by Tina Martin
“Now,” he said, taking her hand. “Let’s get you back over here to your seat.”
Once they were back at the table, Tyson helped her to sit comfortably again.
Gabrielle blew a breath. “Tyson, I have to admit, being eight months pregnant has me feeling like a whale. I just feel heavy and big.”
“Sweetheart, stop it. You’re beautiful,” Tyson assured her.
“Beautiful? How am I beautiful when I look like a pencil with a basketball sticking out of it?” Gabrielle laughed.
Tyson chuckled and after fixing her meal on a plate, he carried it over to her, kissed her on the cheek and said, “Don’t be too hard on yourself. And to answer your question, you’re beautiful because I say you’re beautiful, Bri.”
“Thanks, hun,” she responded, and she couldn’t wipe the smile from her face even if she had a warm, damp towel.
“Are you ready to eat now, or do you think it’ll make you sick?”
“I’m good to eat. If I don’t, I think Tyson junior is going to kick his way out of my stomach and make his own plate,” she said, rubbing her belly.
“You mean, T.J. We’re going to have to start calling him T.J. or things are going to get real confusing around here.”
“Right. T.J.”
“Is he still kicking?”
“Yes.” She took Tyson’s large, muscular hand and placed it on her belly, resting her hand on top of his.
“Oh yeah...he’s kicking.”
“He’s strong,” Gabrielle said. “Looks like we got another football player on our hands,” she joked, remembering that Tyson said she was the captain of his high school football team.
“Looks that way,” Tyson agreed, walking back near the stove, taking his plate from the lime-green quartz countertop.
“I think he’s kicking like this because he smells his daddy’s cooking,” Gabrielle said.
Tyson sat across from her and before he touched his food, he sipped on coffee, watching Gabrielle eat. She had her hair gathered into a ponytail with a few strands hanging, framing her beautiful face. He’d lost himself in her beauty, so much so that he’d stopped chewing and only admired her.
Gabrielle looked up and caught his gaze. She smiled. This isn’t the first time she’d caught him looking at her so endearingly. So in love. He made it a practice and always at the most unexpected times. She could only imagine what he was thinking.
“Why are you smiling, Gabrielle?” Tyson asked.
“Because it’s nice to still catch you staring at me like that.”
“It’s nice to be in love with you,” he responded. Tyson took a sip of coffee, watching her blush. He loved to make her do so because she was so beautiful with her rosy cheeks as she tried to prevent herself from becoming bashful. It never worked.
She hadn’t known the extent of his happiness to have a son on the way, a little twin – someone whom he could mold into a young man. A son whom he could teach and play baseball and football with in the backyard. Speaking of a backyard he needed to discuss with Gabrielle about the possibility of moving away from the coast. Did he really want his son to grow up on the beach?
Tyson cleared his throat and said, “Sweetheart, there’s something I’ve been thinking about for a few weeks now.”
“What’s that?”
“You know we’ve been living in this place for a while...I’ve been living here for much longer than you, but with the baby coming and all, I think it’s time to move a little further inland...someplace where we can both decorate to our specific tastes. I want T.J. to have a yard where he can run around and act crazy and play in a tree house. Someplace where we could play basketball, camp out and have picnics. We can’t really do that here on the beach.”
“But you like it here,” she said because it was true. He did like living on the water. He’d been there for a long time, went running along the shore every morning and now he was wanting to give it all up.
“Yes you’re right. I do like it here, but I can’t think about myself right now. I have to do what’s good for the family, and that being the case, Bri, we have to think long-term. I don’t want T.J. growing up in a place that I know isn’t right for him. I need to make sure we’re starting this little family off in the right house, baby, and I just don’t feel that this is it.
“It could be the right house. We could make this work and—”
“It’s a little too small for us.”
“No it’s not, Tyson. This is a three-bedroom place. We have the master and there are two bedrooms upstairs.”
“We don’t have a backyard. And what if, two or three years down the road, we have another child? Then what?”
Gabrielle laughed. “Then we still have room in this place. There are three bedrooms, Tyson. Three...”
“Okay. What if we have triplets?” he asked with a smirk on his face.
“Tyson...”
“You have to admit that this is a really small house for a growing family.”
“Well of course, but I don’t think bigger is always better when it comes to things like this. I think the smaller we stay the closer we will be. Don’t you agree? I mean look at you. You have this million-dollar restaurant empire and you don’t brag about anything or flaunt your success by living in a mansion and driving exotic cars.” She was referring to Dilvan when she made the comment, because he was very flashy with the way he lived his life. Why did a single man need a house with six bedrooms, a Ferrari, a Maserati and Lamborghini?
“But this isn’t about flaunting, baby. I want us to have a home. When we’re old and gray and the kids are off to college, I want them to come back and visit their home where they grew up in and still be able to stay in their rooms if they wanted.”
“I don’t know, Tyson. Don’t you think I’m too late in my pregnancy to be house hunting and—”
“I already have a few prospects in mind and after breakfast, I thought we could look at them. If we see something we like, we’ll hire movers and make it happen.”
She caved when she saw the excitement in his eyes. “Okay.”
