ROMANCE: THE SHEIKH'S GAMES: A Sheikh Romance (26 page)

They were on their way to her sister’s house. It was her nephew’s sixth birthday. All of her family was going to be there, and the last thing she wanted was for them to see Miles like this. They never approved of him in the first place, but to see him drunk this early in the day, the hell that she was going to get for it…

Saundra wasn’t sure she could take it. She was already filled with anxiety about life as it was. Now she was in a near panic about how the day was going to go.

“I’m not going to lie,” she said, her emotions getting the better of her, “I really wish you’d stayed home.”

“I’m not going to miss Jimmy’s birthday. I’m fine, I promise.”

“You’re not fine! You reek and you’re obviously drunk. How am I going to explain it?”

“Don’t explain anything. I’m not your problem. We’re going for your nephew, so maybe just stay focused on that and not how I’m going to embarrass you. I’m sorry I’m such a disappointment, but this is the best I got, okay?”

“You look like trash. You haven’t shaved in days, and I’m positive I’ve seen you in those pants for the last three days now.”

“Keep talking. I’m going to be thinking real hard about what you’re saying, so when I don’t respond, it’s not because I’m ignoring you, it’s just because I know you’re so right that I’m dumbed to silence.”

Saundra rolled her eyes and snarled. This was going to be a nightmare.

After pulling up to the house, purple, blue and green balloons and streamers lined the front of the house, three balloons tied to the mailbox.

Saundra got out of the car, opening the door to the back seat to pull out Jimmy’s birthday present. When she looked back, Miles was walking up the drive. She paused to watch each step he took. He wasn’t exactly steady, but he wasn’t wobbling like crazy either. They may be able to get through the day.

Miles waited at the door for her, but didn’t look at her as she walked up the drive.

“Ready?” she asked him. He just gave a smirk and opened the door.

When they came in through the door, a group of people chatting by the door greeted them cheerfully. After a few hugs, Saundra went over to the table stacked with all the other gifts. Miles followed along behind her, uncomfortable but determined to put a smile on his face. She appreciated that he was at least making the effort, but all she could think was that it would have been so much easier if he’d just stayed home.

“What’s the theme of this party? Diarrhea?”

“Miles!” Saundra whispered harshly.

“I’m sorry, but look at the colors. The kid’s six. There should be superheroes or dinosaurs or something.”

“Maybe these are his favorite colors,” she tried, but even as she said it she knew that wasn’t true. He loved the color red.

“You made it,” her sister cried out from the kitchen and came over for a hug. Mom and Dad followed over, giving her hugs and stiff handshakes to Miles.

Fortunately Miles was polite, keeping that plastic smile on his face. She knew how he felt about her family. In all fairness it was in direct response to how they felt about him. Miles had a good heart, but he didn’t do well when people disrespected him. After their first meeting and the grilling her parents gave him, it’d been bad blood ever since. Now the best they could do was smile and get through the uncomfortable moments they had to be in the same room together, but they did it for her sake.

“Everything looks great,” Saundra said to her sister.

“Oh thank you. Yeah, don’t you love the way the colors really bring out the wallpaper?”

“I had no idea Jimmy was so into interior decorating,” Miles said and smiled to everyone. “If you’ll excuse me.”

The smile faded just a bit from her sister’s mouth. It didn’t disappear entirely, but more shifted from genuine excitement to polite manners. “I have to check on the cake,” her sister said, giving her a quick peck on the cheek before leaving.

“I see Miles is as pleasant as ever,” Mom said, giving him one last glance as he made his way out to the backyard where all of the kids were playing.

“Mom, be nice. He’s here for Jimmy. You know how he loves him.”

“We should all be so lucky,” Mom said, then turned on a bright smile. “You know, Nancy’s son is in from town and—“

“Goodbye, Mom,” Saundra said sharply. Mom sighed and put up her hands and walked away.

“Pumpkin,” Dad said, “she means well.”

“She does that every time. I really don’t need it right now. I really don’t need it right now.”

Dad’s entire countenance shifted to one of concern. Now and forever, the way he loved her made her feel so warm and secure. She would always be a daddy’s girl. “What’s the matter? Things not going well?”

