by Cee, DW
There was much doubt and disappointment in her expression. “Nole...”
“Let’s stop talking about Delilah and talk about you, instead. What will you do with yourself now that you’ve quit your job?”
“Well, I wondered if your job offer was still open?” Damn. I had invited her to work for me as our PR and HR guru for the hair growth company. What to do if Delilah accepts my invitation? “By your silence, I take it that I’m no longer welcome at your company?”
“No. It’s not that. I’d still like for you to handle HR now and PR right before my product comes out.”
“But?”
“But you might be working with Delilah.”
“What?” Cammie was a little bug-eyed now. “How? Why? What the hell? Why is this girl everywhere now? She’s trying to take everything that was mine!”
Though Cam was scaring me a little, this didn’t feel bad. She was protective of me and I liked it. Before she blew another gasket, I explained my proposal to Nicky and Delilah. As a bonus I said, “You might really like Nicky. He’s handsome, bright, and from a good family. I think you’ll get along with him just fine.” The thought of Cammie and Nicky was a good one; it made me smile.
“Whatever. Just because you think you’re getting married, don’t try and push marital thoughts into my head. I have no thoughts of getting along with whoever this Nicky is.”
“Why not? Don’t you want to be with a good man? You’re about as perfect as they come, Cam. Any man would be lucky to be with you. You’re beautiful, you’re brilliant, you’re funny, and you’re the best friend any guy or girl can have. What’s stopping you from dating? Guys are hitting on you all the time. Why don’t you go out with them?”
She couldn’t decide what to say. She’d start and stop herself before she finally spoke. Her words shocked the hell out of me when she finally got everything off her chest. “All right. Since today is a day of telling the truth, I’m going to tell you that I always thought you and I might one day be a couple. We are best friends. What better person to date than your best friend?”
“What?” Now it was my turn to be floored. “When did this happen?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. It just kind of happened. Do you not feel anything for me?”
“Well...” Damn. What to say? “I love you as a friend. We’ve always been great together, but I haven’t ever thought of us as anything but friends.”
“Well, start thinking about it and get back to me.”
“Wait. Where are you going?” Cammie was almost out the door. “I thought we were practicing.”
“You and I just had a come-to-Jesus revelation and the last thing I want to do is practice anything. Think about what I said. Think very carefully about where you want to invest your time—with your best friend whom you know everything about, or with some girl you’ve met twice at age five. Once you decide, let me know where I fit in your life.”
“What if you don’t like my answer?”
“Then you may not like my answer.”
“What?”
There were no more answers. Cam left.
Damn it all to hell! Why had my life become so complicated? Rather than all these truths, I would’ve preferred lies. I went from no woman to two women in the course of a week.
Shit!
Delilah: “Do you recall, not long ago...” ~Major Lazer and DJ Snake
What the hell to do? Nolan was offering me the world and I couldn’t take him up on it because of his ulterior motives. Why was life so complicated? I hated having to make serious life decisions.
“What are you mumbling about?”
What? Where’d Henry come from? “Hey, Henry. What’s up?”
“I should be asking you what’s up.”
“What’s up?” Where my brother Henry was, Scottie wasn’t far behind.
“Hey, Scottie.”
“Talk, Sis.” Henry spoke while Scottie nodded. They had that twin thing going on.
Because I had no choice, I told them everything—and I mean everything!
“Damn, Lilah. How do you always get yourself in these kinds of scrapes? Since you were little, we’d have to bail you out of all kinds of trouble.”
“You did not!” I insisted, but knew Henry was right.
“You remember that time when you found yourself squeezed into a manhole and it took us hours to get you out of there? How the hell you got yourself down there was beyond all of us.”
“I don’t remember being in a manhole,” I lied. Both brothers rolled their eyes.
“Don’t you remember when you convinced DJ that he needed a mustache and proceeded to draw all over his face—right before we were headed to Auntie Sam’s wedding? You were so scared you’d be busted by Mom that we had to give him a bath. Do you know how hard it is to bathe a squirmy three-year-old? You were almost ten at the time. You knew better than to draw on your brother.”
“Geez, Scottie. Didn’t you ever do anything wrong?”
“No! Henry and I had to be the responsible ones because you were such a hell raiser.”
