by Laila Kelly
“Maybe my social battery is just low, I really don’t think I want to go.” One of the stray cats that hung around the Pavilion ran behind the birds trying to catch them. Thankfully they flew away in time. Watching birds get eaten by cats was definitely not what she wanted to see today. “I’m not taking that as an excuse and whether you like it or not, you’re going to get ice cream with Graham.” Joleigh rubbed her temples and tried to think of another excuse to not have to go on her date. Coming up short she huffed and sat down in her chair. “I guess,” she muttered. “Exactly,” Amber’s voice full of accomplishment. “You won’t have enough time to come home and change, but thankfully what you’re wearing today is uber cute. I like that a lot better than your normal sweatpants ensemble,” Joleigh ignored her last comment and looked down at her outfit. She wondered if Graham would change his outfit and if he would notice that she didn’t. Her hands ran over her pants and back up to her hair.
“You need to relax, Joleigh. This is a good thing for you. It’s important for you to go out and experience life like you used to,” Amber’s voice softened. Joleigh blinked away a tear and patted her face, not wanting to ruin her mascara. “Well, you know things are different now, and I can’t just live my life the way that I used to,” Joleigh whispered. They both got quiet on the phone and Joleigh thought about how different her life was just three short years ago in comparison to how it is now. She cleared her throat and heard the bells ringing above the front door. “Hey, I’ll call you when I close the shop up tonight, I have a customer coming in,” Joleigh pushed in her chair and walked out front. “Alright, I’ll talk to you then,” and they hung up the phone.
Chapter Six: Graham
“Success is my middle name,” Graham said to himself as he looked in the mirror of his hotel bathroom and ran his fingers through his hair. “Today will be a wonderful day because I attract nothing but greatness.” He looked down at his phone ringing and saw it was his sister. He rolled over and grabbed his phone before collapsing back onto the bed. “Hey Sophia,” he answered. Before he could get his last word out, she had already started firing off her words, “You never called or text to let me know that you made it to Atlanta safely. I was worried sick about you,” he could hear her pouting on the other end of the phone. He looked down at his watch to make sure that he had enough time to go by and look at some land that he was interested in purchasing. “I’m sorry Sophia, I got in pretty late and I started my morning off early. I didn’t want to wake you up,” he hoped that she would accept his apology and not hold it against him for too long. Sophia hated being out of the loop and she had a thing for keeping grudges longer than he thought humanly possible.
“I guess I’ll let you slide this time. What all did you get done this morning?” Graham sighed, thanking God that he wouldn’t have to deal with her wrath. “Well I got up and met with one of Jamie’s contacts, then I went by one of the offices that I was looking into, and now I’m getting ready to go and look at a property. What have you been up to today?” he decided to leave the part about him meeting Joleigh and asking her out on a date out of the conversation. The last thing that he wanted was his sister meddling into his head with her billion questions and her myriad of suggestions of what he should do as if he were a fourteen-year-old boy. “What do you mean one of Jamie’s contacts?” Graham ran his fingers through his hair and leaned against the sink.
“Mom didn’t tell you?” he was hoping that he would be able to deflect from having to tell her everything. He had approximately ten minutes before he had to leave the hotel and make it in time to meet with the realtor, and he didn’t want to spend all fifteen of them explaining to Sophia what he had planned. “No, I haven’t spoken with her today,” he thought back to their dinner last night, and still didn’t know what to think of the things that she said. “When I text her this morning, she said that she had a headache and she would be spending the day in bed,” Graham laughed painfully and walked out of the bathroom and sat on the balcony. Atlanta wasn’t a bad city and he could definitely see the appeal of why people would want to live here, but nothing would ever compare to his beloved Texas.
