Secret Liaisons (18 page)

Chapter Fifty

Mona watched the sleeping Terrance. She turned and looked out the window of the 747 jet. The white clouds looked like cotton. She eased her seat back and closed her eyes. After the long week they had, they deserved a weekend getaway. She trained their new assistant and Terrance worked on finalizing crewmembers for the show and another upcoming film he was producing.

The pilot's voice came over the speaker. “We're approaching Dallas Ft Worth International Airport. The weather is sunny but you'll need a light jacket. We hope that you've enjoyed your flight. Flight attendants please prepare for landing. Thank you for flying and we hope you choose us for your next flight.”

Mona hit the button on her seat to move it to the upright position. She nudged Terrance. “Wake up, baby. We're about to land.”

“Okay,” he sleepily responded.

Mona felt excited and nervous all at the same time. She normally flew coach so she wasn't used to the perks of flying first class such as being one of the first people off the plane. She held her big handbag while Terrance grabbed their two carryon bags.

“Welcome to my city,” Mona said to Terrance as they walked through the huge airport.

Terrance and Mona went straight to the rental car counter. Terrance rented a sedan and not long afterwards they were placing their items in the back of the four-door Lexus sedan.

“I know you normally drive, but I think this time you should let me.” Mona held out her hand for the keys.

“No arguments here.” Terrance held open the driver's door. Mona got inside. He handed her the keys, closed the door and went and sat on the passenger side.

“LA traffic is bad but Dallas traffic is on a whole other level. I might get a little road rage so please excuse me.”

Terrance laughed. “Traffic can't be that bad here.”

Mona left the airport and got on I-635 headed east. She didn't have a toll tag so she wanted to avoid the toll way. As they neared North Dallas Parkway, traffic got congested and moved at a snail pace.

“You've got to be kidding me. It's nine in the morning on a Saturday. Shouldn't people be at home sleeping,” Terrance complained.

“You would think. But once I hit the Parkway and go north, it's a straight shot. We'll have to go through some lights but hopefully be out of some of this traffic.”

Thirty minutes later, Mona pulled the black car into her old neighborhood in Frisco. She smiled at the memories.

“These are some nice homes,” Terrance said.

“My dad worked two jobs to move us from south Dallas to this neighborhood.”

“I'm a little nervous about meeting your parents. What if your father doesn't think I'm good enough for his daughter?”

“My dad's not like that. As long as you treat me right, he's happy.”

Mona pulled the car in front of the two-car garage. She looked at Terrance. “This was home for me from seventh grade until I graduated high school.”

Terrance got out of the car and opened the driver's door for Mona. She gave him a reassuring hug and kiss right before ringing the doorbell.

“I forgot the bell doesn't work.” Mona knocked on the door.

Mona's mother opened the door. She had the same height and physique as Mona's. She looked like Mona's twin except older with streaks of gray in her hair and instead of it being long she'd cut it to look more like a Halle Berry short style.

Mother and daughter hugged for what seemed like minutes. “My baby's home.”

She released Mona and acknowledged Terrance. “And is this the young man you were telling me about?”

“Mom, this is Terrance. Terrance this is my mom.”

“Hi, Mrs. Johnson.” Terrance extended his hand.

Mona's mom pulled Terrance into an embrace. “We hug around here.”

“Yes, ma'am,” Terrance responded.

Mona shrugged her shoulders.

“Come on in,” Mona's mother said. “I told Mona that you both are welcome to stay here.”

Mona looped her arm with her mom's. “We have a reservation at the Westin, so we won't be far away.”

“Your dad's out back. He'll be thrilled to know you're here.”

“Is that my baby girl? I thought I heard a car pull up.” Mona's dad, who was almost six feet one inches and medium built walked through the kitchen and met them in the living room.

Mona ran over to her dad and hugged him. “Love you, pops.”

Mona held on to her dad's arm. “You must be special if my Mona's bringing you home to meet us.” Mona's dad stared at Terrance.

Everyone remained silent. Mona's father held out his hand. “Welcome son.”

