Sorry it took me so long to update fellow members, but I'm still working on Unusual Beginning, getting it ready to be published. These two kept getting in the way of my concentration, so I wrote an update. I hope they're happy and everyone enjoys it. Leave me some feedback. I love hearing what you think of what I've written.
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Colin walked into his flat, slammed the door shut, threw his winnings from the racetrack onto the coffee table and plopped down onto his couch. He leaned forward, rested both his elbows on his thighs, his head on his hands and began rubbing his temples trying to relieve a headache that had taken up residence in his head.
'She was right,' he thought to himself falling back on the couch, 'she was bloody right.'
The anger he felt at himself for not making the wages on the list of horses from the drawing Emilee gave him raged through his body.
"I didn't believe her!" he screamed out picking up an ashtray from his coffee table and throwing it across the room. "Why didn't I listen to her?!"
Colin knew why he didn't bet on the horses from Emilee's drawing it was because she gave him the numbers of the horses that would win the races and not the names. After doing some checking up on the horses he found that some were longshots and some of the horses' records didn't impress him enough to risk his money on them. So he took all his money and placed a wager on the horse with what he considered the best odds of winning, and that was the horse in the second race.
Then he went and sat in the stands and watched the races. When the first horse on Emilee's list won its race Colin chalked it up to luck. When his horse won the second race, he chalked it up to his common sense.
But when the third horse won its race Colin's confidence in his decision to ignore Emilee's selections began to wane. By the fourth race, he was calling himself all kinds of asses. As the winner of the fifth race crossed the finish line Colin was on his way to collect his winnings, anxious to leave the racetrack disgusted with himself and his stupidity.
"There will be no more secrets, mama."
Emilee's words popped into his head. 'I hope she didn't mean that was the only tip or drawing she was going to give me.' Colin thought to himself, 'because if that's what she meant I'm going to have to come up with some way of changing her mind. Starting now as a plan grew in his mind.'
He pulled out his cell phone about to call Zach's condo, then changing his mind; thinking of a better way to put his plan into motion closed his phone, picked up his winnings off the coffee table and made his way out of his flat. He had some shopping to do.
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"Did you have fun yesterday?" Zach asked Emilee as he, Ciara and Emilee sat down to eat dinner.
"Yes, I did," Emilee replied. "Can we do it again tomorrow?" she asked almost jumping out of her wheelchair.
"No," Ciara replied before Zach could answer, "you have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, young lady."
"Oh, yeah," Emilee said her smile disappearing. "I forgot."
"It's going to be alright, sweetheart." Ciara said knowing that Emilee was nervous about seeing a new doctor going over and giving her baby a hug, "you don't have to be nervous we're going to see the doctor that Dr. Chambers your doctor in Atlanta recommended. Remember he gave us a copy of your medical files to give to the doctor here so that he would know all about you and how he's been treating you and your legs, and he sent a copy to Dr. Burke. I'm sure he's going to give you the best treatment he can."
"And you seemed to like him when we visited his office," Zach remarked coming to stand next to Emilee's wheelchair.
"I do like him," Emilee said. "I'm just nervous about seeing a new doctor. "I'm use to Dr. Chambers being my doctor."
"Dr. Chambers is in Atlanta." Ciara said snuggling her nose against Emilee's, "And you're in London, and you need to continue having your legs treated so that you can have your casts removed soon."
"I can't wait for that day," Emilee said her smile returning. "I'll be able to stand, walk, run and go to the bathroom by myself once again."
Ciara and Zach laughed.
"It's not funny," Emilee said a hint of anger in her voice. "I feel like a baby every time I have to go to the bathroom because someone has to help me."
"You won't be in that chair too much longer," Ciara said trying to comfort her daughter.
"I wouldn't be in it at all if you had listened to me that day," Emilee mumbled under her breath.
The truth of Emilee's words pierced Ciara's heart like a knife and the guilt she felt about Emilee's accident wrapped its arms around her and lay heavily on her body like a gigantic weight almost causing her legs to collapse under her.
"I'm sorry," she told Emilee tightening her hold on her.
"I didn't mean what I said mommy," Emilee said hugging Ciara and crying. "I know it's not your fault that I'm in this chair and my legs aren't working. I just get so mad sometimes. I hate being in this chair."
"I know sweetheart," Ciara said tears streaming down her face also by this time. "But, like I said you won't be in this chair too much longer, just wait and see. Pretty soon you'll be strutting around like the big girl everyone knows you are."