“Remember that phase when Lilah would tell random people that Mom and Dad were not her real parents and that she had been abducted by them? She’d instantly cry and say how much she missed her true parents. Mom and Dad almost landed in jail one time because of your crazy story!”
“You don’t have to yell, Henry. I apologized for those events.”
“Yeah, I do have to yell. Scottie and I’d have to run interference and explain to everyone that you had an active imagination and that you were only playing. It was only because you and Mom looked so much alike that most people believed us rather than you. You were a pain in all our asses!”
OK, I had to admit. That wasn’t a cool phase. I had no idea why I told those tall tales. Though in retrospect, it was kinda funny.
“Shit! When I think about all the pranks she pulled on us, I might want to lock her in her room without food and water.”
“Dear God, Scottie and Henry. You both get worked up over the silliest things. I was little at the time. I liked to play jokes on everyone. What’s the big deal? We’re all adults now. I don’t do those kinds of things anymore.”
“Really???” Henry and Scottie yelled simultaneously. Shit. What had I done now?
Scottie started with, “Don’t you remember when you sent a text to every girl on our cell phones and told them that we liked them? Right before you left for your summer trip, you stole our phones and made all those texts in the middle of the night. I woke up to a nightmare!”
His twin hollered even louder, if that was possible, “I went to the hospital without checking my phone and was met by a slew of angry women! I didn’t know which was worse—the ones who accused me of being an asshole and a playboy, or the ones who wanted to take me up on the dating offer.”
The way my brothers turned red and stomped around like little boys brought out the giggles in me. I shouldn’t have laughed, but I did. Shit. I was in trouble.
“How dare you laugh, Lilah? You purposely told the girl I absolutely hated that I was in love with her.”
“Oh Scottie. You know that you and she are in love with one another. I don’t know why you pretend. Even Mom says you two can’t keep your googly eyes away.”
That was not the right thing to say. “What? Googly eyes? In love with one another? Are you insane? We hate each other.”
“All right. If you’re done going down memory lane, could we talk about the issue at hand?” That was smart of me to change topics, I hoped.
My brothers finally calmed down and sat next to me. “How can we help?” Henry asked. He was always an agreeable one when he wanted to be.
I repeated everything Nolan told me.
“As pissed as I was with this Nolan O’Shaughnessy, he had balls to fight for what and whom he wants. I respect that.”
“Really, Scottie? You almost killed him in London.”
“That’s because I didn’t quite understand
what was happening. If I were you, I’d give him a chance.”
“What? Are you nuts? I’m engaged to be married very soon.”
Henry said, “To be frank, we’re not crazy about you and Rhys.”
“Not again, Henry. Why? I thought you approved.”
“It’s not Rhys who bothers me, but the idea of you and Rhys.”
“But why?”
“I’m not quite sure why, but it does. I don’t think it’ll hurt for you to work with Nolan. Plus, he’s giving you an opportunity of a lifetime, Lilah. You just graduated from college and Nolan is begging you to be a partner in a well-established company. Only a lunatic would say no to that proposal.”
“But what about Rhys?”
“What about him? Be honest and tell him the business deal you are about to engage in with Nicky and Nolan. From there, see what he says and convince him this is the best course for you.” Everything Henry said made sense.
Scottie agreed with his twin’s ideas. “You’re worrying for nothing. Talk to Rhys and go from there. If you don’t want to tell Rhys, I’m fine with that, too. Do what you like, Lilah. You’re only twenty-two. You have a hundred different ideas in your head. Go with the one that strikes your fancy.”
“All right. I guess the first course of action is to talk to Rhys. Thanks for listening to me and for all your advice.” I stood up and hugged both brothers. “You guys are the best!”
“Whatever. Just don’t go around playing pranks on people—especially not your brothers.”
Scottie’s words made me giggle. “Always watch your backs...” I warned and quickly left the room.
Nolan: “Move in the right direction...” ~Gossip
I had two very important meetings today. If the people I met with today agreed to my proposals, then I’d have made great strides in securing Delilah’s time and hopefully, one day, her affection.
“Hey, Nolan. How are you?” Dr. John Solomon, aka Elizabeth Reid’s ex, and I had worked on a paper together on gerontology. Though John was a doctor already, and I was, technically, only a med student, he was in the aging field and I was in the aging business. Somehow, we clicked and ended up publishing a piece in the medical journal.
“I’m in a bit of a quandary and I was hoping you could help.”
