by Alora Kate
“Yes.”
“How bad?”
“Life changing.”
He was silent, and I was starting to get used to him; I knew when he was ready, he’d say something, and if not, I’d just start again.
“I’m smart.”
I sat up and looked at him. “What?”
“Genius. Smart. Talented.”
“Really?”
He rolled his head to me. “I hate it.”
I rolled to the other side of the bed and pulled my fan closer. I plugged it in and put it next to the bed. “I like the noise.” It wasn’t a lie; I loved sleeping with the fan on, but I did it just in case Lucas was listening because as much as I wanted him to hear me with another guy, regardless of what we were doing, this was personal and I felt like Prescot trusted me.
After I got some sleep, I would tear this apartment apart until I found where the listening devices were.
I crawled back into bed and sat next to him. “Why do you hate it?”
“It doesn’t stop. My brain. My thoughts. It never stops.”
“Is that why it takes you longer to reply sometimes?”
“Yes. Sometimes my brain has to process things before I can talk.”
“And why you pause a lot?”
“Yes. Lots of random thoughts. Short ones that make no sense half the time. It takes a lot for my brain to formulate a sentence on the inside, but somehow all the random things in my head come out in order and make sense.”
“I knew something was different about you.”
“You did?”
“You’re different.” I slowly lay next to him, and he put his arm around me. I looked into his soft blue eyes and said, “That’s why I like you.”
Next thing I knew, Alexa was in my room yelling and Prescot’s arms still were wrapped around me. I must have fallen asleep.
“I’m tired, Alexa.”
“Shit, I’m sorry,” she said crawling into bed behind me. “Hey, Prescot.”
I opened my eyes and saw he was looking at her, then dropped his eyes to me and said, “I’ll go.”
“Please don’t.”
“I’m leaving,” she said, hugging me. “I just wanted to thank Ki, and tell her how beautiful she is.”
I smiled and closed my eyes because the light was on and I just wanted to go back to sleep. “I love you more, Alexa; now please leave.”
“You two crazy kids have fun,” she said crawling out of bed. “Just pretend I’m not even here.” She snickered.
“Go away, Alexa.”
The light turned off and the door shut.
“I’m sorry about that,” I mumbled.
“You want me to stay?”
“Do you have anywhere else you need to be?”
“No.”
“Then please stay.”
He hugged me tighter, and I fell back asleep almost instantly. He was awake when I finally opened my eyes, still holding me, and I leaned up and placed a small kiss on his lips.
“Thank you.”
He brushed his lips against mine as a thank you, and we made plans to meet up later in the day. Alexa was in the kitchen, cooking something; it was a bad idea. She’s horrible at cooking, which is why she orders out a lot. I wasn’t great at it either, but I didn’t try to fix it like she did.
“Bye, Mr. Bale.”
“Shut up, Alexa,” I hissed.
We stepped outside, and I gave him a hug goodbye and told him I’d call later this afternoon. I watched him walk toward the stairs, and he stopped.
“Ki,” he said turning around.
“Yes?” I waited a few seconds. I loved seeing his face when he was thinking. I had a good idea of what he was going to say, so I said, “I had a good night also, Prescot.”
He smiled, and I watched him until he disappeared.
Once inside, I locked up, used the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and then got to work.
“Turn the stove off before you burn the place down,” I said walking to the couch. One by one, I pulled the cushions off and started to unzip them.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I think Lucas bugged our apartment.”
I heard her throw something in the sink and then she came to help me. “That little shit.”
“He’s probably listening right now,” I said loudly.
“You suck, Lucas!” she yelled, then leaned in and whispered, “Why did he bug us?”
I found nothing in the cushions, so I went to the lamp and took the top off. “There’s something I have to tell you, about last night and before you get upset, I didn’t have a chance to tell you because Prescot was here.”
“You slept with Prescot!”
“Jesus, Alexa, I didn’t sleep with him.”
“But obviously, it has something to do with him?”
“Lucas actually.”
We tore the apartment to shreds. Destroyed it. We systematically went through each room, going for the obvious places first: couch cushions, lamps, under rugs. With each room that we worked through, I told more of what has been happening lately. I started at the very beginning because I had to look for more clues Lucas might have given me in the beginning. I retold her the story of how I first met Lucas on the bench while I lifted and checked under the couch. I told her about the movies as we dumped out each kitchen drawer, utensils and papers clattering to the ground. I told her how Lucas visited me at home as we tore through the bathroom and unscrewed light bulbs. And in the darkness of our apartment, with all of our belongings on the floor, I told her about Lucas confessing his love for me. I told her about my crazy visit with Donovan Erbach and ended the story with what we were currently doing to our apartment.
“Who’s going to clean up the mess?” Alexa asked, standing in the middle of the living room, looking around at our stuff thrown around the apartment. I had just come out of my bedroom with no bugs and realized the mess we had made.
“Nothing,” I started. “We found nothing.”
“He’s probably laughing at us right now.”
