“Wow… that’s very charitable of you,” I said, blown away by what he had just told me. I was not expecting that answer at all. I had stereotyped him, believing we would be intimidating people around town while delivering illegal drugs to the back of a warehouse.
“I try to do my part,” was all he said. The look on his face looked like that of guilt. I wondered if his show of charity was only a deploy, while he did the things I was silently accusing him of. “I should probably let you know that I will have some minor business to attend while I am there, so I’m gonna have to leave you with the girls.”
I knew it. “Is that ok?” he asked nervously. It most definitely was not ok. I would much rather be in the comfort of my own home, hiding away in my big bed and away from the scrutiny and callousness I was sure to endure by hanging out with the trashy bitches he considered friends.
“That’s fine,” I responded tersely. I was not going to give these bitches the satisfaction of not having me there. I would handle it, one way or another. Plus, Red would be there and she wasn’t that bad.
“I promise I’ll make it up to you,” he responded relieved. “They’re really not that bad once you get to know them.”
I didn’t respond I just stared at him, my face completely impassive, but on the inside I was burning with rage. Hearing that I would have to be around these women tonight, automatically put me in bitch mode. They had the home field advantage, but I had the sweet satisfaction of knowing I had Luke. That itself was worth fighting for.
“Carmical,” he suddenly said.
“Pardon?” I asked confused.
“My last name is Carmical, Lucas Lorn Carmical. Some people may refer to me tonight as LLC and I didn’t want you to be in the dark when you heard it. Maddie will use anything she can to make you feel unimportant. Please don’t over think anything she says, she is just jealous.”
“You think pretty highly of yourself,” I said, not really meaning for it to sound as demeaning as it did.
He laughed. “No babe, it ain’t me she is after. It’s this,” he said pointing to the leather vest lying on the seat between us. “It’s a power trip for her. She thinks that if she can’t be the President’s Ol’ Lady, no one else should either.”
“Ol’ Lady?” I asked, confused once again. “We will get to that, just remember, tonight you are with me and no one else. I don’t want you associating with any other men. Understood?” The seriousness in his tone made me feel uneasy, but it quickly vanished when he added, “I couldn’t stand the thought of anyone’s hands or eyes on you.”
I understood jealousy. I wanted to tell him the same went for him, but my phone rang interrupting us. I was surprised that someone was calling me on a Sunday. No one ever called me. I dug the phone out of my pocket, seeing my assistant Lindsey’s name displayed on the screen.
“Yeah,” I answered, a little aggravated that she had called messing up my conversation.
“Hi, Dallas! I’m so sorry to bother you, but my mother is coming into town tomorrow and I was wondering if I could come in a little late so I could pick her up at the airport,” she rambled, talking fast, probably in hopes that I would say yes if she said it quickly. Why did people do that?
“What time will you be in?” I asked, getting pissed that she would call on such short notice when she knew we had a closing tomorrow.
“By noon,” she responded, already sounding defeated. Good. She had just made my job a little easier.
“That’s ridiculous Lindsey. Just send a car to get her we have a deal to close in the morning. The clients will be there at nine.”
“Actually, Mrs. Holifield called today to re-schedule for twelve.”
How convenient. “Well, go ahead but you better be back by twelve. I don’t want to have to deal with that bitch on my own.”
“O-ok, I will thank you so much,” she stuttered. I didn’t even say goodbye. I just hung up the phone -- so much for enjoying my morning. I would have to be at the office early tomorrow all because she didn’t have her priorities straight.
“What was that about?” Luke asked, luring me from my thoughts.
“My assistant. She wants the morning off,” I responded boringly.
“From what I could hear, sounds like you didn’t want to give it to her. Does she call in often?” he asked interested. I thought for a minute. For the two years that she had worked for me, she had never asked for a day off. Nothing outside of her two week vacation and holiday time anyway.