“I’d be happy to help, if I can. Tell me what you need.”
“You know how close I am to this hair growth serum and I need some more research. I was hoping you could help me with the research aspect of my project.”
“I could, but I don’t know that I’m the best person for the job. There are many other, more qualified doctors and scientists. I’m a newbie in this gerontology field.”
“That might be, but you’re brilliant and you’re young. You’re willing to try new methods and search for different options. I’d love it if you’d join our team.”
John appeared amenable. “I suppose that can be done. It’s not like I have anything else going on in my life.”
So here was the opening I needed. “There’s a caveat, if you want to look at it as a caveat.”
His eyebrow raised. “And the caveat would be...?”
I told him about Delilah and also told him about his Elizabeth. “I’m going to involve Elizabeth Reid in this venture.”
“How? Why? She’s a heart surgeon. What would she have to do with hair loss?”
“To be honest, I’m not sure. What I know is that to get to Delilah, I need to have as many allies as possible. Elizabeth is her closest friend and cousin. She’s paramount to me winning Delilah’s hand.”
“So, you’re basically asking if I’d be all right working with my ex-girlfriend?”
Damn. I saw the doubt in his eyes. His head did a slow shake. “May I ask why you broke up? I assume you’ve broken up since I didn’t see you in London with the family? Last we talked, you were on cloud nine. I envied you for having found and secured your future.”
“It’s a complicated story, Nole, and one we don’t have time for today.” He looked as sad as Elizabeth did in London. The two were perfect together, but I guessed it wasn’t meant to be.
“Do you want her back?” I pried.
“Yeah, but it’s not that simple. It if was, I wouldn’t have let her go to begin with, Nole.”
“You want to compare simple and complicated? I’m trying to undo my future spouse’s engagement. I have no idea what your complicated situation is, but it can’t possibly compare to mine. I’m in a damn pickle!”
John chuckled. “I shouldn’t want to be with Els this much, but I do. If she’s all right working with me, I’d be a happy man to see her outside of the hospital again. Maybe I can right the wrong in our lives.”
Cryptic, much? I chose not to ask. “All right. I have a meeting with Elizabeth Reid at the hospital in thirty minutes. I’ll go and ask her similar questions. Hopefully, she’ll agree to be my ally.”
“I wish you luck, Friend. Right now, I envy you for all your bravado and strength. I wish I could stand up for my woman.”
“You can,” I encouraged. “No matter what the circumstances, there’s no reason for you not to be with the one you love. Your face tells me that you love Elizabeth Reid. Be a man and go after her.”
“I wish I could,” was all he’d reveal.
A successful meeting done with John, I left to meet Delilah’s favorite cousin. On my way, I ran into a few surprises.
“What brings you to our hospital, Nolan?” Dr. Nick Reid greeted me.
“Hello, Uncle Nick. It’s nice to see you again, Uncle Max, Uncle Jake. Of course, it’s an absolute pleasure to see you again, Mom.”
All four doctors laughed at me. The laughing was boisterous enough to attract a few more family members.
“What’s the joke?” Delilah’s Grandpa Henry asked with her Grandpa Scottie in tow.
I introduced myself. “Hello. We haven’t formally met but I’m Nolan O’Shaughnessy, soon-to-be Delilah’s husband and your future grandson-in-law.”
“What the hell? You’re the one who ruined our granddaughter’s engagement party.” Dr. Henry Reid said aloud. “Where’d this joker come from?” he asked all the other family members.
“Dad. Be nice.” My future mom-in-law was the best! “Hello, Nolan. What brings you to the hospital? I hope you’re not ill?”
“Oh no, Mom. I’m feeling great! I have a meeting with Dr. Elizabeth Reid, and she said this was the only place she could meet today, so I’m here to have a delightful lunch with her in the cafeteria.”
Dr. Taylor giggled. “Well, enjoy yourselves. I assume we’ll see you on the cul-de-sac sometime soon?”
“Is that an invitation to dinner, Dr. Taylor? I’d love to come over for dinner. Tonight or tomorrow is good.”
That’s when the laughter happened again, even louder. “The Benningtons are in town this weekend. Why don’t you come over with your parents and join our Sunday barbecue?”
I couldn’t believe this boon! “We would love to, Dr. Taylor. Thank you! May I bring something?”
