okay, since we’re alone, you can tell me what’s going on. You two have been jumpy since you arrived.”
My parents looked at each other, and my mom sighed.
“You might need to sit down for this, Hales.”
I became nervous as I sat down on the couch. This didn’t sound good at all.
My mom sat down beside me while my dad went over to the chair near the table. She gave a deep breath before speaking.
“I’m pregnant, Hales.”
I raised my eyebrow, truly surprised at what I just heard.
“Wait, what?”
“We just found out two weeks ago. I’m a month pregnant.”
I was speechless as I looked from my mom to my dad.
“Wait, so what does this mean now? Are you two back together, or what?”
“No, baby girl, we’re not. We just slipped up that’s all.” My dad blurted.
“Aren’t you two old enough to know about the use of protection? You two are close to fifty!”
“So what! Lots of people are having children at an older age,” my mom chimed in.
“Yeah, but you have two grown children who are in their twenties. Why would you want to go through the process of raising another child?”
“Well, it wasn’t in our plan, but we’re willing to try again.”
“Does Lamar know?”
“We haven’t told him yet. We will eventually,” my dad said.
“Wow, this is unbelievable.”
“Can you just be happy for us, sweetie? You’re going to have a brother or sister soon,” my mom said with a smile.
I shook my head and got up. “I’m sorry, Mom; it just that it’s kind of surprising, that’s all.”
“Trust me, it was definitely a shock when we heard the news.” My dad said.
“Congratulations,” I said as I gave both of my parents a hug. I went to the kitchenette when my dad began to talk.
“I know our news may seem weird since we’re not together.”
“A little, but you two are adults, so that’s your decision on whether you want to be together or not.”
“We thought about giving our relationship another try, but we like how things are between us. I hope you’re able to understand that,” my mom said.
I nodded. “Your relationship has always been complicated, so like I said, it’s your decision.”
“How’s your
relationship with Morgan, Hales?” My dad asked.
I smiled. “It’s good. We’re learning a lot about each other every day. We love each other.”
“I noticed Lamar didn’t blow a gasket when he saw you and Morgan together, so I guess he’s okay with everything?” My mom asked.
“Yeah, he’s finally able to accept that I’m an adult now.”
“I’m really happy for you Hales. I knew you liked Morgan, so this is good that you two are happy and in love,” my mom said while taking my hand.
I smiled as the door opened, and Morgan and Lamar walked in. He came over to me and gave me a quick kiss before acknowledging my parents.
“oHow was dinner?”
“It was great.”
“Now, we have to ask, when are you two coming home?” My dad asked.
I glanced at Morgan, who gave a tiny smile. “I might be staying a little longer than expected.”
“Why? Now that everything is good with you and Lamar, you can return back to Houston.” My mom replied.
“That’s true, but Morgan needs to stay here because of his aunt and uncle. In fact, they also asked me to stay as well,” Lamar said.
Both of my parents stared at Lamar wondering what was really going on.
“What? First Hayley and now you. What’s going on?” My mom asked.
“That’s something we can’t talk about right now. Once everything blows over, then we can all return home.”
I looked at Lamar wondering what was going on too.
“What about your classes? Don’t they start in two weeks?” My dad asked.
“They do and we’ll be there.”
My mom looked at the two of us and sighed. “Well, you two are grown now, so we can’t say anything, but just promise us that you will return to school to finish your degrees.”
“We will, Mom,” I said.
My dad came over to me and gave me a hug. “Well, we’ll be back to see you before we leave, but we need to speak to Lamar alone.”
I nodded. “Okay. See you later, Dad.”
My mom gave me a hug as well. She looked at Lamar, who gave a confused look as my dad asked him to come outside with them.
Morgan looked from the door to me with a curious glance. “What was that about?”
“Let’s just say that I will no longer be the youngest in the family.”
“Really? Your parents are having another baby?”
I smiled. “They’ve been pretty busy.”
“Wow, well I guess congratulations are in order.”
“I’m still in shock over it, but they seemed pretty happy about it.”
“They should. A child is a wonderful blessing.”
I smiled. “Do you think we would ever have kids?”
Morgan smiled. “I would love to. I could see a mini version of you running around with a head full of beautiful curls and your personality. But having a child right now wouldn’t be the best thing for us.”
“Of course right now wouldn’t be great. I mean, someone is after you and possibly me. A child would be a bad idea.”
“Is the idea of your parents having a child bringing on these feelings?”
I shook my head. “No, but I was just wondering.”
He nodded and took my hand. He led me to the couch as he sat me down and took off my shoes. I stared at him as he sat down beside me and began massaging my feet. I lay back on the couch, and he smiled.
“That feels wonderful.”
“I’m glad you think so. I do have some news of my own.”
“What is that?”
“I saw Kyle at the club. We had a discussion, and we came to an agreement, so we won’t have to worry about Paula.”
“Wait, what? What type of agreement you two came up with?”
“Well, I found out some information about Kyle and I helped him resolve the issue he had. The condition we came up with has to do with Paula.”
