Great One

by Nayla Matthew

  “Our best bet is to just wait it out, wait until Jacob says next,” Zahara says.

  ++

  “I just can’t comprehend, exposing the privacy of an infant over some petty jealousy?” Laila says, pacing around her room. “And Abraham is defending her?”

  “I haven’t talked to him, I don’t have my phone yet, but my mother says that The Clifford’s aren’t allowing Demetra over anymore,” I say. “Apparently Mrs. Clifford never really liked her to begin with,”

  “You will always be their favorite, you practically grew up at their house,” she says.

  “This is shit, deep shit Laila and I keep nearly falling off the ledge, I thought the next time I saw Braum, I would look at him and not feel a thing, he broke my heart and moved on in less than a month before I could even finish grieving, we were together for a decade,”

  “I know,” Laila says, gently.

  “And now he refers to me as his ex, like I’m nothing, and he doesn’t look at me the way he used to, and I didn’t think I’d feel so bad but I do, and it hurts so much,” I say, dropping my head down in my hands. “It hurts more than it did before,”

  “I wish I could tell you, it gets easier, and I wish I could tell you that moving on is easy but I honestly don’t know I can’t really picture myself with anyone else but G, and it might sound silly or pathetic whatever peoples view on it is, but I can’t possibly imagine what you’re going through,” Laila says, “But I know you can do this Adeya, you’re so strong and fierce, and you can make it through this,”

  “Thanks Laila,” I say. “I should get back to work,” I say, she waves goodbye and I end the call moving away from my amour and falling into bed.

  I never stopped loving you. Liar.

  “Are you decent?” I hear Alec knock on my door, pushing it open. “Good morning love, are you coming down for breakfast?”

  “Is May here?” I ask.

  “Yes, she just got here, is everything okay?” he asks, I sit up in bed.

  “Just talking with Laila,” I say, sliding off the bed. “Is Zahara and Calum still here?”

  “They left before dawn, leaving me stranded,” he says.

  “I can get someone to get you a ride home you know,” I say.

  “I’d rather stay here, Mark’s brother is in town and I don’t feel like being stared down like I’m a freak for a week,” Alec says.

  “Mark’s family doesn’t approve of you too?”

  “Mark is from Texas, and his Father is a pastor, what do you think?” Alec says, and I just nod.

  “Well stay as long as you like, I’m sure you’ll find a way to squeeze into my things,” I say, leaving my room. When I go downstairs, May is still helping Lorelei with breakfast, I kiss the top of Lorelei’s head before making myself a cup of coffee, and a plate of food. “How did you sleep baby?” I ask, sitting at the table.

  “Good,” Lorelei replies.

  “Is it okay if I take her to the community park today?” May asks.

  “Of course, just don’t leave the gates,” I say, she nods in response. When I finish breakfast, I move directly into my writing room. I had two songs to go, if I pushed through and kept everything out of my mind, maybe I’d make it. Maybe an hour passes when May leaves to take Lorelei to the park, I take a break to make myself some tea. I start playing with the piano hoping some words with form, just spill out.

  “What’s the name for that one?” Alec says, at the door I turn my attention to him.

  “I’m thinking of calling it Not Over You,” I say.

  “That’s an interesting decision,” he says, sitting down beside me at the piano bench. “Can I hear it all,” he asks, I nod turning and starting the song, Alec sits in silence, swaying gently to the song. “Beautiful, as always,” he nudges me.

  “Thank you,” I say.

  “So that leaves one more song?” he asks.

  “I think I have that one already,” I say. Before pushing out of my seat and grabbing my guitar. “It’s a bit different from my usual flow, but tell me what you think, it’s called I Think I’m In Love,” I say.

  “Intriguing,” he says, I begin playing the sound just bouncing out of me. When I finish Alec gives me a standing ovation, and I give him a bow. “You are truly a songwriting extraordinaire,” he says.

  “Thank you,” I say, setting down my guitar. “It looks like album three is finished,” I say, falling back onto the piano. “Now the hard stuff,”

  “And now we drink, to celebrate the completion of your album,” Alec pulls me out of my seat and into my kitchen. Alec starts making me a drink and I slide into the barstool. “To completion” he says, holding out his drink, I grab my mine hitting our together.

  “To completion,” I say. Lorelei and May, arrive back after Alec makes me a second drink, and Zahara comes over after my third. “I finished the album!” I announce, when she walks into the kitchen.

  “Finally!” she says. “Jacob is going to happy! Something to bring the attention away from this whole scandal,” she says, setting her bags on the table. “Where is my little Lory?”

  “In her playroom with May, who needs a raise by the way,” I say.

  “I’ll look into it, in the meantime Alec make me drink,” Zahara falls into the seat beside me. “Demetra will be arriving next Monday,”

  “Just Demetra?” I ask.

  “I doubt it, probably her parents’ lawyers,” she says, before realizing she meant whether she knew if Braum would be tagging along. “I’m not sure, but you don’t have to handle any of that not if you don’t want to,”

  “Do you know what her decision is?” I ask, she shakes her head.

