Desired: Loving An Alpha Male (11 page)

She nodded. “Yes, and I know what you’re going to say. I thought it myself.  I thought maybe someone else was in there…”

“…Well, yeah, baby, it’s plausible.”

“Uh huh. But when I heard the girl call his name, or rather scream his name, all doubts went out the window. And when I heard my best friend’s voice call his name...”

“Shit, your best friend was the bitch he was with?”

“Yup.”

“Wow, baby. I’m sorry…”

She took more of her wine, and I poured more in her glass. She seemed to need it. I asked her, “So what did you do when they finally came out of the room? You were there waiting for them, right?”

She got quiet all of a sudden and, knowing what I’ve learned about her, she probably didn’t wait around. So I said for her, “You left, didn’t you?”

She nodded, “Yeah… I mean I waited the whole time, listening to them but when the moment came for me to confront them, I bailed.  I got to the exit so fast they didn’t even open the door all the way before I was gone.  But I saw them.  I saw her hug him, and I saw them kiss through the exit door glass.” She shrugged. “So I went right to the airport, turned my phone off, removed the battery and went to claim our tickets for Cabo.  We were supposed to come here on our honeymoon.”

I reached for my cigar and asked her, “Okay, so the man thought he was getting married that day, but you were nowhere to be found.  I’m sure he tried to call you too, but you turned off your phone.  Did he come here looking for you?  I mean, he had to have seen that you claimed your ticket.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure he saw that, but this wasn’t the hotel we booked, and I didn’t use my name to book my room.”

I raised my eyebrow. “Oh yeah? How did you manage to do that? You have fake ID?” She nodded, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “Seriously, baby, you have a fake ID?”

She reached into her small purse and pulled out her wallet.  She then pulled out two items and handed them over to me.  One was an ID card by the name of Chloe McDaniels. The picture was of her, but a little younger than the woman before me. And the second card was a credit card in the same name.

I was fucking impressed, to say the least. She smiled knowing that fact and added, “I had someone in the neighborhood make that for me when I went off to college. I tried to look older in the picture, but I was only seventeen at that time.”

“Damn, baby… And you don’t think ‘what’s his name’ knows about this?”

“No, I never told him, and I never told Maya.  Chloe is my little secret.  Sometimes when they used to get on my nerves, I would escape for a few days. I would get a hotel room somewhere and just relax for a few days, turn off my phone and just get myself back together.”

I sighed and shook my head. No one should be in a relationship and have to fucking disappear in order to gain some sanity. And she was going to marry this clown? Still unable to find my sensitivity gene, I said to her, “Baby, I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, and I’m going to try and say this as nice as I can… Baby, the people in your life have fucked you up. For you to think being with this motherfucker was healthy proves that something isn’t right. Baby, no one finds a reason to escape being with someone because they were getting on your nerves.  You stop taking your best friends calls or tell her to butt out of your fucking life, but you don’t escape using a false name to do it.”

“And that pussy you were going to marry; you didn’t need him. If he didn’t see how amazing you are just the way you are, fuck that motherfucker, understand? You tell him to go fuck himself. You don’t alter who you are for no-fucking-body. That shit ain’t healthy, number one. Number two, that shit ain’t fair to you.”

The look she had in her eyes after my tyrant told me I wasn’t very subtle. Hell, the looks I was getting from people at the tables around us told me the same. But Georgia surprised me. Just when I thought she was going to start to cry, she actually smiled.

She said to me, “Wow, that was... um… your idea of trying to be nice?”

I leaned back and took the rest of the wine. I needed something stronger at this point.

I answered, “Yeah… That was my nice.”

She shook her head and said, “I would hate to see you when you’re not nice.”

“Yeah, you would.”

I let that hang in the air a bit before I said, “Look, baby; bottom line, the fucker doesn’t deserve you.  You can take what happened and learn from it, but don’t let it eat at you.”

“I know. I’m not. I’m just tired of running from it. I came down here to prove to myself that I wasn’t what they claimed me to be.  I can be fun and spontaneous.”

I laced my fingers with hers and brought her hand to my lips.  I kissed her softly and said, “Baby, you are that and so much more. You just need to find someone that can appreciate all that you have to offer.”

