Bettina Stone stood up with her hands on her hips as she angrily looked down at her daughter. "What do you mean, he won't marry you?"
"We just can't get it right," Frankie tried to explain. "I don't know if I'll be able to be married by the time I give birth to this baby."
"You better be married... someway, somehow," Bettina warned her, raising a finger. "You could have been married, if you hadn't been so... so... I can't even THINK!"
"Don't you think if I could get Ryan to marry me, I would?" Frankie demanded to know. "I'm not supposed to be stressed out, and look at what you're doing!"
Bettina sat down and took her hands. "It's just that I feel so passionately about my belief that you should be married when you give birth."
"I just don't know if that will happen," Frankie reluctantly admitted.
"Francesca!" Bettina screamed, as she stood up in tears. "If you're not married... I will... disown you!"
Frankie rubbed her temples, as her mother stormed up the stairs. She angrily dug into her pocketbook and whipped out her cell phone.
"Damn you!" Frankie shouted into the phone.
Trey lifted the phone from his ear and looked at it for a moment, before putting it up back up to his ear. "So nice to hear your voice, too, darling."
"You promised me that you'd help me get Ryan back in my bed!" Frankie reminded him. "What have you done for me?"
Trey silently released a heavy breath. "This takes time... and besides, you were the one who was supposed to think of the plan."
"To hell with time and plans!" Frankie angrily shouted. "If I'm not married when I give birth, my mother is going to… well… it won't be pretty!"
Trey rubbed his chin, as he listened to Frankie's frantic tone. "I'm sure that we can think of something so that Ryan will be your loving spouse by the time that bundle of joy appears."
"Never mind 'loving' spouse, let's just concentrate on getting him to be my spouse, period!" Frankie ordered.
"I know, we'll have to see," Trey thought about it.
"Oh, my God," Frankie whispered, sounding to have come to a realization. "You're doing the same thing to me that you did to Phil!" she shouted. "You promised him that you'd pay for his room, but you never did... you promised to help me get Ryan back, but you're not!"
Trey bit his lip and shook his head. "I had a very busy day, Frankie... I'm sorry if I didn't have time to fix someone's love life!"
"You better not go back on your word," Frankie demanded. "You wouldn't want Georgia to find out that I was Ms. Hammond, do you?" she asked, mocking her faux Italian accent.
"Resorting to threats, are we?" Trey wanted to know. "Frankie, dear, that need not be necessary... I am a man of my word. If you want Ryan back, you have Ryan back."
"I'll reserve the 'Thank you's' for later," Frankie informed him. "Talk to you soon, Trey... and I do mean, soon."
"You give me chills," Trey sarcastically responded, clicking the phone shut, and giving himself an assuring look in the mirror. "Frankie's petty problems are so... petty. She helped me out, which was all I needed," he said aloud, when the phone rang.
Trey picked up the phone and put it up to his ear. "Hello?"
"How did it go?" he heard a voice on the other end.
"Father, all went according to plan," Trey replied. "Georgia Caldwell hired me to keep quiet about that secret knowledge that we know."
"Well, good, good," his father replied, impressed. "Are you ready?"
"Aren't I always?" Trey wanted to know. "Phase One: Getting back into the partnership. Phase Two: Overthrowing Georgia, and making this company mine."
"When would be the perfect time to reveal your knowledge about-" his father began.
"Oh, not for awhile," Trey informed him. "I figured while Georgia is on her honeymoon, you can work on Grant in Saint Paul, and I can take over her position... when she comes back, she might just be out of a job... and out of her penthouse."
"Wouldn't that be exhilarating?" his father marveled. "We'll stay in touch, son."
"I look forward to that," Trey replied, shutting his phone off once again when there was a knock on the door. He walked over to it and opened it, and his heart jolted when he saw Grant Caldwell standing on the other side.
"I didn't catch you by surprise... did I?" Grant wanted to know, pushing past Trey and walking into the hotel room.
Trey shut the door and wiped his forehead, and walked over to Grant while thinking of how to handle this unforeseen circumstance.
"You've come to town a bit early, haven't you?" Trey proceeded to ask. "I don't think Georgia has set a date for those nuptials yet."
"I've come to keep an eye on you, Trey," Grant informed him in a serious tone. "Georgia doesn't even know that I'm in town yet."
"Obviously, you can't monitor all of my actions!" Trey exclaimed.
"Staying in this hotel, and watching you at work should be all I need," Grant replied.
"Is Savannah with you?" Trey wanted to know.
"Don't you ever utter my daughter's name again!" Grant bellowed a warning.
"You should watch the way you word that sentence," Trey snidely remarked.
Grant ran his fingers through his hair, and nervously looked down at his feet. "Just know that I'll be watching you," he reminded him.
Trey watched as Grant walked back over to the door. "Sleep tight!"
