Lexi hung up and turned to me. I noted that I heard what Katherine said, because she had a big mouth. I shook my head at that. We stood outside the bar for a while, hoping that traffic wouldn't be too bad. Lots of people would be coming in for her gala and it tended to get backed up a lot.
We hadn't even waited for more than five minutes before a convertible pulled into the parking lot. Katherine was blasting a French song on her radio. People exiting and entering the bar were judging her already. The twins and Callie squealed before jumping out and running to greet Lexi. Kat cut off the car and followed them, more excited. She was like a pup who
didn't know what personal space was. I'm glad they didn't jump me.
"I seriously thought our flight was going to be late, but we arrived three days ago and slept the whole time. I swear jetlag is the worst." She hugged Lexi tightly. "How have you been, girl?"
"I've been better," Lexi said.
"Hon, you can't be forgetting us," Audrey butted in and shoved Kat out the way. "Aveline and I were hoping we could drink our hearts out."
"Why?"
"Our boyfriends dumped us before we flew here. We haven't had any time to drink and cry about it," Aveline said. She looked too happy to just get dumped.
"People," Callie said. "Let's go inside. I want to order Martinis before they say I can't have any." She gave Lexi a hug and turned to me. "Come here, playboy." I shook his head and took her arm. She walked inside. Lexi followed with Kat and the twins.
The girls were laughing as Katherine and Callie helped me drag Lexi out of the bar. Lexi had one too many "birthday" shots and ended up more drunk than a cat high on catnip. I'd tried hard to warn her to stop, but she refused to let me tell her what to do. I wanted to drag her from the bar, but it would have caused more unwanted attention drawn to us.
It was weird how Aveline and Audrey didn't drown themselves with heavy shots. I thought being single was going to kill them. I felt like I was single and I had a girlfriend. Just not the right one. Even when Lexi urged them to drown out their supposed sorrows, they refused to and watched her go at it alone.
Let me drown out my sorrows. I knew what it felt like. Talk about a bad hangover for weeks to come. Even after taking painkillers and having hangover soup, the headache was still there. Like an itch that wouldn't go away.
"Asher, we should go back in. It's too early to go home." Lexi grinned, then laughed as I shook my head.
"Callie, could you drive Lexi all the way home?" I asked. "Or would you rather me do it?"
"You have work, so I'll do it," She said. "Just ride with the girls to the station. They'll pick me up from the house."
I nodded and tossed her Lexi's keys. I was tense as she braved the busy highway and made it across the street to Lexi's car. The twins helped me get Lexi on my back. It would be easier to shove her--I mean put her in the car when Callie got back. For a model and an actress who did most of her own stunts, she weighed more than I'd thought.
"Asher," She slurred. "You're driving--driving me--Come home with me."
"Nope. No can do," I huffed. "I am not getting in a--another scandal. Why did you drink so much?"
"I didn't. I only had...fi--thr--one. I only had one."
"The lies you tell. You're a lightweight."
"I am not," She denied.
"Yeah, you are." I shifted her on my back. There was no way I could shield her from the small breeze. Callie needed to get here faster. "You had more than me and after your fifth shot you were out of it."
Callie pulled up to the bar in a matter of seconds. We hurried to put Lexi in her backseat. It was a struggle. She kept clinging to my back and demanding me to come with her. I was forced to shove her in and slammed the door.
"Trouble at 12 O'Clock," Callie muttered.
I turned and opened the passenger door to hide myself.
"Do me a solid. Please," I begged.
"Sure." She took her hair out of it's usually messy bun and fluffed it. She flashed me a megawatt smile. "When have I ever let you down, playboy?"
"There was this one time you--"
"Rhetorical question."
"I'd prefer if you used my government name and stop calling me playboy."
She rolled her eyes and fixed her dress. Her eyes were trained on Luca as he neared the entrance of the bar. I bet she was wondering what to do with him. Whatever it was, it would give me and the girls enough time to hightail it out of sight. If Luca spotted any of us, he'd be on Lexi's case for the longest.
Callie bounced lightly on her toes and nearly skipped over to Luca. Her arm looped through his and she pulled him close to her. He staggered a bit to match her height. It wasn't much.
"Mr. Thompson." Her accent was instantly gone. "How nice of you to join us today. Would you like your regular table?"
"Yeah. Have the--No. I need the private room opened and running. I have a whole lot of people to impress tonight," He said.
"Yes, sir." Callie smiled up at him and dragged him into the bar. He was followed by a couple of men with multiple girls clinging to their bulky arms. A slut of a woman. I swore I'd seen her somewhere. Maybe on a magazine cover or something. Then there was some tall Black man with my cousin clinging to--My cousin?!
I did a double take and shook my head in disappointment. What in God's creation was Kathryn doing with Luca? She knew not to associate with the likes of him. A con artist. A mastermind who used people. I knew she worked with Cameron, but he also knew not to hang around someone like Luca. I'm sure he had warned her not to do something like this. Not unless he was in on it too.
What was this world coming to? It wasn't like her to pull a stunt like this. I've told her time and time again that Luca was a bad man. She wouldn't believe me. Maybe it was because of their hate for Lexi. For some reason she didn't want me around her. Only for business. Like that was ever going to happen. But why? Why was she here with him?
Callie came back out the building with her hair back in it's bun. I wasn't worried about how she had lost her French accent so fast. I just wanted to know how she knew so much about Luca to actually approach him and not notice who she was. How did she know that Luca was a regular here? You had to be a regular to know that in Palm Springs.
She refused to talk about it. I tried to pry it out of her, but she reminded me that I had to go back to work. I was sure Sheriff Davenport could care less about where I was. It wasn't like I was his favorite. Krystal was and I'm sure he knew all of her secrets.