“Lucas!” I yelled.
“Will that work?” she asked, looking around the apartment like he was just going to appear out of nowhere.
“It did once before,” I replied. “Lucas! Get your ass up here.”
I started kicking the random objects on the floor and made my way to the door to unlock it. Alexa and I stood in front of it and waited for him to show up.
Chapter 19 – Ki
“Took you long enough,” I spat at Lucas when the door opened.
He looked tired and his hair was messy, but at least he was wearing clean clothes. “I hesitated to come up.”
“Get rid of the bugs.”
He pointed at Alexa. “You told her everything.”
“Of course I did! She’s my best friend.”
“I sure am,” she said at my side. “You invaded our privacy.”
“It’s my job, to protect you.”
“This shit with the man who claims to be my biological father needs to stop.”
“He’s your father, Ki. You need to talk to him.”
“Even if he is, he only reached out because he wanted my bone marrow.”
“You barely gave him five minutes of your time.”
“Why did he hire you to protect me?”
He worked his jaw, thought about it, and then went to my doorway. He kneeled and pulled the vent out of the wall. He reached inside and held up a little chip. He went around to all of the vents and pulled a chip out of each one. He carried them to the sink, dropped them down the disposal, and turned the water on before flipping the switch. He glared at me the entire time but eventually turned off the water and disposal.
“Your father is a rich man, Ki.”
I felt like I needed to sit, so we all made our way to the couch. He talked while we put the covers back on the cushions. “He’s not a good man. He’s a drug dealer among other things, which means he’s got a lot of enemies. One of those enemies found
out about you. He’s not sure how, but the information came to him and then a week later, he found out he was sick. He has a few legal businesses, which are more of a front to make way for his illegal . . . endeavors.”
“So, his enemies want me dead?” I asked, sitting on the couch, feeling my world change with every second that passed.
“We aren’t sure.” Lucas sat on one side of me and Alexa on the other. “He’s from Miami, so it’s a bit of a stretch but as soon as he found out about you, he tracked you down, and that’s where I came in. I’ve been doing private security and bodyguard work without my family. I didn’t stay in contact with my mother; that was a mistake. I left her a note and told her not to worry, but you know how well that turned out.”
“She’s your mom; it’s her job to worry.” Unlike mine and Alexa’s moms who never worried about us.
“I know, Ki, but she knows nothing of my other life.”
“So, you’re like a secret agent?”
“Not really.”
“How many jobs have you done?” I asked, sitting back on the couch.
“Enough.” Something about the way he said it, didn’t convince me but he kept talking. “My mom thinks I party my days away, and I used to. I woke up one day and wanted to do more. I got my shit together with help from a friend; the same friend also trained me and helped me get this job.”
“So, you really are protecting me?”
“I didn’t lie about that, Ki.”
I turned to Alexa. “Maybe we should go back to kickboxing class.”
“I’ll do whatever needs to be done to keep you safe.”
“Thank you for telling me, Lucas.” I felt Lucas stand and I stood to give him a hug. “I won’t be so difficult anymore.”
“You told your lawyer about me, Ki; he’s asked his firm’s private investigator to look into me.”
I pulled back and followed him to the door. “I’ll talk to him.”
“I won’t tell you how to live your life . . . just be careful.”
“I will.”
He pulled out a card and handed it to me. “It’s your father’s number.”
I shoved it in my back pocket. “I haven’t decided what to do yet.”
“I told him not to involve you at all. Not to interrupt your life, but he didn’t listen. He really wants to get to know you, Ki, and not just for your bone marrow.”
Ten minutes later, Alexa and I were still sitting on the couch in silence. Not only was my life in danger, but now I put her life in danger as well. I was a horrible friend.
“Alexa, I’m so sorry.”
“Why?”
“Now he has to protect the both of us.”
“I’m not worried. Your father is a bad man, which means he’s used to protecting himself, so now that means you too. He must be staying in town, waiting to hear from you. I’m sure Lucas isn’t the only one watching after you.”
“What about the bone marrow?”
“I can only give you advice because, in the end, you have to do what you feel is right. I believe Lucas when he said that man’s your father, which means you really need to talk to your mom.”
“Her phone’s off, but I left a message at her work.”
“Talk to her first, then make a decision.”
“I think that’s best.”
We turned the music on and started to clean. Prescot and I didn’t set a time to meet up, but I knew it wouldn’t take that long to clean up this mess.
###
“Your home . . . is different,” I said glancing around Prescot’s living room. It was empty except for an old, ratty, light blue couch. His walls were painted a light brown with a slightly darker trim.
“I gave everything to Vicki.”
“That was nice.”
“She bought most of it.”
“With your money?”
“Yes.” We were standing next to each other, and I had no idea what we were going to do. I just asked if I could come over and he said yes. Telling him everything about my life was going to happen, but I didn’t want to spill it as soon as I walked through the door. He’d probably turn me right back around and that would be the end of it. But this standing around was just awkward.
