Twisted Proposal (32 page)

“Okay, it’s not too late, but I don’t believe in that stuff. My dad is going to kill me,” she cried.

I had to agree. “It’s best to just tell your folks the truth and then deal with the consequences.”

She jumped away from me. “You don’t get it, do you? Once he finds out who the father is, he’ll probably freak out and kill the kid. And since his parents don’t make enough money, it’s really going to bother him.”

“You don’t know that.” I tried to signal her to stop talking, because Stuart had walked in through the bathroom, but she wasn’t paying attention. “Maybe we should talk about this later.” Stuart looked at me for some kind of explanation, but I avoided him. This was not going to end well at all. “You never know how he’s going to react.” Stuart didn’t say anything, just stood there with Lexus still oblivious.

Lexus tugged at her shirt which, when I studied it, was definitely tighter. She would be showing soon enough. “Okay," she said, "since you know my dad so well, why don’t you tell me what he’s going to say when he finds out that he’s about to be a granddad. You think I'll get a baby shower?” Tears spilled from her eyes. "He's going to be so pissed."

“You’re pregnant?” Stuart shouted. She spun around.

“I’m sorry,” she squeaked.

Stuart left without a word.

“See? That went great.” Lexus ran after him.

Part of me was glad I was getting out of town. Petra stomped in twenty minutes later and insisted on helping me pack.

“Shouldn’t you ask Jackson if you can go?” she asked as she zipped up my bag.

I hadn’t heard from him since our little run-in at his house, not that I was bothered by that. “I’m sure he knows. Plus, he’s avoiding me.”

“Why? What’d you do?”

“Nothing. He has mood swings like a girl, so your guess is as good as mine.” I ducked into the bathroom and grabbed the overnight bag that Lexus had lent to me. When I returned, Petra was sobbing into one of my shirts.
Great! First, a desperate daughter, then a furious father, now a hysterical mother. The whole family was nuts.
I cleared my throat. “Everything okay?” 

“No, everything is not okay. You’re the one who was supposed to screw up. I mean, Lexus is just a child.”

Ignoring her insult, I nodded.

“I can’t believe she’s pregnant.”

“Me either.”

“Oh, shut up.” The make-up running down her face aged her. “You’re probably all happy. Everything’s turned out the way you like it.”

“Nothing’s turned out the way I want.” I picked up my bag and set it by the door. I didn’t want to deal with this crap.

“Please, you’ve been scheming up ways to ruin her life since you got here. And you started with that Jackson kid.”

“Excuse me?” I was fed up, ready to beat this bitch down.

“Yeah, I said it. That was supposed to be my Lexus engaged to Jackson, and then you waltzed in here and waved your blonde hair around. Now all he sees is you.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” I started to leave, and she grabbed my arm, which I yanked loose from her grip. “Don’t fucking touch me. I’ve beaten up women bigger than you.”

She didn’t say anything, just disappeared into Lexus’s room.
What a fucking cunt!
  I opened my door to find Stuart standing on the other side, spying on us.
What was this? Asshole day?

“What?” I practically shouted.

“I need you down in my office.”

“And this can’t wait till I get back?”

“No.”

“Fine.” I gestured for him to lead the way. I took a seat across from him while he sat behind his desk. He shuffled some papers around.

“What’s going on?” I wasn’t in the mood to wait for him to start talking.

“Do you know who the father of Lexus’s child is?”

“No, should I?”

“I figured girls talk and well--”

“No, she didn’t tell me, and she’s not going to tell you until you can prove to her that you’re not going to flip out about her being prego by someone whose parents don’t make over a hundred grand a year.”

“She told you that?”

              “No, but it’s not hard to figure out. All you are concerned about is money, Stuart, and it blinds you to what’s really important.” Before he could respond, I rose from my chair and left. He was so clueless about his own family it made me sad.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Instead of going upstairs, I went down to the laundry room to load my clothes into the dryer. I kept thinking about Lexus and the mess she was in. Poor kid. She had no clue, and Stuart was totally useless. All he cared about was status and money.

Stuart knocked on the doorframe. “Here.” He held out a black box with a silver bow on it.

I glanced at the gift in his hand, turned the dial on the dryer to perm press. “So, what is it?”

“Jackson dropped it off this morning.”

“And you were going to give it to me when?”

“Now.”

I took it from him. Inside was an expensive-looking phone and a note:

Here’s your new phone. No is not an option. You’re going to be away from               home for a whole week. Please call if you need anything. Love J.

              P.S. It has insurance on it, in case you decide to leave it, drop it, or throw it away.

I crumpled the paper. Jackson was lucky I didn’t toss the phone right out the window. But it was a nice phone, very nice. One of those phones that had the Internet and a camera and other special apps. It would take me a while to learn how to use it. Pressing the button on the side, I turned it on. As it powered up, I couldn’t decide if it I was grateful or angry.

Stuart nodded in approval. “That was generous of him.”

Easy for him to say. All of Jackson's gifts came with strings. “I guess.”

“I have something for you, too.” He handed me a credit card, but I didn’t take it.