⭕️⭕️⭕️⭕️⭕️
After my long shift was over, I went to pick up Vincent from Jenni's apartment. I was ready to sleep, but I knew Jenni wouldn't take him home. She was sleeping off the scare I had given her Saturday. That's what she told me anyway. I didn't really care. I wasn't in the mood to argue with the woman.
"Papa, aren't we going to maman's gala tonight?" Vincent asked as he slid in the car.
"Bonsoir, Vincent. How was your day at the center?" Ari asked. This distracted Vincent for a moment.
"It was joli. I made some new friends," He exclaimed. "...Acquaintances."
"What are their names?" She asked.
I had to laugh at that. Ari must be really curious today.
"I can't quite remember. I do know that they looked like their papa was stupide."
"Don't all kids look like that?"
"No. Just the ones who think they're better than me."
"Vince," I scolded. "That was unnecessary. Why do you want to know if we're going to the gala
or not?"
"Some guys said they're going with their parents," He said. "They all want me to prove that Lexi is my maman."
"They what?!" I exclaimed and nearly swerved into the opposite lane. "What did you tell them?"
"...Uh...I said I was going to a party tonight. Chase then asked if I had a mom and would she be going to be there."
"And you said?"
"My mom would already be there. They put two and two together and...yeah."
I couldn't quite comprehend what was happening. I couldn't believe--didn't want to believe that Vincent let it slip that Lexi was his mom. This was outrageous. What would I say to all of my friends? They'd definitely want to know if it was true. I couldn't deny it. Once they see a picture of him and her side by side, they'd know it was true and my son wasn't a liar. They'd want to know how it happened, because no one knows Lexi and I dated.
"...Why would you say Lexi of all people, Vinny?" I growled.
"Because she is my mom...right?" He said, suddenly unsure with himself.
"Look it. You can't go around saying that she's your mom."
"Why not?"
"There are people in this world who assume the worst. If you were to say it to any other person, I'm positive they're going to go straight to a waiting reporter and tell it to them. It's going to start a scandal and more people are going to wonder if I'm cheating on Jenni. Do we want that?"
"Non..."
"Bon. It's already bad enough I'm your father," I muttered.
"Why?" Vincent asked. "What have you done?"
"Want to blow up my career? Why don't you tell the world I'm a hair model/fashion designer/heir to the Italian mafia. You wouldn't have a father anymore, Vincent. People would be chasing you to get to know more and they'd be chasing me to either kill me or put me in prison for life."
"...Got it."
On the way home, Ari took it upon herself to keep Vincent occupied. She downloaded a game into her system and the only thing I was hearing was "Who's the mother?" Talk about an eavesdropper. I had to get her checked. I couldn't have her listening in on conversations I didn't want her to hear.
Once we arrived home, Vincent shot from the car. I guess he was getting sick of guessing which Kardashian was pregnant. I got tired of it a long time ago. I put Ari in sleep mode and put her car covering on. The longer she stayed in the sun, the longer her matte black paint job looked less appealing.
I got into the house and immediately went to take a shower. Running errands for a man who hates you is probably the worst thing in the world. I couldn't see how someone didn't like me. I am Asher Monteil. Famous fashion designer and French hair model. I look like the world's most eligible bachelor. Is that why Mr. D doesn't like me? Because I look far better than him and don't really have to work another job to keep up with the bills?
My phone happened to ring while I was in the shower. I heard it and made no possible move to get it. Then, I called out to our homing system.
"Al, answer my phone. I'm in the bathroom," I said.
There was a beep then a spatter of laughter. I really hope it wasn't Jenni who called. Talk about embarrassing.
"Hey, it's Callie. I was calling to say that Lexi made it home okay. We didn't though. The twins threw up just as we were leaving the estate. What do you suppose we do?" She asked.
"...Ugh." I rolled my eyes. "Just come to my house. I'll fix them some hangover soup and give them some painkillers. You should probably bring their dresses just in case. We all know how they get when they're drunk."
"Right." She laughed.
"...Jenni's coming over and Vincent is here, so watch what you say," I warned.
"Who's Jenni?"
"My girlfriend. We've been dating for a while now. Nothing too serious."
"Dating and not telling anyone makes it serious. Does Lexi know?"
"I don't think she does. I was planning to tell her later tonight. Jenni's coming with me."
"Great. Just great," Callie muttered. "We'll be there in twenty. Gotta shove the girls back in the car."
"Yeah. You do that. I'll be waiting."
Then, I was suddenly craving pizza. I hopped out the shower and ordered four meatlovers, one pepperoni, and three cheese pizzas. No telling what anyone would want. I wanted pizza and I was getting it. I hadn't eaten ever since my small lunch break, because I had been stuck with errand duty. No crime fighting. No drug busting. Was there something about Lexi the Sheriff knew about?
"Did you study any?" I asked Vincent. "'Cause once Jenni comes over, she's going to ask a lot of questions."
"I haven't finished it," He said. "I'll do it...eventually."
"Put the book down. You have until the pizza arrives to finish it all."
"How long is that?"
"I don't know. I called in a few minutes ago. Do the math."
He was about to get off the couch when he stopped. What did he want now?
"...What's the catch?" He asked.
"Catch? There's no catch," I said.
"Are you sure you won't ban me from going to the gala?"
"When have I ever banned you from going to the gala?"
"...You're right."
I went into the kitchen and sighed when I saw the cat sitting on the island. She was going to get hair all over it. I wasn't trying to have hair in my pizza. I wasn't trying to choke up hairballs before the gala. I picked her up and set her down on the floor.
"Vinnie, Lola wants you to feed her."