Page 97 of Baby Daddy
CHAPTER 40
Dee
Ipressed my face against the window as the cab made its way back to my house. With the pouring rain, traffic was at a crawl and it felt like an eternity. The diverse neighborhoods we passed by along Hollywood Boulevard were a blur and couldn’t distract me from my thoughts. My heartache. Tears dripped down the window, kissing the raindrops that streaked the outer glass.
With the inclement weather and Friday night traffic, it took close to an hour to get to my Silverlake residence. Having cashed my paycheck, my last one, I paid the driver and gave him a generous tip.
The lights were on, the rain still pouring. Shivering wet with a heavy heart, I ran to the front door and rang the bell. I just didn’t have the wherewithal to fish for my keys or fiddle with the complicated lock. Lulu, thank God, came to the door in no time. Her eyes popped at the sight of me.
“Jesus, sis, what are you doing back so early? And look at you…you’re soaking wet.”
The pounding rain sounded in my ears and showered me with more pain than I could bear. When I opened my mouth, sobs spilled out. Loud, heaving ones. Not wasting a second, my sister wrapped an arm around me and ushered me into the house.
“Is Ty home?”
“Yes. I picked her up. She’s sound asleep.”
I could always count on my sister.
“Let’s get you into some dry clothes.”
“D-don’t wake up, Ty,” I managed through my chattering teeth. “I’ll change into my robe. It’s in the bathroom.”
“I’m coming with you.” Worry laced my sister’s voice.
“N-no, it’s okay. I’ll be fine.” Fine…I reflected for a moment on that four-letter word. Truthfully, I didn’t think I’d ever be fine again.
“Okay. I’ll make some hot tea in the meantime.”
“That would be nice,” I forced myself to say as I slogged to the bathroom.
Five minutes later, I was back in the living room, wrapped up in my terrycloth robe. While my chills and sobs were subsiding, I didn’t look or feel any better. My unkempt hair was like a wet bird’s nest, and I hadn’t gotten off all the mascara from my blotchy, tear-soaked face. My head throbbed as I rubbed my burning, bloodshot eyes.
“Drink some tea,” my sister urged.
Weakly, I nodded, only to break out into another heavy round of tears when I noticed the mug was a souvenir from the Santa Monica Pier…something I’d won playing Skee-Ball. All the memories of that glorious day whipped through my head like a roller coaster. An emotional roller coaster I couldn’t get off.
“Dee-Dee, what the hell is going on?” demanded Lulu, after forcing me to take a few sips of the tea. “Why aren’t you with Drake?”
The soothing, piping hot beverage coursed slowly down my throat, providing me with just enough relief to open up to Lou. In between small sips, I told her everything that had happened tonight. She listened intently with very few interruptions.
“Oh my God! How awful!” exclaimed Lulu when I came to the end of my woeful tale. “I’d like to kill that jealous bitch.”
“She did it out of jealousy?”
“Of course. Why else?”
I hadn’t given much thought to Krizia’s motivation. I was too consumed by my mortification and hurt. Lulu’s insight didn’t make things any better.
“What are you going to do?”
A new emotion—confusion—mingled with my pain. I bit out my answer.
“I’m going to quit my temp job.”
“Are you sure you want to do that?”
“I have to. I can’t face him. And besides, his father will fire me anyway for screwing up his deal.”