The sorrowfulness that came over her made me feel like shit.  I know what she wanted and hoped for, but I knew I couldn’t give that to her.  She doesn’t deserve anyone like me; she deserves better.

Deflection time…

“Well, it looks like you aren’t the only one heading home.”

“Really?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I’m being summoned back to Philly.”

She took her hand back, and half-smiled at me, “I’m sure you’re happy to get back.”

“It’s a double-edged sword, baby, but yeah I’m glad to get home.  Sleep in my own bed… shit like that.”

The waiter came that moment, and she declined getting dessert. I even asked if she wanted to walk along the beach together, but she told me she wanted to start packing, saying she had an early flight. So when we got back to the hotel, I walked her to her room.

I’m not gonna lie; I was disappointed she didn’t want to spend more time together. I could have tasted her pussy one last time, but I’m not that much of a heartless SOB. I understood.

I did kiss her though. I kept my hands along the sides of her face and just used my lips to show her how much I was going to miss her… because I was.

When I parted, I looked in her eyes. “You take care of yourself, Georgia. It has been a fucking pleasure…” She grinned and put her head down, her way of blushing, and again… I was gonna fucking miss her.

I stepped back and let her enter into her room before I went to mine.

I didn’t have shit to pack, so I went to the bar and put down a few before calling it a night. This vacation turned out to be a pretty good one.  I had a little drama, but no bodies this time, which I think was good for me.  I met a beautiful woman and had the best sex of my fucking life. And if I weren’t a bastard, I would have given her my number and took hers.  I would’ve promise to call her and maybe even fly her to Philly, meet the family and all that but… I’m a bastard so… The way we said goodbye fit the perfect ending to a perfect vacation fling. 

The next morning, I was sitting on my flight; drink in my hand and eyes closed. In about six hours, I planned to be deep in my bed, fast a-fucking-sleep. Goodbye beach, hello fucking hell.

I sat in the airport, not knowing what the hell I was doing. The Philadelphia skyline looked back at me over the horizon.

“How did I get here?”

Well, here’s how…

So I was waiting to board my flight back to Miami, feeling the effects of Drake withdrawal and regret that I didn’t have the guts to have one last night with him. In order to take my mind off him, I turned on my phone. I had a ton of messages, mostly from a very angry Gavin and a few from that bitch of an ex-best friend.  She had the audacity to cuss me out for not showing up at my wedding… Yeah, after she fucked my fiancé. She is a piece of work.

So I was sitting there, and my phone lit up with a number I didn’t know.  I typically don’t answer numbers, I don’t know but I thought that it could possibly be Drake calling me. I didn’t know how that would be possible since we didn’t trade numbers. Wishful thinking, I guess.

“Hello?”

“Hello? May I speak to…,” I heard rattling of papers in the background, “… A Georgia Sayers.”

My heart started to pound out of my chest.  This sounded like a professional call.  Gavin did threaten to sue me for the cost of the wedding he lost, so I thought,
Shit
.

“Uh hello?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Yes, this is she,” I stammered.

The man sighed deeply. “My, young lady, you are a hard woman to get in touch with.  I’ve called and left a few messages, or tried anyway, but your message box was full. Sorry, I’m rambling.  My name is Mr. Dennis.  I’m with Hardwick and Lieberman based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I’m calling you on behalf of Mr. Gregory Sayers.”

Confused as to whom Gregory Sayers was, I asked, “Okay, excuse me for being ignorant, but who is Gregory Sayers?”

Mr. Dennis paused slightly, and then said, as if I was slow or something, “Well, Ms. Sayers… He’s your father…”

So I quickly changed my flight, got the address to Mr. Dennis’ office and there I was.  He promised to stay in the office until I arrived. As I made it to the baggage claim area, I saw that apparently I had a car waiting for me as well.

The ride downtown seemed to take forever and, maybe it was my anxiety, but the time also dragged. I haven’t a clue what all this was about, but when he told me who my father was and that he left a will with me named in it, I had to come just to see if this was a hoax.  Knowing my life and luck, it was.

I watched the city go pass me. With each person we passed, with each car that drove by, I looked to see if I would catch Drake driving by or crossing the street somewhere. But that wasn’t the case. 

