Part Ninety-Three

I woke up the following morning in a strange room and my head was pounding like a drum inside my skull. A mass of blonde hair was in my face, over my chest and a leg was thrown across mine and my arm felt half dead. I moved my hand and felt her naked skin under my hand.

“Shit,” I muttered.

“What time is it?” the woman asked, her eyes still closed.

I had never gotten her name the previous night and I couldn’t remember how we had ended up here. She had handed me a towel to dry off and then proceeded to ignore me for the rest of the night.

“Early,” I said as she sat upright.

She didn’t hide her nudity and I was staring at her breasts like a damn teenager seeing them for the first time. She laughed as she caught me looking.

“You did that last night too,” she said.

“I’m sorry but I don’t remember your name,” I said and averted my eyes.

“Katiya, and don’t be sorry, I never gave it to you,” she said.

“Should I feel used?” I asked her and she laughed again as she climbed out of the bed and started getting dressed.

“Maybe,” she said as I stood up and pulled on my jeans.

“Fine, I feel used then.”

“I need to go,” she said as she turned to face me again.

“Are you going to give me your number?” I asked her.

“Sorry, no, I don’t date hockey players,” she said.

“Now I really feel used,” I said.

“You weren’t complaining last night, you agreed to just have fun, I’m too young to settle, besides I have to report for my new job,” she said.

“On a Saturday?”

“Yes, apparently my new boss is too busy during the week and I don’t want to piss him off on the first day, take care Kage,” she said and left the room.

I started to laugh, it was the first time I had been left like this, not that I had slept around a lot but suddenly I wanted her number. I liked how she wasn’t shy about her body and how straight forward she had been. It had been a first.

I didn’t see Katiya as I left Justin’s family estate and drove home after I sent him a text thanking him for the party. Back at my condo I took a hot shower and thought back to the conversation I had with Natasia about a week earlier.

I picked Kalen up from Endri and Luke and drove towards Kensington. In front of the apartment building I took a deep breath as I took Kalen from her baby seat and grabbed her baby bag. I rang the doorbell of the apartment and waited.

Her eyes were dull and her hair was a mess. She was pale and I could see that she had lost a lot of weight. She looked sickly and I hated myself at that moment. She started crying when she saw Kalen in my arms.

“I thought we could talk about stuff,” I said.

She didn’t speak and she just nodded as she opened the front door and let me walk inside. Her apartment was neat and tidy, even though she was a mess, her place wasn’t.

“Do you want to hold her?” I asked Madison.

“Yes please,” she whispered.

Her face changed the moment she held Kalen in her arms and I felt like an asshole. I had been angry and then lashed out and punished her in an unforgivable manner. I had taken her child away from her because I had been hurt.

“Thank you,” she said as she looked at me and I looked away.

“I’m sorry, Madison, what I did was so wrong. I wanted to hurt you but by doing this I’ll hurt Kalen too, you’re her mother and she’s going to need you too,” I said.

“I’m so sorry about everything,” she said through her tears.

“We’re both adults and I’d like to work things out, for Kalen,” I said.

“I’d like that so much,” she said.

“You need to start looking after yourself,” I said and she nodded.

“I promise,” she said.

“Why didn’t you tell me, Madison?” I asked her as I sat down.

“Because I wasn’t sure that he was yours,” she said softly.

“What?” I asked her and she looked down again.

“I wrote your name and then drew a line through it because I just wasn’t sure,” she said.

“Who?” I asked her.

“Neither of us meant for it to happen, we had had a fight and he was at my house, I don’t even remember why he was there and the next moment we were kissing and it just happened,” she said.

“Who?” I asked her again.

“Sloan,” she whispered.

“Shit,” I said as I stared at her. “That almost makes it worse, Madison.”

“I know,” she said and looked down again.

We were both silent for a long time and I gave Madison the baby bag when Kalen started complaining for a bottle. She looked so content and happy with Kalen in her arms and I knew that I couldn’t keep them apart.

“Clean slate okay, can we start with one day a week that I’ll bring Kalen to you and pick her up again the next day?” I asked her.

“I’d never say no to having her with me,” she said.

“I just want to do right by her,” I said.

“I’m sorry I hurt you, Kage,” she said.

“I hurt you too,” I said.

I left with Kalen an hour later and an agreement that I would drop Kalen off on Saturday afternoon and pick her up again on Sunday afternoon. It was a start in the right direction and she had cried again as she kissed Kalen goodbye.

I felt better about everything as I drove away from her apartment and back to mine. Endri and Luke were there when I arrived and Luke immediately grabbed Kalen.

“The new nanny will be here within the hour. She’s been vetted by the agency, back-ground check, no criminal record and we’ve also met with her. I think you’ll like her, she’s very straight-forward and she has amazing references,” Luke said.

“That’s good, this is our last chance. This one just has to be the right one,” I said.

“Nobody’s perfect, Kage, just remember that part as well.”

“I know,” I said as the doorbell rang.

“That’s probably her,” Endri said and remained sitting.

I stood up to answer the front door and my breath caught in my throat as I looked at her. I could still picture her naked because I had seen her naked just a few hours ago and my mind couldn’t figure out what she was doing here.