章節 5: Chapter 5
Chris picked up his receiver and called his assistant to his office.
"Chris, you called for me?" Blake, his assistant, asked.
"Yes, I need you to call the security camera company for my penthouse building. I need the plate numbers for a cab that picked someone up this morning from my building at about 8:30" he gave her a piece of paper with a number on top.
"Okay" She collected the paper from his hand.
After an hour of calling and convincing the secretary, she got the footage for the morning and it was mailed to her computer which she mailed to Chris's laptop. He received the email and watched it until he got to the part where Violet was entering the cab and paused it zooming in to see the number. He copied the number and checked the time. Noon. He shut his laptop and walked out of the office.
"Aubrey, hold all my calls till I'm back"
"Alright, but can I ask why you asked me to track down your building's security camera?"
"It's complicated just hold my calls" He walked out of the building and into his office parking garage automatically unlocking his black corvette. He entered and drove to the cab office. He got there and went straight to the counter.
"Sorry I want to talk to whoever is in charge of the cab drivers. I'm Chris Walter. I called an uber this morning and I want to talk to the driver that picked up someone from my building this morning?" He enquired from the lady at the counter who was chewing a bubble gum intensively.
"Over there" She pointed at an office.
"Thank you" He walked toward the office and knocked before entering after he heard a mumble come in on the other side of the door. "Hi, I'm Chris Walters. I called this morning about a cab?" He stretched out his hand for a handshake at the stout-looking man at the other side of the desk. He was round and had stains of jelly from a half-eaten doughnut beside him on a saucer.
He looked up "Wait Chris Walters of About the fit Jordan's?"
"Well yes"
"The one who just signed Steph Curry for your brand for use during his basketball games?"
"Yes but…"
"Such an honor to meet you" he stood up and shook his hand "Have a seat sir what brings you here to my office"
"Well I need to get to one of your uber drivers"
"Why did he steal anything from you?"
"No" he reassured "Uhhh I need to get to someone who forgot her Jacket at my apartment and I was wondering if he could tell me her address"
"Well do you have a plate number or the number you called to get an uber?"
"Yes, I have the plate number for the car here" He reached into his blazer pocket and pulled out the piece of paper "Here" He handed the paper to the man.
"Alright let me see" He started to click on his computer "Ahhh yes Marcos is the name of the driver with this plate number but he is not in until six when he is turning in the vehicle and the keys"
"Okay, I'll come back by 5:30 to meet him on time hoping he will have the address. Thank you, Mr., …."
"Conner. Conner Miccosukee"
"Alright, Mr. Miccosukee if you need a pair of Jordans you just meet me at any of my stores okay?"
"I will not hesitate sir. Have a great day"
"And you too" He walked out of the office and building and drove back to his office.
As soon as he entered his office, Blake entered to give him the breakdown of what had happened in the office.
"Steph curry's manager called about the new pair of Jordans delivered weren't to his liking and color and he still didn't like them, the store in New York is running low on supply of Balenciagas and we need more sales reps they had an emergency board meeting when you were out and they said the present sales reps are incompetent on closing deals with most of our clients and basketball players whose managers have put interest in our shoe products and also your mom called she is coming with Dana tonight and that you have to be there"
"Put my mom on the line for me, have our distributor for New York come to my office and tell them to go ahead and put out job applications for new sales reps with college degrees in advertising, fresh talent, love for shoes, passion for people and let Steph's manager know that I will be coming over personally to deliver a fresh pair to his taste tomorrow"
"Okay" She walked out of the office. Chris picked up his cell phone and dialed his mom's number.
"Baby?"
"Yes, mum. My assistant said you called sorry I was out"
"That is fine sweetheart. Well we are coming over tonight"
"You and her?"
"She is not just her, Mabel and I are coming and sooner or later you are gonna have to get over it all.
I'm dropping her off there too so get ready"
"Mother I'm not ready yet"
"Then when will you be? The sooner the better. I'll see you in the evening. I love you baby" the line went dead.
Chris sighed and leaned deep into his chair. He stared at Violet's jacket which he lay on the couch in his office. He all of a sudden remembered the events of the night before. She was pretty, funny, and smart. Beautiful body. He closed his eyes and he could picture her. Her beautiful coffee-brown eyes were well shaped in place, and her spirit-filled smile, her beautifully structured nose, and her well-sculpted face. Her high cheeks. Her sizable hips and gorgeous body. The smell of her perfume Martina with a hint of lavender mist was all he seemed to smell at that point. Her thick black hair and light skin. Feeling of kissing her. He suddenly tasted the gin from the martini she was having in his mouth from the first time she kissed him. Her soft lips. He bit his lips at that moment. The feeling of her in his arms. This feeling made something inside of him tingle. The feeling made him feel happy even if it was short. For the first time, he felt different. She felt different.
