The Daddy Arrangement (Sugar 101) Page 2

  That move-in day had been epic. All that was left was for Keila to survive her mother and her grams. They'd driven by the building three times before there was a spot for them to pull into and unload. The twelve-story brick and stone structure loomed and represented her future and all of the anticipation and anxiety that went with it. Visiting was one thing, but now she would be living there.

  She would finally be on her own. Her mom and grams wouldn't be there reminding her when to eat, that she needed to go to bed, to set her alarm, or anything else. Gone was her safety net, and although it was something she had been looking forward to her entire senior year, now that it was here, she was equal parts terrified.

  There were a lot of ways to mess up. Keila knew she was responsible, for the most part, when it came to school, but she wasn't exactly sure how she would tackle navigating a social and academic life. Her mother and grams set high expectations and didn't leave a lot of wiggle room for messing up or acting out. She could do it all if she was great at it all. The few times Keila crossed the line were met with swift justice. The teen had become well versed on the ins and outs of being grounded indefinitely, and the guilt train made frequent stops at her door. When her mother was disappointed in her, she never failed to let her know or remind her, until she believed Keila would never even consider screwing up in the same manner again. High bars had yielded equally high results. So, in the end, her mom believed her means were justified.

  As soon as they entered the building, everyone they encountered informed her about her prime real estate. The team distributing keys let her know. The security guard positioned right inside in front of the elevator bank let out a whistle. Even the older lady passing out mailbox combinations smiled with a little twinkle in her eye. Her grandmother had never attended college, so she was enjoying every step of the process. She remarked on the efficiency of the system each time they completed a step. Her mom was all business as usual. Like a literal buzzing worker bee, her mom had her area in the room looking like a virtual duplicate of her room at home. She'd been lucky to arrive first, so she got to pick first and decided to go for the bed/desk combo that was furthest away from the door.

  Having spent most of the summer communicating with one of the girls she was rooming with, Keila had only received a single response from the third. It seemed unusual to them, but the university just told them that the girl was out of the country. Like they didn't have email outside of the United States. It didn't matter, though, because Rain and Keila hit it off immediately. They both tried to get their parents to agree to let them drive up together but were both given a big fat no to said request. Apparently, dropping your child off to college was a necessary rite of passage.

  "Where do you want your laundry basket? We also need to get your desk set up, so you have optimal outlet usage." Keila was hanging clothes up that her grandmother was handing her as her mother situated her desk. The woman was hyper-desk focused. She actually offered to get a smaller side table for work overflow. Keila just laughed and assured her mom that the university's library would provide plenty of overflow space.

  When everything was put away, Keila looked around, exhausted but happy. This was going to be her home for the next year and she couldn't wait to meet her new roommates in person. Her extended twin bed, with its specially fitted sheets that could only be used in a dorm room, was decked out with black and white bedding. Tucked away beneath her body pillow and several deep purple accent pillows were the remaining pieces of her dirty bunny. It had started out as a hand-knit blanket, with a bunny head with creepy eyes, that was now reduced to a greying, over washed, over rubbed, and super thin hankie square. Still, she had trouble falling asleep without the soothing effects of rubbing it against her cheek. She'd wanted to bring all her stuffed companions, but that battle had been lost.

  "We should go and get a little lunch, girls. Your mom and I need to get back on the road before it gets too late."

  "No problem, Grams. You guys can get going now. I'm all squared away and I'll take a walk around campus to check things out later."

  "We're going to lunch, Keila, and to the store to pick up some things for you to keep in the room in case you don't want to run to the cafeteria for every meal. Your scholarship is covering tuition, but Grams and I are covering room and board. This could be your last decent meal out."

  "I'm going into the financial aid office on Monday, Mom. I promise I'll have a job by the end of the week." Internally, Keila vowed to ask for nothing extra from her mother.

  The ladies were in a tight three-person huddle when the door flew open. A little boy barreled through and past a man holding a huge box and two women arguing loudly behind him. The trio turned to face the door with mouths agape.

  "This is exactly why I didn't want you to come! You ruin everything!" The younger woman was screaming at the older one.

  "Lower your voice. Do you want the entire hall to hear you?" This came from the older one.

  "I don't care about these people. Stop worrying about what everyone thinks. Nobody cares about you and nobody's talking about you."

  The man placed the box on the floor and physically pulled both women in by the arm and slammed the door closed with as much force as it was flung open. The only breath of air taken after impact was when the latter trio finally noticed the former.

  "Keila! You're already here. I'm so glad to meet you. Did you hear the news?"

  Over the phone and online, Rain did come across as excited, but it was nothing compared to the energy she gave off in person. Keila was temporarily glued to her spot. The grip her mom had on her wasn't exactly making it easy to move, either. As she pulled away with more strength than strictly required, Keila stepped forward and was enthusiastically embraced.

  "Hey! Rain, it's so nice to meet you in person. This is my mom, Ms. Soriano, and my grandmother, Mrs. Soriano." Keila still had hold of Rain's hand as she walked her the few steps toward the women, who still seemed to be in a bit of shock over her roommate's entrance.