He flashed an amazing smile. “Perfect.”
Chapter 3
“Lalita I can’t help but notice you’ve been behaving a little odd for a while now,” Padma said. “Is something wrong?”
Lalita shook her head. She was at Padma’s Food House volunteering, filling in for a waitress who could not make it today. Gabrielle would normally have filled the spot, but since she was pregnant now, she couldn’t do as much as she used to. Plus the doctor did not want her on her feet for a long period of time.
So while the lunch crowd dwindled down and there was a lull in the place, the women sat down at a booth toward the back of the restaurant, near the kitchen, taking a much needed break while sipping on some southern sweet tea.
“I’m okay,” Lalita responded in an exhausted breath. “I’ve just been busy.”
Padma, however, knew it was more than that. Lalita couldn’t put her atypical behavior off on being busy. Padma knew what being busy was like. She was the queen of busy, but that didn’t make her behave in a weird manner. Being a business woman with more on her plate than what she could handle didn’t have her depressed, walking around with her head down. Losing sleep. Neglecting her appearance.
Padma may have been much older, but she was one spunky business lady. Most times, she wore business pant suits, even when she wasn’t going to a business function. She was accustomed to the attire. Her gray hair matched her gray eyes and her skin glowed beautifully. Healthy. She had attributed that to drinking plenty of water and getting eight hours of sleep.
Padma looked up at Lalita. She didn’t appear to have been getting much sleep at all. She had bags under her eyes, her hair hadn’t seen a brush in days and she wore no makeup, not that she needed to, but Lalita loved makeup. She hadn’t even had on any lip gloss. She could lie all she wanted, but something was wrong and Padma intended to find out what it was.
Padma took a sip of tea.
“Is everything okay between you and Prasad?” she pried.
“Yes, Padma. We’re doing fine. Like I said...just been busy.”
“What have you been busy doing, Lalita? If you need help, you know I’ll be there for you, sweetie.”
“Yes, I know,” Lalita said, scratching her head like she was agitated. “You know the kids have me running around...they’re doing this thing at the library now where—”
“Wait, Lalita,” Padma interjected, tired of hearing excuses. “Now, I’m no expert on behavior by any means but I think it’s something more than just the kids occupying your time, because Prasad does just as much with them as you do.”
“Yes, but—”
“It seems to me that since we returned home that trip we took to Chicago, you’ve been very distant. Now tell me what’s been bothering you.”
Lalita eyes filled with tears. She didn’t know exactly what to say or if she should say anything at all but she’d been carrying this burden around for far too long. She couldn’t even bring herself to say anything to Prasad about it, thus putting a strain on their marriage.
Padma watched her daughter-in-law tremble. She was scared or nervous, visibly shaken by something. Whatever the case, Padma wanted to know what that something was, and she was going to find out.
“Now what’s been bothering you?” she asked, touching Lalita’s forearm.
Lalita squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “I can’t.”
“Lalita...”
“I don’t know if I can tell you this, Padma.”
“Lalita, look at me.”
Tears escaped Lalita’s eyes but she didn’t open them.
“Lalita, please...look at me,” Padma begged.
She opened them this time.
Padma handed her a napkin to wipe her eyes. “Now listen, sweetie. Whatever it is that’s bothering you, you have to let it go. You can’t let it take over your life, Lalita. And I promise you will feel better getting it out, now tell me what’s bothering you and I promise I will do whatever I can to help. You know that don’t you?”
Lalita nodded. “Yes.”
“Haven’t I always helped you?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, so talk to me.”
“Alright,” she said sniffling, getting herself together enough to make sounds come out of her mouth as words. “You mentioned Chicago...you remember the Chicago trip, right?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Remember Dilvan had showed up?”
“Yeah. Who could forget that?”
“Okay, what about the night you and I went sightseeing, and Gabrielle stayed behind?”
Padma nodded. “Yes. I remember.”
“Well, when we came back to the hotel, I was walking down the hallway to our room, you know, because me and Gabrielle shared a room, remember?”
Padma nodded. “Right.”
“So as I’m walking to the room,” Lalita said, more tears falling from her eyes as she sniffled, “I saw Dilvan leaving.”
Padma frowned. “Leaving your room?”
“Yes. And he looked like he was up to something. I mean, he always look like he’s up to something, but I knew something was up by the way he eased the door shut so that the latch didn’t even make a clicking noise. Then he took off walking the other way and never saw me. All the while, I’m thinking that he and Gabrielle must’ve had an affair or something, because why else would he be leaving our hotel room? So at this point, I’m furious. I was ready to confront Gabrielle and ask her what happened. So I hurried up and opened the door to find that Gabrielle isn’t on her bed. She’s on my bed. I thought that was odd...she was still dressed, but—”
“But what?” Padma frowned and could feel her heart rate increase, pounding against her chest.
Lalita dabbed her eyes. “She looked like she was sleeping, so I went over to her and I shook her, trying to wake her up because...I wanted to find out what happened, but...” Lalita’s tears started back up again, pouring out of her eyes.
“But what, Lalita?”