“Yeah she had a lot of wine at dinner last night, so I’m not surprised that she has a hangover this morning,” he lounged on the chair and waited to get a text back from Jamie. “Graham you aren’t answering the question. What do you and Jamie have going on?” Graham knew that he would’ve done better not mentioning Jamie’s name to Sophia, especially when he knew the whole story of why they aren’t together anymore, and why she’s getting married to Collin instead of him. “Look, I’m in Atlanta on a business trip with a hint of personal business. Mom told me at dinner last night that my birth mother lives in this area and I called Jamie to help me find her.” Sophia gasped on the other end. “Wait, you made the decision to find her and didn’t tell me? I could’ve helped you too,” the hurt in her voice made Graham feel sick to his stomach. “I didn’t want to tell you because I know with finding your birth mother and all of the wedding plans I didn’t want to add anything extra to your plate.” Graham looked at the date and he knew from the conversations that he had been having with Sophia that the last six weeks of wedding planning are the most stressful.
“I understand. Well, what have you found so far? Do you have a name?” Sophia began to get excited, and Graham’s attitude changed. His hands began to sweat, and he rubbed them on his pants, deciding to walk back inside before he melted into a sweating heap of man and ruining his clothes for his meeting and his date tonight. Thoughts of Joleigh’s sweet face crept into his mind and he knew for sure that she was much more beautiful in person than she was in the picture that Jamie had sent to him. The way that her brown curls cascaded out of her bun made him want to reach out and touch it, not to mention the way that her Sapphire blue eyes pierced into his soul. He had just met her, and he already knew that he wanted her. He had already made the preparations in his mind to make Joleigh Everett his. Their date tonight, although it was just ice cream would be magical, and he had plans to woo her in a way that she would let him take her out again before he goes back to Houston. His heart began to beat hard and fast in his chest, and he almost forgot that he was on the phone with his sister he was so caught up in his daydream.
Graham cleared his voice, “I do have a name, and I went to this flower shop that Mom placed and order at and asked the owner. She said that she did deliver the flowers to her, so I know based on that information that she lives somewhere close by.” His mouth began to feel dry and he walked over to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. Even though he was a billionaire, he still didn’t understand the concept of paying $12 for a bottle of water. Comes with the territory I guess, he muttered to himself as Sophia squealed in excitement over the phone. “So when did you start your search? It seems like you’ve gotten pretty far in a short amount of time,” Graham downed the entire bottle of water in a few gulps and threw it into the trashcan.
“Yeah, I’ve gotten pretty close to what I need. Jamie did a lot of the work and he was meticulous, plus it helps that he has contacts all over the place,” Graham looked around for his wallet and put it in his pocket and walked out of his suite. “Wow, Graham, that’s amazing.” She paused for a second and he looked down at the phone to see if she was still there. “I really don’t know what to say other than I’m happy for you,” Sophia’s voice cracked a little and Graham began to hear her sniffling. Hearing any type of emotion come from Sophia was rare, and it startled Graham. “What’s wrong Sophia?” He pressed the button on the elevator and the doors opened. “Oh, it’s nothing really,” Graham ran his fingers through his hair again and looked at his reflection in the ceiling’s mirror. “It’s just that I really hope that this works out for you and you get whatever results that you’re looking for,” she paused for a moment, “I haven’t told Mom this and you have to promise me that you won’t either, but the stuff that I found out about my birth mother was downright disturbing and I wished that I wouldn’t have
gone looking for stuff and just went to a geneticist.” Graham raised his eyebrows, “What do you mean?” Sophia took a deep breath. “Well, I found out that she’s had a history of battling multiple different addictions, and that I’m the product of a sexual assault.” Her voice sounded somber, and Graham grabbed his chest. “Dang, Sophia that’s terrible and I’m so sorry that you had to find that out,” Graham began to wonder who his father was and if his biological mother knew where he was right now.
