by Terry Towers
As luck would have it, I’d brought my swimsuit. I hadn’t planned to use it, more like one of those just in case choices.
Grabbing my suit and my mobile phone, I jotted a note and stuck it on the fridge stating where I was and made my way down to the pool. There were several pools in the complex, but the one I was going to catered to the apartments on the top two floors, so the chances of running into anyone was slim. I liked that. Some time floating in the water with no one to disturb me could just be what I needed.
~*~ TT ~*~
Devon
Done. Done and done. Another day, another dollar as the said.
It was good to be home. Six o’clock appointments were not my thing. I might be an early riser, but even I had limits to how early I wanted to be at work. But sometimes you had to make exceptions, and today had been one of those times.
“Abby!” I called out as I stepped off the elevator and into the foyer.
Nothing but silence greeted me. Hmm. Wandering through the house, I spotted the neon pink Post-it note on the fridge the moment I stepped into the kitchen.
The pool.
It had been a while since I’d taken the luxury of a dip on the pool. Life seemed to always get in the way. People might envy those who had money, but they never considered how hard one had to work to get to that point. Sure, some people inherited their money or happened onto it by chance, but a good chunk of successful entrepreneurs came to have their wealth by working hard and sacrificing in other areas of their life. It was great to have a beautiful home and the luxury of not having to worry about bills, but everything has a price, and for me it was time to myself – away from work and work-related activities.
Pulling on a pair of trunks, I grabbed a towel and made my way to the pool.
Opening the door to the pool room, I was immediately hit by the smell of chlorine. Letting the door close behind me, I walked up the pool, spotting Abby immediately. She was on her back floating on the water, eyes closed, and if I didn’t know better I’d have thought she was sleeping she looked so serene. Her suit was a basic black one-piece. I had hoped she would wear something a little more enticing, but my dick didn’t need the excitement so perhaps it was for the best.
I opened my mouth to call her name and announce my arrival when a better idea hit me. Tossing my towel on one of the lounge chairs, I sat down on the edge and slowly, quietly lowered myself into the water. Once in, I sank down under I was under and swam in her direction.
Reaching her, I planted my feet on the bottom of the pool and sprang upwards, grabbing her by the waist as I emerged from the water.
She screamed. Not just a tiny, little, “ooops I’m startled, tee hee,” scream, but a blood curdling, calling out to God type of scream. The scream startled even me, despite my being the cause of it.
As my ears rang from the horrific sound, a surge of pain burst at my temple.
“Fuck,” I groaned out, dropping her into the water and taking a step back. My eyes closed as I touched the throbbing area. She was yelling at me, at least I think she was; my ears were ringing, and if it weren’t for the fact I was in water, that blow to my temple may have laid me out.
“What in the fuck, Abby?” I growled, removing my hand from my temple and looking down at it to discover there was blood mixed with the chlorinated water.
Her tirade ended, and her dark brown eyes widened. “Oh shit, I’m so sorry!”
“Sorry? A bit of an overreaction.”
“You scared me.” She closed the couple of feet distance between us reached out to touch my temple. I was tempted to jerk away, but didn’t. It had been a mistake. “It’s like a shark attacking a seal from under the water!”
“We’re not in the fucking ocean, Abby!”
“Doesn’t matter. You should know better than to disturb a woman who’s in the zone.” She examined my war wound a little closer and cringed. “Don’t worry, it’s not that bad.”
By the look on her face as she examined my temple, and judging from the lump already beginning to form, I would have to call her a liar. It was that bad. “Where in the hell did you learn to punch like that?”
She pulled her lower lip, between her teeth and shrugged. “When I was a teenager I was part of the high school boxing club.”
“I see. Why did you quit?”
“It was a high school thing. I wasn’t all that great at it. Once I graduated, I started working and then college started.” She shrugged. “Wasn’t on my priority list. Besides, I wasn’t as muscular and toned as the other women in the class, and I guess I didn’t have enough ambition to put the time in the gym. I also had Isabella, so.” She shrugged a second time. “Life happened.”
“What do you do in your spare time?” I asked, touching my temple once more and than letting my hand drop. I’d live.
“There is no spare time.” She pushed herself backwards into the water and began to slowly backstroke away from me.
I wasn’t about to let her get away so easily. Swimming towards her, I kept pace with her. “Everyone needs a hobby.”
“What’s yours?”
Good question.
“Not willing to share?” she teased.
“Nah. It’s not that. I have a lot of obligations. As you’ll get to see, there’s a couple or so events each week.”
“That’s not really a hobby is it?” She stopped her backward motion to begin treading water.
“No, it’s more like part of the job.” I stopped swimming as well and began treading water in front of her.
“Back to the original question, what’s your pastime?”
“Sex?” I meant it as a joke, but the look of disgust on her face at the simple word made me cringe. Guess she hadn’t quite gotten over her annoyance over my escapades. “Too soon?” I made a second attempt to lighten the mood.
Rolling her eyes, she spun in the water and began swimming away.
Well, shit.
Chapter 14
Abigail
It had been a while since I’d been to Madison Square Gardens for anything. I just didn’t have the money for concerts and events, even though I loved going. My last concert would have been maybe two years ago.
