First Of It's Kind

18

(Tayla's POV)

Christmas morning, my dear brother had a company party. He invited his employees and some investors that were interested in what the company stood for. A lot of which had seen the news or had Wifi. A few more or less hinted interest in me, but I let them down softly. Some of these men were old enough to be my father. Which speaking of Father, mine came to the party. Garrison Nelson was the middle child of three. He fought to be noticed by his father, who was just as cold-blooded when it came to money.

"Step on who you need to step on to get where you want to." was his father's motto. Like Jett and I. Our father and mother were more or less arranged to marry. Old money with new money. Mom's family never made it too far. They were killed in an attack while on a trip in Mexico.

Once we started to come into the picture. Dad was never present, with the excuse there was work to be done. I guess I got that from him. Even in my heart ache I was keeping myself busy to numb the feeling. Unlike him though, I never replaced my love with someone to just warm my bed.

I looked around but then realized Roman hadn't mentioned Odette once, since I came back. I looked for my brother and pulled him to the side.

"I hate to be a pain, big brother, but where is our father's beloved bed warmer?"

Roman looked at me puzzled.

"I didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Odette, ditched Dad a few days after his crisis. I thought you knew."

"I didn't. But then have you heard from Arya?"

Roman rolled his eyes. He never cared for Arya, to him she was as bad as her mother.

"No, not after everything."

My thoughts started to spin.

"Wasn't Arya in the hospital with me?"

Roman took a sip of his drink, but shook his head.

"No, she was never in the hospital at all, we only ever saw you."

My insides twisted uncomfortably. Something wasn't right.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing that can't be talked about later." I said, shaking my head and faking a smile.

"You sure..."

"Will you stop talking and get back out there with our guests!" We both turned to see our father, coming over to us, apparently agitated.

"Whatever." I said and walked past him. I was so lost in thought, I ran right into someone. Spilling my drink all over him.

"Are you okay?" he asked in a deep voice. I looked up at him and was stunned into silence.

"Yeah...I'm..." I stammered but fell short. I looked at him and I felt as if I'd seen him before. His eyes were a very light brown, almost honey color. He took tall, dark, and handsome to a whole new level.

"I'm glad." He said with a small smile, and again that feeling like I knew him, hit me.

"I'm sorry, I didn't get your name?"

"I didn't give it, sweet heart." He wasn't flirting with me, he was using it as an endearment, which was weird.

"Okay, so what..."

"Tayla!" I turned to look behind me and saw Fay and, to my surprise, Maia and Darcy coming with her. I turned to excuse myself from the guy, but he was gone. I stood a little confused, but then felt Darcy slam into my legs.

"Hey, you long time no see!" I said, picking her up and giving her a hug.

"Tayla, I saw your pictures, you looked like a snow princess!" Darcy's voice carried loudly, I walked her over to where Fay and Maia were.

"Why don't we come in here? For a minute that way I can hear you guys better."

"But you can hear me just fine. You're a were...."

"Yeah, but my dad doesn't like it when we're loud." I cut across Darcy, and Maia looked worriedly around.

We walked in and sat down in the sitting room. Darcy sat next to me, as Fay and Maia took their seats too.

"So what brings you two out? How did you...Logan."

"You know the man, as well as we all do."

"You're Logan Armstrong's..."

" Sister- in-law." I finished, but looked down at Darcy.

"Tay, when are you coming back? Uncle Logan misses you, and now he brought Bri back."

I looked up at Maia, who nodded.

"Well, I'm not sure."

"Please Tay. I don't like Bri. She's so mean to me and hates playing."

"I can't promise anything right now, honey, but I'll try and come visit one of these days, okay."

"Okay," she said.

"Fay, could you take, Darcy to get a treat. Roman really brought the best pasties in the city."

"Sure, want to go get a pastry with me Darcy?"

"Yay!" Darcy jumped up and followed Fay.

Once they were gone, I turned to Maia.

"How have you been, Maia?"

"It was good, until the drama queen decided to come back."

"So she's living there with Logan?"

"I'm not sure. I mean she just decided to move in, but not with him. He stays as far from her as he can."

"That can't be good for the baby."

"It isn't but she brought this upon herself. Anyway, I came tonight because Darcy, saw you on T.V and along with the girls. They wanted to send a few gifts."

I had sent them something, fortunately David was able to meet me without too much trouble.

"Okay." I said and Maia handed me three gift bags, and pointed to a box on the coffee table.

"This one is from Logan." she pointed to the big box.

I got up and looked at the lid. It was for sure a dress, it had a boutique logo on it.

"Thank you."

"Not a problem, he hopes you can wear this for your next shoot or for an important event."

"We'll have to see," I said, now curious to see what was in the box.

"How have things been with your family?"