He also hoped that his conception wasn’t as traumatic as Sophia’s and he made a mental note to spend some time with her when he returned to Texas. “Sophia, I know it may seem like you wish you wouldn’t have found out about where you came from, but at least you can find solace in the fact that you do know, and you won’t have to worry about it ever again.” Graham hoped that she would find some sort of comfort in his words, not that he even knew if they were the right thing to say. He wouldn’t even know what he would want to hear if he heard similar news. “Yeah I understand, I just think this will be one of those things that get better with time,” Sophia sighed. “Plus, I really need to make sure that Mom doesn’t find out because the last thing that I want is to hear her bring it up and possibly throw it in my face that I shouldn’t have gone down that road. I truly hope that you have a better experience than I did.” The elevator reached the first floor and he stepped off, looking both ways to avoid the receptionist from last night. When the coast was clear he ran to the front door. “I hope so too, sis, I really do.”
He walked through the revolving door and towards the valet. The valet looked up at him and nodded before Graham could grab his ticket. He waited on the sidewalk for the valet to come back with his car. “Well, did you at least find out where she is currently?” Graham looked at the cars on the street whirring by, and he couldn’t wait to get out on the open road towards the property and put the pedal to the floor. “I found out that she’s currently at the Mabel Busset Correctional Center in McLoud, Oklahoma for distribution and manufacturing charges.” Graham whistled and watched as the valet pulled up his rental Porsche Cayman. “Dang. That’s some pretty heavy stuff, but to be quite honest I’m tired of talking about it. Ever since Collin found out he’s been badgering me to see if I’m ok and you know he just has to talk about everything,” Sophia sounded annoyed and he could understand how she felt. Sometimes it was best to wait until you mentally process something before you talk about it with someone else. “Yeah, I get what you mean, but you know he’s a psychiatrist, so what do you expect from him?” The valet hopped out of the car and held the door open for Graham. “Thanks,” he replied, and the valet smiled as he closed the door. “Well I fully understand that he’s a psychiatrist, but I don’t want to be treated like one of his patients every time I’m having a bad day,” her voice was full of annoyance and he could picture her rolling her eyes. If those were the only problems that they had in their relationship, then Graham wouldn’t mind being in one like theirs himself.
“Anyhoo, back to more positive things, what type of property are you looking at today?” Graham revved the engine and shot onto the street, cursing the stoplight that got in his way. “I’ll be looking at two properties today, one is a half-built commercial lot that I think I could transform into a strip mall of sorts and then I’ll be looking at a piece of land that I hope that I can turn into my first subdivision in Georgia.” The light turned green and Graham shot down the street and merged onto the interstate. He had been spending so much time in his truck he forgot how much he loved to drive his sports cars. Another mental note he made for himself. Maybe his mother was right about him needing to drive his other cars more. He typed in the directions for the first address that he needed to go to.
“That sounds nice. Did you ever get in contact with my friend that I told you about?” Graham remembered the text that Amy sent him last night. From the way that she was texting him, he hoped that she was drinking and if she wasn’t there was no way that he would ever consider working with her from the way that her sentence structure and grammar lacked proof of any type of formal education. “Um, yeah she got in contact with me, but honestly Sophia I can’t see myself working with her professionally,” Sophia began laughing on the other end of the phone, “Of course I know that, Graham. She isn’t that bright. I got her to text you so maybe you two could go out on a date while you were out there,” Graham rolled his eyes, and held back his tongue. He didn’t want to jinx his date with Joleigh tonight, but he did need his sister to understand that he didn’t have any problems finding women to go on dates with him. “I know that you’re way too smart of a businessman to work with a woman who gets carried home from Happy Hour at Shaggy’s Taco’s every night. The plan was for her to take you out on the town and maybe you would find a quality woman while you were out there.”
Graham continued speeding down the interstate and quickly got to his exit. He hated being late for anything, especially when it pertained to his business. ‘Early is on time and on time is late,’ his father would always say when he was a child. That turned into him being the first one to practice, class, and every other thing that Graham had going on. The first to get there and the last one to leave was his philosophy.
