A Beautiful, Terrible Love, Lucky 97 [classic romance novels .txt] 📗

exertion apparent.
"I found a girl," I told her softly. Her eyes widened.
"A new mommy?!" She was bouncing on my knee, happiness apparent.
I laughed, "maybe."
"Yay!" she smiled, her joy radiating from within her, "can I see?"
"That's the thing, Felicia. She didn't come with me to Hollywood. She was a little confused because she didn't know I had a beautiful child named Felicia. She told me to go away."
Felicia narrowed her eyes, "Not a nice mommy."
"No no," I quickly reassured her, "not a nice daddy. I didn't tell her anything about you."
She pouted, her expression of a frown. "Daddy," she said, "why?"
"Because I was scared she might not like you."
She laughed, "Everybody likes me! You're silly, Daddy."
"Yes I am," I grinned, agreeing with her. I touched a bouncy curl, her silky hair reminding me once again of my own. The silence swirled around us both, Felicia resting on my lap silently.
She turned again after about a minute of contemplation, and looked at me with her big green eyes. "Daddy," she whispered, "Go tell that mommy to come back so she can be my mommy."
"But Felicia," I said, "you haven't even seen her."
She shook her head, "I don't have to see her, Daddy. Anyone my Daddy loves must be a pretty, nice mommy."
I watched her as she scampered and affectionately hugged the nurse, pulling her to the pretty flowers. They looked, the nurse talking to her energetically, and then she chased Felicia through the walkways, to the fountain. That nurse, no matter how greedy, was a good one.
Felicia's words rang in my head over and over, shocking me still. What she said was wise beyond her years. She seemed to know that she would love Eve, just because I loved her. She seemed to understand that love was what made a relationship.
I had to obey Felicia's words. I had to retrieve the woman that won my heart and, somehow, my daughter's full trust.
My butler arrived, his mouth stretched into a tender smile. Like a pair of shoes when worn just enough, wear and tear was beginning to show on his masculine face, wrinkles apparent. His ebony black hair was fading at the front to a snow white, his mustache sprouting a few grays. However, his sparkling blue eyes were just as bright and youthful as it was twenty years ago, still shining with that same energy.
Quietly, he handed me my mail, smiling to reveal a set of perfectly white teeth. "Here, sir," he grinned, "and all your fan mail is in your office if you want to look at those."
I laughed, "Thanks, Randy. You're a good butler."
"I know," he jokingly replied, then turned to walk back to the mansion, casting a few surprised glances at the beautiful young girl frolicking around with her nurse. The air seemed to glow around her form, energy from all around her sucked into her presence. She was amazing, a wonderful specimen you couldn't pull your eyes away from.
Grabbing her nurse's hand, she started to utter the notes to a nursery rhyme. "Ring around the rosy, pocketful of posy, ashes, ashes, we all fall DOWN!" she laughed, tugging the nurse into a pile of lilies while she dropped into a bunch of unused dirt. "Yay!" she exclaimed, her yell just as pretty as her singing. At the tender age of three, she was already getting voice lessons from her nurse, for she had tons of raw talent. Every note she uttered was like pure gold dropping from her tongue, the pitch absolutely perfect. She was also very good at piano, practicing it often.
Felicia stepped onto the ledge on the fountain, right before the clear crystal blue swirled in its captivity, and looked directly at me. "Listen, Daddy!" she commanded, "me and nurse have been practicing a new song," I perked up my ears, sitting upright in my seat.
The nurse came over to me, smiling. "It is very pretty. Felicia has incredible talent, just like you," she said, sitting down on the far edge of my bench.
Felicia released the first few golden notes, and then let the rest follow. Each one that came out of her mouth flew to my ears, delighting my heart. It was beautiful, although childish, her voice not yet developed. However, what really astounded me were her performance skills. She seemed to feel perfectly comfortable with her stance on the "stage", behaving naturally in every way. It seemed to fit her charismatic personality, full of energy and excitement.
She was a born star.
After finishing, she jokingly took a deep bow, and then started to wobble. We both leaped up, but a splash reached our ears before we reached Felicia. Water sprayed out of the fountain, soaking into our forms. Felicia reappeared over the sides of the fountain, completely wet. She seemed to look at herself, surprised, and then started to laugh. The nurse grabbed her out of the fountain, but Felicia tried to wiggle out of her grasp. "No!" she laughed, "more! More wet!"
I smiled gently. "Take her to the pool," I ordered, returning back to my bench. After going through my plethora of mail, I would join them. Plopping down on the rough bench, I peered at the first envelope, and then threw it aside. It was from Yolanda, the Disney Channel star with beauty and no brain, who I dated about a year ago. I was surprised that Randy didn't put that with the fan mail.
Putting some catalogs away, I was now shuffling through just envelopes, most of them bills. Just on a whim, I opened the bill for my Little Duckies card, the shop where Felicia got all of her clothes. A truly huge number popped out of the page, one that I couldn't spend in two weeks if I tried. Sure, this bill was quarterly, and Little Duckies was very expensive, but that really was incredible. I was going to have to talk to the nurse about a clothing limit. Felicia didn't need ALL those clothes.
I placed the slender envelope beside me, also laying the other hefty bills there also. With only two left, I quickly examined them. Suddenly, my eyes widened.
One of them was from Jack, my former bodyguard.
He was an amazing bodyguard, back when I had swarms of stalkers, simply the best out of all the others. However, when I was living with Eve, he suddenly quit for no reason, refusing to come back with me to Hollywood. I had no idea why. Maybe this would explain some things.
I tore it open impatiently, expecting a piece of thin paper to fall out, but was greeted instead by a thick piece of card stock, a translucent sheet of white on top of it, tied together with a bow.
You have been invited, it read, to the marriage of Jack William Johnson and Sadie Penelope Valencia at noon on April 7th, 2017.
Jack and Sadie???
MARRIAGE?!
I couldn't think, my mind blown for words. I had never expected something like this to happen. When they met, sure, they were flirtatious. However, I never expected that attraction between them to grow into something like this. And so soon! We came to their house about two and a half months ago, and they're now getting married in about two weeks. And didn't Jared like Sadie? When I was at Eve's school, I always noticed Jared's stares, his obvious love. He must be crushed.
So this was why Jack suddenly quit for no reason.
I looked at the date once more, and realized suddenly that it was two days after the twins' eighteenth birthday. So she doesn't have her mother's permission, so she has to wait until after her birthday? I wished, suddenly, that I could be there when Sadie finally told her mother, imagining the screams that would follow.
A revelation came over me as I stared at the invitation, although still suspended in complete shock, and smiled. A plan began to form in my head, one that might solve my problems.
Eve would be at the wedding. I had one more chance to convince her to be by my side.
I couldn't waste this golden opportunity.

