Trey pushed his way through the doors to exit the building, and saw Phil walking ahead of him on the sidewalk.
"Phillip!" Trey called out, quickly walking up to him.
Phil turned around. "What are you doing here?" he wanted to know.
"I had that meeting with Georgia, remember?" Trey asked him to recall.
"Yes, I remember," Phil replied, matter-of-factly. "I'm just surprised you remembered to keep that promise... after you backed out of your deal to pay for my room."
Trey sighed as a small smirk came across his face. "You're not sore about that, are you?"
"Of course not," Phil replied. "Just remind me not to make any deals with you in the near future or ever again!"
"Where did you end up staying?" Trey wanted to know. "It looks like you had a good night's rest."
"I did," Phil informed him. "But, just because I found a place to stay doesn't change the fact-"
"So, what's her name?" Trey cut him off with a question.
"What makes you think it's a 'her'?" Phil asked him.
"Just something tells me that it was," Trey vaguely replied, as his cell phone went off.
"Perfect timing," Phil noted in a glad tone.
Trey watched as Phil walked away and then whipped out his cell phone and put it up to his ear. "Hello?"
"I'm sorry about before," Frankie spoke into her phone, as Trey was on the other end. She nervously paced around the room while talking on the phone. "I don't know what came over me!"
Trey nodded as he heard Frankie's apology. "Your dog needs to go for a walk, Frankie?" he wanted to know. "Come now, you couldn't think of a better excuse than THAT to get off the phone?"
"I- I froze!" Frankie desperately exclaimed with a stutter. "I hope I didn't ruin anything for you!"
"No, no, I still got the job," Trey informed her.
"Great!" Frankie exclaimed in a relieved tone. "Now, we can concentrate on my half of the deal."
Trey felt uncomfortable, as his eyes darted around the street. "Yes, Frankie, we will discuss that in the future."
"How much into the future?" Frankie wanted to know.
"Soon," Trey simply replied, as he flipped his cell phone shut. He put the antenna up to his lips and seemed to be in thought. "How am I going to get myself out of this one?" he muttered.
Lalie sat at her desk sharpening pencils when she heard the familiar sound of Kevin's office door opening.
She turned her head and found Kevin waving her in.
"Kevin, I was busy," Lalie informed him, walking into his office and shutting the door behind her.
"Those pencils can wait," Kevin replied, pointing to a chair in front of his desk.
Lalie took a seat. "I really don't have anything to say."
"I'm hoping that I can change your mind," Kevin replied in a hopeful tone.
"Change my mind?" Lalie wanted to know. "What are you talking about?" she asked, sounding very confused.
"Maybe I did come across too strong last night with Phil," Kevin admitted, folding his arms over his chest and leaning back in his chair. "I mean, you're just friends, and you went through a lot in that basement that I can't relate to."
"Well, I'm glad you're finally seeing my side of things," Lalie told him, as she prepared to stand up and leave.
"Sit!" Kevin ordered.
Lalie slowly sat back down. "Is there more?"
"There's always more with me," Kevin informed her, standing up and sitting on the edge of his desk in front of Lalie. "You haven't seen Phil again since I threw him out, have you?" he asked. "What a jerk I was. You were so right."
Lalie paused, as she thought back to Phil coming back to spend the night. "Not that I recall, no, I haven't seen him," Lalie lied directly to his face.
"I'm sorry if I made you lose out on some time with your friend," Kevin apologized.
'He's going to try and get in your good graces,' Lalie heard Phil's voice rush into her head. A bit of anger filled her body, as Kevin was doing exactly what she had hoped he wouldn't do. "I'm sure there'll be other times when I can catch up with Phil," Lalie explained to Kevin. "As long as you're not jealous."
"I'm not jealous, Lalie, and I want to prove that to you," Kevin began, rubbing his hands together. "I do love and trust you which is why I hope you like my suggestion."
Lalie was a little worried to hear this. "What is it?"
"Let's forget about this double wedding and get married right away!" Kevin exclaimed.
Lalie jumped out of her seat in shock. "Are you kidding?"
"What?" Kevin wanted to know. "I want to show you that I do trust you, and how deeply I love you."