Georgia and James stepped off the elevator, and Georgia grabbed the keys to open the front door of the penthouse when she noticed Rachel on a stepstool, changing the light bulb for the hall light.
"That's been out as long as I've been here," Georgia called out to Rachel, making her turn around. "I didn't bother requesting to get it changed because there seemed to be enough light illuminating from the other lights. I didn't even think anyone noticed it."
"I notice everything," Rachel replied.
"I guess you do," Georgia replied, matter-of-factly.
"It's good to have the light, especially since-" James began with a whisper.
Georgia nudged James, but his whisper seemed to attract Rachel's attention.
"What was that?" Rachel asked. "Since when?"
"Nothing," Georgia quickly answered. "Thanks again, Rachel."
"Oh, it's no problem at all," Rachel politely replied.
Georgia turned the lock and she and James went inside, after a long evening.
Lalie had almost made it to the Ohio border, when she pulled into the gas station. Her cell phone rang as she stepped out of the car, so she reached through and grabbed it.
"Hello?" Lalie asked.
"I hope you're still close to home," she heard her mother, Carole's, voice come through.
"Almost in Ohio," Lalie replied, sticking the gas pump into the hole. "Why?"
"It was a false alarm," Carole informed her. "Uncle Martin will be just fine. You don't have to come all the way out to Illinois."
Lalie's eyes lit up upon hearing her mother's words. "Well, as long as he's going to be okay," Lalie began, trying not to express too much excitement. "When will you be back home?"
"Soon," Carole replied. "How are things at home? Hope you're not too lonely!"
Lalie blushed. "No... I've been keeping busy."
"Good!" Carole exclaimed. "I'll talk to you soon."
Lalie was absolutely beaming, as she shut the phone off, and finished pumping the gas. "Philadelphia, here I come again!"
The next morning, Phil woke up to bright rays of sunshine streaming through the window.
As he sat up, the sound of rushing water in the distance made him wonder if someone else was in the house or not. He knew Lalie was in Illinois. Was there a burglar the house?
He rose out of the bed and walked into the hall, and figured out that the sound was emerging from the bathroom.
The sound stopped, as he put his ear up to the bathroom door. He slowly opened it, and found Lalie standing in a towel.
"Phil!" Lalie screamed.
Phil's eyes widened as he felt Lalie's hands push him out the door, as she shut it and locked it. "I didn't know you were home!" Phil shouted in a flustered fashion, a door between them both.
"I came home early!" Lalie yelled out. "Do you always walk in on people in the bathroom?"
"I didn't know you were home!" Phil once again reiterated. "I thought maybe there was a burglar in there."
"Burglars always take a shower break!" Lalie sarcastically shouted, opening the door, fully dressed.
"Well, you could have locked that door," Phil informed her, eyeing her figure and wet hair.
"It doesn't matter," Lalie gave in. "It turns out my Uncle's fall wasn't as bad as it seemed, he'll be okay."
"That's good to hear," Phil replied. "Guess who was here while you were on your way to Illinois?"
"Georgia?" Lalie guessed.
"No," Phil let her know, as Lalie plugged in her hair dryer and turned it on. "Kevin."
Lalie shut the hair dryer off and looked at him. "What was Kevin doing here?"
"He seemed to have some concerns... about why you left town, and who you left town with," Phil began to explain.
"'Who I left town with'?" Lalie repeated Phil's phrase. "Who else would I go to Illinois with?"
"Well, he didn't think you went to Illinois, in the first place," Phil told her in a serious tone. "He thought that WE went somewhere together."
"Where would he get an idea like that?" Lalie wanted to know, confused. "You told him where I went... right?"
Phil paused for a moment. "Not exactly," he replied. "He just knows that we didn't leave town together, because I was here when he rang the doorbell. He's not too happy about this living together arrangement."
"I didn't expect him to take it well," Lalie replied.
"The next time you leave me alone in this house, maybe you should give me some guidelines as to how to handle your jealous lovers," Phil began. "I was having a good evening until he came here spouting his mouth. I won't take it with a grain of salt next time."
Lalie's jaw dropped as Phil's words sunk into her body, and he walked away. She slammed the hair dryer down on the counter in the bathroom, and walked into her bedroom and picked up the phone, and dialed a number.
"Kevin?" Lalie asked, having waited for him to pick up the phone.
"Where did you go last night, and why the hell is Phil living with you?" Kevin demanded to know.
"Kevin, we're not discussing this over the phone," Lalie sternly told him. "I do need to have a discussion with you, though," she told him, as she looked down at the clock. "There's some time before work, can you meet me here?"
"Oh... all right," Kevin replied.
Lalie waited for him to hang up his end of the phone, and then she did, as well. She tightened her mouth and put her hand on her hip, as she knew this situation had gone one step too far.
Chapter 14
Non-Nsync Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
Email Tracia