Scalding Hot Chocolate

by Jaliza A. Burwell

  “Sure, Sissy. We can do that,” Lawson said.

  They both leaned forward, ignoring the awkwardness of trying to lean out the window. They managed to make it work, each of them giving me a little peck on the cheek.

  I pulled away and gasped. “Oh my, that really did work! I feel so much better already.”

  “Really?” Lee asked in disbelief.

  I grinned big. “Really.”

  Slowly, his worry slipped away into pure happiness. “Good.” He pushed Lawson back into the car, ignoring his brother’s grumbling. They helped each other buckle in and then stared back at us.

  “Ready?” Lawson said.

  “Yes, I’m ready. Patience, young padawan.”

  “I don’t know what that means,” Lee said.

  “Yeah, don’t call us names.”

  The guys chuckled.

  “You better get them back for bed,” Koen said. He reached out and touched my arm lightly. “Are you going to be okay?”

  Giving him a small smile, I said, “Yeah, I’ll be fine. It’s just like you said, where it’ll all randomly swell up in me. It’s just a random gut punch. I’ll roll with it like I always do.”

  “If it happens again, you can call us,” Bryce said.

  My chest warmed and ached all at the same time as mixed emotions flooded through me. “Thank you,” I said. “I’ll be sure to hold you to that.”

  “Oh no,” Dayton said. “She’s smirking. This can’t be good.”

  “I’m not smirking,” I said, totally doing it.

  “If that isn’t an evil smirk, then I don’t know what is.” Dayton shook his head and stepped back.

  Koen shook his head too and nudged me into the driver’s seat. “Go home. Rest.”

  “Don’t you ever get tired of being so bossy?” I grumbled.

  “No.” He grabbed my seatbelt and handed it to me so I could snap it into place. “Now drive safely and text us when you get back.”

  “Yes, sir,” I said.

  He smirked and closed the door for me.

  I drove away, feeling lighter than I had since Mandy died. There was still a weight there, but the guys had managed to take some of the pressure off.

  How the heck did they do that?

  I grinned the moment I pulled up to the apartment. The twins were asleep in the back, but my problem was solved the moment I spotted the tall, dark redheaded woman who currently looked mad as she glared at me.

  “Madison Daniels, where the heck have you been?” she asked, coming over to me. She peeked into the back and sighed, going around to pop open the door and grab Lawson.

  “Out with the kids,” I said.

  She eyed them. “I can see. They have smudged paint over their face. You too.”

  I nodded. “It was an adventure.”

  Kenni laughed, all signs of her anger gone. We walked into the building and toward the elevator.

  “I thought you were kidnapped or something. You’ve been ignoring my texts all day.”

  “All day?” I frowned. “I never got a text from you.” With some good practice, I shifted Lee around so I could pull my phone out of my purse. I glanced at my phone.

  “Crap, at some point, I must have hit the do not disturb setting.” I turned the setting off and not a moment later, a few texts came through. A good chunk were from Kenni, and there were new ones from the guys, asking if I got home safe.

  I replied to them quickly to let them know I survived the three-and-a-half-mile drive home.

  “Oh, you’re smiling. You haven’t smiled like that in a while. What’s putting it there?”

  My cheeks heated and I couldn’t look at her.

  “Maddie…” she warned.

  “Men,” I replied in a whisper.

  “Men? As in more than one?”

  I nodded. “But friends. We’re only friends.”

  “Damn, you move fast.”

  I scowled at her as the elevator door opened and went to my apartment door. “I do not. They are only friends and they will remain that way. I don’t have time right now to add any new relationships into the mix.”

  Kenni’s expression softened. “True. Where do you stand with…” She stopped and glanced at the twins.

  I sighed. “Let’s get them into bed and have a girls’ night.”

  The twins ended up turning in early for the night after the long day we’d had. Kenni decided that tonight was a baking night, so we were in the kitchen making cupcakes. She was making the vegan one, while I very carefully followed the recipe for normal vanilla cupcakes.

