Chapter Thirteen
Reed
I barely got any sleep that night. I generally didn’t get much sleep when Trinity joined me in bed. Thankfully it wasn’t very often, but when she did sleep in my bed, she always moved around like a worm. For a little girl, she sure knew how to take up a lot of space. But it wasn’t really Trinity that had kept me up. I still couldn’t believe that Trinity had almost walked in on Kennedy and I. I wasn’t sure how I would’ve explained to her what had happened. Either Trinity would’ve been upset about it or she would’ve thought that Kennedy was her new mother. Either scenario wasn’t great. But seeing Kennedy sneak out of the house also hadn’t been nice. I’d felt so guilty for what had happened.
Sleeping with Kennedy had been incredible. After my wife left me, I couldn’t even look at another woman without feeling sick. I wanted nothing to do with anyone, and my sex drive had practically disappeared. About a year later, I’d gone through the opposite. I suddenly wanted to sleep with women just to get back at her. I didn’t go on any dates, but just went to bars and had sex with a woman for a night. One-night stands were all I had any interest in. That had been a horrible time in my life and had thankfully been short lived. But other than that, my sexual experiences since my wife had left me had been few and far between.
I could clearly remember the last woman that I had slept with. It had been nine months ago, and I’d been at Warren’s big birthday bash. Trinity was at home with Linda, and she’d given me the okay to stay out as long as I wanted to. I generally didn’t go out much, so it wasn’t as if I did it often, and I’d been looking forward to a night out. I hardly ever drank much because most of my time was spent either working or being with Trinity, and the thought of a few glasses of wine had been wonderful. When I arrived, a glass was immediately shoved into my hand, and I probably drank it faster than I should’ve. After that, I was offered another and took it without question. Looking back, I knew I should’ve paced myself, but I don’t think I realized just how quickly I would get drunk. Within an hour I was running around the house like a lunatic, dancing and talking to whoever would come my way. Warren still laughs about that night. He said he had never, in all his time knowing me, seen me that way. I’d assured him it was because I had never acted like that before, and since that day I had never again. I’d somehow ended up in Warren’s spare room by the end of the night. The lady that was with me was a woman I had met before. A woman that I had not liked from the moment I saw her. Thinking back, she was very much like Francine had been. Loud, obnoxious and very much into herself. But I’d had too much to drink, and I wasn’t thinking straight. To this day, if I knew she was going to be somewhere, I avoided the place. Thankfully, she’d since moved to another city, and I didn’t have to worry about it anymore.
Now, after nine months of wishing that I could take that sexual experience away, it was finally replaced by something amazing. Sex with Kennedy had been incredible. Seeing her naked had been just as I thought it would. No, actually it had been better. Kennedy was beautiful. Her soft breasts and pale skin made her look like at artist’s reverie. She had dreamlike characteristics that made her ethereal in quality. I could easily imagine a watercolor of her. She was soft and beautiful and just thinking about her made me feel excited all over again. But then, I thought of Trinity, and the feeling was replaced by immense guilt. Trinity loved Kennedy, and there was a slight possibility that I had completely ruined things for her. Why had I put myself first when poor Trinity had already been through so much? First, her mother left her, then her nanny. I just hoped that Kennedy wouldn’t leave her too.
Trinity stirred next to me, and when she opened her eyes, she smiled at me.
“Morning, Daddy. I forgot I slept here.”
“Morning, my girl. You hungry?”
She nodded. “Good. Me too. Come on, let’s get some cereal. I’m going to shower first. I’ll meet you in the kitchen, okay?”
“Okay.”
I climbed into the shower, scrubbing myself clean from what had happened. It was easy not to think of Kennedy when Trinity was around. But with the water splashing over my body, it was hard to think of anything else. After the shower, I got changed and made my downstairs. I looked at the clock and groaned. Kennedy was going to arrive at any moment, and I felt nervous. That’s if she came at all, of course. I couldn’t help but have images of myself having to take a day off work again to look after Trinity.
I took out two bowls and was just about to pour the cereal in when the door opened. I stood frozen as Kennedy walked in and tried not to imagine her without her clothes on. For a brief second, we looked at each other in panic. Thankfully, Trinity didn’t seem to notice. She jumped out of her chair and went to hug Kennedy.
“Morning, Trin,” Kennedy laughed. “Morning, Reed,” she said nervously.
“Uh, morning, Kennedy,” I replied.
She looked at the bowls in front of us. “How about you put those away and I make us some real breakfast?”
“Oh, no you don’t have to,” I said.
She laughed. “I know. But I want to. I know you’re good with eggs, so how about we change things up a bit? I know how to make some really healthy pancakes that don’t involve any flour at all. Want to try some?”
“Pancakes? Oh yes, please. Daddy, can we please have some?”
I looked at the box of cereal in front of me and pushed it away. “Pancakes sound amazing.”
“But this time I’m going to teach you how to make it. That’s . . . uh, if you want me to?” she said suddenly, as if realizing she was supposed to be nervous.
