Coming in Waves
Chapter 3: Devina
Once I left Zeke's office, I had to call Arthur to pick me up because my office is thirteen blocks away. I stood there just checking the many different e-mails, filtering out the spam from the important stuff.
"Hello Devina." A man said and I knew that voice. I turn around and there he is wearing a blue suit with nice shoes, probably Italian. He looked like the same man that I knew while growing up, but he isn't at all. He is the man who turned into a monster eleven years ago, my brother Mark. Attached to him was some brunette bimbo that was wearing a very revealing dress, something you don't put on before lunchtime.
I am absolutely disgusted. He was supposed to be far away, very far away. I'd like to say about three thousand miles away. He lives in California along with prestigious hospital and his annoyingly perfect life and he needs to go back to it before I rip off his head along with his supermodel girlfriend. "What do you want Dr. Hell?"
"Oh I knew I was going to get an insult, but I just thought it would be whiter." He said with his smug smile.
"Are you serious? I shouldn't even be talking to you. You're lucky I haven't had you killed." I say "You better leave me alone before I change my mind."
"Well, I guess the senators daughter isn't very hospitable to out of towners."
"You're not a fucking out of towner. You're New York born and raised unfortunately. What the hell are you doing here anyway? Wait. Don't answer that. I cut ties with you a long time ago, so why don't you get the hell away from me." I say to him and turn around. Right then, Arthur pulled up and I started to walk to the car.
"Devina! Wait!" I hear Mark yell but that only made me walk faster. I got in the car and I closed the door behind me.
"Ma'am? To the office?" Arthur asked and I nodded. He drove off and I didn't look back. I looked at my phone and I contemplated calling Zeke, but I didn't want to hassle him. I sat in the car just watching as the skyscrapers blend together. We finally pulled up to the office and I was so disconnected that I didn't even know we stopped.
"Devina. We're here." Arthur said which snapped me out of my daze.
"Thank you Arthur. Lucas' parent teacher conference is at four. Can you pick me up around three thirty?"
"Of course." He responded and I got out of the limo. I walked towards the doors and stepped into the building. I work in the empire state building, so there are people everywhere in the lobby. I go to the elevator and pressed the 78th floor button. The doors closed and the elevator started to move. I looked at my phone and the time read 12:09. The elevator doors open and I walk to my office. I pass the receptionist desk which was run by Marcy smiled and waved, like everyone else in the office. This is not the place where you make friends and pull pranks on the co-workers. It's a law firm and I keep it as such. Last year, my father gave me the birthday present of co-ownership of the company. I walked past many office just to reach mine.
"Oh Devina, may I have a word?" Jefferson asks pushing his head out of his office door. He was one of the partners of the firm.
"Sure Jefferson. Come on into my office." I say and he nods. I walk to my office door and I open it. There was the lobby area before my office, where Nadi normally works, but I guess she's going to need her own office now. I walk into my office and everything is very neat, just the way I like it. My office overlooks the entire city and it is very large. I like to keep everything spaced out, the drinks section at the far right, the floor to ceiling bookshelves I use to keep case studies in, except for the middle shelf where I keep all the pictures of my life. However, something is out of place, the French glass set. Two cups are missing. I look to the corner of my office where the couch is and there sits a woman in a purple sundress and a man in a grey suit that I do not recognize. I however know who the woman is quite clearly. Her long brown hair pushed back with a headband and her make up done perfectly to hide her bitchy attitude she hides behind every fucking fake smile.
"What the fuck are you doing in my office?!" I yell at them and they look startled.
"Devina…" Lucinda begins.
"Jefferson, we can schedule a meeting later. I have some heads to cut off." I say to him and he nods. He closes the door behind him and I drop my bag and sit at my desk. "What the fuck is this? Did you and Mark plan this? Is this some sort of ploy to get me to make nice with the both of you?"
"Devina…"
"And what the fuck is this? Your pet?"
