Chapter 41: Chapter 41

DANIEL

Draya was too weak to stand on her own, so Daniel picked her up from the bed and carried her to the bathroom. Never in his life had he showered with someone, but Draya was unlocking first times left and right.

It was difficult to hide his smile as he lathered, rinsed, and dried her body.

As Draya lay on their bed, Daniel sifted through her suitcase and found the black satin nightgown he’d seen her wear before. Her eyes had long closed, so he dressed her, tucked her into bed, and placed a kiss on her forehead. He then dressed in boxers and sweatpants and climbed in beside her. It wasn’t long before he gave in to his exhaustion and welcomed sweet sleep.

In the morning, Daniel woke to Draya’s voice. When his eyes slowly opened, she was on the phone, dressed and zipping her bag shut. He pushed himself up to sit, rubbing the sleep from his eyes with his hands. “Draya, what’s going on?”

She looked back at him with a half-smile. “It’s Reece. She wants me to come home. She’d never call me if it wasn’t important, so I have to go.”

Daniel scrambled out of bed and walked over to her. He took the phone from her ear and placed it against his own. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“Daniel, hello. Um, I know this isn’t ideal, but I need Dray to come home. I also need you to trust me and not follow her. This is something she has to do alone.”

Before he could protest, she continued, “It’s just for today; I promise she’ll be back by your side soon.” She paused. “We don’t know each other very well, but you must know I would never hurt her. You have to know that.”

Daniel did know that, but asking him to trust her to send Draya back to Miami alone without telling him why was difficult for him to swallow.

Draya took the phone from his hand and turned the speaker on. “Reece, we will fly back together. We promised we wouldn’t leave each other behind again, and I can’t break that promise. I’ll come back home alone for a bit, but as soon as we deal with whatever it is, I’ll return to his side. Deal?”

“Deal,” Reece agreed, then ended the call.

Daniel began packing.

LEXI

The outside of Lexi’s apartment was as packed as the airport, with paparazzi flashing their cameras and reporters yelling their questions in her face as she pushed and shoved her way through.

“Ms. Fox, do you plan on marrying Daniel Jackson?”

“Are you aware he’s been cheating on his girlfriend Camille with you?”

“Do you have a plan to stop the rumors?”

“Is it true that you’re an escort disguised as a school student?”

“I heard you’re a prostitute out for his money. Not answering means this is true, don’t you think?”

The more questions that were asked, the more pissed off Lexi became. She was two seconds away from raining hellfire down on all of them.

~How dare they accuse me of so many wrong things without a proper investigation?~

~Then again, what do they care about the truth? I’m a nobody who they can easily target. There’s nothing I can do but try to endure it. If not for me, then for him.~

~He’s come so far, changed so much. Wouldn’t I be the biggest hypocrite and asshole if I turned my back on him now?~

~Could I even survive it?~

~They deserve my anger, though.~

Lexi wished she’d unleashed her wrath, told them all to go to hell and take Camille Lannister with them. Said something…anything. But instead, her stupid conscience kicked in. Whatever she said could negatively affect Daniel, and she’d rather die than cause him any more trouble.

Lexi unlocked the door to her apartment and sighed in relief when the noise from outside disappeared as soon as the front door slammed shut. She dropped her bag and took a deep breath, trying to release the tension from her body.

“Welcome home,” Reece greeted her, though she looked depleted. She rarely showed her emotions on her beautiful face; she was always in control. This wasn’t normal.

Lexi was about to ask what was wrong, but then the coldest chill climbed up her spine. The kind of chill she used to feel when she was a child. Helpless.

She remembered the hunger. The smell of her own body odor after weeks of not showering. The unrelenting heat during the day and the merciless cold at night. The feeling that things would never ever get better.

“Hello, sweetheart,” a familiar voice spoke.

Lexi was afraid to even look in her direction.

~How could I forget the person who abandoned me?~

“You are so beautiful,” the woman spoke again.

~I’m proud of myself for not breaking down. I’m proud of myself for not charging toward her and releasing all my built-up anger until she is unable to move.~

Finally, Lexi turned her head.

Her mother was painfully skinny, and her hair was short, flat, and lifeless. Her beige dress was old and dirty, and she was barefoot. Her eyes were the same color as Lexi’s, but she looked sad, hungry, and wary.

Lexi’s cell phone rang. Already know who it was and not daring to send him to voicemail, she answered immediately. “Hey,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady.

“Hi.” Daniel’s voice was so sexy, and Lexi missed him even more.

