Wife for Hire

Chapter 9

(Jason)

I had no idea where I wanted to go, so I told the driver to just drive until my head cleared again. Originally I was angry at my father for bringing Emily there in the first place, but then I was angry at Emily for talking about Karmen like she wasn't worth my time. I didn't know much about Karmen, but watching her interact with Derek, and even the people at the diner that first night we met, I could tell she was a kind person. I agreed with Derek when he mentioned that she was someone who needed the money, not just someone who was doing it as a get rich quick thing. I had no idea how to get rid of the anger that I was feeling.

"Take me to Hot Hands." I said to my driver. He looked back at me in the mirror and nodded, before turning around and going in the opposite direction. At least that was one thing me and my father shared, when angry we need to physically get rid of it.

(Karmen)

I parked the car outside and went into the house, kicking off my shoes and breathing in fresh relief as I realized that I had paid Marcus back a bit more of my debt. I was excited to see myself get closer and closer to my end goal, which was; my mom in a better facility and Marcus paid back, interest in all. I hung my purse on the little stand next to the door and propped my shoes up in a more neat pile and then began to head upstairs to my room. There was the sound of a voice at the bottom of the stairs and when I turned around I saw that Derek was there. I smiled brightly at him, my happy mood hopefully spreading to him, then I remembered I was supposed to meet him at 12, It was 1:30. I quickly made my way back down the steps.

"Derek, I am so sorry! I lost track of time." The smile he gave me, made me stop dead in my tracks. Before, any smile Derek gave me was warm and friendly, while this smile mimicked the one he usually gave me, it was filled with ice and irritation.

"It's okay Karmen, I'm sure you have a reasonable enough excuse as to why you were late." I did not have a reasonable excuse as to why I was late. After meeting with Marcus, I needed time to clear my mind before entering Jason's world again and so I drove around for a while, completely forgetting about Derek and what we needed to do today.

"I-I was meeting a friend." I said, I sounded like a child that had broken her mother's favorite vase and was trying to explain that it was an accident and Derek, well, I had thought that his smile couldn't get any deadlier, I was wrong.

"Since your friend was more important than me helping you, I guess I didn't have to cancel and reschedule all of my meetings for later this week. I'll just let you figure this all out on your own." He turned and went over to the coat rack and grabbed his suit jacket. I ran up behind him and grabbed his arm.

"Derek, I really am sorry. It wasn't intentional at all. I just lost track of time. It won't ever happen again." Derek looked me over and then nodded, before putting his jacket back.

"As long as you keep that promise, now if you'll follow me into the kitchen. We were supposed to go shopping, but the person that was going to assist us couldn't wait as long." He said. I let out a breath of relief as we walked into the kitchen.

In the kitchen Lucinda was setting out plates on the table, when she was done, she went back over to the stove and began fussing over whatever it was she was cooking. Derek and I walked over to the table and I took in the layout of the plates and forks. It was like one of those fancy dinner set ups, like the one in Pretty Woman. I for the most part, knew just as much as Vivian when it came to what the different forks were used for.

"Today, I'll be teaching you about plate settings and table etiquette." Derek said. I looked between him and the plates.

"Are you saying that I have rude table manners?" I asked. He managed to crack a smile and shook his head.