Chapter 16: What is Happening
Much to my surprise, I ended up nodding off next to little Lea. I checked my watch to see only about an hour had passed and I briefly stretched my legs to prepare myself for the fun day ahead. Lea was still asleep, her cheeks rosier than ever. It felt a bit odd waking her because rarely had I ever seen someone look so at peace, and doing so would only disrupt that image. Nevertheless, I slowly approached her and placed my hand on her chest.
“Lea, you awake sweety?” I whispered while gently shaking her with my palm. Her eyes began to open as she released a huge yawn.
“You ready for a fun day out?” I told her, smiling. Her reply was a sleepy nod but soon fully awakened once my hand started tickling her tummy. She spun and squealed, but to no avail as I took her once again into my arms. Finally settling down, we turned to look at one another. A calm pace of footsteps was approaching the two of us and I turned to see the doorway. I knew it was Amber, but what I did not anticipate came as I began to look away. A tiny, squeaky voice rung in my ears as I my face turned for the entrance.
“Dah-dee!” It squealed.
My face spun back almost immediately after and I looked to find the culprit of the sound.
My line of sight came across Lea, who was still looking back at me with a wide grin.
“Did you jus…?” My question came too late since no more than a moment after I heard a door open behind me.
“Marsh, you there?” A light knock followed.
“Uh?” I muttered as I continued staring at Lea.
“Hey, you guys read… Are you okay?” Amber asked as she slowly made her way back into the room.
“Huh? Oh yeah, I’m fine. It’s just… I don’t know…” I replied, still in shock.
“Oh alright; I came in a little while ago and saw you two sleeping. Just didn’t have it in me to disturb you guys’ little nap.” She said, chuckling.
“Don’t worry about it.” A long yawn enveloped me. My hands covered my mouth as I continued thinking about what Lea had just said. “Did she actually say ‘Daddy’? Maybe it was just more of her giggling baby talk…” I rubbed my face in frustration. I decided to just let this sudden surprise go and focus on the next task ahead.
“Alright.” I started, jumping back on my feet. “You ready for some shopping?”
“Really? All of us?” Amber asked excitedly.
“Of course; that would just be cruel of me if I brought you to the one of the biggest fashion capitals in the world and you didn’t buy anything!” I replied, smiling.
“Oh my god, oh my god! Thank you so much Marshall!” Amber squealed. Lea and I cautiously followed the jumping caretaker out of the room.
“Where’s Toby?” I asked, stopping.
“That’s a good question.” Amber shrugged. The brief look around ended once I found the giant Lug snoring on the living room couch, a crossword puzzle lay on top of his eyes. I never thought Toby for much of an intellectual person; not saying he wasn’t smart, just his muscles would do more of the talking than anything else throughout my long period knowing him. Either way, he did have his moments.
After a couple of light smacks to his face, he began to finally wake up.
“Yo, let’s go; we’re going to cruise Manhattan. We need a bag-carrier.” I teased.
“Ugh, ha, ha… Hilarious…” He slurred.
“Come on, you know I’m kidding. Get ready, I’m going to call the limo.” I replied as my phone flipped open.
Toby and Amber briefly engaged in light conversation as I made the call to the Limousine Service.
“Alright, it’ll be here in five minutes.” I told the group.
Amber knelt down to check little Lea’s now-soaked diaper and proceeded to taker her back into her room for another changing. After only a quick minute or two, Amber had already cleaned the child up and were walking back to their original spots.
We all filed out and marched ourselves to the end of the hallway that connected to the elevator. Maybe the stress from everything that had happened over the course of today was beginning to wear down, since the drop to the lobby felt much faster than the ride up.
Like clockwork, the limousine was parked right at the entrance of the building, with its driver happily holding the door for us all. With the four of us all secured in our seats, we began the descent to lower Manhattan.
