Liar, Liar by Kasey Millstead

impatiently waiting by the window.  She is dressed in her usual impeccable manner, and today she’s wearing a mint green skirt with matching jacket, with a white blouse underneath.  Dorethea Duncan wouldn’t be caught dead in jeans and a sweater.  Not even when I was a kid and she and my father attended my private school sports games, would she dress even semi casual.
    “Do you always arrive late to work?” she snaps.
    Ignoring her, I decide to cut right to the chase.  “What do you want, mother?”
    “Your father and I had a discussion with Rose and Wilson yesterday,” she informs me.  My fists clench by my side.  Rose and Wilson Peterson are Regina’s parents.  I can only imagine what their discussion entailed, especially considering Regina had spoken to her mother last night and then spouted her shit to me about having a baby.
    “Riveting,” I mordantly quip.
    “Have some respect!  It’s about time you own up to your responsibilities and start acting your age.  You’re not in your twenties anymore, Benjamin, and Regina isn’t getting any younger.  You need to have children, and it needs to happen within twelve months, or the consequences will be severe,” she threatens.
    “Respect?  Respect is earned not demanded.  I’ll give you respect the minute you deserve it,” I spit.
    “I honestly don’t know where we went wrong with you,” she sighs.  She’s so fucking hard to please.
    “What if I don’t want children?” I taunt.
    “Then you’ll just have to deal with it, won’t you?  We all have to do things we don’t want to do, Benjamin.  You’re no exception.”  She starts toward the door before she stops and turns back.  “Twelve months, Benjamin.”
    “I’m not having kids with that woman, so go ahead and do your worst,” I tell her.  Her eyes widen and the look of shock on her face is almost laughable.
    She shakes her head despairingly.  “You’ll be sorry.”
    “I doubt it,” I mutter as she slams the door behind her.
    What does the woman think she can do to me?  Since her entire being revolves around money and social ranking, I wouldn’t be surprised if she kicked me out of the business and froze my accounts (again) before disowning me.  I’m the kind of man who learns from the past though, so she can freeze my accounts all she wants, because over the last six or so years, I have squirrelled away millions of dollars that she has no idea about.  I have investments that nobody else knows anything about.  So she can do her best, but she won’t control me any longer.

CHAPTER ELEVEN – MAKENNA
    I find a treadmill and hit play on my iPod’s workout play list.  Taylor Swift singing ‘Shake It Off’ fills my ears as I begin a slow, warm-up jog.
    By the time I step off the treadmill, all hot and sweaty, I feel a little better.  Needing to cool off, I make my way to the pool downstairs, my eyes subtly scanning the room as I go, looking for Benny.  I don’t see him, though, and I have to consciously ignore the pang of disappointment in my stomach.
    I change into my black one-piece swimsuit and dive into the cool water.  Rather than do laps, I just float around, do some light strokes, and relax.  A few minutes later, I become aware of someone looking at me, so I glance around and immediately notice Benny.  He’s wearing a pair of bright blue swimming trunks, and his glorious, tanned chest is bare.  Every ripple and contour of his abdominal muscles are on display, along with a ripped V that disappears beneath the waistband of his shorts. 
    He dives into the water and swims directly over to me.
    “Hey,” he says with a grin as he runs his hand through hair.
    “Hey.”
    Even though he looks carefree, I can see the tension behind his eyes and it has me wondering what happened today.  Still, I decide to ask anyway.  He can either shut me down, or open up.
    “Is everything okay?” I ask gently.
    His eyes widen imperceptibly in surprise.  “I had a shit