“She wasn’t waking up. No matter how hard I shook her, no matter how many times I called out to her, she wouldn’t wake up. She was breathing, but she wouldn’t wake up, Padma, which could only mean one thing. He drugged her. Dilvan drugged her. I know he did. There’s no way Gabrielle would ever, in a million years, invite Dilvan back to the room with her. Think about it. After everything he did to her. No way.”
Padma grew speechless. She released a heavy sigh but it did nothing to lessen her frustration. Would Dilvan really do such a thing? She knew her son had issues, but why would he go to such lengths to be with a woman whom he didn’t want, couldn’t stand the sight of and refused to love. Why plan to come to Chicago just to be near her?
Padma recalled the way he had been staring at Gabrielle at dinner. For sure she thought he was making Gabrielle uncomfortable but when Gabrielle seemed unbothered by him, she didn’t pay it much attention. She should’ve known Dilvan had come to Chicago just to be close to Gabrielle.
Heshan came in through the back entrance, pushing the swinging kitchen door that separated the dining area as he always did when he arrived at the restaurant, just to let other employees know he was there, but when he heard Padma and Lalita talking, instead of disturbing them, he stood there and listened.
“I knew something happened between them,” Lalita said. “I just didn’t know what to do at the time. And Dilvan doesn’t even know I saw him leaving the hotel room. Now, Gabrielle’s pregnant and I’m sitting over here stressed out and sick to my stomach because I don’t know if her baby is Tyson’s or Dilvan’s.”
Padma’s mouth fell open.
So did Heshan’s as he stood behind the door, absorbing what Lalita had just said.
Lalita was bawling uncontrollably, soiling more tissues and Padma threw an arm around her neck, trying to console her.
“Thank you for telling me this, darling. Thank you.”
“What can we do about it? I thought about telling Tyson, but—”
“Well, first things first...instead of jumping to conclusions, we need to figure out exactly what happened, and we can’t do that until we talk to Dilvan. Until then, all of this is just speculation.”
Lalita shook her head. “I can’t. I can’t even stand to look at him.”
“Lalita, we have to talk to him, okay. You said you saw him leave her room, so you have to be there when I confront him about this. You are the only witness to him leaving her room. And you’ve been holding this in for eight months. Eight months. It’s time to see if you really have anything to worry about or if this was all one big misunderstanding.”
Lalita inhaled a deep breath. “My gut tells me it wasn’t a misunderstanding.”
“Okay, sweetie, but we have to talk to Dilvan before we bring this to anyone else, because the truth of the matter is, only Dilvan and Gabrielle were in that room. We don’t know what happened.”
Lalita reluctantly agreed. “Okay. When are we going to do this?”
“I’ll have to call Dilvan and set something up. Then I’ll get back to you.”
Lalita sighed again and felt her stomach turn sour as she did so.
“It’ll be alright, Lalita,” Padma said, watching a few patrons come in.
Lalita took a napkin and blew her nose. Then she said, “If you say so, Padma. He is your son and I know you’ll get to the bottom of this. I just hate it, you know. I hate being in the middle of conflicts and chaos.”
“As do I, sweetie, but we’ll get through it. We have no choice but to, right?”
“I guess so.”
Padma smiled, then watched Lalita stand, remove her apron and walk toward the kitchen doors.
Once Lalita was out of sight, the smile disappeared from Padma’s face and she rested her elbows on the table, propped her forehead against her hands and sighed. She thought Dilvan was being genuine when she began to see the changes in him – changes he fought hard to make over the past ei
ght months.
A few months ago, he quit modeling altogether – no odd jobs here, small ones there. He dedicated all of his time to the family business. He worked from his home office mostly because his portion of the business involved being behind a computer. And it was extremely convenient for him to work at home. All he had to do was roll out of bed and take a few steps down the hallway.
Padma like that idea because the more he stayed at home, the less she had to worry about him getting into trouble. And she thought it had been an effective plan of action for him, but if it was working, what was all this that Lalita was alleging?
Meanwhile, Heshan, who had gotten an earful, went into the back office, paced the floor with his hands on his head.
“This isn’t happening. This isn’t happening,” he kept saying over and over, feeling like he had arrived into the twilight zone instead of being at work. Did he really hear what he thought he had heard? That something might have happened between Gabrielle and Dilvan and the baby might not have been Tyson’s? Gabrielle wouldn’t do something like that to Tyson, would she?
“This isn’t happening. This isn’t happening,” he chanted.
“What isn’t happening?”
The soft, female voice jerked him out of his worries. He immediately looked to find its source. There stood, Charity Eason, the volunteer waitress that he’d had his eyes on for a while. She’d come in while Lalita was heading out. She’d be working the dinner shift. Right now, she was leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed like she’d caught Heshan in the act of doing something.
“It’s nothing,” Heshan told her, and while she was in his company, he took a moment to look her up and down. She had her long, cinnamon hair pulled back into a ponytail. She wore a white shirt, black pants with a black waitress apron covering her outfit. Her makeup was done to perfection. It always was, and he had a feeling that she didn’t need a drop of it to be beautiful. And why was she even talking to him when all she had been doing was avoiding him, even to the point of volunteering only on days she knew he would be off, just so she couldn’t run into him?