“Cool. Look mommy!” Isabella, pointed to the stand carrying large Knicks teddy bears. “Can I have one?”
Stopping, I looked a little more closely at the stand. The price for the bears was a little steep – correction, a lot steep - if you asked me.
“Of course, you can sweetie,” Devon cut in, placing a hand between her shoulder blades and steering her towards the booth, leaving me behind.
What the hell? I hesitated a moment before rushing to catch up with them. By the time I reached the booth, Isabella was already pointing out the bear of her choice and the process had begun.
“Oh, you don’t want that one, Isabella. You want the big one.”
I frowned as I looked up at the huge bear, which was easily as big as Isabella sitting on the back counter.
“I don’t think…” I protested reaching his side.
I was ignored.
“Yes! Yes! Yes! Can I? Can I?” She was grinning from ear to ear as she jumped up and down, clapping with enthusiasm.
“I don’t see why not.” He grinned at me as he pulled his wallet from the inside pocket of his jacket. Looking to the attendant, he said, “We want the large one in the back.”
“Certainly, sir.” The teenaged counter attendant grabbed the bear and plunked it down on the counter top. “Will that be cash or credit?”
Pulling out his VISA card, Devon stated Visa and proceeded with the transaction.
“Where are we going to put that thing?” I whispered, annoyance in my tone. I should have been happy that he’d wanted to make my daughter happy, but instead I was annoyed. He didn’t even ask me first, just went ahead and assumed I’d have space for it once we moved back to our place. He’d seen our apartment; there was barely room for me, Isabella and my roommate, where in the hell I’d put a bear like that w
as beyond me.
“There’s always a place.” When he’d safely tucked away his card again, Devon grabbed the bear from the counter and passed it down to Isabella. I’ll admit, it was amusing watching her try and carry the large bear. Eventually, we ended up with the bear being passed up to Devon, and then somehow it became my burden.
Taking Isabella’s hand, Devon led us to his box. He flashed his ID to the attendant, who allowed us to pass, but I doubted he really needed it since the attendant knew him by name.
“You must be a massive basketball fan.” I commented, placing the bear on the floor by the viewing window. Isabella immediately sat next to the it and started playing with the bear’s jersey and accessories.
“I enjoy it as much as the next guy. I have the box mostly to entertain clients and business associates.”
“It’s nice.” I glanced around the room. There were several black leather chairs set before smaller tables, a counter off to the side with snacks and refreshments, and a massive floor to ceiling window overlooking the court with a row of seats running along the base.
“It’s easier to get business accomplished when you’re not surrounded with screaming fans. I’ve been in the regular seating as well, but it just didn’t work as well.”
“Are we the only ones using this?” It seemed awfully big for just three people.
“We are. Normally, there’s more.”
“I see.” My stomach rumbled when I looked back at the refreshment counter. There was an array of fruit and berries, along with finger foods such as lunch meats and cheeses. “This is for us as well, I assume,” I asked as I put together a plate.
“Yes.” He came to stand before me. “They assume it’ll be a group of about a dozen.” He watched me as I piled food onto a plate. “I assume you didn’t eat yet today.”
“Nope.” I looked over my shoulder at Isabella who was completely engrossed in her play with the teddy bear. Setting my plate on the counter, I built a plate for Isabella. She was an absolute strawberry fiend, so I made sure to pile on lots of the red fruit. I’d worked at places like this before; if it didn’t get eaten, it would be thrown out. Such a waste. If it wasn’t for the fact that Devon would no doubt be mortified, I’d ask for a take-out plate to bring some home with us.
Such a shame. Hundreds of dollars of food in the trash…
Once I was done, Devon grabbed some food from the spread. Setting the plates on one of the tables, I called Isabella over to have something to eat. It took a little persuasion, but she finally left her bear to come sit with us. We were in the middle of eating, roughly fifteen minutes before the game started, when the door opened and a woman I would guess to be in her late twenties entered. She had blonde hair reaching to her shoulders and dark blue eyes.
“Hey Devon, sorry I’m late.” She gave me and Isabella a cursory look, before shifting her gaze to Devon.
My eyes narrowed at her. Who was she and why was she here? I’d been under the assumption that it was going to only be the three of us. Could have sworn that was what he’d said.
“Amy?” He seemed a little startled, so it would be safe to assume that he didn’t anticipate anyone showing up either.
I looked from Devon to the woman and then back again. Maybe this was one of his sex buddies? She was wearing a short, black, tight-fitting skirt and white blouse that was unbuttoned too low if you were to ask me – you could see the outline of her bra beneath the white cotton. Didn’t she know that you weren’t supposed to wear a dark colored bra under white, and that she should be wearing cream?
Yup, sex buddy. That bra choice confirmed it for me. To my surprise, a hint of anger and jealousy welled up in me. Annoyed with myself, I pushed it down. There was nothing to be jealous of, regardless of what their relationship was to each other. My deal with him was simply a business transaction – nothing more or less.
She looked to myself and Isabella again, appearing startled. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you had private company.”