Chapter 24
Eve

I woke to find myself lying on my bed, my hair mussed and greasy, still clothed in the outfit from the night before. The fan blew freezing air into my face, dancing along bare skin, reaching down to tickle my toes. The ceiling was scarred with scuff marks and cracks, a single bulb illuminating almost the entire room. Finally, the poster of Dex still stood, the light seemingly sucked into it, making the whole poster glow. It was vexing; with the way my eyes were tugged to it again and again.
I sat up, my body leaning against the old, wooden headrest. I closed my eyes, trying to remember. What happened last night? Why could I only dream of nightmares?
My head hurt as all the memories came flooding back to me, each one inflicting more pain than the last. First, the date, full of annoying people that couldn't leave me alone. I could still remember their hands as they reached to grab me, to touch any part of me, to shove a pen and paper into my face.
Peter, when I discovered he was an alcoholic. My heart ached as I recalled those beer-stained touches, those kisses full of unconfined passion. The man that looked like Peter but was really a monster still flashed within me, scarring me forever.
Then there was Dex. He was my knight in shining armor, the man who saved me from the stranger that attacked me. His kisses were memorable in a better way, filled with love and caring instead of raw lust. Unconsciously, they brought a smile to my face with even recollection, making me want to experience them again and again.
However, that cannot be so.
Also, coupled with that delight, a terror hung on the edge of that memory. All my good impressions of him, as a perfect man, no flaws to be found in his beautiful face and personality, were ruined. He was not perfect, my dream man really being... just a dream. He was just like everyone else in this world.
Also, the fact that he had that kind of relationship with another woman was really annoying. No matter how drunk he was, he still... shouldn't have done that. If he didn't get drunk, none of it would have happened. It sounded like he regretted greatly his choice though. Emilie sounded really mean.
However, that was not what had made me so incredibly angry. Really, his reluctance to confide in me, only telling me AFTER I had found out, was what made my blood boil. It proved to me that he did not believe in true love. If he did, he would have told me the truth earlier, expecting love to pull us through. Trusting me to understand.
What made me turn him away was that he was expecting me to turn him away. It was almost as if he wanted me to reject him. He had no hope. And that, to me, was pitiful.
The bottom line was, our relationship was over. I told him to go away, and he left. Simple as that.
I wasn't infuriated, really, at him anymore. I stewed over it last night, and came to the conclusion that although I was really irritated with his earlier choices, it didn't really affect my feelings. I still loved him. However, I was not going to chase after him, and I had a feeling he wouldn't either. I had nothing against him. It was just over.
I could live my life normally now. Well, kind of.
I was probably going to have