"I'm Walden. Lucinda's husband." He says in a proud tone. Little does he know that I hate my sister so that doesn't give him any creditability with me, actually, it gives him less.
"Is that suppose to mean something to me?" I ask and in that same moment Mark and his bimbo show up unannounced. I mean, this is a business, my business and I will not have them ruin it.
"Devina… I was trying to have a conversation with you." Mark says looking at me. His eyes drift towards the couch. "Lucinda? Walden?"
"Great. Now that we know each others names, you can all leave." I say in my angry tone that isn't artificial.
"I'm Mary…" The brown haired bimbo finally speaks. Of course her name is ironic, like her life. I'm not surprised that people don't call her Magdalene Mary.
"And I need to know that why?" I say. "Get out before I throw you all out the window."
"Devina, we all need to talk…" Lucinda says
"I don't give two shits about what you have to say. You need to leave, now. You walked out of my life once, it wouldn't be that hard to do it again."
"I can see that you have some hostility towards us…"
"No bitch. I am way past the line of hostility and I transferred into plotting your fucking death. I will tell you one last time to get out before I have security throw you out." I say and then my desk phone rings.
"Devina, don't answer that." Mark says.
"Don't tell me what to do, you lost that privilege a long time ago. Around the time that you decided to leave me with a fucking baby." I yell at him and answer the phone. "What!"
"Hello Mrs. Parker. I'm Nurse Galinda at Hudson River Academy. I need you to pick up Lucas as soon as possible."
"What happed to him? Is he hurt?" I ask in a terrified tone.
"He took a fall and he cut the back of his head. I don't know if he needs stitches but I think it would be best if you take him to the hospital. Can you be here in about twenty minutes?"
"Yes, of course. I'll be there as soon as I can." I say gathering my things. I get my cell phone and I dial Zeke's number.
"Devina… what's wrong?" Mark asks me as he follows me down the hallway as the rest of them follow. I don't have time to deal with them; I need to get my son. Zeke isn't picking up his desk phone. Where the hell is Noelle?
"Nothing that hasn't bothered you in the past eleven years." I say pressing the elevator button.
"What's wrong with Charles?" Lucinda asks.
"Who the fuck is Charles?" I yell at her. "My son's fucking name is Lucas you dumb shit." The elevator doors open and they all get in. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"
"We're going with you…" Walden says. What an ignorant fool.
"Who even are you? I'm taking the stairs. Don't follow me." I say and the elevator doors close. I walk to the stairs doorway and down two flights of stairs. I'm now in Trisha's psychiatrist office.
"D? What are you doing here? We don't have lunch until one…" She says and then looks at my face. "What happened?"
"Lucas fell and he might need stitches. I need to pick him up and Zeke isn't answering his phone and my siblings are here and my dad and I are fighting…" I ramble.
"Okay. Calm down. One thing at a time. First things first, we need to call Arthur to pick you up. You do that and I'll get a hold of Zeke. Come on, we'll get Sky and we'll all go." She says and gets her stuff from her office. We get to the elevators and we go down about three floors to get Skylar. She works for the publishing corporation and is one of the head executives. Once Trish told her what was going on, she was out the door with us. Arthur was pulling the car around and I still need to get a hold of Zeke.
"Hello Superwoman. What's up?" He asks while I heard the keyboard typing in the background.
"Where the hell have you been?! I have been trying to get a hold of you for the past ten minutes!"
"Devina, what's wrong?"
"Lucas cut his head at school and he might need stitches. Arthur is pulling the car around now. Do you want me to pick you up?"
"What?! Is he okay? What happened?"
"I don't know Zeke, all I know is that he has a cut on his head and I need to know if I need to pick you up."
"Yes, pick me up. I'll be outside in five minutes."
"Arthur still hasn't pulled around yet. Just wait ten and then come out."
"Xavier and Theo should come too. Wait, Xavier took his car here, we'll just meet you at the school."
"Okay."
