FALLING FOR THE MARRIED BILLIONAIRE.

SUNNY SUPRISE.

Lori was both still and shaky, the hair at the back of her neck erectly stood. Now insanely flooded by the happenings of her past, which she had tried so desperately to forget. The subtle feeling of invisible needles piercing the bottom of her feet was settling in, making it uncomfortable to stand. Her breathing was normal, thank goodness, but her heartbeat thudded faster and heavier than usual. Her grip on both her baskets tightened, she felt an itch brewing from her bellybutton, that was her cue that she was probably the most distorted person alive.

He had changed in the past year, except for his average height, that is. His hair got longer; she could verify it by the length of the ponytail he always had on. He had shaved narrowly, his former full brows, his cheeks had gotten fatter, his torso broader. The scar imprinted on his left cheek by Beth’s nails when she slapped him had long healed. He even wore a familiar shirt, the one they’d shopped together in France on one of their outings.

She threw her focus over to the little British-looking girl by his side. She was definitely ten years old. That meant Clay’s game of lies and deceit started long before he met Beth. He’d not only harboured a child, but hidden it. What a scam. The little girl had his eyes, his long gold hair and apparently his round-shaped head. She had a speck of blue-coloured crayon markings below her lips, that made Lori softly scoff. Foolish girl she was, letting her admiration for kids block her reality of what the present situation was. The little girl was charming, she possessed long natural lashes and a piercing gaze too deep for her age. Her little toes nails definitely needed some cutting, her toe nails were overgrown and dirty.

‘’Hi Lori’’ His deep hoarse voice minted.

Lori was done accessing him, she did that subconsciously. ‘’Clay.’’ She managed to say.

‘’I knew I’ll__,

Lori found him slightly pulling the little girl to stand still, ‘’I knew I'd see you here. How have you been?’’

He had the nerve to wear a charming smile, ‘’Clay,’’ Lori swallowed saliva, ‘’I heard you’ve been liking my mom’s posts on social media, stop that. I don’t want to know why or what your reason is, let it end.’’

Clay’s facial features now fluttered, his brows shook, his eyes were squinted, he bit his lower lip and his jaws stiffened, ‘’Of course.’’

Lori’s mouth parted open and words slipped out on their own, ‘’You had a daughter, I’m not even surprised.’’

‘’Mariah, say hello to the miss here,’’ Clay now pitched his right hand over Mariah’s shoulder.

Instead, Mariah angrily stumped her feet on the floor repeatedly, ‘’I want to see mom!’’

Lori scoffed for the second time as her eyes brightened, that was it. Whatever the situation was with Clay Dunbar and his supposed kid, was none of her business. She did a U-TURN and returned to her previous position. Her urge to get the hell out of Sunnyside increased.

‘’Honey, your mom is coming to get you later this evening, be calm’’

Lori heard him from behind,

‘’that’s what you said last time, and the time before that! I want my mom!’’

By this time, little notice was drawn to the father and his angry child. Lori only obeyed the request to move a step ahead in hopes of leaving as soon as possible. But as the menial commotion continued behind her, she got to thinking carefully and quickly, her natural instincts kicked in, or what Johnny called, ‘FREEDOM FIGHTER MODE’. The kid wanted her mother and, by what she heard repeatedly and perceived, Clay had been lying to the kid. The addition of the fact that they were in a clothing shop, threw her off balance.

Lori hastily flung her position to the back, ‘’Clay, are you k********g this child?’’ She made sure to whisper, not to upset the crowd present there.

‘’what the f**k,’’ Clay edged closer to her, gently pulling Mariah as he went, ‘’that’s not what’s happening, I assure you.’’ Clay knew the reason for Lori’s claims, he became all of a sudden, sweaty and appeared worried, ‘’why would you…. Why would you say that?’’ He scanned the crowd in less than a second, ‘’she’s my daughter.’’ His right hand rested on his waist.

‘’Parents kidnap their children, don’t act like it’s not a thing.’’

‘’look,’’ Clay’s voice showed immense signs of fright as he scanned his surroundings again, ‘’I just came here to get clothes, she’s my daughter and I have no reason to kidnap her.’’

He gave Lori a noticeable scrutiny that screamed something s****l. He also made sure to maintain eye contact and soften his ends as much as he could. That only irritated Lori.

‘’congrats for winning the cook-off, I was there live.’’

Lori paused her motions and later resumed. She wasn’t yet sure what to do with that information, ‘’why?’’

‘’you’ve forgotten? How I love cooking shows and how we watched some live in Fran__ she. She was concerned, ‘’why were you there?’’

Lori made haste to shut him up by her actions. She rolled her eyes and bent over to her only area of concern, Mariah, the little kid.

‘’hey, Mariah,’’ she began, ‘’are you okay?’’

And it began, started by a shift in her eyes, a heavy inhale and a violent throw, Mariah laced Lori with her long unkept fingernails. Lori was fortunate to flee her face in time, placing her safely from the kid’s vicious attack.

‘’f**k!’’ Clay in turn, shoved Mariah behind, ‘’Lori, I’m so sorry,’’ He turned to Mariah, who shot a fierce look at Lori, ‘’and that’s why you don’t see your mother,’’ Clay stressed as he lifted Mariah from the ground and diverted their position to behind the clothing shelf, by the left. Her loud screams followed them to their hiding place.

Lori stared into space, her chest beating fast. She quickly dropped her containment and ran her hands through her face. First, she was brutally slapped by her boss’s visitor, now she escaped another hit. Hearing the shop official scream, ‘NEXT!’ pulled her out of her delusion and back into moving.