Chapter 8
1355 Words
Chapter 8
Have you lost your damn mind?
Carrington
After speaking to Christine, Mason and Charles paid me a visit, which I wasn’t aware of their impending visit.
*****
Mason
Charles and I arrived in town and stopped at the coffeehouse to buy a coffee. When we reached the counter, it surprised Charles to see the woman.
“Gloria?” Charles asked.
“Hello, Charles.”
“I didn’t realize you worked here.”
“It helps to pay the bills.”
“You both know each other.” I gestured between the two.
“Gloria is Maurice’s wife,” Charles said.
I studied Gloria, wondering how she married one of the Frazier boys. She had a warmth to her, and the Fraziers didn’t.
“What can I get you?” Gloria asked.
“Two black coffees,” Charles replied.
Gloria giggled.
“Is something amusing?” I asked.
Gloria got our coffees. “My friend Carri orders a black coffee when he comes into the coffeehouse, but most customers get cream and sugar in their coffee.”
Gloria’s mention of Carrington’s name alerted Charles and me.
“Would this friend have chestnut brown hair, five foot eleven, and emerald-green eyes?” Charles asked.
Gloria turned to the counter with our coffees. “Yes, he does. Do you know Carri?”
Charles and I gave each other a knowing look.
“Yeah, we know, Carri,” I responded.
“He’s a sweet guy and a great friend. He’ll stop by tonight if you wish to say hi.”
Gloria wasn’t aware Carrington wouldn’t be stopping by after we visited him.
“Sure,” Charles replied.
Gloria grinned, and I paid her. Then we left the coffeehouse.
“It seems little brother has been messing with the wrong damn woman, and it ends today. I refused to embroil this family in another scandal,” I told Charles.
Charles sighed.
We approached the rental home to speak to Carrington about Gloria. It wouldn’t be a pleasant visit, but one we needed to handle with Carri.
I knocked on the door, and Joseph answered it with brows raised.
“Where’s Carri?” I asked.
Charles and I stepped inside and past Joseph.
“Upstairs,” Joseph said.
“Get him. We have a matter to discuss,” I replied.
Joseph knew why I was visiting. It doesn’t take a great genius to understand why I’m here.
*****
Carrington
Joseph got me. I followed him downstairs to discover Mason and Charles. Mason gestured to me, then to the couch. “Sit.”
“Do I look like a hound?”
I earned an irritated look from Mason, rolled my eyes, strode to the couch, and sat down. Christine came down a few minutes later to enjoy the show. My sister has a lot to learn about meddling in people’s business.
Mason undid his overcoat and sat down in a chair. “I hear you’re enjoying company with someone’s wife.”
“Who informed you of that?” I noticed Christine, who smirked. “Never mind, I can guess.” I shot her a glare.
“Carri, this stops now. I refused to have you embroiled in a scandal like our i***t brother.” Mason thumbed at Charles.
Joseph and I glanced at Charles.
“What did you do?” Joseph asked Charles.
“Maggie caught Charles f*****g another female employee in a room at the casino hotel.” Well, Mason outed Charles.
Christine, Joseph, and I gawked at Charles. Charles didn’t respond.
“I won’t allow you to continue with a married woman,” Mason told me.
“We’re friends.”
“You’re not friends, and you don’t stay friends. Your so-called friendship will lead to more, and it ends now.”
I rose. “You can’t tell me what to do, Mason! I’m not fifteen!”
Mason stood up. “Like hell, I can’t! I can, and I will! You might be an adult, but this is unwelcome news! Use your brain!”
“Because our family reputation is more important than me!”
It became heated between Mason and me.
“Carri,” Charles replied.
I peered at Charles.
“Gloria is Maurice Frazier’s wife.”
“What?”
“What?” Someone else asked.
We turned to find Kate standing there, stunned.
“What are you doing here?” Mason asked Kate.
“I called her because we needed a mediator.” Joseph shrugged.
I rolled my eyes.
Kate stepped in. “I notice you all were busy. You with your stupidity.” Kate pointed at Charles.
Charles sighed.
“You with your shady business dealings,” she told Mason.
Mason gave her an annoyed face.
“You with your snitching,” Kate told Christine.
Christine averted her eyes.
“And you with your lack of judgment and hiding Carri’s secret.”
Joseph cringed.
I remained there.
Kate stepped over to me. “And you, who understand better than anyone that married people are off-limits even as friends. Carri, what are you doing?”
“Kate, Gloria is sweet and has no one. We talk and laugh.”
“And she’s wed to someone whose family you despise. Do you think the Fraziers will understand your closeness with Gloria? They will shoot you like a dog and not think twice about it. I understand everyone’s point, but I agree with Mason.”
Kate wasn’t unjust, but I hated giving up my closeness with Gloria.
“That’s it? I can’t believe this!” Christine said.
“You put a sock in it! No one likes snitches. Why would you rat out your brother?” Kate asked Christine.
“Because what Carri is doing is wrong.”
“But that’s none of your concern.” Kate stepped over to her. “We’re family, and we protect each other. We don’t rat them out. One day, you’ll have a child and protect that child as we have protected you.”
Christine frowned at her.
Kate glanced at her unamused. “Never bite the hand that feeds you, Christine. One day, you will need help. And God forbid if anyone turns their back on you.”
Christine failed to realize one detail. While she snitched me out, she would need me later when she found herself in a precarious situation of her own, and it would alter everything between us.
I hated the Fraziers, but I cherished Gloria and fell in love with her. I didn’t wish to turn my back on her.
“Don’t I have a say in my life? I meet someone interesting, sweet, fun, and has no one, and you come in here ordering me to stop seeing her. I’m not Charles!”
Charles furrowed his brows and peered at me with annoyance.
I ambled over to Charles. “Maggie is a good person, and you’re lucky she’s allowing you to stay. You might be older, but you’re an idiot.”
“Carri, be careful. Your mouth will bring you trouble.”
“Big brother, I learned a long time ago that you beat me to the punch.”
Charles scowled at me.
“Enough, Carri!” Mason walked towards me and stared me in the eyes. “You may assume this is about the family reputation. But it goes deeper than a reputation. A scandal will destroy you in a heartbeat. People will use your faults against you, and no one will trust you. It isn’t about the family. What if you pursue this relationship, and it doesn’t work out? Do you think a woman will tolerate a man who cheated with a married woman?”
My siblings weren’t irrational, but my heart was leading me in a different direction. We can’t help who we fall for, whether it’s good or bad.
“Fine.” I strode past my siblings and ran upstairs.
Even though I agreed with my siblings, my heart wouldn’t listen. It would lead me into a situation, proving Mason correct, resulting in a greater love I never imagined.
Sometimes, love isn’t romantic but a different love that shows us what’s important.
- Writer