  The knock on the door served as a temporary interruption to things. Rain's dad let in the student workers delivering her palette. Her little brother had claimed the middle bed and was engrossed in a handheld toy game.

  "Which bunk does this go on?" the hunky student worker asked.

  "The one without the six-year-old," Rain yelled in his general direction without turning around.

  "Now, back to my news. We have this very awesome room for three as a room for two. High five!"

  Keila waited for a beat too long because Rain grabbed her elbow and raised her hand up to slap it. The rest of the move-in went on in the same manner.

  Noise and chaos came with Rain. Keila realized it that first day, and things didn't change their entire freshman year. The girl made things fun and memorable, and she was pretty bold in her dealings with their resident assistant, Brianna.

  Brianna had been a first-year resident assistant, a musical theatre major, and their light sleeping neighbor, who apparently had the hearing of a wax moth. At her first-floor meeting, her biggest and pretty much only rule was not to let her hear it, see it, or smell it and, absolutely no knocking on her door for any reason that didn't involve blood, after ten o'clock at night. For a nineteen-year-old, she came across quite serious about her sleep. Bri was quite serious about a lot of things and more mature than anyone in their age group than Keila had ever known. As many times as she found herself getting lectured during her first quarter of schools, it made sense. Brianna had to come across super mature just so she could deal with the 'infants' on their floor she was responsible for.

  "Ladies, this is your third official write up. We're talking final straw stuff. If I write you up again, it goes to the Director of Housing and not just the building director."

  "This stinks of entrapment!" Rain shouted and punctuated it by bringing her fist down on her knee.

  Keila and Bri were actually wearing the same shocked look on their faces. Technically, there was no way it could be ent
rapment when the boys of Alpha Chi had actually been in their room. They got lucky that Bri hadn't barged in and only told them the boys had to leave from the doorway. If she had seen the bottle of tequila and all the beer cans, they would already be sitting in the Dean's office.

  "Rain, it cannot be entrapment when the noise was coming from guests you invited over and signed in. Not to mention the guests were boys on the girls' floor after hours. You all didn't even try to keep the noise down. This cannot keep happening. I don't want to see you tossed out of housing, but I'm not willing to get thrown out because I'm not writing up your violations. Kicked out isn't part of the plan. Do you understand?" Bri was sitting at her desk facing the girls, who were sitting on her bed.

  It was always a bit hard to believe that she was just a little over a year older than them. Bri, as the RA, got a double size room to herself. Since there was only one bed, the room looked a lot larger. Keila noticed the room was pristine and decorated in a much more adult fashion than most of the girls' rooms on their floor. It looked like a page out of the Pottery Barn catalog. She even had the good hamper. It was the tall one that looked like basket weaving with the fabric insert. Keila was pretty sure it was as nice as the one her mother had back home. There was a freestanding oval mirror and a dresser tray that held a fancy brush and comb set. As she ran her hand down the bedding, Keila took special note that the girl had a duvet. College kids didn't have duvets. Girls might have matching bedding and the super girlie ones had the occasional throw pillow, but duvets were not the norm.

  "Keila, you're on scholarship. I don't think something like this will look good, do you?"

  Rain was out of patience.

  "Um, dorm mom, we get it. No noise. No boys. Can we go?"

  "Rain." Keila wasn't thrilled about being lectured, either, but she would never have said that and she thought for sure Rain saying it was only going to make things worse. Peer or not, Bri was in charge and a certain amount of respect came with the position. If they did end up in front of the Dean, she did not want to add disrespectful and uncooperative to their list of crimes.

  "Sign the forms. The pink copy is yours," Bri said coolly.

  She wasn't certain, but Keila thought Bri was looking at her with disappointment in her eyes. Sure, Rain could go too far, but she was mostly harmless. Bri was giving her the big sister stink eye, though, like she should've known better than to follow along with anything Rain did. Rain mocked Brianna and called her 'dorm-mom,' but Keila much preferred to see her as a protective big sister. As an only child, she secretly liked the idea. Rain was her friend, though. Sure, she had started to back off some, but how could she freeze her roomie out, or worse, go back to her high school persona of the goodie-two-shoes. So, she ended up doing things in a subtler way, like studying in the library more than their room, after her first quarter grades rolled in. Fun was one thing, but losing her scholarship was a complete other.

  "Keila, I'm sorry. I need to redo your form. Would you hang back a minute?"

  "Sure, Bri." Sweat came to the surface of Keila's hands and she felt her palm practically slid from the doorknob. So much for loyalty, she thought as Rain was closing their room door without looking back.

  "I'm sorry about Rain. She likes to have fun. I mean, she is fun, most of the time. You're right, though, I can't afford to get written up again."

  "Look, Keila, freshman year can be wild and fun, but don't forget why you're here. Eye on the prize, right? I'm not planning on staying in the dorms next year. I need to focus on classes and auditions, but I think you would make a good RA. I want to recommend you, but you need to choose better. Here's the application."

