Fangirls

Part five

Anthony called earlier in the morning telling me I had to go and get Makayla from his sister, that he'd been called into work for an emergency and had no choice but to leave her with Grace. Grace and I didn't get along once I moved out. She swore up and down that her brother could have that baby all to himself and that I didn't need to be in the picture at all, but despite Anthony and I's differences, we both agreed that breaking our daughter away from one of her parents was outrageous and totally uncalled for, so no matter what she whispered in his ear, he never gave in. I change from my uniform into my floral printed ripped skinny jeans, black tank top, and low ankle heel boots. My phone buzzes in my hand as I make my way to the car and I find myself praying it's Anthony saying he'll be bringing me Makayla, but it's Alice.
'Out with Shannon, I'll text you when I'm on my way back, let me know when you're home.'
'Okay, I'm leaving work now.' I respond before sighing. I was not looking forward to this hour drive by myself.
"Don't look so down in the dumps princess." I look up when I hear the sound of his voice.
"Jared, what are you doing here?" I ask adjusting my purse on my shoulder looking at Jared leaning against my car.
"Comeing to keep you company since my brother's run off with Alice, and is using my house to do so."
"Why is he using your house?"
"Who the hell knows." He shrugs. "So how long of a drive do we have?"
"I have an hour drive."
"No, no, we." He smirks at me moving to the passenger side. Sighing I don't object, wanting his company, through I'd never admit it to him. The drive is pretty quiet until we're almost there.
"I'm just gonna hop out and grab her, so you can stay in the car, I won't be long."
"Okay." He says looking out the windshield. "Is Anthony going to be here?"
"No, he's working, it's going to be Grace who's here."
"Okay." He nods when I pull into the driveway of the gray blue house with a white front door. I don't bother turning off the car before I get out.
"I'll be right back." I tell Jared before closing my door headed for the front door. I knock loudly so she can hear me if she's upstairs.
"Sh!" She hisses yanking open the door.
"Excuse me?"
"Makayla is a sleep, do you want to wake her?" She snarls.
"Yeah, actually I do. Where is she?" I ask trying to step past her and into the house, but she blocks my path.
"She's fine where she is. Come and get her tomorrow morning."
"Or I can take her right now." I snap. "You can't keep me from my daughter Grace, she isn't yours."
"Oh trust me, if she was she wouldn't be allowed to see you."
"Yes, you've made that clear now give me my daughter."
"What's going on?" I turn to look at Anthony as he comes up the path.
"She threatened me Anthony." Grace snaps being dramatic making Anthony chuckle.
"I know Alisha, if she threatened you, one she'd have good reason too, and two she would've already done it. Give her Makayla Grace."
"She's sleeping, I'm not going to wake her up." She snaps.
"Well move and Alisha will wake her up. You can go now, thanks for watching her." He pulls his sister from his house making her huff and roll her eyes.
"You're making a huge mistake Anthony." She says walking toward her car. Anthony's hazel eyes lock on me once we've watched her go, his strawberry blonde hair pushed back out of his face like he's combed his hair through it one to many times.
"God she's such a pain in the ass. Come on, let's go get Makayla." He motions for me to step inside so I do headed right for her room up stairs where she sleeps soundly. "How much time do you have?" He asks looking down at her.
"Not much, I have someone in the car."
"How is Alice?"
"It's not Alice, but she's good. She's really changed her ways, I think she's found a keeper."
"That's good." He says slowly before looking up at me. "It's nice to see you Alisha."
"Yeah." I give him a small smile before reaching for Makayla, but he grabs my hand pulling me into him, his lips crashing against mine. I pull back, gasping slightly but his hot gaze locks me into those hazel eyes. He was my first love and he always will be. He slowly comes back to kiss me again, but I step back. "I-I can't."
"Right. I'm sorry." He backs away from me. "Is he your boyfriend?"
"I-I don't really know what we are." I answer honestly as I gently lift Makayla from her crib making her fuss gently. "Sh, it's okay honey." She lazily opens her eyes before she yawns and leans her head on my shoulder. "Thanks Anthony."
"No, thank you for coming out. I'm sorry you had to drive out here."
"It's fine." I wrap a blanket around her so she's not cold. "Remind me this is yours."
"Yeah." Silently we make our way back to the front door.
"Have a good night Anthony."
"Yeah, you too Alisha. Bye beautiful." He kisses Makayla making her fuss before flashing me a smile watching me walk back to the car. Jared gets out to open the back passenger door so I can put Makayla in her seat.
"Everything go okay?"
"Better than usual." I say setting Makayla in her seat making her fuss again. "I know baby girl, we're leaving." I say trying to buckle her, but she won't sit still, now fully crying. "I know you hate the seat." I sigh trying to force her into the seat, when Jared comes in on the other side.
"Hi princess." He smiles at her, brushing his hand over her cheek to wipe away her tears, making her look at him. "Hi cutie." He keeps talking to her as he tries to get her strapped in on the other side. Once she's in he smiles at her again, handing her a binky. "There, all better." He rubs her head before looking up at me.
"What the hell was that?" I ask mesmerized.
"What?"
"You calmed down my daughter when I couldn't." He just shrugs.
"Want me to drive?"
"No, it's fine I'll drive." I deny shaking my head.
"Do you mind if I stay back here with her?"
"No, please, feel free." I say almost sarcastically.
"Are you okay?"
"No!" I finally snap, pulling the car over so I can look at him. "I'm not okay. You just come into my life and you're perfect and just you and you're good with my kid, better than I am with her, and you're nice and blunt and just... I can't stand it!" I snap making Makayla's eyes flutter. Signing I turn back around. "Before you came along if Anthony ever made a move on me like he did tonight I would've taken the chance."
"What, he hit on you?" He growls.
"He kissed me." I say looking at him over my shoulder again before shaking my head. "You can't stay."
"What?"
"You can't stay in our lives Jared, you're just going to leave."
"Alisha, no I'm-"
"Enough." I snap again. "Jared, you can't stay. I can't keep feeling like this. I was perfectly fine, all by myself." We don't say anything else to one another, leaving the ride him tense and more than a little awkward. When I pull into the parking lot of the apartment I look back at Jared through the rearview mirror, his eyes cast out the window like they have been the whole ride, his hand in Makayla's seat, her hand wrapped around his finger. "I'm not just thinking about myself." I mutter making his head snap up to look at me. "I'm thinking about Makayla too, we're better off staying detached." I get out and go to the passenger side, unstrapping Makayla and taking her out.
"You can't push me away Alisha."
"Yes I can. I'm trying to make the right call for my daughter, we can't get attached, she's already too attached to you." I take out my house key, since I haven't heard from Alice.
"Alisha, please-"
"Go home Jay." I say closing the door before he can come with us. I lay Makayla in her crib before sitting on the edge of my bed. "It's for the best." I sigh throwing myself down on my bed. How could I let this happen? How could I let this larger than life, out of my reach, person take over our lives? He's so far out of my reach I can't even fantasize about us being together. I'm nothing more than a charity case to him anyway, in a few day's he'll forget all about us. I turn over grabbing pajamas out of a dresser beside my bed and force myself to go to sleep, but I'm woke up by the sound of Makayla crying.