If you looked closely enough, you could tell it was hardly a genuine reaction. She knew she was intruding.
Devon hesitated a moment longer. “Amy, this is my friend Abigail and her daughter Isabella.” He gave me a smile and then looked back at the interloper, a quizzical note in his eyes.
“Oh, since it’s a private thing, I’ll only take a few moments of your time…” She approached the table and set a thin black, leather briefcase on the empty chair at the table of four. She opened it up and after a moment of rummaging produced a file folder and a pen. “There’s a couple documents that need to be signed, then I’ll get going.”
He cocked a brow up at her as he pushed his plate of food to the side and accepted the pen and documents. “This couldn’t have waited until I was in the office tomorrow?” As he spoke, he began signing his name in spots that were marked with little plastic arrows. I’m sure there’s a technical name for those little plastic things, but I had no idea what it was.
“I wanted to get it finalized for you tonight. I didn’t realize I’d be interrupting anything.”
Once he finished signing in the appropriate places, he leaned back in his chair. “Abby, this is one of the lawyers on my legal team, Amy Campbell.”
She stepped forward and extended her hand to me. “I’ve been with Devon since the beginning.”
“Beginning?”
“We went to college together,” Devon explained, “and when I started my company she was the first lawyer on my legal team. Of course, it wasn’t a team back then, it was just Amy.”
“Oh.” This new information really had me thinking as I looked from one to the other. It seemed unlikely that they’d know each other for so long and not be intimate. Fuck, my mind was getting away on me and it didn’t matter either way. “It’s nice that you know you have someone you can trust taking care of your affairs. Even after hours.”
I cringed at the tone in my voice: did I just come off as a bitter girlfriend? How could I come off like that when we weren’t even dating? Shaking my head, I laughed at myself. I was completely overthinking this, because when it came right down to it, it simply didn’t matter.
“Yes, well.” She scooped the papers up from the table, leaning a little further down then I’d assume necessary displaying her generous breasts, then bent back up and neatly placed the paperwork back into the case. “Well then, I’ll leave you three to your date. I’m sorry for the interruption.”
“No worries, Amy. I’ll see you out.” Devon stood and escorted her from the room, closing the door behind him.
~*~ TT ~*~
Devon
“What was that all about?” I asked the moment the door behind me was closed so Abigail couldn’t hear.
“What do you mean?” She jutted out her lower lip and pretended to be hurt. I’d known her for a long time, so I knew when she was playing someone, and she was trying that with me right now.
“Those forms could have waited until tomorrow. There was no urgency. What do you stand to gain from interrupting my evening with a friend and her kid?”
Her look of remorse changed to something else as she planted her hands on her hips and stared up at me. A silence overtook us. A very awkward silence.
“Just out with it, Amy. The game is about to start.”
“I’ve seen your contract.”
“Yeah, you’ve got several of them in your briefcase. You’re going to have to be a little more specific.”
“The sex contract you have with her.” She jerked her head towards the door behind me. “Have you lost your mind? You can’t be that hard up for sex. And she’s so plain.” With each word, her voice rose an octave. A couple of people slowed their pace as they walked past us, no doubt our conversation peaked their interest.
“This is not a conversation I’m interested in having with you, especially here.”
Her eyes narrowed at me. “Fine.” The word was said so sharply, it was evident it was hardly fine. It was anything but fine. She didn’t wait
for me to respond, spinning on her heel and storming off, disappearing into the crowd.
I released a loud huff, raking a hand through my hair. As I turned, I noticed the attendant just a few feet away. He pretended to be uninterested, but you could tell he’d heard every word.
How in the hell did she get hold of that contract? I didn’t want her privy to it for this very reason. I guess there’d be a couple of attorney’s I’d be having very serious conversations with in the not so distant future.
Fuck. My. Life.
Chapter 15
Abigail
“Mommy, what are you doing?”
My child calling me brought me to my senses. Feeling embarrassed, I quickly moved away from the door where I was attempting to hear the conversation. What did it matter what they were saying anyhow? It didn’t.
“Nothing. Nothing at all.” I sat back down at the table and quickly finished up my food. “Eat up. The game is about to start.”
“Yes, mommy.” She picked up the pace, shovelling the food into her mouth. I didn’t think she could eat so fast. Normally, it took her forever to get through any meal, she was such a picky eater.
Just as the teams were being called out over the loud speaker, Devon returned. He looked a little distraught, but as soon as he saw me watching him, his expression changed, and he gave me a wide grin, clapping his hands together with enthusiasm. “Game time, ladies.”
“Yeah!!!” Isabella jumped from her chair at the table and found a seat in front of the window with a wide grin on her face. “So cool, Mommy. Come sit.” She patted the chair beside her and the patted the one on her other side. “Devon. Sit here.”
“You got it.” He ruffled her hair and she giggled as he sat next to her.
Taking a seat on the other side of Isabella, I found myself spending more time watching the interactions between Devon and my daughter than on the game itself. Isabella was more interested in going to a game than watching the game itself. She seemed to really be taking to Devon, and a new fear emerged within me. What if she became attached to him? It could certainly happen in a month, especially with him lavishing gifts and attention on her.