If she’d known why Reece called her home early, she wouldn’t have come.

“So, you got home and didn’t call to let me know. I’ll spank you for that.” His threat did things to Lexi. Things she couldn’t explain.

“I’m sorry… I got distracted.”

“Distracted by whom?” Daniel’s voice grew louder. “Don’t tell me CJ is over there!”

Lexi felt like laughing. Of all the things to say, that’s what he came up with?

“Babe, I haven’t seen Chris since we went to California. I also know he’s not interested, so don’t worry. He likes blondes.” Lexi looked directly at Reece when she said that, and her best friend’s cheeks turned red.

“So why are you distracted?”

~Do I have to be specific? What will I say? The woman who gave birth to me, but never took care of me, showed up out of nowhere?~

“Uh…”

The woman standing in Lexi’s living room smiles and says, “Tell him the truth. Tell him your mother came to see you.”

Lexi’s eyes shot from her to Reece. Reece looked scared and teary.

~Oh, hell no!~

~This witch has the audacity to open her mouth and call herself my mother? A mother is supposed to love and protect her child. And she’s never done that a day in her life.~

“Get out!” Lexi yelled without hesitation.

“Baby, what’s going on? Why are you yelling?” Daniel asked, concerned.

But Lexi was too angry to speak to him. Too angry to spend another second in the same room with the woman she used to watch fuck for drugs. The same woman who would leave for days and stagger in empty-handed and closed-lipped.

She remembered her mother’s moans and laughter. She remembered her face when she got high and how much she’d tremble and lash out when she wasn’t.

~She never once brought me to a pediatrician. Or sent me to school. She never once gave me vitamins or even said I was beautiful. She never ever loved me, and I can’t even remember a time when I felt she was good to me.~

~She is no fucking mother of mine!~

Lexi hit mute and placed her phone on the kitchen counter next to Reece.

“Why did you let her into our home?” she yelled at her best friend, but Reece just shrugged apologetically.

“Please don’t be mad at your friend,” her mother said. “I begged her to let me see you.”

~I can’t do this. I can’t have Daniel listening to any of this crap, but I also can’t keep him on hold. He doesn’t deserve to be dragged into any more messes because of me.~

Lexi hit the mute icon again so he could hear her. “Babe, I’ll call you later, I promise. Everything is okay. Please, just trust me. I will tell you more when we see each other.” She didn’t give him a chance to reply before hanging up.

Lexi then turned to the woman who gave birth to her. “I told you to get out—why are you still here? How do you even know where I live?” Even though her hands shook, she managed to keep herself from wrapping them around the woman’s throat.

“I saw…I saw your picture in a newspaper yesterday morning, and I went to the church that they took you when you were a kid, and—”

Lexi raised her hand, stopping her mid-sentence. “Get out!” she screamed so loud that she scared herself to tears.

The woman headed for the door, and Lexi bolted the lock as soon as she got outside.

~What the fuck was she thinking? She saw me next to Daniel in some damn newspaper or magazine and thought she could just come over here? And do what? Ask for money?~

~By the looks of her today, she still doesn’t have her shit together. Coming in here smelling like the bottom of a garbage can and looking like shit. I don’t want anything to do with her.~

“Why did you let her in here, Reece? You know how I feel about her; she doesn’t exist to me.”

“I’m sorry, babe. She caught me off guard. She was sitting on the steps when I got home, and the neighbors were asking questions, and the paparazzi was outside… I didn’t want her talking to them. It was either invite her inside until the streets cleared up or leave her out there so tomorrow’s headline could be ‘Daniel’s new girl has a crackhead homeless mom.’”

Lexi froze. It didn’t occur to her how messy this could get, and those fucking people were still waiting on the curb outside.

She hurriedly ran to find her mother.

When Lexi opened her front door, the woman was sitting on the floor, rocking back and forth. Rolling her eyes, Lexi called a taxi service and asked them to come up to fetch her.

While they waited, Reece brought out a jacket and baseball cap. Lexi put them on her mother.

When the driver arrived, she said, “I don’t care where you drop her off. Just drive until this money runs out, then leave her wherever you end up. If she found her way here, she can find her way back.”

The taxi driver nodded and accepted the eighty bucks Lexi gave him. He ushered the woman downstairs to the sidewalk, through the crowd, and into his vehicle.

Thankfully the reporters didn’t make a connection by looking at her. They simply stepped aside and let them through.

When Lexi walked back into the apartment, Reece apologized again.

