Chapter 6
Calida
Shawn woke a little when I unbuckled him from the seat, so instead of putting him in his own room, I carried him to mine. After changing into my PJs, I snuggled up with my baby. Gently, I moved his dark curls off his forehead and gave him a kiss. My sweet, innocent baby boy. I pulled the covers up around us and like most nights, fell into a troubled sleep.
I awoke to wet, sloppy kisses as Shawn tried to eat my nose. My breath caught in my throat when I opened my eyes to be met with his. That momentary fright got replaced with the familiar guilt. I pushed down my urge to roll away and forced a smile on my face as I greeted my son.
“Hey, baby boy.”
He gave me a bright, toothy grin. “Hey Ma-Ma.”
“Are you hungry? Is that why you are trying to eat my nose,” I asked, playfully scooping him up and planting kisses on his belly.
Shawn’s laughter filled the air. That sound instantly made me forget the uneasy feelings from moments ago. After getting him changed, I put him in his high chair then made him breakfast. We were just sitting down to eat when the intercom crackled to life, broadcasting the one voice I’d not expected to hear.
I furrowed my brows together as I got up from the table and walked over to the intercom.
“Dorian, what are you doing here?”
“Well, if you’d open this damn gate, you’d find out. Or are you expecting me to have a conversation through this thing?”
Sighing, I glanced back at Shawn who sat in his high chair, happily dropping more eggs onto the floor than he was putting into his mouth. I let out a groan as I seriously considered leaving her out there. However, I pressed the open button before heading toward the front door. At first, I was annoyed by Dorian’s unannounced arrival; not once had she been to my house. She didn’t even come by after I got out of the hospital, so coming today I worried something might have happened to Mom and Dad. She was locking the door on her blue Mercedes coupe when I stepped out onto the front porch.
“Mom and Dad okay?”
“Good morning to you as well, sister dear.”
I rolled my eyes and turned back into the house. With an answer like that, I knew they were fine. Even she wouldn’t be so callous as to downplay something like that. I headed back toward the kitchen, figuring she wouldn’t be far behind.
“What is that?” I heard her ask.
My steps faltered a moment as I took quick stock of my attire. My hand went to the top of my spaghetti-strap tank top, finding relief when I touched only the smooth skin of my back instead of the raised keloid scar. It’s not showing.
“A tattoo, Calida? When did you make that mistake?”
I closed my eyes and let out a quiet exhale before turning back to face her. “Why are you here Dorian?” I asked, ignoring her question.
Shawn squealed when Dorian got in his view, and his dirty hands reached out for her. She stopped just out of reach, making sure he couldn’t stain her shirt. I wet a paper towel and proceeded to clean him up. Dorian carefully stepped around the mess he’d made on the floor, and took a seat at the table.
“I’ve decided to move here. There’s not much point in me staying in Charlotte with Mom and Dad living here now.”
I cast a quick glance back at her as I worked to unbuckle Shawn from his high chair. “No hope of reconciling with Daniel?”
He waddled over to Dorian, raising his arms in the air. She picked him up. “No,” she replied in a clipped tone. “We’ve already put the house on the market and our respective lawyers have been hired.”
“Oh,” I replied, carrying the plastic tray to the sink. “And you’re letting me know you’re moving here because…?”
Her reasons for this visit eluded me. We’d never been sisterly, so I couldn’t imagine why she thought I’d care what her plans were, and I sure as hell couldn’t fathom her motives for wanting to tell me. Dorian carried Shawn into the connected family room, and sat him down in front of his play area.
She looked around the space. “Who decorated this place?”
“I did,” I replied, and braced for the insult I figured would follow.
“Really?”
I couldn’t tell if that was shock or if she was impressed. “Yes.”
“That’s kind of depressing,” she said, pointing to the picture hanging over the fireplace. “But I like the rest. Gated house, exclusive neighborhood, you really came up in the world.” She turned to face me.
She made it sound like any of those things were ever important to me. I would gladly give it all up to not have gone through all the pain and heartache this “come up” cost me.
I dropped the dish towel onto the counter. “Dorian, what do you want? You didn’t drive all the way over here because you were suddenly curious to see where I lived. And I sure as hell know you didn’t want to have some heart to heart talk about marriage and relationships, so what is it? Are you here to butter me up for a place to stay since you’re moving?”