  “She’ll probably hand over the money, she doesn’t want to go to war with Jacob Dawson, trust and believe, that’s a battle not worth fighting,” Zahara says, before taking her drink from Alec. “Soon everything will be a thing of the past,”

  Chapter Eleven

  Monday rolled around quicker than I expected, despite what Zahara thought I wanted to be present in the room when they talked to Demetra. I wanted to look her in the eyes and listen to whatever bullshit excuse she was going to give, behind exposing my child’s identity. When we arrived at the Magnolia Records, Jacob and his lawyers were already waiting in the meeting office, I sit in between Zahara and one of my security guards.

  “Don’t say anything, alright, not a word, no matter what,” Zahara whispers, and I just give a nod. Soon, Laurie the receptionist pushes open the door and Demetra walks in followed by an older looking man, and Braum. They take a sit in the remaining seats.

  “Good afternoon, welcome to Magnolia Records! I’m Jacob Dawson, one of the head producers here and manager of Adeya,” Jacob says. “These are my Lawyers Dennis Freidman, and Daniel Pascal, and I’m sure you’ve met my assistant Zahara before,” he says, earning just a nod.

  “Good afternoon Mr. Dawson, I am Robert Laney, I am Demetra’s attorney,” the older man says.

  “Let’s get things started, shall we? It’s simple we just want all profits you gained for releasing the private information of my client, and we will drop any forthcoming lawsuits,” Jacob says.

  “My client declines that offer,” Robert says, earning a confused look from Jacob which was rare, Zahara tenses beside me. “Your client Adeya Waterson not only kept the identity of her child away from the public, but she also kept the identity away from the birth father who has the right to release whatever pictures he chooses to release,” for the first time since the meeting started, I look in Braum’s direction and he avoids my gaze. Demetra sits next to him, a cool look on his face, Jacob chuckles.

  “This isn’t family court Robert,” he says, before turning towards his lawyers.

  “Demetra Long received nearly 30 thousand dollars total from multiple news sources by releasing the photos, and the name, and if Abraham Clifford were to release this information of his birth child it would be a completely different story, but Demetra Long has no biological connection to the c
hild or to Mr. Dawson’s client, therefore she had no right to release that information,” Dennis says.

  “And if you want to take this to family court, you won’t build a very good case by blaming Ms. Waterson client from keeping a secret away from the Father, we don’t know the true reason why Ms. Waterson chose to keep it a secret but retaliating but releasing private information won’t hold well in front of a judge, Lorelei Waterson is only 4 years, and her identity was released to the public which will put herself in danger,” Daniel adds. The atmosphere in the room changes, Demetra didn’t look as collected as she did before.

  “How about we give you guys a minute to go over what you’d like to do,” Jacob says, standing from his seat, and gesturing for Zahara and I to follow him out. We leave going down the hallway to a different meeting room. “The nerve,” Jacob says, sitting down at the table.

  “Are you okay?” Zahara asks, grabbing my hand.

  “I’m fine, I knew they’d probably something like that at my face,” I say.

  “Don’t worry Adeya, if you need Dennis or Daniel for Family Court, I’ll get on it quick,” Jacob says.

  “That won’t be necessary,” I say, the meeting door opens, and Daniel comes in.

  “They’ve made their decision, they will go through with the payment of all she gained from releasing the statement,” he says.

  “Perfect, you girls stay here I’ll wrap things up,” Jacob says, following Daniel out of the room.

  “Are you really okay?” Zahara asks, after the door is closed.

  “How could he sit there and just let her get away with that?” I say, squeezing my hands in tight fist at my side. “How could he just let her tell her attorney that it was because I kept him a secret, that he was okay with it? Lorelei is going to have to have security follow her everywhere she goes now! She won’t have a normal life or get adjusted to this life now and it was all because that bitch was jealous!?” I snap, Zahara grabs my hand, forcing it out of a fist and holding it.

  “Breathe,” she whispers.

  “I knew telling him would be a bad idea, fuck,” I say, she pulls me into a hug rubbing my back.

  “Breathe, just breathe,” she instructs.

  “Ms. Waterson, Mr. Clifford would like to speak to you,” my security guard says, popping open the door. I pull away from Zahara dabbing away the tears.

  “Let him in,” I say.

  “Do you want me to stay?” Zahara whispers, but I shake my head. The door opens and Braum walks in, Zahara leaving behind him, allowing the door to close.

  “Adeya,”

  “Don’t apologize,” I say, crossing my arms. “I don’t care,” I shrug. His shoulders drop and he looks down at the ground. “I want Lorelei to have a Father in her life, but, and I mean this from bottom of my heart I want nothing to do with you,” I say, he looks up at me, his eyes filled with pain, and confusion. “You lied to me, and it doesn’t seem to bother you that your girlfriend released your daughter’s identity to the public, like it means nothing to you that her life is going to be completely different now,”

  “This isn’t what I wanted,” Braum says.