With each grueling minute passing us by due to the traffic, the trip to 5th Avenue felt like an eternity! Fortunately, when my patience finally began to run its limit, the driver announced that we were here. After comfortably parking on a spot just half block away, we began touring the city.
All four of us strolled into the first clothing store we noticed. Even though I was unfamiliar with the brand Dolce & Gabbana, I had heard from a number of acquaintances that also happened to be on the wealthier side of things, that the store sold some decent children’s clothes.
The manager took notice of my group and calmly walked up to us. Her eyes were a mid hazel color but could easily be seen as just a straight green tone. Her clothes were formal but modern and she donned numerous bracelets that matched perfectly with her long necklace.
“Hello there, my name is Joyce; is there anything I can help you with today?” She asked sweetly.
Her words and her facial expression apparently showed warmth and welcome to its victims, but I knew better. Why would a fancy clothing store manager want to associate herself with middle-class regulars that most likely were not going to buy anything from her store? To slyly drive them out, of course! Her words may have seemed welcoming, but their meanings were anything but.
“Ah, I think you can; you see my daughter here needs some new clothes.” I replied, showing little Lea off. The older woman noticed her and with one look at her current outfit, she looked back to me and smiled weakly.
“Sir, um… I don’t mean to be rude…” She said slowly. I simply kept my smile, overflowing with both negative and positive shock over how she didn’t know who I was!
“Um… I don’t think it might your best option to shop here.” She explained nervously.
“Oh, really; I thought you guys had children’s clothes…” I replied, playing dumb.
“We do; I don’t know if you can afford this brand though…” She countered.
I chuckled lightly. “Let’s worry about the money after I find something decent for her to wear.” I shot back as all four of us made our way past the manager and into the store.
To be honest, I was expecting to not be initially recognized, but this was something else. I guess appearing in a designer store with nothing more than a basic T-shirt and jeans accompanied by three other “regulars” as well would deem you normal among the richer class of people. The older woman kept a close eye on us as every time I would look out to her, she was keeping a cold stare on my group.
Amber and Toby decided to split off from me and Lea as they both began looking among the isles of clothes on the other side of the store. The next hour was spent gathering piles of clothes and trying them all out on my little girl. Many outfits were picked out because of its intricate and tasteful designs, but there were also some that brought about easier access to her diaper in case of changes. It seemed Lea’s mindset on style revolved only on pants and shirts as she looked fairly puzzled whenever I put her in a dress. Nevertheless, she really seemed to enjoy trying on new outfits and looking at herself in the mirror with them on, just like any other girl would. The two of us met up with Amber and Toby a little while later, and interestingly enough, neither of them returned with clothes in hand.
“You guys didn’t find anything you liked?” I asked, frowning.
Amber’s head lay low as she shrugged shyly.
“Well, it’s just really expensive…” She mumbled.
Toby nodded silently.
“Yeah… we are in a designer store guys.” I chuckled as both of them raised their heads to face me.
“Go, get your stuff and come back so I can pay for everything at once.” I added smiling.
The two bolted back to their respective section and hastily picked up the items they had just left a moment ago.
The manager was at the register as I calmly walked up to pay for the clothes in my, Amber’s, and Toby’s hands.
“Well, let’s see what we come up with here…” She stated with a smug expression. As each item was carefully scanned and then placed in a large plastic bag, I calmly dug for my wallet that lay somewhere in my pocket. With a satisfied sigh, I pulled out it out to reveal a very exclusive little card that I had just recently acquired. Once all was passed through and placed in its bag, the woman looked back at me and announced:
“$4288.75, sir…” Her quiet chuckling stopped immediately once she noticed the black visa card I was handing her.
“I’m sure you guys take credit cards, right?” I asked, smirking.
“W-where’d you get that?” She replied, pointing directly at the card still in my hand.
“Look, I don’t have all day; can we wrap this up? I have an important meeting with some directors on a film project we’re working on.” I said in my most showboating and gloated tone possible.