“Do you have beer?” I asked walking toward the kitchen. The condo had an open layout, and you could see the living room, kitchen, and dining room all at the same time. “I could really use a beer right now.”
“I don’t.”
I spun around. “Let’s go get some.”
He smiled, it meant yes.
We walked a block to this great little bodega that sold a little bit of everything. Since the owner held a liquor license, he had a beer cooler in the back and a small display of wine. It was another beautiful day in New York, and in the heart of the summer, so tourists were milling in and out of restaurants and cafes as we passed. A group of middle-aged women stopped us on our walk and asked for directions, which Prescot gave with expert precision. Walking into the store, we milled around before we picked a twelve pack of beer and three bottles of wine that were on sale. “I’m not an alcoholic,” I said after we walked out. I attempted to pay for the beer and wine, but Prescot gently pushed my hand holding my card away. I argued that I should at least split it with him, and he quietly shook his head, letting me know this was not up for discussion.
“I didn’t say you were.”
“I plan on visiting more than once and with the way my life’s going, I might need to drink those days.”
“You are?”
“Do you want me to?”
He smiled.
Another yes.
We ordered a bunch of Chinese food when we got back to his condo and sat at the kitchen island to eat. Prescot could certainly put away some Chinese food, and he piled his plate high with a little bit of everything he ordered. He mentioned that he didn’t keep much food in the condo as he felt it was silly to cook just for himself. He sure didn’t look like he ate out as much as he did, but when I got a glimpse of his drawer of menus from various restaurants and delivery services, I knew he was a take-out connoisseur. I did most of the talking, mainly about where I grew up and how Alexa and I met, and he listened. He was a great listener. About every five minutes, he’d lean in and give me a soft kiss on the lips, and then I’d keep talking. I told him how bad my teeth were and how I was teased almost every day of my life.
We opened all three bottles of wine to taste them. He ended up liking the red wine, and I preferred the lighter, fruitier one. He started to clean up, and I excused myself to use the restroom. His bathroom is one that I only have ever dreamed about, and I took a little extra time to admire the marble countertops and dual-head shower. The whirlpool tub was in the corner of the room, and I briefly fantasized about taking luxurious baths in there on lazy Sunday afternoons, like today. The entire bathroom was easily as large as my living room. Even though Vicki said Prescot made a mistake by starting his own firm, he was still living in this fancy condo and I saw no sign of financial strain. By the time I left the bathroom, he had all the food put away and two beers sat on the floor next to his couch. The bitch even took the coffee table.
I walked around the couch and slowly sat on his lap. The look in his eyes was unforgettable as I closed my eyes and kissed him. His hands went to the small of my back, my turn on spot, and I fought against stripping down and taking him on the couch. It’s been a while for me, and he just got divorced, so taking it slow was probably the best thing to do for the both of us.
“Ki.” His voice rumbled deep, and I slowly pulled back.
“I know, we gotta take it slow.” I brushed my lips against his. “It’s just kissing, right?”
“One more,” he muttered, and I kissed him one more time. One long, heavy kiss that allowed his hands to roam my back and unclasp my bra before softly caressing my breasts. It felt different without my braces, like I was an expert kisser; smooth and full of grace without metal getting in the way. As good as it felt, I had to stop before I
changed my mind and took him here on the couch.
I pulled back and scooted off his lap. I smiled at him while I clasped my bra and fixed myself.
“Now what?” he asked, still breathing heavily.
I glanced around his bare living room before smiling at him. “You could use a TV.”
He glanced up at the space on the wall and shrugged a shoulder. “Okay.”
Chapter 20 – Prescot
Ki.
Sweet.
Simple.
Ki.
She didn’t care about fancy things.
She didn’t care about the ratty couch I dug out from storage.
It was from college.
I bought a TV.
Mounted it.
Movies.
Streaming services.
We watched lots of movies and made out several times.
She took a bath at three in the morning.
Naked.
She was naked in the tub, and I did nothing but watch.
She wanted me to watch.
She tempted me.
And I loved it.
She lifted her leg covered in bubbles and kicked some at me.
“Why do you like me?”
“You’re simple.”
“Simple?” she asked, her hands moving slowly around the tub, making the bubbles circulate.
“You’re not Vicki.”
“Thank God for that.” She laughed and took another sip of her wine. It was the last glass. “I’m sorry. At some point, I know you must have loved her. Maybe she used to be nice?”
“Something like that.”
“You don’t want to talk about it?”
“It’ll ruin the mood.”
I’d give her all my words, just not now. Not while we’re enjoying each other’s company.
She sat up in the tub and pulled her knees up, covering herself. Sometimes she was shy. Sometimes she wasn’t. I liked that about her.
“I feel bad,” she finally said.
“Why?”
“Taking a bath.”
Bath.
Bubbles.
Wet hair.
“I want you to join me, Prescot.”
“I’d rather watch.”
“You didn’t though. I got naked, and you looked at the floor.”