"Babe, he's going to be fine. We just need to remain calm." He says which eases me a little.
"Hun, Arthur just pulled up. Trish, Sky and I will meet you at the school." I say and walk to the car "Don't forget to call Jelly and Marcella. They'll want to be there."
"Okay… I'll see you there. I love you."
"Love you too." I say and hang up. The girls and I get settled in and we make out way to Lucas' school. We sat in the car just watching the city. Thank God we didn't hit traffic because I would have killed someone if there was.
"So… I need to tell you something." Trisha said pulling my attention towards her.
"No you don't." Skylar said. "We don't need to tell you anything."
"You know how she hates surprises."
"Well, she's just going to have to deal. We're not telling her."
"Okay, you two need to stop talking about me in third person while I'm right here. Will you just tell me?"
"Nope… now what is this about your siblings from hell?" Skylar responded.
"Oh, so apparently, my father invited them to my wedding. I was going to uninvite them later on today. I would've had someone call them for me. But apparently, they're already here."
"Well, what are you going to do?" Trisha asks me. "You cant kill them, I will not let my nephew visit his mother in jail."
"That's the thing. Lucinda didn't even know his name. They have no idea what my life is like."
"Do you think they'll tell Lucas the truth?" Skylar asks. All of our friends know that Lucas isn't my son, but they have all take on the roles of aunts and uncles due to the fact that my real siblings are a bunch of fuckers.
"If they know what's good for them, they wont." I say as we pull up to Lucas' school. We get out of the car and make our way to the office. I know this school very well, I use to go here. We walk down a bunch of hallways and finally get to the nurse's office.
"Hello, I'm Lucas Parkers' mother." I say and then I hear Xavier's laugh. I walk into the room and there is Xavier, Theo and Zeke all laughing while Lucas is on the table just lying down.
"Hey babe." Zeke said with the following "Hey Devina" coming from Xavier and Theo. I walk to Lucas' side and look at his head. His brown hair has a little bit of blood on it, as well as his uniform. "We need to take him to Derek. It looks like it needs stitches."
"What the hell happened Lucas?" I ask him and stand up.
"I was playing soccer and I went for the ball and I missed and my head hit something hard. Everyone took me to the nurse and then they called you." Lucas said while sitting up. "I'm a little dizzy."
"I would assume so." I said helping him to his feet. "Come on, Arthur will take us to the hospital." We walk out of the room and we are in the doorway when I feel someone touch my arm.
"Mrs. Parker…" I turn around and there is Nurse Galinda.
"Not quite yet…" I respond and Zeke laughs.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I need you to sign Lucas out." She says handing me a piece of paper. I signed my name and printed Lucas'. "Thank you."
"Why isn't anyone here?" I ask. "The classrooms are empty and the teachers are just sitting.
"Everyone was released about ten minutes ago. It was a half day due to the parent teacher conferences."
"Oh right, Lucas' parent teacher conference." I say smacking my forehead. "Sky, can you take Lucas to the car? Zeke and I have to reschedule the conference."
"Okay." Skylar said and we parted ways. Skylar and Trisha walked Lucas down the hall along with Xavier and Theo while Zeke and I walked to Mrs. Ross' room. We knocked on the door and she wasn't with anyone right now.
"Mrs. Ross?" I ask stepping in. "We're Lucas' parents. We have to reschedule the parent teacher conference."
"oh I know. I put you two down for tomorrow at three. Is that okay?" She asks. She's a short blonde haired woman. She was dressed very conservative, just the way my mother used to dress. A buttoned up sweater and a skirt cutting off mid-calf with her hair in a side ponytail.
"That's good for me." Zeke says. "Do you have court then?"
"No, I don't have any court cases tomorrow. I'm taking the day off to finalize the wedding details. Good thing too because Lucas will probably not be in school tomorrow."
"Oh, that's fine. We're just working on the family tree project." Mrs. Ross says.
