The Favor (BOOK 1 & BOOK 2 INCLUDED)

1. So This Is the Daughter You Had?

"Marcus, do you know what time my manager is supposed to be here?" I ask Marcus who is sitting on the couch watching TV.

"12:30, I've been telling you that for over an hour," Marcus groans.

"I know; I know you have. I'm just so nervous to meet him... Or her, and they're fifteen minutes late." I pace the living room once again, making sure not to stand in front of the TV since Marcus yelled at me for doing it earlier.

"Why are you getting freaked out? It's just your manager, nothing fancy."

"It's just that I have been imagining since I was in eighth grade that I was going to come here with my best friend Talon and he would be my manager, but then he decided to follow his girlfriend to UCLA. Now I'm going to have some random stranger be my manager. I always imagined it would be the guy I'm closest with in friendship terms. I was expecting to have this great friendship with my manager, but now I have no idea what it will be like."

"Maybe you will, you'll just have to wait and see." Marcus takes a swig of his beer.

"Why are you drinking in the day?"

"Today is my day off; I'm trying to relax in the best way I can, and your complaining about your manager is hurting my head if you must know." He shoots me a glare, and I blush in embarrassment and sit down on a bright red glossy love seat couch. But I don't say I'm sorry because I'm not exactly being as rude as he is.

We both hear a few knocks at the door, and I spring up from my place on the couch and practically sprint to the door.

I open it quickly to see a man standing in the door frame right beside Mr. Delaware. He is only an inch or two taller than Mr. Delaware with dark brown hair and pale skin with blue eyes. He looks very energetic and bubbly with a wide grin on his face. There was something in me that felt like I had seen him before, but I realized that I must have seen him on the internet when looking for managers.

"Lily, good to see you," Mr. Delaware greets me flatly.

"Good to see you too," I start and look back over to my new manager. "Would you like to come in?"

"No, that's quite alright Ms. Young. But I want you to spend the day with your manager. Lileona, this is Derrick Miles."

"Hey there," Derrick greets and I smile and wave back to him, but my "hi" gets caught in my throat.

"You two talk about terms and all that, and I'll see you sometime soon."

"Alright, bye Mr. Delaware." And like that, the old man is gone.

I hold the door open for Derrick to come in, and he immediately greets Marcus.

"Marcus! How's it been?" Derrick asks him.

"It's been great, how about you?"

"Same! I haven't seen you in like a month." Derrick suddenly sounds like a twenty-one-year-old, but I can tell he's much older than that.

"You guys know each other?" I ask.

"Oh yeah, I'm always the manager for the upcoming star that lives in this apartment with Marcus. We see each other all the time when new clients come in, and there's always a short separation between clients. We've grown close over time," Derrick explains. He seems much fonder of Marcus than me already.

"Oh, I see," I say and walk over to the kitchen to pour some tea into a mug. "Any drinks?"

"No, I'm good, thank you though." Derrick smiles warmly at me. I feel good about this guy. "But I have a feeling that you'll be around for a while, considering that you have one of the best voices out there."