The phone rang, cutting short his train of thought. He opened his eyes and picked up the receiver.After hours of working, Chris looked at his watch and it was already 5:45.
"Shit I am going to be late" He grabbed his keys, phone, and jacket and ran to the elevators.In thirty minutes, he was at the cab office. He dropped down and walked briskly into the office moving straight to the lady at the counter.
"Hi, It's me again. Chris. Has a driver here Marcos turned in his keys yet today?"
She looked up from the magazine she was reading while chewing gum loudly. "Yes, he has"
"Shit" he cursed as he passed. "Do you know where he lives or something, I need to ask him something really important"
She looked from her magazine again with a disgusted face. He was disturbing her "Pretty boy don't you got somewhere to be you messing up my reading time" She adjusted her feet on the counter and waved him away with her hands.
"Please just tell me something, anything and I will be out of your hair" He smiled a little and she looked up at him again.
"There's a bar three blocks from here he goes to after work before he goes home every day. Now piss off I'm trying to read" she flipped a page of the magazine and popped a bubble from the gum in her mouth.
"Thank you so much." He started his car and drove to the bar.
The bar was dark and loud music boomed from the speakers. There were strippers on poles and a variety of men getting lap dances by naked girls. Chris walked straight to the bar. The bartender was an average-height girl with dark hair which Chris guessed was Latina with the way she talked.
"Can I get you a drink, Papi?" She asked Chris, leaning on a table near him.
"Well, I'm hoping you get me more than that" He leaned into her gaze smiling.
"Look Papi I give drinks nothing more"
"I get that but I'm not here for that. I'm looking for a dude named Marcos the driver and an Uber driver for the uber company three blocks from here. I was hoping you would know him?"
"Oh, Marcos, yes he comes in every day after he is done with work. He drinks himself to sleep trying to catch a fling or something and we have to drive him out in the morning"
"Wow he doesn't seem like a nice guy at all"
"Well yes, a large asshole" She wipes the counter with a napkin.
"I need to speak to him, please can you help me?"
"He's over there by the counter trying to hit on that blonde chick over there" She pointed to a fat sweaty guy in an ugly green shirt that made the sweat marks on his armpits look more disgusting than they were already.
"Thanks" He walked over to where he was led.
"Marcos, right?"
"Who's asking?" He sipped from his bottle of bear his voice with a thick Mexican accent.
"Chris Walters" He stretched his hand for a handshake but was shunned so he put away his hand and decided to continue talking. "I wanna ask you something"
"What do you possibly want from me?"
"You are the uber I ordered for this morning from Linkin Park, to pick up a girl she was about yay tall" He described with his hand "Dark hair, brown eyes?"
"I took a lot of people today" He turned to focus on his drink.
"Yes I know that but it was early in the morning. Look, I just need to know where she lives cause she left her jacket at my place and was hoping to give it back to her"
"Look, I don't have time for all this…."
"Please I need to find this girl"
"Look I have no time for this"
"Please?" Chris touched his shoulder.
Marcos looked at his wrist. "That watch you have on looks nice you know"
"My watch?" Chris retorted.
"It'll cost a lot" He had a smug smile as he stared at the watch.
Chris sighed and looked at his forty thousand-dollar Rolex. He took it off and handed it to him "Now would you tell me where to find her?"
"Rose circle park, Lawton street, A nice apartment building. Nice doing business with you" he snagged the watch and slipped it on chuckling.
"Enjoy the rest of your evening." Chris dropped a hundred-dollar tip for the bartender and pushed through the people until he was out. Chris walked out of the elevator to the floor of his penthouse. He walked to the door and inserted his keys in to open it. He realized it was already open. He turned the knob and opened the door.
"Son!" His mother Gabriella exclaimed as he entered.
"Hello, mother. How did you get in?" He threw the keys in a bowl near the door.
"Well, you don't seem excited to see me and your daughter" She stood up and hugged him.
"No mum, it's not like that. I told you mom I am not ready" he whispered into her ear.
"There is no exact time for you to be ready to meet your daughter. She is six and she needs her father" She turned around to the six-year-old girl. Chris turned and looked at her. She was light-skinned just like her father. She had brown hair in three braids tied at the ends. She was small and had brown eyes like her father. Gabriella went over to where she was and crouched over her as she played with her dolls on the floor. "Mabel dear"
She looked up "Yes Grandma"
"This is Chris. Your father" She smiled.