She sighed heavily, torn between if it would be right to talk about it or not. The last thing she wanted was to give her family more ammo for not liking Miles, but at the same time, she always felt like she could tell Dad anything.

“I don’t really want to get into it here, but no, not really. Miles lost his job again.”

“Again? Isn’t that like the third one?”

Saundra grimaced. “We went right by third back in May.”

“Oh pumpkin, I’m sorry. What happened?”

Saundra threw up a frustrated hand. “I don’t know. Dad, I really don’t understand. I’ve never met anyone so unlucky with this stuff. He had some guy coming at him, and he had to fight to defend himself and got fired. It was the same thing at the job before that, and the one before that he was sticking up for someone else.”

“Can’t blame the guy for standing up for himself,” Dad said helpfully.

“No, I know, but it doesn’t help when rent is due.”

Dad rubbed her upper arms comfortingly. “Do you need some help, pumpkin? I know you’ve got a lot of pride, and I’m not trying to step on any toes, but the stress of money can really make it difficult to get through things sometimes. I can already tell you and Miles are strained.”

Saundra’s brows pressed together. “You can tell that?”

Dad gave a sad little smile. “You know how I feel about Miles. But, he always made you happy, so I supported you regardless. You’re always all smiles around one another, thick as thieves. Right now it seems like you can’t wait to get away from one another.”

The tears threatened to come fast and loose and she bit her lip to try and control herself. “Things are really hard on us right now. He’s pulling away, daddy, and I don’t know why. I think it’s the job thing, but he won’t talk to me.” She choked out a sob and put the side of her fist against her mouth to try and stifle any more. “He always talks to me.”

Dad made a sympathetic sound in his throat and pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry. I know it can be hard when that happens. It feels like a part of you isn’t there anymore. A leg you’ve always stood on suddenly can’t support your weight and you wonder if you’ll ever be able to walk again.”

How was it he always knew exactly what to say? She clung to her daddy and held him as she let herself cry just a little, just to release some of the pressure.

“Look, I’ll help you for a bit until you guys get on your feet again. You don’t have to tell him it’s from me. I’m not looking to hurt anyone’s pride. Is he looking for another job still?”

Saundra nodded. “His job history is making it hard though.”

“Let me get his number from you before you guys go. I’ll see what I can do at the store. I might be able to get him something.”

Saundra pulled away and looked up into his face. “Do you think you could?”

“I can’t make any promises right now, but let me look into it and see what I can do.”

Saundra sighed, already feeling lighter. “Oh daddy, that would be so helpful. Thank you.”

Dad kissed her on the top of the head and gave her hair a quick ruffle. “Anything for my pumpkin.”

“I’m going to go see what he’s getting into.”

Dad nodded and she went out to the backyard. When she’d first glanced out the windows when they had come in, it had been full of children all running and playing moments before.

Now they were all gathered at the far end of the yard. Miles sat on the edge of the garden box, a beer next to him. Where had he gotten the beer? Her sister rarely had alcohol in the house. Had he actually brought beer with him and she didn’t know about it? The kids surrounded him in a half-circle, all giggling and watching with awe.

“…but it’s not in this hand anymore. It’s on your pocket,” Miles said, pointing to a boy beside him.

The boy quickly checked his pockets and pulled something out of it, though at her distance Saundra couldn’t see what it was. The crowd of small kids were wowed and clapped. Miles took the object back, made a few exaggerated hand motions, then held up both hands wide open and the kids all made sounds of surprise.

“Where did it go?” Miles asked them.

A few of the kids giggled, while those in front all tried to figure out who had it.

Miles pointed to a girl in the back. “She has it, but it’s invisible.”

The girl in the back, who Saundra could tell was the quiet type, gasped.

“Reach into your pocket and show everyone.”

The little girl reached into the front pocket of her overalls and held out an empty hand.

“There, do you see it?” Miles asked them excitedly.

Some of the kids said they didn’t but most played along claiming they could.

“Throw it back to me,” Miles said, clapping his hands and then holding them up.

