I was lying in our movie den, watching King’s first movie, when he came home. I glanced up and saw his smile, but no words were spoken. He just leaned over, kissed my cheek, then stretched out on the sofa next to me, resting his head in my lap. I stroked his head as he kissed my belly for what felt like hours. These were the kinds of moments that I lived for. And this was why I finally let Mrs. Stevens’s words leave my mind. Like I said, King was nothing like his father.
Now that we were about to have a child, things were different. We would be happy forever, and I fell asleep with King kissing my belly and with those thoughts on my mind.
Chapter 17
“Mom, it isn’t that big of a deal.” I rolled my eyes as I held the phone in my hand. Trying to keep my mother calm after hearing this news was next to impossible. I should’ve known that I wouldn’t be able to do it over the telephone.
“Not a big deal?” my mother shrieked. “Heiress Denise Montgomery, you are pregnant by a man we haven’t even met. That is a very big deal.”
My mother had a combination of hurt and disappointment in her voice, and I knew there were lots of things that made her feel this way. First, she had very traditional values. I was supposed to go to college, get my degree, thrive in my profession, meet a man that they approved of, date for a while, get married, and then have children. The fact that I no longer worked, had moved in with King after only a few months of dating, and now was pregnant by him without marriage, or even parental introductions, was far more than she could take.
“I know this isn’t the traditional way of doing things,” I told my mother, “but really, I’m happy.” I really was hoping that statement would tug on her heartstrings. What parent didn’t want their child to be happy?
There was a pause, and then I heard the voice of my father. “Are we at least going to have an opportunity to meet him?”
I’d almost forgotten that he was on the extension, with the way my mother had been going on. “I’ll ask King about his schedule and see when we can come to Ohio,” I said.
With that, I heard the phone click and knew that my mother had had enough and had gotten off the phone. It hurt my heart to know I had upset her so much, but I couldn’t help it that my heart had taken me in a direction that my mother didn’t agree with. I wanted this family that I was beginning to build.
“How long do you think she’ll be mad at me, Daddy?”
I had always been a daddy’s girl. He was the only one who really understood me and gave me room to be myself.
“Oh, your mother will be fine. I’ll talk to her. This was just a shock, that’s all.” He paused for a second and took a deep breath. “Are you sure you’re getting everything you want out of life, princess?”
His question took me aback and at the same time made me feel bad. While I was growing up, something my father always told me was to get everything I wanted out of life, because my life belonged to me and I’d have only this one. When he felt like I was slacking or didn’t have my priorities straight, he would always ask me that question.
“Daddy,” I finally said, “I’m happy.” Those were the only words I had to tell him. Now that my mother was gone and I could hear my father’s disappointment, I wanted to get off the phone. But I would never tell my father that. I would never disrespect him in that way.
“Well, in that case, your mother is right. We need to meet him . . . and soon.” The way he said that, I knew he meant business. If I didn’t get King on a plane to Ohio soon, my folks would end up on our doorstep.
“Yes, sir. Daddy.” And then I rushed the next words. “I love you and Mom both, and I’ll talk to you guys later.”
“Where do you have to go all of a sudden?”
I had to think of a quick excuse, or else I’d be on the phone for another hour, and I didn’t have the fortitude to do this anymore.
“I have to run to the grocery store and pick up some things,” I lied. “My cravings are ridiculous, so I want to just stock up.” I knew pulling the pregnancy card on my father would work. I wasn’t even sure what a craving was since I hadn’t had any. I was still at the try-eating-without-being-nauseous stage.
“All right, baby girl. We’ll talk to you later.”
“Love you, Daddy.”
“Love you too, princess.”
We hung up, and I sat on the bed for a little while after, thinking over all that my parents had said. I really was sorry that I’d disappointed them, but I figured that once they saw me and King together, once they saw how happy I was, all would be forgiven. And they’d be just as excited about their first grandchild as the Stevenses were.
Jumping up from the bed, I decided that I needed to head to the store, after all. We did need a few things for the house, and our chef was fighting the flu at the moment. I threw on some jeans and a fly T-shirt and headed out.
The grocery store was relatively empty, which was always a great thing. I didn’t have to worry about the stares from people who were sure they’d seen me someplace but couldn’t quite place it. That was what happened when you were the insignificant other of someone who was significant. After grabbing a gallon of ice cream, I headed to the magazine aisle to pick up the latest editions of all my favorite fashion magazines. As soon as I got to the aisle, I froze.
On the cover of one of the tabloids was a picture of me, King, and some woman I’d never seen before. The headline LOVE TRIANGLE was splashed across the cover. My eyes roamed to other magazines, and there was the same story, front and center. What was this?
Glancing to my right and then my left, I made sure that no one was watching me as I picked up one of the magazines and turned to the story, which was entitled “Has King’s Queen Been Dethroned?” I kept reading the article, which reported that King Stevens had a secret lover, while his pregnant girlfriend sat home, crying. There were shots of King and this petite, trashy-looking woman leaving a club, a restaurant, and even a hotel.