"Showing that you trust me does not mean rushing to some justice of the peace," Lalie argued. "Trusting me, would be not having a problem with me seeing Phil from time to time, since he's a FRIEND of mine."
"Lalie, I don't have a problem with that!" Kevin shouted.
"I think you do!" Lalie shouted back. "We aren't going to get married in some courthouse..."
"Do you even still want to get married?" Kevin asked her in an angry tone.
"Of course I do," Lalie tried to sound convincing. She truly was unsure of her feelings at this point.
"Then, why wait?" Kevin wanted to know. "If we love each other, I mean… truly love each other... there should be no obstacles!"
"You're talking about Phil as an obstacle," Lalie pointed out his selection of words.
Kevin walked up to Lalie and put his warm hand on her shoulder. "No, I'm not," he whispered. "I just want you to see that I do love you, and want us to be happy."
"Don't you think I want that, too?" Lalie turned around and asked him in an honest tone.
"Consider this, then," Kevin urged.
"Maybe," Lalie gave in, just so he'd stop forcing her to comply with his wishes.
Kevin hugged Lalie. "I'm glad!"
An uneasy look came across Lalie's face, as she rested her chin on his shoulder during the embrace. "I should finish sharpening those pencils," she announced, trying to walk away.
"Lalie," Kevin called out.
Before Lalie could answer, Kevin pulled her back and kissed her passionately.
She ran her fingers through her hair, and finally left his office.
Kevin chuckled, as he heard the door shut.
"I left her breathless," Kevin observed. "Good job," he congratulated himself. "One step ahead of you, Phil! She hasn't even seen you since I scared you away!" Kevin grinned, as he sat down. "He'll be out of town in no time."
That evening, around five, Phil stood in the lobby and watched as Lalie got off the elevator and walked over to him.
He smiled at her. "See? I was on time," he pointed out.
"Very good," Lalie replied.
"Did Kevin mention anything about the-" Phil began.
Lalie held a finger up for him to stop that sentence short, as she placed another hand over her stomach. "Wait till you hear," Lalie began. "I feel like I'm going to be sick after what happened."
"What happened?!" Phil asked in a very curious tone.
"Not here," Lalie let him know. "Let's go somewhere else."
A few minutes later, Kevin got off the elevator carrying a few folders. He walked up to Brenda, as he still held the folders in his hand.
"What can I do for you, Hun?" Brenda asked him.
"Do you know if Lalie Mills left?" Kevin asked her. "She was supposed to take these home but they were still on her desk."
"You just missed her," Brenda replied. "She left with the same handsome gentleman that brought her here, this morning."
Kevin's ears perked up. "Brown hair, handsome gentleman?"
"That's the one!" Brenda exclaimed. "I thought maybe he was her brother, but by the way they were talking... they didn't look like they shared a blood relation, to me!" she fanned herself with her hand.
Kevin slammed the folders down on the counter, as he stared at Brenda, angrily, for a moment and then turned around to face the revolving doors that Phil and Lalie had just walked though. "I've been played for a fool one too many times," he muttered under his breath. "This won't be one of them."
Later that evening, Lalie twirled the spaghetti around her fork but then depressingly set it back down on her plate, and rested her face between her hands.
Phil raised his eyebrows upon seeing that, and took a sip of his drink. "Don't you like your own cooking?" he asked her. "I did say we could go out, but-"
Lalie stood up and threw the napkin on the table and walked into the living room. "It's not that."
Phil followed Lalie into the living room. "What, then?" he asked in a concerned tone. "You still haven't told me what happened."
Lalie shook her head and took a deep breath before answering. "He did exactly what you said that he would."
"No surprise there," Phil chuckled, but then regained a serious expression when he noticed Lalie's seriousness. "Well, did you give into it?"
"Of course not," Lalie replied, turning her head to face him. "Seeing right through his scheme was the worst feeling in the world."
"What scheme was he proposing?" Phil wanted to know.
"I think you answered your own question," Lalie retorted. "He said that he wanted to forget all about the double wedding that we have planned with James and Georgia, and just race off to some courthouse and get married by a justice of the peace!"
"He said that?" Phil asked in shock.