  When it came to people to emulate, there was no denying the fact that, as much fun as Rain was, the future was much kinder to the Bris of the world. Tall, thin, naturally beautiful, with seriously shiny blonde hair and perfectly cut bangs. How did one get hair that healthy looking? Keila wasn't an artist, but she did have dreams, and looking around Bri's room, she was certain that she wanted it to included plush area rugs, duvets, and fancy hampers. As she reached out to her 'dorm mom,' Keila took the application and promised to think about it. She had a few months.

  Those months didn't go by easily, but Keila had a lucky streak. Her mom and grams teased her about it often. They would call her the good luck charm, and her grams always let her pick out her lottery numbers. This random luck would serve her college career in more ways than one.

  Chapter 2

  Near the end of that freshman year as spring took solid hold and the weather started being consistently warm, Keila took the longest way home from her classes. Today, that would leave her enough time to grab a snack and walk over to the office of the Vice Provost, where she ended up getting her campus job back at the beginning of the year. It didn't end up being in her major, but it was cushy and worked for her. Answering phones and the occasional filing were highly conducive to on the job studying. Besides, she figured if she eventually planned on a career in public relations, answering phones was as good a place to start as any.

  Her thoughts were focused on her feelings that group projects were the worst. It was all she could think about as she strolled across the quad. There was always someone who didn't do their part. She almost ignored the voice calling out to her at the red light. There were all sorts of numbers and marketing strategies going through her mind for the group project that she feared would turn into a near solo venture.

  "Keila, Keila! Someone's mind is focused elsewhere."

  Sitting in the passenger seat of the most gorgeous silver Lexus SUV was Bri. At that moment, it was all making sense to Keila. Bri wasn't doing the RA job for the free housing. Obviously, she came from money, and her father was completely drool-worthy. It was still hard for the young college student to figure out people's ages unless it was extreme in one direction or the other. Bri's dad was one of those hard to figure out mysteries. When sitting, he was almost a head taller than her RA, with broad shoulders, and thick wavy black hair that up close might've had a bit of grey. Shades covered his eyes. Keila was about to lean in the window for a quick chat when Bri turned to say something to her father before he got out and opened the back door. Keila wouldn't be able to deny the awestruck look she knew she was sporting if someone decided to call her on it.

  "Um, thank you," she managed to stammer out as he made his way back to the driver's seat after making sure her door was closed. She added, "Your dad is hot," before he could slide back behind the driver's seat. The charcoal grey leather seats felt like they were being molded to her butt. Subtly, she moved her hand along the seat, marveling at the silky-smooth feel. She didn't know if it was brand new or not, but it had that smell and feel. It was quite unlike the well-worn ones of her mother's eight-year-old Mustang that she had inherited.

  Bri didn't have time to respond to the hot dad comment before Michael was back in the car. She had asked him if they could give her resident (and now friend) a lift but thought nothing of how she would introduce him. She was tossing that around in her head when, per his norm, Michael stepped in.

  "Seat belt, even in the backseat. Forgive my rudeness, young lady. I'm Michael Somerville. You should at least know the name of the person driving the getaway car."

  Both girls started to giggle and the energy in the car picked up in a fun way.

  "Yes, sir. I'll remember that in the future, should needing a getaway car become necessary. Thank you for the ride. Oh my, now I'm the one who needs to apologize. I'm Keila Soriano. I'm one of Bri's residents."

  What she didn't say but certainly wanted to ask about was why he and Brianna had different last names.

  "I'm aware. Brianna speaks of you often."

  "Uh-oh! Did she mention I've recently turned over a very new leaf? We are talking body snatching level changes, Sorry; I don't know why I said that. You don't need to know that. It's just I don't—"

  Michael kept his eyes on her through the rearview mirror. Keila could feel his gaze penetrating her even t
hrough all the barriers. He never removed his sunglasses, and still, she couldn't break his gaze. Holy crap was her first thought, and her second was how in the world did Bri grow up in a house with that look. Keila swore she would've been an even bigger goody-two-shoes. She also noticed that when Bri went to say something, anything, to break the awkwardness, he simply placed his hand on top of hers and the words disintegrated on her tongue.

  "Brianna doesn't keep secrets from me, especially ones that are causing her stress. She was worried about you."

  Keila went to interrupt with an apology, but the pause he took didn't invite dialogue, only further listening.

  "She's a lot less worried now. That's a good thing. So, have you considered applying for the RA job?"

  "Well, I've really thought about it. It would take another bill off my mom's plate, but Bri is absolutely right, worrying about residents like me, well, the old me, can be time-consuming. Plus, there are meetings, activities, and a lot of training. I just don't know if I can keep my grades up to scholarship level and handle a job like that. I guess that's why Bri is leaving it."

  "Brianna will definitely have more responsibilities and a shift in priorities next year. It sounds like you've mended your ways. I'm glad to hear that. I'm sure your parents would be displeased if you lost your scholarship."

  Was there anything Bri hadn't told her dad? He wasn't being mean with the information, just stating it as a fact, but still, it was making Keila squirm. It was like being in a friendly interrogation. The other shoe could drop at any moment.