Hey there. Everything okay? Want to have dinner tonight?
He paced his office until his phone chimed with a response:
Bad day. Well, not the beginning of the day. But everything after that has been pretty bad.
Hakim texted her back right away, hoping that it was something else with work that was the problem:
I’m sorry. What do you need? What can I do?
There was a delay before Lauren sent her next text and Hakim began to worry for real.
Patricia knows.
And there it was, thought Hakim. His phone chimed again.
She learned about the auction. As crazy as it sounds, she was having me followed. “For my own good.”
Hakim was stunned. Following her own daughter without her knowledge was a step too far, even for Patricia. Before he could send a message back to Lauren, his phone chimed with another text.
She refuses to stop, unless I don’t see you anymore.
Hakim turned cold and quickly typed: She can’t do that.
Lauren’s reply was immediate: I don’t see how I can stop her. I can’t sneak around; I’m 28 years old, for goodness’ sake. And I can’t call the police; she’s my mom. I don’t see what else we can do.
Needing to get through to her, Hakim typed as quickly as he could: It’s not the best option, but if it’s only being followed around, there are worse things. I can handle it if you can.
Lauren, however, didn’t seem convinced: And what if she decides to do more than just have me followed? What if she orders someone to intervene, to keep me from seeing you?
Hakim ran a frustrated hand through his hair. It sounded like they were in some medieval story, with vengeful parents and star-crossed lovers. Lauren was typing again:
She’s never going to end this stupid feud, and I don’t want you or your company to suffer.
Lauren was right, he knew. They were out of options. This time it was Hakim that hesitated before sending a message back. He knew where the conversation was going. He couldn’t help but sound a bit bitter as he typed.
So, last night was it after all.
There was another pause before her response, but Hakim knew what she was writing before she even sent it.
I can’t.
Goodbye, Hakim.
And that was it. Hakim felt a soul-crushing sense of loss. For such a short time, he’d held joyful bliss in his hands and now it was gone.
He stumbled out of the office, and found himself sitting in his car in front of his house without any memory of how he got there. When he entered the house, Zeus seemed to sense how despondent his owner was. Instead of jumping up on Hakim, the dog pushed his nose against Hakim’s hand and leaned against his legs. Hakim sat on the floor next to Zeus, who laid his head in Hakim’s lap.
“I don’t know, Zeus. I thought we were going to be able to make this work.”
The dog’s tail thumped once against the floor and Hakim nodded. “I know, buddy. We liked her.”
Hakim thought about that for a minute. “No, we like her. That hasn’t changed. We like her a lot, and we know she likes us. So, we shouldn’t just give up, right?”
The dog’s tail thumped again and Hakim silently laughed at himself for needing his dog to convince him of what he should have known in the first place.
Hakim found his phone and made a call. He was going to need a little bit of help with this one.
Chapter 20
Hakim
Two hours later, after the sun had set and the sky had turned a deep navy blue, Hakim made his way through the landscaping surrounding Lauren’s apartment building. He ducked tree branches and carefully stepped around plants, all the while sincerely hoping that no well-meaning neighbors saw him skulking thought the bushes.
He heard a car horn honk twice in sharp bursts and knew that was his signal. Part of his plan was to have his limo driver slowly roll past Lauren’s apartment right in front of Patricia’s watcher, then pull away quickly. If Patricia could use her driver, so could he. Hopefully, the ruse would provide enough of a distraction and the person watching Lauren’s apartment would follow the limo.
Hakim carefully peered around the corner of the building. When he didn’t see anyone watching, he cautiously moved out to stand below Lauren’s apartment. She was in a corner unit on the second floor of the garden apartment building, with windows that faced the street and a balcony on the other exterior wall. He noticed the lights were on in the main room, where the balcony was located.
He considered tossing pebbles at her window, like some love-struck teenager, but since he was an adult, Hakim was more worried that move would result in a broken window. He pulled out his cellphone and sent her a quick text: Hey, Juliet, come stand on your balcony.
A few minutes passed and Hakim wasn’t sure she’d seen the text. Or maybe she was refusing his request. But then he heard the scrape of a sliding glass door being pushed open, followed by a hushed whisper.