“I don’t need any money.”

“Addison, you don’t have a choice. I am not having my daughter leave here without any money.”

“Fine, but I'll pay you back.” I placed the card safely in the box with the phone, and he left. 

I had just finished folding a load of laundry and was on my way upstairs when an annoying jingle twanged inside the box. Setting the laundry basket on the floor, I opened the box and stared at the phone. Jackson's picture was on the screen, and a green light flashed in the corner. Slowly, I slid my finger across the image. “Hello?” I said as I placed the phone up to my ear.

“Addison, this is Jackson.”

“I know. What do you want?”
Was I supposed to be happy he was calling?

“Do you like the phone?”

“It’s going to take me a while to get used to it, but yes, thank you.”

“Have fun on your trip.”

“Thanks.”

I waited. Silence. He didn’t hang up. Finally, he said, “I miss you.”

Shit! What was I supposed to do now
? The last thing he needed was any encouragement. I didn’t miss him, well not him, but I did miss his body, yes. I ran my hand through my hair. “I…I miss you, too.”

“Maybe we can get together when you get back?’

“Yeah, okay.”

“Okay. Bye, beautiful.”

“I’m not--” But this time he did hang up.
Jerk.

***

Carli picked me up in her father’s car around eight.  There were no goodbyes; I don’t even think anyone was up when we left. We arrived at the airport and boarded a fast flight to Tijuana, putting us back on the ground about 10:00 a.m. Carli had the entire day already planned, beginning with a trip to the shopping district.

“Please tell me we aren’t going to spend our vacation here,” I complained as she pranced through a store examining swimsuits.

“No, just most of it,” she said, holding a bikini to her body. "What do you think? Is the color too bold for my complexion?"

“Sexy. No, but really. I want to do other stuff. Maybe go hiking or to a club.”

“Boring, Addison. That crap you can do with your boyfriend.”

“I don’t have one.”

“Please, you and Jackson are still dating. Didn’t he just buy you a new phone?”

Was my whole life the subject of everyone's conversation? It was none of her business who gave me the phone. “No, that was my dad, and it was because I was leaving town.” I pulled out a vibrant blue bikini, and she nodded. I added it to the two she had already selected.

“Believe what you want to believe, but we both know the truth,” she said, then squealed when she saw a bright yellow dress she wanted.

After we dropped our stuff at the hotel, we had lunch at some restaurant near the beach. The ocean was a deep dark blue and looked very inviting.  A hot wind blew my hair around, and I wished I had a pony tail holder. 

Lunch dragged on while Carli flirted with the waiter, calling for more drinks. Finally, we headed up to our room where we changed into our swimsuits. Then we hit the beach. It didn’t take long for the guys to show up. They seemed to come out of the woodwork. I ignored most of them, except when I was invited to play sand volleyball. Carli opted out to hang out with anyone who talked to her.

“You play a good game,” a tall thin guy with brown hair said. He tossed me a bottle of water. He was American, with an accent that sounded like he came from the South. He offered his hand. “Name’s Rory, Rory Simmons.”

“Thanks. I’m Addison.” I left out my last name, as I didn’t see the point.

“You play at home?”

“Nah, it’s not really my thing.”

“It should be.” He grinned. His smile was nice.

“I guess.” I introduced him to Carli, and he invited us to a party on Thursday.

“It’s gonna be on a yacht, real good people,” he explained as we waited for our cab to take us back to the hotel.

“Sure thing, Clarke.” Carli gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“My name’s Rory, by the way, not Clarke. Hope to see you there.” He rejoined his buddies on the beach.

“He likes you,” Carli said once we were inside the cab.

“Yeah, right.”

“So, what are we doing tonight?”

“Who knows?”

She did. Once we showered, she insisted we go out for dinner and dancing. It sounded okay to me, so I said yes, but that plan launched us into three days of nonstop partying at the houses of people we didn’t even know. By Thursday morning, we were totally wiped out. Nursing wicked hangovers, we returned to the hotel to drink orange juice by the pool. 

“What are we doing today?” Carli asked. Her voice sounded as lifeless as I felt. She raised her shades to reveal bloodshot eyes with dark bags underneath.

I wanted to relax, just take it easy and lay out on the beach, but my phone interrupted that. “Hello?”

“Hey, is this Addison?” asked a guy who sounded vaguely familiar.

“Yeah, who’s this?”

“Rory, from the beach. You two are still coming out to the party tonight, right?”

I glanced at Carli, who was flirting with the towel boy. She was crazy. “Uh, yeah. We’ll be there. Can you text me the address and time?”

“Great. Yeah that’s fine.” What was I thinking? Seconds later, I received his text.

“Who was that?" Carli asked. "Jackson?"

“No, Clarke,” I teased.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, he must really want us to go to that party.”

“Sounds fun. Let’s go look for dresses.” She leaped to her feet. You'd never know she had consumed so much alcohol the past three days. Suddenly, she was ready to party--again.

“Do we have to go? I mean, we’ve been going at it all week. Can't we take a day off?” The thought of another party made me sick to my stomach.