Mona sighed with relief.

Chapter Fifty-One

Being around Mona's dad made Terrance yearn for his own father. He made him feel at ease. They'd immediately bonded over sports. They had a friendly debate on who had the best football team, the Cowboys or the 49ers. They both shared a love for the Lakers.

Mona spent a lot of time talking with her mother so it had given him and her father a lot of time to talk.

“My son and daughter and their families will be over later. I suggest you two go check in to your hotel and relax a little,” Mona's dad suggested. “I'm just getting to know you, but I can tell you're a man with high morals and the only thing I ask of you is to treat my daughter like I would.”

Terrance shook his hand. “I love Mona and will protect her with my life if it ever comes to it.”

“Come on. Let's go find our women.”

Four hours later, Mona and Terrance were resting in their hotel room.

“Dinner is at six so don't you think we should be getting ready?” Terrance asked Mona.

Mona snuggled closer to him on the bed. “I don't want to go.”

“We're going. Your father is expecting us and him and I get along great now. Just give me the address, because I'm going with or without you.” Terrance smiled.

“You would leave me at the hotel by myself?” Mona pouted.

“Your dad told me what your mama was cooking so I sure would. I'm hungry. I've been saving my appetite all day.”

“My sister is still not out of the dog house with me.”

“I thought y'all made up,” Terrance commented.

“We did but I'm not looking forward to seeing her.”

Terrance ran his hand gently through her hair. “Baby, whatever happened between the two of you, get over it. I wish I had siblings. You just don't know how lucky you are.”

“I guess you're right. I want to take a shower. I want first dibs.” Mona sat up.

“We'll flip for it.” Terrance reached to the side of the bed and removed a quarter from his pants pocket. He looked at Mona. “Heads or tails?”

“Tails.”

Terrance flipped the coin in the air and placed it on the back of his hand. He looked at it. It landed on heads. “Mona, you're lucky. Don't use up all the hot water.”

“I won't.” Mona got out of bed and went to the bathroom.

Two hours later, Terrance and Mona stood outside of her parents' home waiting for someone to answer the door. “Do I look alright?” Mona asked.

“Baby, you look great. I've never seen you not look good,” Terrance responded, as he admired Mona in her black jeans, cowboy boots and red, buttoned-down shirt. They were actually matching. He'd wanted some cowboy boots so Mona took him to a store nearby and they both got a pair.

The door opened and a man Terrance didn't know stood there.

Mona's face brightened with joy. “Justin.” They hugged. Terrance moved out of the way.

Mona let go of Justin. “Justin this is Terrance. Terrance this is my older brother.”

“Her only brother.” Justin shook Terrance's hand.

“Come on. Everybody's waiting on you.” Justin held the door wide open.

They were greeted by Justin's family first. “This is Demetria, my wife.”

Terrance shook her hand.

Terrance followed Mona as she greeted each family member. She introduced him while they walked through the house. He spoke to Mona's father. Mona grabbed his hand. “I want you to meet my sister. She's in the kitchen with mom.”

“Danielle, this is Terrance. The new love of my life,” Mona said, after they hugged each other.

Danielle looked at Terrance. “Not bad. Not bad at all. Welcome to the family. You
are
marrying my sister aren't you?”

“Danielle. Our plans are none of your business,” Mona said.

“I'm only trying to find out his intentions. It's the job of the older sister.”

Mona looked at Terrance. “You don't have to answer her question. My dad's in the living room. Give me a little time to talk with Danielle and I'll meet you in there shortly.”

Terrance could sense the tension between the sisters and exited the kitchen as quickly as he could.

He went to the living room and took a seat on the opposite end of the couch from Justin.

“I knew you would be back,” Mona's dad said from his recliner next to the couch.

Justin laughed. “I did too. You see where I am. Right here with pops, chilling. But let me warn you. Since they're doing the cooking, we will have kitchen duty. I got them this time. I bought some paper plates.”

They all laughed.