Pushing that magazine back in place, I picked up another one. One article had a picture of what was supposed to be my sonogram, but it was of an almost fully developed baby and I wasn’t even showing yet. So that was obviously a false story. Was the other story a lie too? I didn’t know how to react to all of this, so all I did was gather the magazines that had King’s picture splashed on the front and toss them into the cart I was pushing.
On the ride home, I could feel my anxiety building, but I did everything that I could to push it back down. There was no need for me to get upset. First of all, this kind of stress wasn’t good for my baby. Secondly, it was all lies, anyway. So why would I get upset about a lie?
At home I was surprised to see King’s car in the driveway. I thought he’d be at the gym a little longer. It still amazed me that he left home to work out when we had a fully equipped gym in our home, but King said that he needed to have other people around him. So he went out just about every day.
The moment I put the key in the door, it swung open and King grabbed the two bags from my hands. I held on tight to the magazines I purchased, hiding their covers from sight.
“Baby, let me help you with those.” He kissed me on the cheek. “Why didn’t you wait until I got home to go shopping? I would’ve done all of this, or I could’ve gone with you.”
I walked behind him toward the kitchen. I sat in our breakfast nook as he unpacked the groceries, and as he moved, I tried to put him together with the man that the tabloids had written about. I just couldn’t make the connection. The man they were talking about wasn’t the man who was in front of me now. The man they were talking about wasn’t the man who had made my life perfect since he’d found out that I was pregnant.
Still, I’d often heard that where there was smoke, there was fire. And the girlfriend was always the last to know. So I needed King to tell me that it was all untrue. I needed him to call those journalists liars. I formed the words in my mind so that they didn’t come off as accusing him of anything. But the moment I opened my mouth, my heart started pounding.
“Babe,” I began, “I saw these magazines at the store and wondered if you had seen any of them.” I spread the magazines across the table so he could get a good look at each and every one.
He walked over, glanced down, and had no reaction. He didn’t twitch, didn’t flinch. But then, suddenly, he broke out in laughter. “Baby, I know you don’t believe this stupid gossip trash.”
His reaction completely caught me off guard. I expected him to be as shocked as I was.
“Well, it is a little shocking to see you and some woman creeping around. I mean, they have pictures.” I paused and softened my voice, because I didn’t want to sound too aggressive. I asked, “Are you seeing her?”
He stopped laughing, and when he looked at me this time, his face was stiff with seriousness. “Heiress, listen. Those magazines make their money by printing lies.” Then he walked away and went right back to the groceries.
I guess for him, the conversation was over. But not for me. I still wanted to know who the woman was. I mean, they had pictures!
I got up from the table and followed behind him. “Okay, so who is the girl?”
He whipped around, and now all seriousness was gone. Now he was just irritated. “Why are you questioning me like this?”
I shrugged, hoping that would diffuse the situation just a little. “Because I just want to know.” I left out the part about needing to know if there was something going on.
He sighed as if this was all getting on his nerves, but he answered, “She’s a friend I’ve known for years. We hung out when I was on location.” He looked me dead in the eyes, raised his voice, and added, “Now drop it.” He stomped away from me, back to the table. And with a single sweep of his arms, he grabbed the magazines and threw them in the trash.
A part of me wanted to apologize for not trusting him, but he walked out of the kitchen, leaving me standing there, wondering why I had pushed him like that. There was no reason—I knew they were lies. Just like the picture of the sonogram. If I couldn’t believe one, I shouldn’t believe any of them. Plus, I should just believe in my man. King would never cheat on me. Especially not now, now that we had a baby coming.
I just prayed that I hadn’t messed everything up. For the rest of the day King stayed locked in the studio downstairs, and I stayed in the den. I wanted to go to him, tell him that I was sorry, but I decided that I’d give him space to cool down. I waited until I heard him go up to our bedroom before I got up, went upstairs, then crawled into bed next to him.
He kept his back to me, and I sighed. He needed to know that I was sorry and that I did trust him. Plus, I wanted to get back on this path of bliss that we’d been on. Wrapping my arms around him, I gently kissed his head. “I’m sorry,” I whispered in his ear.
He didn’t budge.
I could feel the tears forming in my eyes, but I didn’t give up. I kissed him and apologized. Apologized and kissed him.
Still, there was nothing from him.
Finally, I rolled over, because I couldn’t hold my tears back and I didn’t want them falling on him. Then, a moment later, King rolled over and wrapped his arm around my waist.
My eyes were still filled with water, but at least my heart was smiling. I didn’t have a thing to worry about. King was mine, I was his, and whatever those magazines said didn’t matter. They didn’t matter at all.
Chapter 18
I had been calling Blair for weeks, and I just kept on getting her voice mail. I didn’t want to leave a message that I was pregnant. That was something I wanted to tell her in person, or at least live on the phone.
“Heiress,” King called out. “If you’re not down here in two minutes, I’m leaving without you.”
King had been rushing me for the last five minutes. He was leaving for a promotional tour for the movie he filmed in Connecticut, and I had insisted that I ride with him to the airport. I hung up the phone without leaving another message on Blair’s answering machine and ran downstairs.
