Mr. Bad Influence

Chapter 9 - Part 1

"Good morning!"

Kerri groaned and turned on her side. She shouldn't have stayed over at her parents' place, but she was so tired after her interview and her mother's place was much closer.

"What do you want for breakfast?" her mom asked.

"I want to sleep."

"Your father's home, too. He's making pancakes."

"Why did you ask what I want for breakfast when he's already cooking?" Kerri could feel her mother getting onto the bed with her, but she barely felt the jostling. Thank God for the pocket spring mattress.

"Why are you so grumpy?"

"Because I still want to sleep." She pulled the pillow over her face.

"Gosh, look at your arm. Are you sure you're training for action scenes, or are you just getting beaten up?"

"Mom, please." She wanted to pull her arm away, but she was trying to minimize all movement.

"Let her sleep."

She grinned when she heard her father's voice.

"John, did you see her arms?"

"It's normal. Come on."

Kerri pulled the pillow off her face, in time to see her father pulling her mother off the bed. Thanks, she mouthed and closed her eyes. She wanted to get back to sleep, but she couldn't. She was wide awake already.

So despite wanting to stay in bed all day, she forced her body to get moving and managed to crawl out of bed. After changing and washing up, she trudged down the stairs and headed into the kitchen.

Her father got up the moment he saw her and turned the knob on the induction stove.

"Good morning," her mother said again.

"Good morning."

"Here." Her mother poured her a glass of the red liquid from the carafe on the dining table. "I made this myself."

"What's in it?"

"Beet, pomegranate, chia seeds—"

"Healthy stuff," her father interrupted with a glance over his shoulder.

Kerri nodded and took a sip. "I'm fine," she said when she noticed her mother eyeing her hand. She had several more bruises, which were larger and darker, along her ribs and waist.

"Someone's been busy promoting another person's album."

"His name is Nick, mom. I'm sure you remember that."

Her mother shot her a glare.

"Any publicity is good publicity, isn't it?"

"From someone who wouldn't stop complaining about the reality TV gig I got you."

Kerri looked at her mother. She knew her mother had expected her to be grateful, but she wasn't and never would be—not for the competitive dancing reality show.

"Here." Her father placed the pancakes in front of her.

Three pancakes stacked on top of each other stood in the middle of the plate. The top pancake had a smiley face drawn using chocolate sauce. "Thanks, dad."

"Eat." Her father resumed his position at the dining table. "How's training coming along?"

"Tiring. I haven't been exercising for a long time, and the training is waking up all the muscles."

"Don't train too hard. You won't look nice if you build up too many muscles."

"She'll be fine," her father said and smiled at her. "I think it's good for her."

Kerri thanked God for her father as well. Though her father was as popular as her mother was, he was so much more grounded. Looks-wise, she took after her mother. But character-wise, she definitely took after her father.

"Do you like Nick's new songs?" her father asked before her mother could continue.

She nodded. "Do you want to hear them?"

"No. I'll just get the album when it's out."

She stopped eating and looked up at her father. "Thanks, dad."

"Tell Nick I said hi."

Her mother shot her father a glare.

"That boy has grown up. Pastor Jay said he'd changed."

Kerri thought so, too. She hadn't spent much time with him, but it was enough for her to see the difference. She glanced at her phone when it vibrated.

"Are you seeing him again?" her mother asked when she saw Nick's name on the screen. "Kerri ..." she continued when Kerri didn't reply. "I know he's changed, but I'm still worried."

"Don't worry about me." She finished the last piece of pancake. "Thanks for breakfast and for letting me crash here last night."

She hugged her parents and left while checking the text from Nick. He was asking her about her schedule at the gym and if anyone had changed her training time slots.

So he was suspicious of someone at the gym. She sometimes thought Nick was fighting a battle he couldn't win. He always tried to sift out whoever was leaking information about him to the media so he could cut that person out of his life. Kerri didn't bother, but perhaps that was why she never quite dared to open up to anyone.

She could count the number of real friends—not colleagues, but friends whom she could confide in—she had on one hand, and that included her parents and Pastor Jay.

She replied no, then logged into her Instagram account. She was about to post the photo of the card Nick had sent her when she paused. She wasn't sure if that was a good idea. Nick would understand that she was helping him with his promotion, but Hannah might not be too pleased about it.

Deleting the image, she tapped into the new message from Nick.

Thanks, Kerri. Roland said the interest in my album is soaring.

Kerri smiled. She was her mother's daughter after all. She was about to reply when Nick's name appeared on the screen. "Hey," she said as she answered the call.

"Are you going down to the gym today?"

"Yeah." She had to start the tour for her movie promotion in two weeks, so she would have to train every day until then. "At two."

"Do you want to grab lunch together?"

She arched her brow. Nick wouldn't use her for publicity, so he must think something was up at the gym. "You don't think Scott leaked the news, do you?"

"I don't know, but I don't like the idea of you being alone at the gym. I don't want you going in and out of the gym on your own, either."

She broke into a small smile. "Lunch sounds good."

"I'll pick you up at ... twelve."

"Isn't that kind of early?"

"I didn't think you'd be interested in throwing up on Scott."

True. "All right. I'll see you at twelve."

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