I made it to the law offices of Hardwick and Leiberman, and I took a deep breath before I got out of the car.

I traveled up to the fortieth floor and made my way to the office.  A secretary was there to greet me. She led me into a conference room where I heard a loud, deep voice seemingly very upset bellowing from the closed door.

“How the fuck do we know who this broad is?  I mean, where the hell has she been all this time? Didn’t she know dad was sick? What the fuck, Anthony?”

When the secretary looked at me with a sheepish smile, I almost wanted to turn around and leave. But I didn’t.  Instead, I stood up straight, took a deep breath and followed the secretary to the door of the conference room.

When it opened, I found the source of the loud, deep voice instantly. He frowned at me and looked me up and down with a bit of disdain evident in his body language. The man was tall with broad shoulders wearing a dark blue suit and crisp white shirt.  From seeing Gavin in multiple suits, I could tell the suit wasn’t cheap.

The expression on his face wasn’t welcoming though, but he looked to be a few years older than I was, with a dark complexion and brown eyes that were slanted slightly like mine. They were hard, and skepticism occupied them, but it looked like, when he wasn’t frowning, he was a very attractive man. 

My eyes fell on two women that were also in the room. I couldn’t tell anything about them, except they both were very pretty and the same complexion as the guy with the frown. I could see they were related.

“Ah, Ms. Sayers?” My eyes went to a slightly overweight white guy with glasses, pale face and hair combed over, trying to mask the fact he was losing the hair battle with himself.

He moved to me and stretched his hand out to me. “I’m Mr. Dennis. I hope your flight was a pleasant one.” I forgot to add, I flew on his dime.

“Oh, yes it was. Thank you for the tickets and thank you for the ride here.”

“Oh, it was no problem at all.  I couldn’t have you trying to get here on your own.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Come sit down. We have a lot to cover, so let’s get started with introductions. I know you have a lot of questions.  I hope to have them answered tonight.”

I moved hesitantly to the table and found a seat far away from the brooding man. I smiled at the two women who were equally dressed in expensive clothes.  I looked down at what I was wearing and wished I actually listened to Maya and bought better clothes.

“Where have you been all these years?” the frowning hot black guy asked me.

“Greg, give the girl a chance to explain,” one of the women said, and then looked at me.

I looked around the room freaking clueless to everything and answered, “I’ve been in Miami…” I looked at Mr. Dennis. “Sir, you told me that you would explain everything, which is why I’m here.”

“Yes, Greg, can you please have a seat so we can get started?” the woman asked.

Greg reluctantly sat down but kept a heavy eye on me, quite frankly they all did.

“Ms. Sawyer… Georgia; can I call you that?” Mr. Dennis asked.

I nodded after hearing sucking of tongues, at my name I guess. “Fabulous.  Okay, so as you three know, your father was not traditional, so he just wrote a letter with instructions on how he wanted his estate divided…”

Estate? What the hell is going on?

“He first addresses Gregory Junior, his son. “ Mr. Dennis cleared his throat and read, “‘I have a separate letter for each of my children, leaving them particular instructions and a portion of my estate.  So I’m not going to waste time going over that.  Gregory, you’re head of the family now.  I expect everything to run just as smooth as if I was still there.  We planned for this day, son, and I expect you to carry on the family.  Make necessary choices and decisions with the backing of the entire family.  Just because you’re the head, you still have to make moves, and it’s the neck that turns the head.  Listen to your neck…’”

Yeah, I was lost, but I tried not to show it.

He continued. “But what I want to talk about is my daughter, Georgia.”

“What?!” I blurted.

Mr. Dennis looked at me and smiled. He then continued to read, “‘I know you, Greg, Dara, and Deidra have a lot of questions. Son, I know you’re looking as if you want to kill someone, but your anger is in the wrong direction. Georgia didn’t know anything about me or any of you.  Out of respect for her mother, I stayed out of Georgia’s life. When I finally found her again, I didn’t know how to introduce myself as her father, so I continued to stay away. It was what her mother requested of me.’”