  “Yes, I’ll be a character witness, or whatever you need. I’m there.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked. “What if you need to leave for work?”

  She shook her head. “I’ll make it work.”

  I grinned. “Thank you.”

  “Of course. No way in hell I’m letting that witch get her hands on those boys. She doesn’t even deserve to breathe the same air as them. Need me to dig up dirt on her? That’s what I do after all.”

  I giggled and shook my head. “No. No need. My lawyer said we have a good chance because there’s no reason for the court to take them away from me.”

  “Good. But if you need me to get her skeletons out of her closet, let me know. I’ll do it in a heartbeat.”

  “Thank you, I appreciate that.”

  When Kenni realized I was about to dump a bunch of salt into the mixture instead of the sugar, she pushed me out of the kitchen and into the dining room. I could still see her over the counter as she did her magic.

  “So, men. Tell me.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Nothing to tell.”

  “Say that again. But this time, don’t look like you’re lying.”

  “There really isn’t anything.” I sighed. “It’s Lawson and Lee’s teacher and his two friends.”

  She paused in mixing and stared at me for a moment before looking back down and continuing. “There’s more.”

  “Really? How can you tell?”

  “Hun, I’ve known you for a long time now. I know there’s more. Tell me. Remember, judgment free zone.”

  “I don’t know. It’s like a weird case of fate messing with me. There’s Dayton, the kids’ substitute teacher. Then Dayton introduced me to his lawyer, who is Koen. The two of them live together. That’s easy enough to explain and makes sense since I only know Koen because Dayton referred him to me. But then get this. Bryce is a psychiatrist.”

  It didn’t take Kenni long to connect the dots. She wouldn’t be a war correspondent if her mind wasn’t as sharp.

  “The third friend works in the same office as your therapist.”

  “Ding, ding, ding.”

  “Wow. That’s, uh, what are the chances on that one?” She laughed.

  “I know! Anyways, they all want to be friends. They’re fun to be around, and they don’t judge.”

  Kenni laughed. “Oh, Maddie, you are screwed, my friend. So screwed.” She shook her head as she dumped the batter into cupcake pans.

  “Am not.”

  “Are too. Just promise me,” she said slowly. “Be careful. I know you’re not dealing with breaking up with Felix. That’s kind of your MO, but that doesn’t mean you’re ready to jump into something else so quickly. The timing is… interesting to say the least.”

  “I’m not jumping into anyone’s bed,” I snapped out.

  “I know. That isn’t who you are. Just be careful with them. I don’t want to see you or the twins hurt because of this new friendship of yours.”

  I frowned, taking in Kenni’s serious tone. Her hazel eyes were filled with worry as she looked at me.

  “Okay.” I nodded. “I’ll be careful.”

  “That’s all that I ask.”

  The rest of the night went by too fast as we hung out. Before I was ready, Kenni needed to get going. She had an international phone call with someone on the other side of the planet.

  We hugged. She squeezed me, rubbing my back, and then we parted
with promises of meeting up soon.

  Chapter Thirteen

  I knew this day was the start of the end of the world the moment Lawson and Lee began bickering.

  And they didn’t stop, even after I dropped them off at school. I wasn’t sure what set them off, but whatever little demon got into their heads started off a round of “don’t touch me” at breakfast and didn’t stop even after a game of “don’t be a tattletale” when I dropped them off at school.

  I sent Dayton a psychic message of good luck before driving off. They were his problem now. If I had gotten a scream of “he wiped his boogers on me” one more time, I was going to tie them to the roof of my car and scare the little devils out of them.

  No doubt Olivia would love that. She would have all the ammunition she needed to take them. That was the only reason I didn’t do it. The only one.

  Work was better. I didn’t have clients doing last minute meeting cancellations, so that was a win for me. I still didn’t know why I had some who dropped me so suddenly, and that lack of knowledge ate at me. If there was better competition for my skillset out there, I wanted to know who they were. I needed to be prepared.