“Oh no, do not tell me you blackmailed Kyle into sleeping with Paula.”
“I didn’t say he had to sleep with her, but if he does then that’s on him.”
“Seriously, Morgan! You don’t think that will make things even worse.”
“How could it be? Paula just want someone to be with her, so who is perfect to do that than Kyle? He agreed to it, so what’s the big deal?”
“What do you have on him?”
“He has some debt he needed to pay off. I agreed to pay them if he spent time with Paula.”
I shook my head and sighed. “You’re playing with fire, Morgan.”
“Trust me, the plan will work. Now, there’s still four hours left of your birthday.”
“Yes, it is.”
“I was thinking, since your party was a bust, I could start the private celebration early.”
“Oh really. What did you have in mind?”
“You’ll see,” he said. He got up and held out his hand. I smiled as I got up and followed him to the bathroom. I wondered what he had up his sleeve, but with Morgan, I’m sure it will be wonderful.
Hayley
The rest of my birthday was absolutely perfect. Morgan did so much to make up for the party by drawing me a bath complete with candlelight, he gave me my first legal glass of wine and gave me a head to toe massage complete with my favorite meal, crawfish etouffee in bed. He was always the perfect boyfriend, but he really showed me how much he loved me, which I was still giddy over.
I was at Harold’s waiting on my parents, Lamar, and Tamara to arrive. They were returning back to Houston, so we wanted to take them out before they hit the road. I was also waiting for word from Morgan to see if his plan with Kyle and Paula was coming together. I still didn’t think it was a good idea, but I trusted him to see that everything worked out.
After Rick had discovered what was going on, he did hired two undercover cops to watch over all of us. Steve and Carl were pretty nice for the most part, but the idea of those two people constantly around us now was starting to become too much. The two had only been watching us since this morning, and they were already annoying me.
I was walking to the door when my boot heel almost got caught in a crack in the sidewalk. I lost my balance for a second, but quickly recovered when I felt a hand go across my back. I looked over and saw a man standing behind me. I took a quick moment to stare at him, realizing he looked like an older version of Will, especially with the wavy black hair and green eyes. I looked around, wondering if Steve and Carl would appear anytime soon, but to my surprise, they were still in their car.
“Are you okay?” The man asked.
I couldn’t speak as I stared at him. I quickly removed myself from his embrace and straightened my coat.
“I’m fine. Thank you.”
“That’s good. Try being a little more careful, miss.”
“I definitely will.”
He smiled and was about to walk off, but turned around. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“I’m new to Dallas and I don’t have a clue on the best restaurants or where to go hang out. I was wondering by any chance if you do. I’m sure a pretty woman like yourself probably knows all of the popular places to go to.”
I smiled. “I’m sorry, sir, but I’m kind of new to the city myself. There’s a lot of places that I’m unfamiliar with, but I’m slowly learning.”
“Oh, well, maybe you and me can help each other out by looking for places to go if you’re interested.”
“No, she’s not.” I heard Morgan said.
I turned around and saw him, Lamar, and Tamara standing behind me.
The guy nodded. “I’m assuming he’s your boyfriend. I knew you wouldn’t be single.”
“She’s not, so you can turn around and keep walking.”
The guy laughed. “I rather if the young woman speaks for herself.”
“She can, but I’m speaking for her right now.”
“Okay, well good luck with everything.”
I nodded, and he walked aw
ay.
Morgan stared at the guy and turned to look at me. “What was that?”
“Nothing. I almost tripped and he caught me.”
“I bet. Looks like he was trying to ask you out. And where are Steve and Carl?”
“They’re still in their car. Are you jealous, Morgan?”
“Why would I be? He looked old enough to be your dad.”
“Hey, there are a lot of older men that can definitely give you young guys a run for their money; him included,” Tamara said while smiling.
“Oh really?” Lamar asked.
“Anyway, did anyone pick up the fact that he looked kind of like Will?” I asked.
Everyone shook their heads.
“Not really,” Morgan said.
I looked ahead at the guy walking around the side of the building. I shrugged and took Morgan’s hand.
“What happened with Paula? Did everything go as planned?”
Morgan smiled. “So far so good. I gave Kyle, Paula’s number. He called her, which she was shocked over, and he explained that he noticed her at the party and got her number from you and the rest was history. They agreed to have lunch before she headed back to Houston later.”
“Wow, she moves fast, but I would expect that from Paula.”
“That’s why I said this plan would work.”
“Maybe so.”
“Now, can we please talk about Mom and Dad and the fact they’re having a baby,” Lamar said.
“I’m still in shock over it,” I said.
“Come on you two, I think it’s great,” Tamara said.
“If you say so,” Lamar replied.
“Well, we should be happy for them, so no disapproving looks when they arrive,” I said. Lamar sighed as he and Tamara walked in front of Morgan and me into the restaurant. I looked over to the side of the building and saw the guy leaning on the wall. He glanced at me and gave a sweet smile which made me shiver. I don’t know if I was being paranoid, but I was wondering why he was staring at me.
Something Just Ain't Right Part 2 Page 11