"You guys are going a family tree project?" I ask
"Yes, I assigned it today. It's due at the end of the week. Since it was a shot day all week type of thing, I want them to be all pretty and have lots of pictures and decorations."
"Okay, we have to get going. We'll see you tomorrow Mrs. Ross." Zeke said and I waved goodbye. We walked down the hallway with his arm around my shoulder like we were a high school couple walking to fourth period. Theo, Trisha and Xavier and Skylar were all just talking outside doors of the limo.
"Hey, I called Derek and he's waiting for us in the ER." Skylar said.
"Thanks Sky. Well, we better get going." I said and went into the car. Trish and Skylar rode with Xavier and Theo while Lucas rode with us. We sat I silence while Lucas put his head on my lap. I stroked his hair and he just sat there.
"So, the siblings of hell are in the city and they came to see me." I whispered to Zeke and once I did, he was immediately angered.
"What the hell do they think they're doing? I mean, they cant move miles away and expect to be welcomed back with open arms."
"I thought you wanted me to make amends with them…"
"I meant gradually. They bombarded you with all this shit in one day." He yelled slash whispered.
"Okay Zeke, calm down. None of us are dead. I'm telling you because I think they'll try to talk to you too. I want them to leave the city. If they go near Lucas, I will kill them." I say looking down at him. He fell asleep and his breaths evened. Zeke and I were silent for a moment just looking at him. Eleven years ago, we thought he was a burden that we had to take on. Now, we look at him and we thank God for this blessing. He has changed Zeke and I both for the better. We became parents and it all paying off, the sleepless nights, the changing diapers every two minutes. I see it all as stepping stones for what Lucas has done; get good grades, find his passion for soccer and not just that. Every time he smiles or laughs, is the time for us to get satisfaction that we are good parents. "I wont let them mess this up. They don't belong in my life, in our lives."
"Okay, they're as good as gone. They are not allowed at our wedding either. It's your day and I don't want you stressing about them."
"How did I get so lucky to have you?" I ask while stroking his hair. He kissed my hand and I just smiled. We sat in silence for the rest of the drive to Bellevue.
"Ma'am, we're here." Arthur says as he pulls up to the entrance of the hospital. Zeke carries Lucas out of the car and we make out way to the front desk.
"Oh dear." I nurse says in animal scrubs.
"Oh no, he's just sleeping. He took a fall today at school and we had to take him to the hospital." I said to her and turned to Lucas "Lucas honey. Wake up." I touched his arm and he slowly starts to wake up.
"Mom?" I hear Lucas say as he stands on his own.
"Hold on babe. Uncle Derek is on his way." I say and in that same moment Theo and the rest of them come to the front desk, along with Marcella, Will and Jelly. The run to his side and touch his face.
Marcella and Jelly walk in wearing black tight dresses while will is just wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Ironic because his wife is one of the biggest names in the fashion world and he is just wearing that. But you have to know Will to understand his style. His parents came from nothing and they sacrificed everything to get him to where he is now. He never finds it important to buy expensive things, which drives Marcella crazy but he deals with it.
Marcella and Jelly have been friends for forever, just like Skylar and I. Their fashion line, Countless Navigations, is amazing. It doesn't just dress for the red carpet; it also has things for everyday people. I admire them for broadening the spectrum for reasonable fashion.
"Lucas, are you okay?" Marcella asks hugging him, she's that kind of person.
"Yes Aunt Marcella. I'm just a little dizzy."
"Can we see Dr. Derek Dane?" I ask the nurse and in the same second, Derek comes through the doors.
"How's my favorite guy feeling." Derek asked walking towards Lucas.
"I'm feeling fine." Xavier said. We all looked at him with the same look that we always give him. The usual "why are you such an idiot?' look.
"Okay, let's get you in a bed. Did you fill out the paperwork yet?" Derek asks me.
"Nope. Not yet. Why don't you take Lucas? Zeke, can you go with him?" I ask and they disappear into the doors. I look to the nurse and she was just staring at me. "Can I have the paperwork?"