  My mind was a powerful tool, and it kept conjuring up images of me living on the streets in rags, begging for food while Olivia took the twins off to Paris or London or Sydney. Maybe even Japan. If she took them to Japan, I’d have to murder her. That was my trip with them. She didn’t get to have that.

  I shook out of my musings as I expertly parallel parked, glad I didn’t bump any of the cars around me doing it. The office before me was five floors, red brick, with dark tinted windows. I grabbed my briefcase and went inside, giving the man at the security desk a wave. He grinned back, too busy on the phone to say anything. He buzzed me through, and I went right to the fifth floor and into the designated conference that I met these clients in every two weeks.

  It didn’t take long to set up, getting all my data laid out, along with the reports they wanted. Still, no one showed. I glanced at the clock. The team would be here any minute. So to entertain myself, I sat in the chair and spun around in it, loving the feeling of the room moving on me.

  “Maddie,” Lauren said with amusement. “I’m sorry we kept you waiting.”

  I stopped and grinned. It took me a moment to realize which Lauren to grin at, but she was a cool gal and had no issues with me temporarily flashing my smile in the wrong direction.

  “No worries, just going over the game plan in my head.”

  She laughed. “I’m sure.” She took the seat across from me, and her partner, Rick, settled in next to her.

  Lauren was a bombshell, with long, flowing bright red hair, dark blue eyes, pale skin, and soft features. She liked to keep her outfits business casual, deciding to wear black dress slacks with a dark maroon sweater. She was also super cool and one of the few people I was considering approaching about being one of my character witnesses for the custody battle.

  Rick dressed similarly, his sweater a light brown. He had black hair, black eyes, and dark skin. Half the time, he intimidated me. His gaze was always intense, watchful, and I wished he blinked more often.

  The two of them did everything together. Went to high school together. Went to college together. Got the startup going together. I was just waiting for them to decide to do the horizontal tango together. That one I wasn’t so sure about though, since Lauren enjoyed the dating scene.

  I wouldn’t be surprised if they went on double dates together, though.

  Lauren cleared her throat, saving me from droning on in my head about what it’d be like to go on a double date with a friend. I’d never done that before.

  “Sorry.” I forced a smile. “So, where would you like to start. I got the monthly reports ready to go, and I know you were talking about possibly expanding your team. I have some options for you that I think will benefit both the company and whomever you hire. Oh, or we can go into those two contracts you had sent my way and how you’d like to expand on those projects…” I trailed off when I realized they weren’t into what I was saying. There was a lot of good news to share, but they didn’t seem as excited as I thought they’d be.

  They exchanged a glance, Lauren’s smile slipping a little. I recognized that look. She was apprehensive about something.

  I leaned forward. “What’s wrong? Did that deal you were working on fall through? I knew it was important for you to get. I ran some numbers; it isn’t that bad if you didn’t get it.”

  She shook her head. “No. We got that.” She forced a smile. “But I appreciate you preparing in case it didn’t work out. That means a lot to us.” Her expression melted into concern as she spoke.

  Leaning back, I gripped my hands together, trying to hide my anxiety. That was concern for me. Not about the company or about a bad deal or any potential loss of profits. No, that was all at me, as a person. Acid built in my stomach, and I resisted the urge to rub at my tummy.

  “What’s going on?” I asked again, more somber now.

  “I don’t know how to go about doing this,” she said. “But you need to know.”

  “Know what?”

  “I got a phone call,” Rick spoke up. “It was… concerning.”

  “Concerning is a word used to soften the blow. Just break it to me. Sometimes, I’m a rip the bandage off kind of gal. Well, once in a while. Okay, rarely.” I winced. “Just do it though. Please.”

  “Another consultant called us expressing concern that you were ripping us off, potentially laundering money, or committing fraud,” Rick said.