I’d gone from feeling strange to feeling comfortable pretty quickly. I nodded and smiled. “I’d love that. Come on, Trin, you’re learning too.”
“Great. It’s super easy. And trust me, you won’t even realize how healthy they are when you’re eating them. They taste like they should be bad for you. It’s my favorite thing to make. That and french toast, of course,” she said and winked at Trinity.
“Can we make french toast later? Together?”
“We sure can. Now, let me show you what ingredients we need.”
Kennedy took us through the surprisingly easy process of making healthy pancakes out of the ingredients we generally always had at home. It was my favorite type of cooking, which just involved throwing everything into a bowl and mixing them together. Afterward she quickly cooked them on a pan, and then put the stack of pancakes on the kitchen table for us to enjoy.
“No way. These are amazing.”
“I told you,” she said and grinned.
“I must admit. I had my doubts. When I saw what went into them, I thought there was no way that these were going to taste anything like pancakes. But I was wrong. These are incredible.”
“That’s because she’s good in the kitchen, Daddy,” Trinity said as if I had no idea what I was talking about.
I laughed. “That’s true. She’s brilliant. And I finally found something I can make myself other than scrambled eggs.”
As it turned out, I had nothing to be nervous about because breakfast was fun and easy. There were a few moments when we looked at each other and quickly looked away, but other than that it was fine. We were obviously both looking out for Trinity, so at least we had the same agenda when it came to her. I was having such a good time that I almost forgot I had to go to work that day. When I looked at the clock, I jumped up in fright.
“Oh no, look at the time. I’m going to be late.”
Trinity laughed. “Daddy is never late for work.”
“That’s right. I’m not. But I am today,” I said, and I shook my head. I really was never late for work. What was going on? I rushed upstairs to brush my teeth and then quickly headed out the door shouting my goodbyes to them.
When I got to work, Warren was in my office.
“You’re late,” he said.
“I know. I know. What’s going on?”
“Nothing. I just came to ask you something and saw that you weren’t here. This isn’t like you. Did something happen?”
I shook my head. “Everything is fine.”
“But you’re never late. Like never, ever, ever late. It’s something I both admire about you and find extremely frustrating because I don’t know how you always do it. So, what gives today?”
I laughed. “I don’t know. I was just enjoying breakfast with Trinity and Kennedy. Kennedy made us pancakes, and before I knew it, I was late for work. I wasn’t supposed to join them, but it seemed like a good idea at the time, and I didn’t think it would take all that long. I don’t know what happened. The time just flew by. I rushed here as quickly as I could. Anyway, I’m not that late.”
Warren raised his eyebrows at me. “Kennedy, huh?”
“No, man, it’s not like that,” I said. I was definitely not going to let Warren know that I had slept with Kennedy. He would never let me hear the end of it. Also, I wasn’t too sure what was going on myself.
“Oh yeah. You sure?” he asked.
“I’m sure.”
“What about her, then?”
“What about her?” I asked.
“Does she like you?”
I thought of her soft flesh against my hands. Her lips against mine. Her red hair like a flame across the bed. I had no idea what she thought about me, but at that moment it had sure felt like she liked me. I shook my head and tried to stop thinking about her without any clothes on. It wasn’t easy. Ever since we had shared those moments of intimacy, I felt like that was the only thing I was thinking about. “No, I’m her boss. She doesn’t want anything from me. She’s not like Francine. Who, by the way, I’m still annoyed that you set me up with.”
Warren laughed. “Oh come on. Francine is a lot of fun. I thought you could do with a little fun in your life. But be careful with Kennedy, okay?”
“I don’t get it. You try to set me up with someone, but then you’re warning me against Kennedy. I don’t get it. Why?” I asked.
“Oh, come on; Francine would’ve just been a night of fun. I know that. If you’d accepted her at least and not run away from the date of course. I still can’t believe you left her before you’d even ordered food. I never actually thought that the two of you would fall in love or anything. She’s just out for a bit of fun, and I figured you needed some. But Kennedy is looking after your daughter, and from the sound of things, Trinity really likes her. I’d be wary of that if I were you. And you don’t even know this woman. I know you think you do, but you don’t. You’re such a nice guy, and you don’t always see when people have hidden agendas.”
“Hidden agendas? Like what?” I asked.
“I mean, she clearly knows you’re loaded. How do you know she doesn’t just want your money? I know that’s not a nice thing to say, but I’ve met many women like her before. Just be careful. This time it’s not just you getting involved, but your daughter too.”
“Trust me; there’s nothing going on between us. Now, what can I help you with?”
Warren chuckled. “If you say so.”
When Warren left, I sat down at my desk and sighed. Warren’s advice surely didn’t apply to Kennedy. Warren said that almost all the women he had met had been after him for his money. But Kennedy wasn’t like that. Surely not? I groaned as I thought about what had happened between us. I just hoped that I hadn’t gotten myself and my daughter into a world of pain. I switched on my computer and tried to put all thoughts of Kennedy aside. I was just glad that I was away from her for the day. I needed some time to reflect on what on earth I was going to do.