"We literally just picked up where we left off. Dad still thinks he can control me, but he doesn't talk to me."

"What about your brother?"

"He's more chill, we talk every chance we have."

"That's cool. Your dad offered me a job, once, but I didn't take it."

"He did?"

"Yeah, I was still working on my thesis."

I stared at Maia, she couldn't be that much older than me, could she?

"What made you not accept?"

She gave me a sad look but then smiled.

"I just didn't feel ready to take on the responsibility he was giving me."

I nodded, because that was just like Dad. He loved dropping crap into your lap, and expected you to figure it out without his help.

"Anyway, I should go get Darcy and head home. Walker's probably wondering where we are."

"Okay, thank you again for the gifts."

Maia gave me a hug, and I her. I followed her out of the room, Fay and Darcy came toward us. Darcy was eating a triple chocolate brownie.

"Did you like the treats?" I asked. Darcy nodded, her little face covered in chocolate. Maia and I chuckled. I gave Darcy a hug, and they headed out.

"I like them." said Fay as we watched the car drive off.

"I do too." I said, missing my new friends, and the old ache of what could've been.

"Let's get back to the party."

"Sure." I said, letting Fay drag me back into the crowd.

After the party, I sat down with Roman and Fay. Dad had been taken back to the home he had to stay at. He might act all there but he really wasn't.

"Hey, Roman, Dad wasn't an only child. Where are the other two?"

"Dead. The youngest got in with the wrong people and was shot when he was in his teens. The oldest was in as car crash, just after I was born."

"Mom was an only child?"

"Yup."

"So we wouldn't have cousins or anything like that out there?"

"Nope sorry." he said, looking at me, "Why?"

"No..it's just I ran into a guy today, and it felt as if I'd seen him before."

"Like someone we grew up with?"

"Yeah, like how I knew who Fay was when I saw her."

"Huh, that's weird."

"It really is."

We sat there for a moment, but we ended up saying good night and headed up to bed. I laid in my bed, wondering who that guy could possibly be. I laid there for a bit when my phone pinged. I looked at it and it was an unknown number. It was a text.

"You awake?"

I looked at it for a moment, then texted back.

"Yeah."

"Did you like my gift?"

It was Logan.

"I haven't opened it yet, but thank you. I really don't think Brielle will be happy with you sending me gifts."

"I can't wait to see you in it."

That text had me warming up.

"It better not be lingerie."

" There would have to be more than one set to fit in that box, but maybe it could be, you never know."

"Logan!" I texted back, he sent me a winking face and two hearts. This man was driving me crazy.

"Good night Baby doll." was his next text and I felt sad that he was saying good-bye so quickly. I text back.

"Good night." then fell into an uneasy sleep.

The next morning was Christmas morning. We had breakfast, then went to the living room for presents. I noticed that Dad didn't even bother to show up. I enjoyed the morning with my brother and my friend. I then noticed something on the tree. It was a small box.

"Hey, what's this?" I said, getting up and getting the box from the tree. It had Fay's name on it. I looked at my brother, then at Fay. She had stopped breathing, and a feeling of tension started to fill the air.

"Fay, I know I've been making you wait, but I want you to know that I've always loved you. Would you do me the honor of being my wife?" Roman got down on one knee, in front of Fay. Fay was in tears.

"Oh, Babe...yes, of course." she answered with a big watery smile. Roman placed the ring on her finger, and they kissed.

I snuck out, giving them a moment to themselves. I turned to the gifts the girls brought me. Ivy, sent me what I guess was a GPS tracker. It looked like a key chain. I put it in my purse. Eva, sent me a beautiful scarf. Darcy's a snow globe with a princess ice skater in it. The corners of my eyes pricked as tears threatened to come. This reminded me of when we went ice skating with Logan on the lake.

Then I turned to the last present. The big box from Logan. I carefully put the globe down, and went over to the box. Then carefully lifted the lid, the dress was sky blue in color. It reminded me of his eyes. I guess that was the point. From the looks of it, it was off the shoulder, long and with a split. How had he guessed my size was beyond me, but it was going to hug my body.

The note read:

I hope you like it. I can't wait to see you in it. L

I smiled as I pulled out the dress. It was going to be long but that was the beauty of it and now I was excited to wear it. I felt like a home wreaker, but at the same time, what if Fay was right and Logan wasn't the Dad of Brielle's baby? One could only hope.

I sat down after putting the dress back into the box, then grabbed my phone, and texted him.

"The dress was amazing, thank you."

He didn't answer until later in the afternoon.

"Darcy is at the hospital."

My insides dropped as my thoughts went back to the night we were attacked. How Maia and Darcy were threatened. Had those bastards been true to their threat? I quickly got dressed and ran out the door.