"Well, not the last part," Lalie began. "But, it was pretty obvious where he was going," she continued to explain. "The way he was trying to make me feel guilty by saying that if I truly loved him, then I'd marry him, was just-" she cut herself off. "I don't even know how I was feeling," she angrily concluded, falling back into the couch and crossing her legs.
"Well, if you feel that you shouldn't even go through with that double wedding… then, by all means, don't!" Phil warned her in a serious tone.
Lalie jumped up, and looked at him with her jaw agape.
Georgia checked her surroundings before entering her penthouse, and checking her surroundings in there before setting her pocketbook down.
She gasped as she saw James come out of the bathroom.
"It's only me," James told her in a soft tone. "How was your day?"
"Let's see," Georgia began, counting her fingers. "I hired Trey for a job... therefore risking this company's credibility if something should go wrong, thanks to himâ I forgot to fax something to my father's office by the deadline… I'd say I had a pretty good day," Georgia affirmed in a sarcastic tone.
"And nothing else happened?" James asked her in a hinting tone.
"Like what?" Georgia wanted to know, walking away from him and going into the kitchen. "This was all that came in the mail today?" she asked, thumbing through the envelopes.
James took the envelopes from her hands and set them back down on the counter. "You know exactly what I was referring to."
Georgia frowned, as she knew she couldn't dance around the topic with James. "Nothing has happened today so far," she declared. "Maybe they decided to move onto someone else," she suggested.
"Could be," James replied, sounding skeptical.
"I got a phone call in my office today," Georgia announced to James, as she pulled out the phone book and opened it up.
"From who?" James wanted to know, observing Georgia flipping through the pages.
"Them!" Georgia exclaimed, holding the book up and pointing to a catering service. "Remember, we had called them and they told us that they'd get back to us with an estimate for our wedding reception?"
"Everyone raves about them," James replied in awe.
"Once they heard double wedding, they saw dollar signs!" Georgia laughed. "I told them we might use them. All we need, now, is to find out when Kevin and Lalie are ready to get married, because I'm more than-"
"I am too," James cut her off.
"There's a 'but' coming, isn't there?" Georgia reluctantly asked.
"But..." James began with an apologetic look on his face. "Do you think we should do this right now, especially with that person following you and all?"
"No one's following me anymore, James!" Georgia exclaimed, shoving the phone book into the drawer and walking into the living room.
"Just because nothing has happened for one day, doesn't mean that they won't strike again," James warned her.
"Were you always this pessimistic or am I just too in love to see it?" Georgia put her hands on her hips. "I'm sure whoever it was had their fun, and now they're playing with someone their own age… in the sandbox!"
"As long as you think that it's over," James left it up to her to decide.
"Of course, it is," Georgia whispered, as she walked up to James and kissed him. Suddenly, the sound of something hitting the door made them tear apart from each other. "Oh, no," Georgia whispered in horror.
James looked at the door for a second, and then turned to Georgia. "Stay right here," James warned her.
"James!" Georgia exclaimed, as she watched him walk over to the door, and put his ear up against him before slowly opening it. She watched as James bent down and picked up a white package, and brought it back inside.
"It's from the Georgia Office of Tourism," James informed her in a cautious tone.
"Give me that," Georgia walked up to him and grabbed the package.
"Georgia, be careful!" James shouted.
"It's not sealed," Georgia observed, pulling on the flap. "Someone opened this package."
"Don't open it," James demanded.
"The hell I'm not," Georgia retorted in a stern tone, reaching into the package and pulling an object out. "Look," she showed it to James.
"Oh, my God," James whispered in shock.
"It's the Georgia State map," Georgia announced. "Why would this person send me a Georgia State map?"
"This person has to be stopped," James demanded, sounding very angry.
"There has to be more than just this map," Georgia figured, unfolding it to reveal the map in its entirety. Georgia shrieked and gasped in complete and utter horror, as she dropped the map and ran to the other side of the room.
James widened his eyes as he simply bent down and picked up the map, and saw exactly what Georgia saw. "Oh, my God, Georgia."
"It says 'I'm on your trail,'" Georgia quivered, slowly walking over to James. "They're on my trial, James, they're on my trail."
James embraced a shaken Georgia, and swallowed, as he looked over her shoulder and held out the map, which read, in big, black letters over the state: "I'm on your trail."
Chapter 12
Non-Nsync Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
Email Tracia