Chapter Fifty-Two

Mona waited for their mother to leave the room before confronting Danielle.

“I glanced at your phone when you left and saw you'd been texting Garrett.”

“How dare you invade my privacy?” Danielle frowned.

“You left your phone on the counter. It was vibrating. If I hadn't caught it, it would have fallen on the floor and broke,” Mona snapped.

“Just because things didn't work out with you and Garrett doesn't mean him and I can't be friends.” Danielle placed her phone on the table.

“I could care less about your friendship. But when it comes to me and what I got going on, you have no business discussing it. Why are you telling him I'm in Dallas?”

“He's been whining. I wanted him to know you're serious about this guy so he can move on with his life.”

Mona crossed her arms. “Instead of being all in my business, I suggest you handle your own. Where's your husband?”

Danielle stuttered. “He's somewhere. I don't know. He'll be here.”

“It's after six and he's not here.” Mona didn't mean to go there with her but she was tired of Danielle interfering. Her life was fine without Garrett.

“Look. Like I told you over the phone. Once Garrett shared with me what happened nine years ago, I felt you deserved to know. I remember how depressed you were. I just wanted to give you the closure I never got when Scotty broke my heart.”

Danielle started crying. Mona remembered how Scotty left Danielle at the altar without an explanation. Mona walked around the counter dividing them and placed her arm around Danielle. “Scotty was a jerk. But the man you got now is a good one. You have to stop being verbally abusive to him. If you don't, he's going to find solace somewhere else and you don't want that do you?”

“No. I don't. I love Kevin. He's been good to me and he's a great father,” Danielle confessed. She wiped the tears from her face with a paper towel.

“And please stop telling Garrett my business. Because what I'm sure he hasn't told you is that until recently, he's been a borderline stalker.”

Mona shared with Danielle everything that occurred since being back in contact with Garrett. “So as you can see, I've been clear to him about how I feel. I hate our relationship ended based on a lie created by his mom, but I'm happy.”

“I know you. You've always wanted to be married but from what I read about Terrance, he's not the commitment type.”

“I want you to get to know Terrance while we're here. You'll see for yourself. He's nothing like you read about online. In Hollywood you have to put out an image.”

“Be careful. I don't want to see you get hurt again.”

“I have to thank an online friend because if it hadn't been for him I wouldn't be able to see that my perfect match wasn't on the computer, but I'd been working with the perfect man for me all along.”

Their mother entered the kitchen interrupting their conversation. “Can you ladies help me take these dishes to the table?”

“Sure,” they said in unison.

“Glad to see you both can agree to something. You're sisters. I don't want to ever hear of you going more than a day being angry with one another.”

“Yes, ma'am.” Mona carried a casserole dish of homemade macaroni and cheese and followed behind her to the dining room.

After they filled the table with the food, Danielle gathered everyone into the dining room. Mona's dad said grace and they were seated. Danielle and Demetria fixed the children's plates first. A smaller table stood nearby. Once the kids were seated and began to eat, the adults sat around the larger dining room table.

Mona and Terrance sat next to each other. Mona smiled. She noticed Terrance was getting along with her father and brother. She could tell from the friendly conversation they were having.

Everyone filled their plates with food. Terrance made himself at home. Her mom smiled when she saw Terrance go for seconds.

The doorbell rang.

Justin stopped eating. “I'll get it.”

A few minutes later, he returned. Danielle jumped out of her seat. “Baby, you made it.”

Kevin said, “I told you I was coming as soon as I got off work.”

“I thought. Never mind. Go wash your hands and I'll make you a plate.”

“I can fix my own plate,” Kevin said.

“No. You've been working hard. I got this.”

Kevin smiled. “I'll be back. You know what I like. Pile it on.”

Mona caught Danielle's eye. Mona winked at her and gave her the thumbs up signal.

When Kevin returned, Danielle introduced him to Terrance. The rest of the dinner went by with casual conversation. Afterwards, the men cleaned and the women went to the living room to relax. Mona sat back in the recliner and closed her eyes. Life right now was good.