Dorian’s brow creased when she frowned. Her once wrinkle-free complexion now had laugh lines around her eyes and mouth. She was still impeccably dressed as always, but she had gained some weight over the last few years. Not a lot, but we looked closer to being the same size now than before. Where-as my hair was shorter now, she’d let hers grow out. It hung just past her shoulders, and seemingly lacked some of the shine it used to have. I guess the stress of her failed marriage was taking a bigger toll on her than she wanted to admit.
“No, I’ll be staying with Mom and Dad until I find a nice condo here.”
“So, this is just a random visit? I find that hard to believe,” I said, continuing my task of cleaning up.
My food had turned cold, so I dumped it.
“Why is that so hard to believe?” she asked, taking a seat next to Shawn on the Persian rug. She put the train track pieces together, only to have him take it apart instantly, giggling as he did so.
“Maybe because you’ve never done it. You saw me in the hospital once and that was because Mom made you come so you could give her an update before they got here. You came again, to the hospital, after I had Shawn. When you come to visit, we only see each other at Mom and Dad’s house. So…” I let the rest of that statement hang.
“You’re so different now,” Dorian commented, abandoning Shawn to come stand near me as I swept up the floor.
“Why? Because I no longer let you walk all over me?”
“I never—”
I shot her a look that made her clamp her lips shut on that denial.
“Fine. With my moving, I’ll need a job, so you need to officially hire me as your counsel for dealing with things at Jokobi Enterprises.”
I stopped my action of sweeping, letting her words sink in. “Did you just ask me for a job?” A smile crossed my lips as I thought about how much that must have pained her.
“Not exactly. You already use my services, now I’m just saying you pay for them.”
“So…then yes, you are asking me for a job. Especially since I thought you were offering your services out of some sort of kindness. My mistake on thinking that.” I didn’t bother to mask the sarcasm in my voice.
“Oh, stop being so dramatic,” Dorian replied, running her fingers through her hair. “It’s a win-win for us both. Being on the payroll, you’ll have someone at the office every day to make sure your interests are being looked after instead of me just showing up at the quarterly board meetings.”
I let out a slow, audible exhale as I finished sweeping. I carried the dustpan to the trash, dumping the contents, before putting it and the broom away. I glanced at the clock on the microwave; it was only nine a.m. What a way to kick off my day. Shawn walked over to me, happily babbling about his trains. He handed one to Dorian and the other to me before walking back to the mess he’d made. I followed behind him and started picking up some of the scattered toys.
“So, you’ll call HR and let them know to add me to the payroll?”
“No, Dorian, I can’t just call HR. I have no hand in the hiring or firing of employees. Besides, aren’t you a partner or close to being a partner with your firm? You’ve worked there long enough.”
“You can if you wanted to. It’s your company. You’re just being difficult! And no, I’m not. They haven’t made anyone a partner in the last ten years I’ve been there, so it’s not likely they plan on it anytime soon,” she snapped.
“You do realize that being a bitch to me is shooting yourself in the foot, since you clearly need me for something.”
“I’m not the one being a bitch. Ever since you decided to become a black widow, you’ve been nearly impossible to deal with.”
I looked at her like she’d grown a second head. On one hand, her ability to not treat me as if I was made of glass was refreshing, considering everyone else did. However, on the other, her total lack of empathy and apparent complete disregard for the situation I went through royally pissed me off.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now? You know what…never mind. You’re right, Dorian. I just fucking decided that shit, just like I’m going to just fucking decide to become an only child at this point. Seeing as how I got away with killing once, I think with the stress of everything, I should be able to get off on an insanity defense.”
I glared at her. Dorian’s face turned red and her eyes widened. I heard the sharp intake of breath and worked really hard not to laugh at her.
With a flip of her hair and a straightening of her shoulders, she regained her composure. “With comments like that, I don’t think your therapy is very effective.”
“Leave!” I pointed toward the door. “Get…out…of…my…house!”
I picked up Shawn and headed toward the stairs, leaving her standing in the family room. I heard the front door slam behind her when I was halfway up the steps.