Mabel stood up and walked up to Chris weirdly looking at his face.
"Hi" Chris squatted while stretching his hand. She stared at it then looked at him again.
"Well I always envisioned my father to be superman but you can work out okay" She shrugged her shoulders and turned to Gabriella. "Come on grandma I feel sleepy and I wanna go to bed plus I've got ballet practice tomorrow and I wanna be early to practice the routine cause I'm a bit behind in my class" she tugged on Gabriella's sleeve.
"Uhhh Sweetheart" She kneeled in front of Mabel
"We aren't going home tonight at least you aren't"
"Then where are we going, Grandma?" She questioned with a confused face.
"You're going to be staying here" She bit her lip as she said it and watched her granddaughter's face turn into an expression of horror.
"What grandma!?" She yelled, "You're making me stay here with him?" She glared at her and pointed at Chris
"Well sweetheart, he's your father and you need to get to know him."
"Well I don't wanna and I want to go home now"
"Look sweetheart, you need to understand that he is family and most of all your father. You need to get to know him first. Now I'll be by here from time to time to check on you okay?"
She started to cry.
"Look sweetheart, Chris would buy you all the gifts you want and take you to all your recitals and you'll have so much fun" Gabriella knelt again and looked Mabel in the eyes "Mabel, this is important to me that you get to know your father more"
"No grandma, I don't wanna stay here. I'm gonna miss you" She said, cleaning tears from her eyes.
"Mabel, I know I should have told you earlier about this but you have to know your father"
"But I'm gonna miss you and all my friends at home and just being with you grandma" She sobbed into her grandma's shirt as she hugged her.
"Look kiddo I've got a lot of making up to do but I promise I'll work hard at it, can you give me a chance even a little one?" Chris said beside his mum.
"Okay you'll stay here for the rest of the summer and if you don't like it, I'll come to pick you up okay?" Gabriella offered.
"Yes grandma"
"Oh,my beautiful girl, you're gonna be fine, okay?"
"Okay grandma"
Once Gabriella was gone there was an awkward silence.
"So can I show you your room?"
"Sure"
Chris took her bag and led her upstairs. He got to the room and switched on the light. There was a big bed occupying most of the room and a closet beside it. He set down her bag in the closet and showed her where the bathroom was.
"What do you want to do now?"
" I'm tired. I want to sleep"
"Okay I'll leave you to get ready for bed" He stepped out of the room and went to his room and wore a pair of pajama trousers. He was sending an email when he heard Mabel call his name.
"Hey, you okay?" He turned to find her by the door in her Peter Pan pajamas and a teddy bear.
"I need a bedtime story to fall asleep"
"Okay." He followed her to the room. She climbed into bed and snuggled up with a teddy bear.
"Who is this nice little fella?" He asked, referring to the stuffed animal she was hugging tightly.
"This is Snuffles."
"Hi Snuffles," Chris said with a smile. "Is there a book your grandma reads to you normally?"
"Yes there's one in my bag"
He walked up to the bag in the closet and took out the book and sat on the bed and started to read to her. After a few lines, she was asleep. He sat there and stared at her for a few minutes and tears fell from his eyes. He stood up and left the room leaving the door ajar.
He went to his office and fished out the journal that was gifted to him by Barbara. He opened it and there was an inscription on the first page "Journal the good times or the bad but please just get something down."
Love,
Barbara.
He began to write.
Dear Kate,
This feels like such a weird thing to do but I feel it is necessary now more than ever. Barbara gave me this book about four years ago and I didn't get to or better put I refused to use it. You know her and her tendency to push one to do things they wouldn't naturally want to do. She misses you a lot and so does Hank. I haven't been able to do a lot of things since you died. One of them is taking care of our daughter. But today I got her. I'm sorry it took so long but after you died the world stopped for me. At that moment I couldn't care for her the way I know she would've needed me to. But I got her today. She looks nothing like me, Kate. She took every feature from you. From the shape of your nose to your brown eyes. To the dark color of your hair. I read her a bedtime story and afterward, I started to cry. I didn't mean to but watching her sleep made me think of you. When we started dating and you started sleeping over and I'd watch you sleep after we had just made love and as you turned while sleeping your eyes would open and you'd look up and say 'Go to sleep weirdo' and kiss me and I never went to sleep at least not immediately. O Kate. I'm sorry it took me this long to get our daughter. I just thought it'll be too painful. I just couldn't physically do anything for a very long time. I have a lot of making up to do. I'm sorry. I miss you every day. I love you.
Chris.
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