Sterling #2
I took a deep breath knowing that if I opened that door it was going to be a far bigger shit show and make national news. That would raise questions and bring attention I didn’t want to my life. I chose the lesser of two evils and hoped it would give me the result I wanted.
“I didn’t cause anything, I finished it.
I am here to purchase a gift for her father to wish him a good start to the season.
” I didn’t want to have to use that card but these people seemed the type to care more about impressing a football player than actually enforcing the law they were sworn to uphold.
As suspected their ears perked up and the easy way they were attempting to dismiss me ceased.
“Her father. Who is her father?”
“Aldrich Dinero.”
“Oh. Oh!” The one who was holding the girl’s mother seemed to tighten his grip like he’d seen the headlines or had at least heard of what was going on. By the way the two of them glanced between each other, they knew I wasn’t some regular chick they could just dismiss without repercussion.
The security officer closest to me picked up my phone and handed it to me with a smile on his face. “Here’s your phone, miss.”
I had to battle not rolling my eyes because his switch-up was predictable but still disappointing. I hated feeling as though I wasn’t worthy of protection unless I was attached to something that was universally treasured. Be it my family’s wealth or my employer’s name in this city.
“Thank you.” I picked it up and saw that the phone had indeed connected, which meant that Aldrich heard everything that had happened.
I felt my blood pressure tank and my skin immediately got clammy.
Ami was fussing again and I quickly gave her the pacifier attached to her carrier so I could handle this latest problem.
I steeled my nerves and put the phone to my ear ready to take whatever was waiting for me. “Aldrich—”
“Go straight home and get whatever officer that talked all that shit, name and badge number.
I've got a couple things I need to clear up with him.” His tone was cold, almost brittle and my gut clenched hearing how calm he sounded.
I was sure he was pissed, because hearing this firsthand and being unable to do anything had to make him feel some type of way.
I glanced at the officer and then back down to Ami and reasoned with him before this turned into something his agent had to clean up. “Aldrich, I will not—”
“Is that the father of the child on the phone, ma’am?”
He spoke up with a little too much glee in his voice and I really wished he would’ve shut up. I wasn’t trying to save him, I just wanted to be done with this situation and away from this crazy woman. But he just had to go and say something. “Yes, it is.”
“I need to speak to him, please.”
I reluctantly gave him the phone knowing this wasn’t going to end up well for anyone.
Dude seemed excited to talk to Aldrich, even standing up taller as he took the device from my hand.
But as he put the phone to his ear and said hello, I could hear Aldrich’s voice rise on the other end of the line.
“Officer Samuels badge number 26405.” He kept listening and nodding his face getting redder and I could only imagine what Aldrich was saying to him. “Yes, she made that clear but also stated that she wasn’t a blood relative and the other woman was.”
“Miss, here’s your stroller.” I was carefully bouncing Ami in her carrier and patting her butt to help her fall asleep and ease my anxiety.
I wanted nothing more than to go back after her grandmother but I knew that I needed to act like I had sense.
The woman was hovering around like she was waiting for them to handcuff me or something so she could snatch Ami and run. It would be over my dead body.
“Thank you.” I took the stroller from the security personnel who worked at the baby boutique we were heading into. You could see the shocked look on the mothers’ faces as people glanced at what was going on but tried to pretend they weren’t interested.
I wasn’t embarrassed; I was just pissed about all of this going on when I simply wanted to buy the man a fucking gift and get Ami some shoes. If this was what life with Aldrich was like, I needed to rethink some things. A simple run to the mall was too complex for his lifestyle.
I might have been part of a well-known family, but with so many branches we had no issues with staying anonymous if we wanted to.
My name and face had been kept out of the press for so many years and that’s the way I preferred it.
Having people care about what I did, who I dated and what I was doing wasn’t something I wanted to launch myself into.
But are you willing to walk away from Ami and Aldrich because of it?
I went back to patting her on the butt waiting for the officer to give me my device back.
He had the nerve to have it held up to the side of his face and I was going to have to wipe my screen down before I used it again.
I didn’t know where my earbuds were but I would just have to hear Aldrich yell at me on speakerphone.
“Yes, sir, I understand.” The officer was beet red in the face by now and security from the baby store was standing between me and where they were.
I wasn’t sure why he was being so protective, maybe because I had been there before, but I was thankful that he at least had some sense.
I appreciated it even more because he was a Black man and had no trouble looking out for me.
Gotta slide him some cash to show my appreciation.
The officer cleared his throat and handed my phone back to me with his face tight. “Here you go ma’am. We’ve gotten all that cleared up for you.”
“You mean all the information I already gave you has been confirmed so now you believe me?”
He looked uneasy probably because Aldrich was still on the phone and with the store guard standing behind me I was no longer alone.
“Well, as you said—”
I chuckled and used a baby wipe to clean my phone. There wasn’t a way on God’s green earth I was about to put it back to my face after it had touched his. “Just because it came out of the mouth of someone you respect you believe his word more than mine.”
“He’s her father—”
“And I already told you he’s the one who gave me leave to be here with her. But I’m not about to pour salt in the wound. I just hope you realize how big of a mistake you made not handling this situation correctly the first time. Enjoy your day.”
I walked toward the boutique with the security officer’s hand hovering protectively behind my back.
“Well, that was interesting.” I said it more to myself than to him but he clearly heard me because he chuckled as he held open the heavy iron and glass door to the boutique.
“You’d be shocked at the type of drama that happens in a baby store.”
I was shocked cause I wouldn’t have expected drama next to the cloth diapers but I guess people would act up anywhere. “Is that why you came out to help?”
“Nah, I remember when you were here before. You seem like a nice lady and I watched the crazy chick approach you. I couldn’t leave my post until someone came to relieve me.
That’s why it took me a minute to get here.
Besides, they weren’t going to fuck with a sista like that and I let that shit slide. I ain’t that kind of man.”
I smiled because I truly appreciated his looking out. “What’s your name?”
His brows furrowed and he smiled cautiously like he was worried about what I would say. “Louis.”
I nodded and pushed Ami’s stroller through the door he held open. I glanced down and was happy to see that she had dozed off despite the chaos around her. “Louis, are you a Desperados fan by chance?”
“Thanks, Billy. Tell Parker I said I appreciate his looking out.”
Aldrich angrily hung up the phone before he glanced up at me through the screen.
He’d called me from his phone and used Anthony’s to call his team in front of me to tell them what happened.
I didn’t hang out long at the mall because so much of what I wanted to do today was ruined from the confrontation and issues with security.
I grabbed what I needed for Ami out of the boutique and the store insisted Louis escort me out to the car.
Mall security had come into the store to assure me that Ami’s grandmother had been removed from the premises but I didn’t trust their asses for shit.
Aldrich was still at camp and team leadership had given him an extra hour to get this situated since he felt like it was a security issue for us.
He’d been eyeing me worried I would do something rash.
Like running away, saying this shit was too much to handle, something.
I just couldn’t give him what he wanted.
The reason I made my way into Maison Bebe was to ensure I didn’t let my emotions rule me when I got home.
I wasn’t worried about me; I was simply pissed at Ami being placed in that situation and the way the cops brushed off my concerns.
“What did she say?” He was too focused on me but I was more concerned with what magic I was sure Billy had worked in the short while it had been since the situation with Ami’s maternal grandmother happened.