“How is it you were the one who wanted to come with me, but you can’t be ready on time?” King said once I made it to our foyer.
“I’m sorry, babe. I was trying to make a phone call, but I’m ready now.”
Our driver, Al, carried King’s bags to the car, and I locked up the house after we walked out.
This was the first promotional tour King was going on since we’d been together, so I really didn’t know what to expect. I just knew that he was going to be gone for two, maybe three weeks, and I wasn’t crazy about being alone all of that time.
In the back of the car I snuggled up to King, but he didn’t seem to notice me. The phone was pressed to his ear. First, he talked to his agent, then his manager, and finally the studio’s publicist. By the time he hung up, we were at the entry to LAX. While Al retrieved King’s bags from the trunk, King and I had a private moment together.
“Don’t look so sad, Heiress. I’ll be back before you know it.” With the tips of his fingers, he lifted my chin and kissed me softly.
“I still wish I could go with you.”
“Come on now,” he said gently. “We’ve been over this. All the ripping and running would just be too much for you and the baby.”
“I know.”
“You’re going to be fine.”
“I know. Promise that you’ll call me whenever you get the chance.”
“I promise. You’ll be sick of hearing from me.”
I chuckled a little, though I was not happy. “That will never happen.”
He kissed me again, then without another word, he slipped out of the car.
I watched as he checked in with the skycap and then headed into the terminal. It took everything I had not to cry, but I made sure I didn’t shed a tear. I was trying my best not to make a big deal of this. This was part of King’s life, it came with the territory, and it was the life that I’d chosen.
When I couldn’t see King anymore, Al pulled the car away from the curb. As he headed out of the airport, I pulled out my cell and tried Blair’s phone once again. But just like before, my call went straight to voice mail. What was this about this time? Was something wrong, or was Blair avoiding me purposely? Either way, my feelings were hurt. When we’d gotten together last time, Blair promised that we would stay in touch. So why hadn’t she kept that promise?
“It’s probably that man,” I whispered. That thought hurt my feelings even more. Even though King was the center of my life, I made time and room for Blair. Oh, well, there was nothing I could do about it. I settled back into the leather seat and closed my eyes, deciding to just enjoy the ride back to Malibu.
But then my eyes popped open. I was out, King was gone, and there was something I wanted to do. “Al, minor detour. Swing me by Rodeo Drive, please.”
While I was in the city, I could at least stop by and apologize to Donovan for running out on him weeks ago at the warehouse. I hadn’t talked to him since, and I knew that it was incredibly rude to just leave him hanging and confused. Maybe I could treat him to lunch.
I really wanted to do this, because my life was all about King. I didn’t have my own friendships, which was clearly obvious with what was going on with Blair. So I wanted Donovan to know that I thought of him as a friend. As we got closer to Rodeo Drive, I gave Al the general vicinity of the store, since I didn’t have the exact address, and we found it easily.
“Okay, I’ll give you a call when I finish shopping,” I told Al as I climbed out of the car.
Taking a deep breath, I proceeded into the shop, but then I stopped. It was complete madness in the store. Clerks, who were dressed in all black, wore headpieces and tried to service all the customers. I wasn’t sure if a tour group had come in or what, but there were more customers than the store could hold. People were shoulder to shoulder, picking up items, asking for the prices. The space was so crowded that I imagined if someone turned around too quickly, they would hit a table and knock over one of Donovan’s gorgeous pieces.
As a s
hort blond clerk passed in front of me, I stopped her. “Excuse me. I’m looking for the owner,” I said, figuring it would be much better for me to find Donovan that way rather than pushing through this crowd.
“He’s busy at the moment, so he doesn’t have time to talk to customers,” she said sharply. “Is there something I can help you with?”
“No,” I said slowly, trying to be patient. “I’m a close friend of his, and I wanted to speak with him.”
“Well, like I said, ma’am, he’s busy.”
Now I had an attitude. “I’m sure if you tell him that I’m here, he’d want to see me.”
“Why don’t you try coming back later?” she said, as if she could dismiss me like that. “Or if you want to leave your name, I’ll tell him you came by.”
Okay, now I was about to go off. Who did this woman think she was? Matter of fact, who did this woman think I was? I refused to have a Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman moment. She was about to hear all of my mouth.
“Stephanie, thank you. I can take it from here.”
Donovan appeared out of nowhere and saved Miss Stephanie from a serious black girl butt whupping. She gave me a final glance up and down, then turned to help another customer. I almost reached out to snatch that horrible bleach job out of her head, but then I felt a flutter in my stomach and remembered that my stress was my baby’s stress. I had to calm down.
“I’m sorry about that,” Donovan said. “My staff gets a little on edge when we have rushes like this.”
Little did he know that no explanation was needed, especially not after the way he flashed that beautiful smile at me. He made me forget all that had taken place less than thirty seconds ago. “It’s okay,” I said, suddenly feeling like it had been no big deal. “I understand.” Then, lowering my voice, I asked, “Is there somewhere we can go and talk?”
Strange Addiction Page 12
