In my group, I asked about deleted scenes and people said they wanted to read them so here you go!
Deleted Scene
Mr. Cole’s office was a room I’d never been in until now. I didn’t know what it looked like before but I imagined it wasn’t the mess of boxes that it was now. Moving boxes were spread out across the floor. Some of them were taped closed shut and others were open and filled with things.
The walls were painted the color of the sky on a rainy day. The carpet was thick and the color of pure, untouched snow. Black shelves ran along one wall from floor to ceiling. A massive, sleek black desk sat before a large picture window. There were no pictures on the walls and the shelves were lonely looking and empty.
Mr. Cole wouldn’t be in this place for much longer and neither would I.
I stopped short in the doorway, not expecting to see Quinton sitting in a chair directly in front of the desk. Mr. Cole seated in the chair behind the desk, I expected. Quinton, not so much.
Ignoring Quinton, I looked at Mr. Cole expectantly and said, “You wanted to see me?”
He smiled at me kindly as he gestured to the empty chair seated beside Quinton.
I perched on the end of the chair and sat my hands in my lap. I twisted my fingers together nervously. I had no idea what this meeting was about. Mr. Cole had knocked on my door and asked me to meet him in his office so here I was. And I had no idea why. They had already agreed on where I’d live, now what?
“What’s going on?” I rushed out before anyone could say anything.
Quinton chuckled from his chair beside me. I shot him a dirty look before focusing back on Mr. Cole. Quinton laughed harder.
“Alright, sweetheart,” Mr. Cole said quietly. “We need to talk about a few things before we make this official. First, I want you checking in once a week. Of course, you are always welcome to call me or text me or video chat with me at any time that you want to. But I want you checking in every week. Quinton promised me he’d remind you and make sure you don’t forget.”
I looked at Quinton out of the corner of my eye and saw him smirking. I just bet he would do exactly what he promised Mr. Cole he would. I had watched him barge into the guys bedrooms and I watched him try to boss Tyson around like he was Ty’s real parent. He was so totally going to try to parent me and boss me around.
“I can do that,” I promised Mr. Cole. “I’ll call at least once a week, but I’ll probably text you more.”
He nodded. “Good. That’s settled. Now, you’ll keep the Rover because I bought it for you and I meant what I said. It’s yours, there were no strings attached. You’ll keep your bank card and I’ll be depositing an allowance at the beginning of each month for you. For whatever reason, if you run out of money or there’s an emergency, simply let me know and I’ll have more money put into your account. It will be more than enough to support yourself and I will continue this until your birthday where we will discuss what it is you’d like to do with your future. Now, this brings us to the next topic I wished to discuss with you.”
He paused to give Quinton a look that I entirely missed due to the fact that my brain wasn’t functioning properly. He was allowing me to keep my car and wanted to give me an allowance. Even after he knew I wasn’t going with him, Mr. Cole still wanted to take care of me. I didn’t understand it because I’d never had someone to care before. And he wanted me to check in with him so he’d know what was going on in my life and that I was doing well. This was all so very kind, he was so very kind, but I could not and would not accept his money. It felt too much like a handout.
“Marcus,” I said, and the shocked look on his face made me realize how stupid I’d been before to not call him by his first name. I took a deep breath, let that go, and continued, “I will accept the Rover because my Bug is long gone and you gave it to me and I love it. It’s also like my security blanket. As long as I have it I can go anywhere I need to, I don’t have to stay if I don’t want to because I will have a means to escape. I don’t know why, I just…” I closed my eyes and whispered, “I need that.”
I swallowed down my emotions with a shaky breath. I hadn’t meant to get emotional and I hadn’t meant to give anything away to Mr. Cole. He was still in the dark when it came to most of my mother’s behavior towards me and I didn’t want him to know more than he already did.
Shit.
Think fast, Ariel Kimber.
“About the money, though. I can’t accept-” I attempted to protest.
“I don’t want you to feel beholden to the Alexander’s in any way. I also don’t want Quinton to entirely support you even though he has offered to do just that. This is the only way I’m comfortable with you staying with them. I know you can do whatever you want and you do not have to accept these things from me as I am neither your parent nor your guardian. But, since I consider you my family, and I hope you do the same with me, it’s important for me to take care of my family, which is why I’m moving. It means something to me to be able to be there for them right now when they need me. But I’m not going to be able to go if I don’t feel you’re going to be properly taken care of. So, do this old man a favor, sweetheart, and give this to me.”
I wanted to argue with him and push the issue. I didn’t want to take his money, it would make me feel like a freeloader. And I certainly did not want to live off of Quinton.
“I can get a job,” I assured them. A job doing what, I had no clue.
“No.” They both said together.
“Babe,” Quinton groaned. “If you get a job, the guys will kick my ass. The other coven’s find out you’re working a job and they’ll think we aren’t treating you right and that they’ve got a shot at stealing you away from us. If you don’t mind, I’d like to avoid that.”
Mr. Cole picked up where Quinton left off. “I’d also rather you focus on school work instead of some job.”
Oh boy.
I didn’t think this was going to go over well for me. I licked my suddenly dry lips and clenched my hands together in my lap.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Quinton staring at my hands. His lips pursed and he frowned. I untangled my fingers and quickly shoved my hands under my thighs.