  “There was mention of stealing too,” Lauren said. “He threw around a lot of buzzwords made to get a negative reaction out of us.”

  My mouth clicked shut as I stared at them. “What?”

  They didn’t say anything.

  “You’re kidding me, right? Is this some weird prank?”

  Rick shook his head. “That’s what I thought when he called.”

  I leaned back and thought about what they were saying. I knew what they should do. I’d do it too in a heartbeat. Suddenly, it all made sense. My clients calling and abruptly ending our relationship. If someone was smearing my name like that, then it was no wonder they were quick to let me go.

  “So?” I asked slowly, preparing for the blow. I swallowed the bile, suddenly sick to my stomach. It was a real possibility that I was about to reenact the scene from The Exorcist, spewing puke all over the two before me. “What does this mean for us?”

  Lauren’s eyes widened as she realized where my thoughts were. “No!” She leaned forward and grabbed my hands, forcing me forward so it didn’t feel like she was about to pull my arm off. “No, not at all. Don’t you dare think that, Madison Daniels.”

  I blinked back tears, unable to respond. My throat was tight with fear and anxiety. I had done so well for myself, had gotten to the point where I survived all on my own, even with the twins. But this? This had the potential to destroy everything.

  “We are on your side. We know better. You do so well to account for all of our money, where every cent comes from and goes, and you do it in a way that allows us to check on our end too if we need to verify it. We trust you. Not some strange creep hiding behind a phone, spewing lies.”

  “You’re not dropping me?” I asked.

  “I know that look,” Rick said. “You’ve already lost clients, haven’t you?”

  I nodded.

  “Their loss,” he said simply. The way he said it made it sound like a decree.

  “You’ve worked with us from the beginning,” Lauren said. “You’ve helped us make better choices than we would have made on our own.”

  “You’ve saved us millions of dollars,” Rick added.

  Lauren nodded. “A stupid phone call isn’t going to change anything. That isn’t what we want to talk to you about.” She finally let me go, and I tucked my hand under the table as I gripped my skirt until my knuckles turned white. I wanted to hide all the shaking and sweating.

 
; “Thank you for telling me,” I said in a soft voice, staring at the table and all the papers on them. At that moment, I couldn’t understand anything written on the papers. It all looked like hieroglyphics to me.

  “Maddie, look at us,” Lauren said.

  I forced my gaze to meet hers. Her expression was soft. Sad. And there was also a spark of determination in there too.

  “What are you doing to protect yourself?” Lauren asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Someone is going around slandering your name, contacting your clients. I can see it on your face. You’ve already lost clients. What they’re doing is slander. Have you talked to anyone about this?”

  I shook my head.

  “You should,” Rick said. “Find a lawyer, talk to them. See what you can do to protect yourself.”

  “That’s the thing, I don’t have a way. If a client no longer wants business with me, then that is their right. Yes, they are breaking contract, but they don’t care. They aren’t hesitating to pay the termination fee either, and for some, that’s a hefty amount.”

  “What they are doing is illegal. You have the right to sue whoever is doing this. Get reparations for your loss of income. They aren’t telling the truth; they’re saying very bad things about you in order to hurt you.”

  I huffed. “I need to know who it is before I can even do that.”

  Rick slid over a USB stick. “This is only a copy. I have the original, and I’m willing to hand it over to the police or investigator or whoever.”

  I stared at the USB. “What is that?”

  “A copy of the conversation,” Rick said. “Don’t forget, we deal with technology and security. All our conversations are recorded for legal purposes and to help protect us. They know this when they call. People just like to ignore the warning message.” Rick shrugged. “He was being reckless when he called.”

  “We are also giving you a program. It’s one of our newer product lines, top of the line right now. Download it on your computer. It’ll prevent anyone from hacking in.”

  I frowned, feeling like I was missing something. “Why would I do that?” I asked.

  “Honey, they know who to contact. Unless you go around and broadcast who your clients are, there’s a good chance they were able to get that knowledge from your work computer.”