Page 46 of What She Deserves
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Layla hauled her bags from the back of the SUV. She loved a good sale and found some cute discounted pieces for spring on a spur-of-the-moment trip to the mall.
“Where are you?” she asked into the phone wedged against her ear.
“Still at the office, but I’m almost finished. I’m ironing out a few details for the Lion Mountain contract with Alex,” Rashad replied.
“You had all day to do that,” Layla chided him.
“Ha, ha. You’re funny.”
“Should I leave without you?” she asked, slamming the Cadillac’s door.
“No, I’m coming. Leaving in thirty minutes.”
She could hear him shuffling papers on his desk. “Hurry up. I don’t want to be late for the ceremony.”
Along with other teachers, Dana was being given an outstanding teacher award in a ceremony that recognized her contributions in her field, as well as her commitment to her job and fostering a welcoming environment for students that allowed them to excel. Layla and Tamika had made sure they were free tonight since Dana’s family, who lived out of state, was not able to fly in for the ceremony. They had to be there to support their girl. Tamika’s fiancé Anton would be there, Layla had invited Rashad, and Dana’s male friend Omar would also be in attendance.
“Hurry up,” she said.
“Yes, dear.”
Layla smiled as she made her way to the front of his building. “I don’t need the sarcasm.”
“If we’re late, it won’t be my fault. You know how long it takes you to get ready.”
“For your information, I’m already at your place, so all I have to do is jump in the shower and put on my clothes.”
“And do your make up, and your eyelashes, and your hair, and—”
“Okay, okay, I get it. I’ll be ready, and you need to get here so you can be ready too.”
“I can leave sooner if you let me off this phone.”
“Fine. Bye!”
Smiling and shaking her head, Layla hung up and entered the building. “Good evening, Liam,” she said, smiling at the nighttime doorman.
“Hello, Ms. Fleming. Oh, one minute, please.” He held up a finger. “I have a package for Mr. Greene.” He lifted a thick yellow envelope from beneath the desk and handed it to her.
During the past month, she spent so much time at Rashad’s condo that she no longer needed a password to get upstairs. They allowed her to go straight up, like any one of the other owners, and per Rashad’s instructions, gave her the same privileges regarding his home that he had.
“Thank you.” Layla shot a cursory glance at the name written on the front. It was addressed to Deshawn Reddick. “This isn’t a package for Rashad,” she said, extending the envelope to Liam.
He didn’t accept, nodding his head with certainty. “Yes, it is. We’ve received packages with that name on it before.”
“Who’s Deshawn Reddick?” Layla asked.
Liam shrugged.
“Okay, I’ll make sure he gets it. Have a good evening.” Maybe he was allowing a friend to mail packages to his address.
“You do the same, ma’am.”
As the elevator climbed the building’s floors, she looked at the front of the envelope, noting the Texas postmark.
“Who the heck is Deshawn?” He’d never mentioned that name before.
