𝐃𝐄𝐏𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐃

38

HER PREDATOR

As soon as we heard my mother come in, Casei went into a frenzy to make sure she had all her clothes on and that the bed was all fixed up. I chuckled quietly, watching her go at it. If only she knew how many times I had Dylandra over here and my mom in the other room. She truly didn't care about what I did as long as I wasn't embarrassing her...or my father.

I reached into my pocket and grabbed my tie, feeling it's smooth material between my fingers as my mother knocked on my bedroom door.

"In comes the mommy train, Low," my mother cooed from the other side of the door, knocking on it twice.

I blushed as Casei's eyes darted over to me.

"Uh, you can come in Mom," I called out, trying to make sure my voice sounded strong and authoritative.

She entered and a look of surprise came over her face as she spotted Casei, "Why, hello sweetheart? I believe we've met before. Better terms, this time though. I'm Lowen's mommy," she held out her hand and Casei gently shook it.

"Mom," I blushed, trying to signal to her with my eyes that she was doing too much in front of Casei.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Jaimes," Casei greeted her.

"Oh, call me Ms. Jaimes when it's just us together," she waved that away, "I like it far better."

Casei's mouth formed an 'O'.

"I'm not goin' out tonight, Lowen," my mom added, looking over at me. "I have some business to handle. I want you to go over this design with me. You have to start seein' what I do so that you can do it one day too."

My mom turned to look at Casei. "I hope you're better than the last. Someone else needs to be in her life encouraging her to succeed. To prosper. To take some sort of an interest in her mother's business...or, even her father's."

"Mom," I said in a warning tone.

"What? You want to be successful? Why not have a business someone's already bled for at your disposal to take over?"

"Please. Not while she's here," I stared at my mom.

Casei stayed silent, picking at her nails.

"You need to start takin' responsibility. You've already lost your job, and Brian was more than gracious towards you, Lowen."

"I'm tryin'. I couldn't control what happened with that," I explained.

"Your name means 'joy'," she said finally, turning to leave away, "This family could use some, thanks to you."

I sat there, watching her leave as her words hung in the air. Casei turned my face towards her, staring at me as she nodded, her eyes watering.

"I understand, Lowen," she whispered.

I nodded too, feeling the tears pouring as we leaned together and our foreheads touched.

"You ready to come home with me?" she asked after we both had a good cry. I wiped my eyes on the bottom of my shirt, nodding again.

"C'mon. Lemme make sure I got all my stuff."

I surveyed the room. She hadn't really brought much in with her. Her phone, a blanket, and...that book.

"Oh, you might wanna go to the bathroom before we go," I gestured to mine.

She gave me a suspicious look, "I thought your's didn't work."

Right!

"I'll fix it for you to use. So, yuun gotta use my mom's and bother her and all," I added. I went into the bathroom, closing the door behind me and grabbing the plunger.

I stared down at the pristine bowl, trying to figure out how I'd fake fixing a toilet. I settled on plunging and plunging, and flushing a few times. I stayed in the bathroom for about another fifteen minutes, before I left out. Casei was nowhere to be found but her stuff was still in here. I glanced around quickly and slid her book into a hoodie I had laying around, covering it up in the material and hiding it under my bed.

When she got back to the room, maybe a few minutes later, she stared at me for a moment before grabbing her phone and jogging back downstairs. What was that about?

My mom waved from the balcony as we walked out of the house, telling us to be safe. I had already told her I'd be at Casei's for the weekend. Told, not ask.

Once we got into the vehicle, I locked the doors and rolled out. Casei curled up against the window, eyes closed, but I wasn't really sure if she was sleeping.

Had I told her too much again?

Was she afraid of me now?

I tried to listen to the radio, hoping that neither of those things were the case.

We pulled up to Casei's place around 3:47, and she got out the whip with a quickness. Did my mom say something to her to try and scare her away? She did come from out of the room when I came out the bathroom. Did she go down to the basement? She could have scanned more of the necklaces...I did sort of tell her to. Did she see the backyard? Hell, had Willow snuck in and told her something?

It was crystal clear that I had too many secrets to keep up with. I needed to either let some go...or let some of them come to light.

"Lowen," Casei turned to me as soon as we got back upstairs to the apartment.

"Casei?"

"Don't Casei, me," she brushed away my hand, as she crossed her arms. "Your mother said that you didn't have any pets. Like, ever, really."

I looked away, nodding.

Well, thanks, Mom.

"I hid their existence from her," I told her.

It wasn't far from the truth. My mother never knew about the animals I would keep in the basement. I made sure of that shit.

She sighed heavily, going to the kitchen. "I'm hungry and I didn't get any snacks from your place. Order some Domino's, and let me take a nap."

"Okay," I quickly agreed.

As long as she dropped the topic, I was good.

"And wherever my book is, return it when you're done readin' it, boo," she grabbed a water bottle and went to her bedroom.

I laughed softly, biting my lip.