“Well it would’ve been nice for you to tell me about your latest scheme. For a moment I actually thought that you wanted me to do business with her, and I was truly beginning to think that you had spent too much time out of the courtroom and had begun to start slipping.” Sophia began laughing so loud that he had to turn down the volume on the Bluetooth radio. “I’m really just trying to help Graham. For you to be so young and fun you spend entirely too much time either in your office or at your construction sites. I don’t want you to miss out on life because you’re so caught up in your work.” Graham sighed quietly and took his exit and looking at the surrounding area of the lot that he was looking at. From what he could see, he was pleased but looked at the time and noticed he had thirty minutes before he was supposed to meet with the realtor.
“I’m serious about this Graham, like what are you so afraid of,” he cut her off before she began on one of her tangents about him dying alone. “Sophia, I have you know that I am more than capable of finding myself a partner. As a matter of fact, what I am about to tell you may be shocking, but I don’t want to talk in great deal about it,” he shook his head. Telling her about Joleigh would be the only way for her to shut up about his dating life. Sophia squealed, almost deafening him, “Ooh tell me, tell me, tell me!” She sounded just like she did when she was a little girl and wanted to know a secret. “I have a date tonight.” The words felt foreign on his tongue, and he didn’t want to think about the last time that he had said them. There was no doubt that they felt amazing coming off of his tongue.
“Really?!” she asked with a scream. “Where’d you meet her? Where are you two going? What does she look like? What’s her name?” Graham shook his head, “Sophia,” he said slowly, “What did I just say? I don’t want to talk too much about it, but I will tell you that her name is Joleigh.” Her name coming out of his mouth sounded like the sweetest melody and tasted like manna. “Well I guess if you don’t want to talk about it then I won’t push you, but can you at least tell me when you’re going out on this date?” Graham parked the car and looked at his watch. He was twenty-five minutes early, just like he liked to be. “We’re going out tonight.” A smile crept across his face and he let down the window to let in some air. “Ooh I see you get out of Texas and you start to move fast,” Sophia teased. Graham shook his head and laughed, “I guess you can say that,” he pulled out his phone and pulled up the picture of Joleigh that Jamie sent to him. He looked around to make sure that no one was standing around while he stared at it.
He knew it was strange and if he knew that there was someone doing the same thing to his picture, he would be a little disturbed by it too, but he knew from the moment that he opened the picture of her that he had to find a way to be with her. He felt bad for startling her with
his quest to find out who his birth mother is, but he hoped that the would be the start to a beautiful relationship with a beautiful woman. Graham also hoped that she wouldn’t find out that he got Jamie to find out more about her. It had been years since he had gone out on a date willingly with a woman, and despite not wanting to admit it to his sister and mother, he felt more than a little rusty.
This would count as research on what he would need to know to better his chances of getting to be with her. He thought of it as the same thing of when he did research on his competitors and the people that he was interested in doing business with. The more that you find out about someone, the higher the chance you can find out the things that they don’t like and reduce the chances of doing those things. Graham thought back to when he first saw her in person a few hours ago. He couldn’t help but fumble all over his words, and it was all that he could do not to turn red. It was unlike him to be short for words or to be in shock, but when she came around the corner it was like his heart swelled up and dropped into the pit of his stomach. When she agreed to go on a date with him it was all that he could do to not jump up and down with joy.
“Well I hope this Joleigh woman is very pretty,” she was baiting him to go into details on what she looked like. He looked back at the picture and smiled, “Yes, she’s very beautiful and if all goes to plan, I might tell you about her soon.” If things went according to Graham’s plan, Sophia would actually get a chance to meet Joleigh soon enough. “Well this sounds promising Graham, I’m really happy to hear that. Have you told Mom about your date or do you want to wait until you know for sure about this before you bring it up to her?” Graham shook his head. He didn’t need to wait to find out whether or not he knew for sure about Joleigh, he already knew exactly what he wanted. Just like with everything in his life, he knew from his gut instinct that she was the one. All he had to do was to convince her that he was the one for her.