I, as you can image, was stunned.  I didn’t know what to do or say, so I stayed quiet. The lawyer continued, “‘Georgia, I know you are wondering how I could be your father.  My lawyer has the necessary arrangements to get your blood tested with mine for your proof, but I assure you, I am your father, and you are my daughter.  I met your mom a long time ago, and I fell for her hard.  She was a wonderful woman with a heart pure of gold.  I was in Baltimore for about six months, and I spent all of my time with her.  It was at that point I fell in love… I loved your mother.’”

Mr. Dennis paused, put down the page he read and started with the second page, “I had to go back to Philadelphia on other business and I promised her I would come back, but circumstances prevented me from keeping my promise.  The next time I saw her, you were five years old.  She told me she tried to get in contact with me for years, but I never responded. That’s when I told her that I had gotten married. I found out I was having a son and decided to make a life with his mother instead of her. She stared at me confused for a long moment. She never knew about my life here in Philly, and I never planned on telling her.  That’s when she told me to stay away from you and her. The pain I caused her ate at me for years to come, and I regret ever putting her through that. But what I regret most is not being around you.  I never got to see you that day I came to visit. I missed graduations, birthdays and holidays, and I feel horrible about that. I wish I could have done more for you, and I hope you know that…”

“Stop…” I cried out.  I was crying uncontrollably as finally, finally I figured out what drove my mom to self-destruct. It was his rejection. Everyone looked at me as I stood.

Mr. Dennis called after me, “Georgia…”

I shook my head, “Enough, I don’t want to hear anything else that man has to say,” I bit out.

Greg Jr. stood, his eyes filled with anger, “You will respect my father…”

“I will do no such thing.  That man turned his back on me on my mom…,” I started.

“Your mom should have kept her legs closed instead of trying to get a kept man…,” Greg spat.

“Fuck you!” I turned and stormed out of the room unable to control the tears, the anger and most of all the hurt I was feeling.  See how my life ends up? I can never get ahead. It seems the moment I do, something knocks me back down.

I heard Mr. Dennis coming after me, but I saw a set of steps and took them. So glad I decided not to listen to Maya and get expensive clothes… my jeans, sneakers and “I love Cabo” t-shirt was just what I needed.

When I got to the bottom floor, I found the ladies room and hid there until I was able to stop my heart from beating out of control.

I threw water over my face and stared at myself in the mirror.  My red, pained, and puffy eyes greeted me back.  “This is so fucked up.”

“I’ll say.”

I jumped clear out of my skin as I saw… what was her name?

“Deidra,” she said to me as she walked completely into the bathroom.

I guess I should have escaped first instead of hiding.

I went to the paper towel dispenser and wiped my face.

Deidra turned out to be tall like me and actually a bit older too. She looked at me through the mirror and said, “You look like my grandmother… or rather our grandmother in her younger days.”

I didn’t reply.  She sighed deeply and turned to face me. “I’m sorry for my ignorant ass brother. He’s so quick to use words to hurt people as a coping mechanism when he’s hurting himself. He lashes out and I’m not saying what he did was right or making excuses for his behavior, but I just wanted to first apologize.”

She shook her head and smiled. “Wow, you are a surprise, I tell you that much.  I never thought you were out there because if I did, I would have tried to find you. I don’t know if my father ever tried, but I would have made him.  I don’t know if you were alone growing up or how it was for you, but I can tell it wasn’t good.”

I squinted my eyes at her, and she added, “I’m a therapist. It’s my job to see in people’s minds.  Anyway, I want to invite you back upstairs. I promise my brother will behave. I’m the oldest and quite frankly, I don’t care how you got here. You’re blood, and I don’t need a stupid test to see that.  I can see it in your eyes that you’re a Sayers, but I understand if you want a test… I’ll even understand if you don’t want any parts of us too.  But don’t make that decision based on that idiot upstairs. You seem like a pretty great person, especially when you told told Greg to fuck off.  He’s not used to that, so I really hope you do stay around.” She put her hands up. “But no pressure… If you still don’t want any parts of my father or us right now, I totally understand.  Just know you have family waiting for you.”

Deidra turned around and left.

I looked at myself in the mirror again.  I thought long and hard about what she said and well… Yeah, I went back upstairs.