“Please, I really want to go.” Carli dropped to her knees and raised her hands, pretending to beg. She looked ridiculous. I caved.

“Yeah, we can go,” I said, pulling her to her feet. 

Carli insisted on getting new outfits complete with a pair of Manolo Blahnik heels. Her dress was black, and she wore tiger-striped heels. I wore a matching red dress and a pair of four-inch heels with a cheetah print.

              A car came to pick us up promptly at 8:00 p.m. and dropped us off at the dock, where we boarded the party yacht. Carli thought the whole thing was fantastic. I was more concerned about how we were going to get off if things got out of hand. 

I stood on the deck alone and watched as the boat pulled away from dock. I was hoping for a peaceful night, but I knew that was impossible with Carli. When I stepped inside, Carli was sitting on Rory's lap. He had to be in his mid to late twenties. The ratio of males to females was at least three to one, which made me nervous. We could be facing a lot of trouble, but I pretended I was cool with everything when Rory waived me over to join them.

Carli grinned at me. "Rory has been telling me all about his boat."

“Yacht," he corrected. "Much bigger than a boat." He nodded at me. "I’m glad you guys could make it,” he said. He wore a blazer with small pin with some kind of symbol on it. A casual survey of the room revealed all the guys had the same symbol on their jackets.
I wondered what it meant.

              Easing Carli off his lap, he stood. “Come on; let me show you two around.” He gave us a complete tour of the boat, even took us to the kitchen. It was a quite a large yacht, but I easily became bored. We ended in a crowded club room. I stopped mid-step. Jackson, wearing a tux, not the ubiquitous blazer, was perched on a couch in a corner. He had a bored expression on his face while he watched a stripper on a stage. He took another sip of his whiskey and raised his head. Our eyes met. He rose and strode toward us. 

Nodding at Carli, he brushed his lips against her cheek, completely ignoring Rory. “Good evening, ladies.” If he was surprised to see us, he never let on.

“Van Buren, you know these lovely ladies?” Rory asked, smiling.

“You could say that.” He mumbled something in Rory’s ear, and they both left.

“What was that all about?” I asked Carli, but she didn’t answer. I followed her to the bar. As she ordered a drink, the truth hit me. I slid onto a barstool next to her. “Wait, did you know about this?”

“What, Addison? It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Carli, this isn’t funny. He’s using us, isn’t he?”

              “Chill out, Addison. So what if I knew he was going to be here? Do you have any idea what’s at stake? If I were you, I would just shut up and play the part.” She finished her drink and left me alone.

             
Fine. If she wanted to be a slut for Jackson, she could, but I wasn’t about to do anything for him.
I swallowed a shot of vodka before leaving the bar. Instead of joining Jackson and Carli, I hid in the restroom and locked the door. As if on cue, my phone vibrated. I glowered at the unfamiliar number on the screen and accepted the call. “What?”

“Addison?” Mr. Van Buren asked. Figures. The whole family was tracking me.

“To what do I owe the honor?” I peered into the dirty bathroom mirror and studied my reflection. I looked as tired as Carli did. Clearly, we had overdone the partying.

“There is something important you need to do.”

I let him wait for a moment while I dabbed a wet paper towel over on my eyes. Cold water was supposed to smooth out the bags. “Correction, Daddio," I said as I dropped the towel into the trash, "I don’t need to do anything but pay taxes and die.”

“Fine, if you want Jackson out of your life, then you’ll help him. Otherwise, I won't step in next time.”

“Oh, like you did this time. You know, my wrist is doing great. Thanks for asking.”

He didn’t respond, which meant he wasn’t going to play.

I sighed. “What do I have to do?”

“Ask him. He’ll tell you what you need to know.”

“Whatever.”

“Addison…”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

I didn’t say anything but hung up the phone and returned to the bar.

“What will it be this time, Sunshine?” the bartender asked.

“Two shots of Patrone and vodka with a splash of cranberry.”

He made my drinks and set them up. If I knew Jackson, then I knew that this was going to involve something I didn’t want to think about. I threw back the shots and grabbed my drink and went to find Jackson.

He was on the deck with everyone else. There was a speed boat heading toward us. “What do I have to do?”

“Nothing. Carli’s got a handle on it.” He dismissed me and re-joined the party.

“Super.” I was going to head back inside, but Carli pulled me back to the crowd.

“See that guy getting on the boat?” She handed me her drink. “That’s the birthday boy. Jackson needs him to like us if he’s to get in his club.” She pushed through the throng of people cheering and gave the birthday boy a kiss. He seemed to enjoy it, but no sparks flew. There was something about the way he looked at Jackson, as if he had seen it all before. This wasn’t good, and I didn’t want to stick around for the fallout. I turned to leave, but Jackson stopped me, pushing me against the wall.

“Fix this,” he ordered before disappearing inside.
Fix this? How was I supposed to fix this? She’s the one who made everything a mess.

Carli pretended like nothing had happened, and we went inside. I finished my drink and ordered another. All of the girls seemed to be to throwing themselves at this guy, who wasn’t the least bit interested.