“It’s okay,” she told her. “I get why you invited her in. Thank you for looking out for me. And Daniel.”

Reece hugged her. When she finally let go, Lexi picked up her cell phone again and dialed Daniel’s number.

“Draya?”

Hearing his sexy voice, Lexi felt better already. It was almost as if everything that had just happened didn’t matter anymore.

~I regret leaving him. I wish I was still with him, in our safe place together.~

“Hi,” Lexi responded, grinning from ear to ear.

“What’s going on? Is everything okay? Who were you yelling at? Why were you so upset?”

“Woah, woah…one at a time, please.”

“You scared me. What’s going on with you?”

Lexi realized the sudden appearance of her birth mother wasn’t something she wanted to talk about over the phone. She attempted to steer the conversation in a whole different direction, telling him truthfully, “Paparazzi decided to camp out at my place.”

Daniel sighed. “Don’t worry, I’ll have the streets cleared in a few minutes. I’m sorry about all this.”

“It’s okay. I just miss you. Where did you go? Hotel or office?”

“Office. I’m tying up some loose ends. I’ll be there later when I’m through here, and tomorrow we’ll go on a date.”

“A date?” Lexi couldn’t believe he still wanted to go out in public together after all the recent drama. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Now?”

“I don’t give a fuck what the media or stupid girls I used to fuck think. I’m into you, and I’m not going anywhere. And…you’re not going anywhere either.”

Lexi put the speaker on and undressed. After a five-hour flight, she needed to shower.

“Give me a kiss,” Daniel said.

Lexi grabbed the phone again and blew a kiss through the phone. She knew he was smiling.

“Thank you, baby. I’ll see you tonight. Don’t wait up for me; I’ll crawl into bed next to you no matter what time I finish up here… Reece said she’s usually up late. She’ll let me in.”

His words were like music to her ears.

“Okay,” is all she could think to say for now.

“K, later.”

Daniel hung up, and Lexi walked to the bathroom. Everything was as she left it: messy. It looked like a tornado blew through her room, bathroom, and closet.

Lexi and Daniel had left in such a hurry yesterday that there was no time for her to clean or reorganize her space. For the first time in forever, she wished she had a maid so she didn’t have to do it all herself. But since that was a fantasy, she got to work immediately.

After what seemed like hours, everything looked organized again. Lexi had even stowed all her new makeup and clothes for safekeeping.

~I’m so tired… My hands feel numb.~

Once she showered, Lexi put on a black T-shirt and red boy shorts. This time, she neglected the head wrap and fuzzy slippers.

Lexi had been receiving tons of Facebook notifications about comments she was tagged in, but she didn’t care to check them because she already knew what the majority of the comments would say. However, when an email popped up on her phone, she opened it.

To: Ms. Fox

Fr: 99 Jams

Subject: Exclusive Interview

Hello Lexi,

We apologize for disturbing you, but it’s been brought to our attention that you are Daniel Jackson’s first real girlfriend. He is the prince of Miami, and we are all very interested in getting to know you and talk a little about the feud between you and his old friend Camille.

Obviously, you can decline, but the interview might help with this media wall you’ve bumped into. People always hate what they don’t understand, so it would definitely help you to answer a few questions and set the record straight in a one-on-one interview. Fans can interact with you during live phone calls, and you can create a lovable image of yourself.

Founder of 99 Jams

Cox Media Group (CMG)

P.S. We are thrilled Daniel turned in his player card. Hope to hear from you soon.

~What the heck am I going to say?~ Lexi wondered. ~I have to talk to Daniel first… Surely his opinion matters, especially with something like this.~

***

By eleven p.m., Lexi was all out of ice cream bars and shows to watch, and bored wasn’t an accurate enough word to describe her current mood. She decided to play Candy Crush on her phone until sleep came, but it seemed to be taking forever.

Reece poked her head into the bedroom before walking in and saying, “Hey.”

Lexi sat up in bed so they could talk.

“Did you check your Facebook wall? A major magazine editor wants to do a spread with you and Daniel for their cover.” Reece seems excited about the offer.

~What is it with everybody wanting to be in the center of my relationship? Even if I wanted to do this photo shoot and radio interview, Daniel isn’t exactly a people person, and I’m extremely shy. I don’t see how this could be a good thing. I know how he is when he feels threatened; if they ask him questions he’s uncomfortable answering, he’ll chew them all up and spit them out before the interview is even over.~

~I guess all I can do now is wait until my boyfriend gets here and hear what he has to say about all this.~