Free Lifestyles of the Rich and Shameless by Noire, Kiki Swinson Page A

That’s where it’s going down at. You hear me?” Eric instructed for the thousandth time. He was driving me fucking nuts.
    “Okay. I got it,” I said, annoyed. I didn’t need him making me feel more on edge. This whole deed was bad enough in my book.
    I finally got myself together and exited my Range on wobbly legs. I stopped for a minute to shake off the creeps I was feeling. Afterward, I took a deep breath and walked around the building and into my father’s office space. When I entered, the first thing in my line of vision was a huge, poster-sized picture of me when I was about four years old. My father had never taken it down in all of these years. It instantly made me nostalgic. With the sound of the door opening, the front desk assistant looked up from whatever she was doing on the computer. A wide smile spread across her face.
    “Megan! What a nice surprise,” Ms. Everett, my father’s longtime assistant sang. The ample-breasted woman stood up and opened her arms to give me a hug. I let a nervous smile spread across my face and stepped into her embrace. She smelled like cinnamon and biscuits. Her hug made me feel warm inside, I guess like a mother’s hug would, but since my mother never hugged me I had to just imagine.
    “Mmmm, your daddy talks about you all the time. You know he really misses you. He just wants you to be good. He wants the best for you, Megan,” she told me as she held me tightly.
    I could feel tears burning at the back of my eyes. I pulled away from her. I didn’t want to cry, nor was I there for her advice. I cleared my throat. “I know he does, Ms. E. That is why I am here. I just want to do the right thing for a change,” I lied. “Is he here?”
    “Yes, baby. He is in his office. I won’t let him know you’re here. I think this will be a great surprise for him,” Ms. Everett said, smiling.
    I smiled back and headed to the back where my father’s office was located. I could see as I walked the long hallway that his door was closed. That usually meant he was very busy working on a new deal to make more money or that he was stressed out about something with his business. I was hoping for all of our sakes he was behind closed doors brokering a new deal for more money.
    I stood in front of his door for a few minutes before I got up the courage to turn the doorknob. C’mon, Megan, don’t get shook now. You got a job to do, I pep talked myself. Finally I twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open.
    My father was sitting at his desk leaning over a stack of papers. “Yvette, I am not taking any calls and I don’t want any lunch,” my father said dryly, without looking up. He thought I was Ms. Everett.
    I swallowed hard. My bottom lip was trembling. I was paralyzed with fear for a few minutes.
    “Close the door behind you,” he barked out, still not looking up.
    “Hi, Daddy,” I said in an almost inaudible whisper. My father looked up. He pulled his reading glasses off and his face softened. He looked like he wanted to cry. I could tell he was at a loss for words.
    “I missed you, Daddy,” I said softly, my voice cracking.
    My father stood up slowly. Still he didn’t speak. He rushed over to me with an urgency that made me uneasy. My eyes grew wide. I didn’t know what to expect. My father walked into me with all of his might and grabbed me in the tightest embrace I had ever felt from him in my entire life. He immediately started to sob. I had never in my life heard my father cry. It broke my heart into a million pieces. Doubt about what I was doing started creeping in.
    “Oh, Megan, baby girl, I’ve been so worried about you. I thought you would at least call, or come back home by now,” he cried into the top of my head.
    I began to cry as well. I held on to my father like I never wanted to let him go. In my head I was telling myself to stay strong. Stay on course with the plan. Remember how he had hurt me.
    “Let me look at you,” he said, pulling me away from