  “Then what did you want?” I snap, dropping my arms. “You’ve done enough,” I start walking towards the door, and Braum reaches for me but I yank away. “We can discuss visits, I don’t want to get family court involved, and don’t force me too,” I say, before opening the door and leaving the room quickly rushing down the hallway towards the elevators.

  “Adeya!” Zahara shouts, but I ignore her, before beelining it to the bathroom. Pushing into the girl’s bathroom, to get a breath.

  “And he just sat there like an idiot! Half a million down the drain because he couldn’t grow some balls!” I hear Demetra shout.

  “Calm down baby,” Bo says, I grip tight on the bathroom door stepping back. “We’ll figure something out,”

  “Our plan is ruined now, he’s so useless,” I hear Demetra says, I step back letting the door shut before moving into the boy’s bathroom. I can hear the girl’s bathroom open and shut.

  “Do you think someone heard us?” I hear Demetra say. “Whatever, I have to go find him,” I push open the boy’s bathroom door open just in time to see Demetra disappear behind the corner. Bo stands in the hallway, and I step out.

  “He’s your best friend,” I say, Bo spins around jumping back.

  “Shit, Adeya,”

  “You can’t be serious Bo?” I say.

  “What are you talking about?” he says.

  “I heard, everything,” I say, his jaw tenses but he doesn’t say anything. “How long?” I ask.

  “A year after they started officially dating,” he says.

  “It’s been 2 years? Bo!” I say.

  “Don’t say that like you’re some saint princess,” he snaps. “Braum got everything! All the toys, all the games, everyone wanted to be his friend, and he got invited to all the parties and he had you! He had you and that wasn’t enough for him,” Bo says. “And he knew I had feelings for Demetra, he knew that still went after her! He just couldn’t lose!”

  “That doesn’t give you the right,” I start but he holds up his hand.

  “Don’t give me that morality bullshit,” he says. “You can save it for the talk shows, what do you think is going to happen Adeya? He’s going to break up with Demetra and get back together with you?”

  “Fuck you,” I snap. “And to think I thought you were different than the rest of the shitty people that came from that god forsaken town!” I snap, shoving him back. “You can go to hell,” I stomp pass him walking towards the elevator, Zahara waiting for me at the end of the hallway.

  “What was that all about?” she asks.

  “We need to go, now,” I say. We get on the elevator going down to the private garage where our cars, and Calum wait.

  “How did it go?” he asks, when we climb into the car.

  “Demetra is cheating on Braum with Bo, and it’s been going on for 2 years,” I spit out.

  “Wait, Bo as in his best friend Bo?” Zahara says, and I just nod. “I caught them in the bathroom, I confronted Bo… I think they were going to use the money to run away together or something,”

  “That’s terrible,” Calum says, I sit back in my seat.

  “Can we go? We can go please?” I say, buckling myself into my seat. I could feel the feelings scraping to get out. We leave the garage, and head towards Lorelei’s school to pick her up. When we arrive at the school, Lorelei is waiting inside with her teachers, as instructed. “Hey baby bear,” I say, picking her up and peppering her with kisses.

  “Hey mama,” she says, kissing me back.

  “How was school?” I ask.

  “Good! Good, I want ice cream!” she says.

  “Maybe later,” I walk back out getting into the car and buckling Lorelei in.

  “Hi baby!” Zahara says, from the front seat, blowing kisses.

  “Hi!” Lorelei says. Calum takes Lorelei and I home where I give her my undivided attention, I braid her hair, and we play outside for a bit, before doing the little homework she had. For dinner, we make a pizza, and a cookie cat, before watching Frozen 2 for the millionth time and I put her to bed. I however go back downstairs and clean the entire kitchen, and her playroom before realizing I was working to distract myself; I go back to my room ending the night, without a single thought of Braum.

  The next day, I wake up to a long stream of missed phone calls and texts from my mother and Mrs. Clifford. “Good morning,” I say, calling my mom back.

  “Are you home? Abraham is trying to meet up with you so he can see Lorelei before getting back, he says you have him blocked?” she asks.

  “Yesterday was a disaster mom,” I say,

  “Oh no sweetie, tell me all about it,” she says.

  “Long story short, Demetra was going to try and spin the narrative and make it look like Braum had some right to release the photos of Lorelei because he is the Father and I kept her a secret,” I expla
in. “It was ridiculous mom,”

  “Oh honey, I am so sorry you’re going through this, I know how stressful everything is for you right now,”

  “I’ll be fine,”

  “Please just call Braum, he would really like to see Lorelei,” my mom says.

  “I will,” I hang up the phone, and call Braum’s number.

  “Hello? Adeya?” he says.

  “You can come to my community park, just ask the guard to call me when you get here and I’ll let you in, it can only be you,” I say.

  “Okay,” he says. “I’ll see you a little later,” I hang up the phone tossing it on my bed. When I go downstairs, Lorelei and Alec are eating at the kitchen table.