“O-of course, sir! I’m s-sorry about that!” The old woman stuttered nervously as she slid my card through and gently handed it back to me.
“Mm-hmm, thank you.” I replied, staring coldly at her as the three of us quickly took our bags and marched out the door. As we continued walking along the sidewalk for more stores, I could’ve sworn I heard the woman say something to us, but none of us were really paying attention.
We all walked into another unfamiliar store called Tutti Bella and was pretty surprised when the manager once again came up to us, but instead of like last time, where all she wanted was for us to leave, this woman displayed much more compassion toward her customers.
“Hi there; welcome to Tutti Bella! My name is Jess and if there’s anything you need don’t hesitate to ask!” She announced cheerfully.
“Yeah, I’m just wondering if you could help me find some good clothes for my daughter here.” I pointed to Lea who was staring out at all the colors in the room.
“Oh sure!” Jess replied as she knelt close to Lea. She quietly talked to the small child as I noticed my phone wildly vibrate.
“Stay with Lea; make sure everything’s alright with her outfits.” I whispered to Amber.
She nodded as I made my way out to answer the phone call.
“Hey honey, watcha up to?” Stephanie’s perky voice sounded.
“Stephanie? I’m kind of busy right now. I hope you don’t think chatting over the phone is my idea of ‘talking things over’ with you.” I replied, attempting to maintain my cool.
“Geez, what’s got you so worked up mister? So where do you suggest we meet so we can ‘talk things over?’”
“I don’t know-
“Alright, how ’bout your place? You know, I still haven’t met that little girl Marsh; Gosh!” She interrupted. For someone who was photographed possibly cheating on their boyfriend, she sure knew how take stressful situations lightly.
“Fine, I’ll introduce you… when?” I grumbled.
“How about twenty minutes? I should be over there by then.” Stephanie replied with an all-too-obvious smirk on her face.
I sighed loudly, which apparently meant “Yeah, sure!” in Stephanie’s language.
“Great! See ya then sweetie!” The line cut off.
“Dammit, now Lea’s going to have to come as well…” I thought to myself.
I marched back to the store and headed straight to where my group surrounded the manager who was displaying a number of shirts and skirts to Lea.
“Hey, can we talk in private for a moment?” I whispered to Amber, just before I yanked her away from the group.
“Is something wrong?”
I released a heavy sigh. “Stephanie wants to meet up so we can ‘talk’ about certain things that have been happening the past few days.” I replied as my fingers ran through my eyebrows.
“Oh okay,” Amber said nodding.
“… and she wants to meet Lea.” I grumbled.
“Why? If it’s between the two of you, why would Lea have to be involved?” She raised her voice defensively.
“Look, I’m not really sure either but she is my girlfriend and they’ll have to meet sooner or later if my relationship is going to work.” I whispered.
“I guess you’re right…” She conceded in a quieter tone.
The uncertainty of the situation was obvious for both me and Amber. I could not blame her for feeling at odds towards me bringing little Lea into a possibly dramatic moment so early after leaving the orphanage.
“Everything will be alright.” I assured with a warm smile. I pulled out my wallet and handed her my credit card.
“You two enjoy yourselves. I’ll be back, don’t worry.” I added, winking.
She chuckled and ran her hair to the back of her ears.
We returned to the group, where now Toby was deep in a conversation with the young store owner. I thanked her for the help and pulled Lea out. She did not say anything as we left the store and quickly after hopped a cab back to the apartment. The ride was long and silent, with the only sound coming from my teeth clenching and clicking. What is Stephanie thinking right now? Why was she taking this matter so easily while I was practically pulling my hair out for answers? Maybe she really wasn’t cheating on me and only the tabloids were to blame for those false accusations! My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the vibrating of my phone once more. It was Frank this time.
“Take it easy on Stephanie, Marsh.” His text message read.
“How did Frank know that we were meeting together to talk?!” I screamed in my mind. Something wasn’t right about this whole thing and I needed to get to the bottom of it now.