Ghost City

27

"You've been ghosting me for six weeks now," Mother said as I closed my car door. "I was beginning to worry that you'd be backing out of the project."

I shook my head, "Sorry, a lot's been on my mind lately."

"Care to share?" she asked, and I sighed. "...Sagacity."

"Yeah," I admitted. "I don't wanna talk about it though."

"As long as you keep you're head in the game," she nodded. "What's going on with the project?"

I answered, "Well, Nickolas doesn't trust me. He thinks the kidnapping was fake- that I just ran away. I don't think we should meet up after this. Who knows if he has people spying on us."

"Agree," she nodded. "We can't risk blowing this. We need to get him to trust you."

"That's a closed door, mom. Plus, we got into a really bad argument on Christmas. I think it's time we initiate Plan B. I already got hired for Carson & Company," I informed. Carson & Co. was Nickolas' biggest rival, and I was ready to score them their biggest win ever!

Mother nodded, "You know Nickolas better than I do. If you think there's no hope for you tearing him down from the inside anymore, then I'll be more than happy to move on to our second plan."

"Good," I smiled. "Connect Four is now in effect." Connect Four was Plan B. We called it that because there were four main plays that would lead to our ultimate score. Plan A was called Trojan Horse. "How have you been differently though?"

She sighed, "Worried. I can't help but think about the risk of you being caught. Nickolas Carter is a very dangerous man, Damien. I want you to be very careful."

I promised, "I will be...I am being. As long as my cover isn't blown, he won't try to harm me."

She cupped my cheek and said, "Promise you'll come back to the hideout the very instant things go left."

"It won't, mom," I shook my head. "Besides, I don't wanna leave Aurora or Sagacity again. If things start going wrong, I'll find ways to fix them."

"Don't end up like your father now!" she warned. "That family is not to be trusted. I just hope you know what you're doing. You have a child with the Mafia King's daughter, after all. You can't let her status slip your mind, Damien."

I nodded, "I won't." I checked the time on my phone and sighed, "I gotta get to work. I'll keep you posted. Love you."

"Love you too. Be safe!" she said before smooching my cheek and giving me a tight hug. We then got into our separate cars and went our separate ways.

9 hours later
I entered the house and frowned when I saw some lady with Aurora in her hands. "Good night! You must be Damien!" she smiled as she walked over to me. I nodded while taking Aurora from her. "I'm Katy, Aurora's babysitter." Timely, Sagacity exited the kitchen and came into the passageway.

"Is today your first day?" I asked, being that Sagacity had the day off today.

"Tomorrow," Katy shook her head. "I just swung by to get acquainted with Aurora in advance. You both have a lovely daughter."

"Thanks," I said flatly before shifting my focus to Sagacity. "I didn't know we were getting a babysitter."

She shrugged, "We both work."

"Yeah, but I'd at least appreciate it if I were there reviewing candidates," I said. I then turned to Katy. "No offense, Katy. You seem very nice, and I'm appreciative of your service."

Katy worriedly asked, "I'm not getting fired, right?"

"No," I shook my head. "I just wish I got to participate in the selection process. If Aurora likes you, then you're all good."

"Okay," Katy smiled. She then walked to the coat holders and grabbed her coat. "Good night. I'll be sure to pick Aurora up from school tomorrow at 2."

Sagacity nodded, "Great! Safe travel."

"Bye, Katy!" Aurora smiled while waving goodbye.

I gave a simple nod, and once she left, I turned my attention to Sagacity. "You had dinner without me too? Wow."

"I thought you'd be home sooner," she replied as she began to walk off.

"Could've sent a text..." I replied with a blank expression on my face. I then shifted my attention to Aurora and smiled, "How was your day, Princess?"

She shrugged, "Regular, only I got to meet Katy today. She's really nice."

"That's good," I smiled, happy to know that Aurora liked her so far. "How was school?"

"It was okay," she answered.

"What did you learn about?" I asked as I walked to the kitchen to see if there were at least any food left in the pots.

She replied, "We read a book about a cat named Pete, and then we drew a picture of Pete and his friends. Then we did some math, and after that, we started making art from popsicle sticks."

I entered the kitchen only to find Sagacity putting away the pots and dishes. "What did you make?" I asked to keep myself from arguing with Sagacity in front of Aurora.

"A boat. It's in my book bag. Wanna see?" Aurora eagerly smiled, and I nodded while putting her down.

"I'll come up to your room to see it in a bit, okay?" I promised, and she nodded with a big smile on her face before she skipped off and began climbing the stairs. "Be careful!" I warned.

"Okay!" she replied, and I heard her footsteps slow down.

I then walked to Sagacity and, in a whisper, questioned, "So now I don't get dinner either? What the fuck is up with you?!"

"Didn't make enough, it seems," she shrugged, pissing me off even more. It wasn't just the fact that she didn't make dinner for me too, even though I was actually really hungry tonight, but rather that she was doing a bunch of petty shit for no reason.

"Are you still mad over what went down on our trip?" I asked.

She looked up at me and asked, "Whatever makes you think that?"

"You're deadass annoying, real talk," I said while fixing myself a bowl of cereal, being that I didn't feel like cooking tonight.

"Well, it's not like we're ever getting married so I don't really care," she said as she put the final dish away.

I mumbled under my breath, "Keep acting like that and we might not for real." However, her ears wanted to be fast today.

"Keep talking like that and I'll abort our next child for real," she threatened.

"When you did you take the test?" I asked.

"Three days ago."

"And you're now telling me this?"

"Haven't decided whether I wanna keep it yet."

"Don't you think this is something I would've wanted to know?"

"Does it look like I care, Damien?" she asked while rolling her eyes. I could feel my blood boiling, but I chose to remain calm. She was on a mission tonight. Pissed wasn't even the word.

Not wanting to have an outburst, I just simply brought my bowl of cereal upstairs with me and to Aurora's room so that I could eat while engaging in more conversation with her.

I knew if I had replied to Sagacity, I would've probably said something fucked up down the line. She would have definitely gone to bed with her feelings hurt for talking to me like that. Disrespect was something I didn't take lightly, but I decided not to comment on it tonight for Aurora's sake. I knew, however, that if this were to become a trend, Sagacity would definitely meet the worse side of me.