"I can't wait," Emilee said the brightest smile Ciara had ever seen on her face.
Ciara and Emilee were heading to the bathroom to prepare Emilee for a bath and bed when someone knocked on Zach's condo door.
"I'll get it," Zach said making his way towards the door.
Zach opened the door and was surprised to see Colin standing there with an arm full of toys.
"Well, if it isn't Santa Claus," he said his voice filled with sarcasm.
"Not exactly Santa Clause," Colin said ignoring the sarcastic tone of Zach's voice and stepping inside Zach's condo making his way over to Emilee, "just a grateful friend bearing gifts to a friend."
Emilee's eyes lit up when she saw Colin walking towards her with his load of toys, but the light disappeared as he neared her when a vision appeared before her eyes. It revealed that Colin hadn't used the information she gave him and that he was very unhappy about it and expected her to give him drawings with horses on them.
Wearing a big fake smile on his face Colin placed the toys in her lap and around her chair.
"My way of saying thank you," Colin said to Emilee as he kissed her on the cheek causing her to flinch.
"But, you didn't do like I told you," Emilee replied ignoring the toys.
"I didn't do exactly as you told me," Colin admitted, "but I did use part of it and it helped me a lot. I'm very happy with the results and this is my way of saying thank you."
"I can't help you again." Emilee said letting him know that she knew why he'd come to see her. "I promised mommy that I would do it only that one time."
"I didn't come here for that," Colin said a forced smile on his face.
Emilee knew he was lying so she told him she couldn't accept the toys he brought with him.
Her refusal of his gifts caught Colin off guard. He didn't know what to do.
"I told you I didn't come over here to get you to help me again," Colin said anger and frustration rising up in him. "But I'm sure your mum wouldn't mind if you helped me one more time, if I promise to follow your instructions to the letter this time."
"No," Emilee said pushing the toys on her lap onto the floor with the rest of the toys Colin brought her.
"Look, you little ..."
"Mama!" Emilee screamed as Colin charged towards her his eyes and voice filled anger.
Ciara jumped in front of Emilee, caught Colin by the arm, threw him over her back onto the floor, took her fist and slammed it into his face stunning him. When he went to get up she took her foot and pressed it against his chest pinning him down to the floor.
"You had better think about what you're going to do before you get up," she told him standing over him in a judo fighting stance ready to hit him again, "because if your intention is to hurt my child you had better stay down there."
Zach stood in the room stunned speechless by what he'd just witnessed. It was Ciara's threat to hurt Colin if he got back up that brought him back to his senses. He went over to his soon to be ex-friend, grabbed him by his collar jerking him up from the floor and pushing him towards the door.
"It's time for you to leave," he told Colin as he opened the door to his condo and threw him out into the hallway. Zach closed the door to his condo as he followed Colin out into the hallway. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked as he stood over his former friend.
"I don't know what came over me." Colin said bringing his arm up protecting his face because he thought Zach was going to hit him. "I don't know why I behaved the way I did. Let me go in and apologise to Ciara and Emilee." Colin said making his way over to the door of Zach's condo.
"You're not going back in there," Zach told him putting himself between Colin and the door. "There's no way I'm going to let you go back inside, not after the way you treated Emilee."
"Okay," Colin said sounding contrite and apologetic, "then will you go in there and talk to them for me? "Get, Emilee to agree to help me out one more time. I'm sure you could talk her into doing it."
"Have you lost your mind?!" Zach asked him almost giving into his urge to hit the idiot standing in front of him. "You're actually asking and expecting me to not only use my, step-daughter but to talk her into helping you, when she has not only refused to help you, but promised her mother, my wife that she wouldn't help you again?"
"Please," Colin pleaded not realizing that Zach was angry with him, "i you talk to her and get her to change her mind, we could go in together and both make money."
"Do you realize how ridiculous, disgusting and dishonest what you're suggesting sounds?" Zach asked truly amazed that he'd once consider Colin to be a friend of his.
"All I'm asking you to do is talk to Emilee," Colin said, "to give me one more set of winners. I promise I won't ever ask her to do it again."
"I'm not going to do it," Zach reiterated, "and you need to leave before I kick your arse."
"Alright," Colin said about to make another suggestion, "I'm sorry for asking you to talk to or trick Emilee into helping me, okay. I was wrong."
"Why did you think that I would go along with what you're suggesting?" Zach asked needing to know why Colin thought he would go along with something so distasteful.