The little girl, she couldn’t have been more than seven, reared her hand back and threw the invisible thing at him. Miles made a show of diving to catch the object, and then held his open hand for all the kids to see, and they all cheered.

“Nice arm,” Miles praised her, then gave a small toss. She caught the object – Saundra could now see it was a coin, probably a quarter – and grinned at Miles.

“If you guys can find me balloons I can make you some animals,” Miles said.

The kids all hollered excitedly and split off in every direction to find him some balloons. Miles chuckled as he watched them all go and took a drink of his beer.

Jimmy stayed by him, and Miles put an arm around the boy and give him a hug. “Happy birthday, buddy.”

Saundra’s heart filled with such warmth that it pushed out everything else. There was the man she’d fallen in love with. That, right there, was the warm, caring man she knew he could always be. She didn’t know what they were going through, but with a little of her dad’s help, she was sure they could pull through.

Miles lied on the couch, one foot propped up on the arm as he watched TV. Saundra wouldn’t be home from work for a few hours yet, so he was soaking up the silence before heading out to the bar again. She seemed happier ever since the birthday party, and he didn’t want to do anything to mess that up. That meant just avoiding interaction if at all possible until he could figure a way out of all this.

He was glad she was in a better place emotionally, but it made him feel terrible at the same time. Not only was he the one to thrust her into misery, but he also had nothing to do with making her feel better. Always he’d been her comfort, her rock, her safe place. He knew he hadn’t cheered her up because they hadn’t said more than two words to one another since all this started.

It was probably her family that had made her so happy. Good for them. Good for her. They hated him, and probably talked crap behind his back, but whatever. If it cheered her up, good. He wasn’t doing it, so he wasn’t going to get in the way of her being happy.

His cell rang with another unfamiliar number. It wasn’t the same as the child support one. This number was local. Taking a risk that it was from one of the applications he’d turned in, he answered it.

“Hi, Miles? It’s Roger, Saundra’s father. I was wondering if you could come into the office today. I wanted to have a talk with you, man to man.”

It felt like every organ inside of Miles imploded and he sank into the void they left. “Sure,” Miles said, the word barely escaping the strain in his throat. “Be happy to.”

“Great,” Roger said. “See you in an hour?”

“Yep.”

After hanging up, Miles groaned and shoved his face into the couch cushion. What the hell was this all about now? After getting dressed, he hopped onto his bike and rode downtown to the man’s office building. Miles couldn’t remember exactly what it was her dad did, but he knew he worked for one of the high-end department stores. Miles was pretty sure he was a manager or CEO or something.

The rumble of his bike’s engine echoed in the parking structure as he climbed the levels slowly. Parking on the roof level, he kept his helmet under his arm as he walked through the glass encased walkway linking the parking structure with the department store.

The city hustled and bustled below him, and it gave him a touch of vertigo as he walked along, staring down. All it would take was one little earthquake. The whole thing would snap, and down he’d go. There wasn’t anything to hold onto, nothing nearby he could hope to catch himself on. Just a hundred feet or more of air, and then splat on the street below.

He gave a shudder at the thought of impact and walked a little faster across the bridge to the building. The inside of the office smelled sterile. It was a pristine environment meticulously manufactured, like a terrarium for a lizard or something. Miles was used to the smells of cleaning chemicals, or engine exhaust, or food. Something pungent to remind the employees exactly where it was they were working.

Not here though. It smelled of new carpet and almost fresh pain, and paper. A ton of paper. People in suits and business casual button-ups and khakis walked along the cubicles as they answered phones and delivered manila folders to one another’s desk.

Miles found the elevator and went up the last few floors to the executive level. The smell of sterility was even worse here, only it was far less populated. Two voices chatted quietly around the corner. Other than that, nothing.

Miles walked along the hall to the reception area where a young blonde sat with half a headset.

“Can I help you?” she asked, giving him the eye.

Miles leaned an elbow on her desk. “Hey there. I’m here to see Roger.”

“Rog—“ she said, confused, then her face changed expressions when she realized he was talking about her boss. Obvious she was not on a first name basis with Roger. After talking over the little intercom, she smiled to him. “He’ll see you now, go right in.”