"Oh sure…" She said scrambling a bunch of papers onto a clipboard. "Isn't he Senator Parker?"
"Yes…" I say taking the clipboard from her.
"That must mean that you're Devina Kingston?"
"Yes…" I say a tad bit weirded out. I forget that the people around me are considered famous. I mean, Zeke is a senator, my fathers the governor, my friends are fashion designers. I never really thought about it like that.
"Well, your fiancé is going to be my hero. I have heard rumors that he is going to legalize gay marriage in New York."
"I'm sure that he would love to hear that. I'm glad to know that he is doing something great." I say and she nods.
"Well, we need you to fill out these forms and bring them back when you're finished." She says and I sit down in one of those uncomfortable hospital chairs that people hate waiting in. Trisha and the rest of them sat down in the surrounding chairs and made calls to their work and made sure that the world didn't fall to chaos.
The paperwork was standard. Fill out name, date of birth, any pre-existing conditions and sign at the bottom to relinquish your soul. I remember waiting here for my mom to give birth. When the doctor came into the room and told us that she was gone, my soul was crushed. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't move. I don't know what would've happened if Zeke wasn't beside me at the time. He was there because he drove me to the hospital. We were at a party that night and I was wearing some skimpy dress that Marcella and Jelly designed together with high heels that made me taller than the empire state building. I was a completely different person then. If I saw that girl today, I wouldn't even know who it was.
"So, Derek took him in for a brain scan, just to make sure that everything is okay there." Zeke said while coming through the doors. "Are you done with those?"
"Yeah." I said giving him the clipboard. "You know guys, you didn't have to drop everything for Lucas."
"oh yes we did. Marcella and I were stuck in a budget meeting. I mean, it's our company. We know what we spend and we make the final say on every freaking thing. Why do we have to handle this as well?" Jelly said complaining. She was a medium height brown haired girl. Back in college, she dyed the inner layer of her hair purple just to piss off her parents. She came from a middle class family that never went to charity events or had to deal with crazy politics. Xavier pulled her into this world and now she has no way out. Those two are the goofiest, clumsiest people I know, they belong together.
"I know, but we have to do it. If we don't that we could go bankrupt." Marcella said hugging Will. Those two are polar opposites. Unlike X and Jelly, they always fight and they are like hot and cold. The thing is that what attracted them together in the first place. He dropped her books and then she yelled at him and told him that he should, as she put it, "look where you're fucking walking and stop thinking that you are a fucking God that gets to walk around like he is above everyone and that he needs to start thinking about himself as a fucking pretentious jackass that he is." Then he asked her to get coffee with him. They are very straight forward with each other which made them perfect together.
"Well, thank you." I said and Zeke comes back to the group with a big grin on his face. " I see you met the nurse."
"Yeah." He said brushing his fingers through his hair. "now I feel better."
"Good." I said as he sat in the chair right beside me. "So, is Lucas okay?"
"Oh. Derek just texted me that his scans were normal. They're going to get him stitched up." Skylar said looking up from her phone.
"Oh thank God." Trisha said looking at Zeke and me. I snuggled up next to him and he held my hand.
"Well, since we're all here. Reminders. My fundraiser is on Thursday and D and Zeke's rehearsal dinner is on Friday and Saturday is the wedding." Xavier says.
"Got it down in my calendar." Theo says. For a few minutes we were all just talking about what is the plans for the rest of the week. Then we moved onto telling hilarious stories about each other. Then Derek and Lucas came through the doors and we all stood up.
"He's gonna be fine." Derek says while toughing Lucas on the shoulder. "He's scans are normal and he's all stitched up. All ready to go home and eat ice cream."
"That's great." Zeke said and I walked up to him and knelt down.
"Lucas, I swear if I have to get you from here again, I'll kill you myself." I say and they all just laugh.
"Okay mom." He says in his eleven year old voice that is about to go through puberty.
"Well, isn't that remarkable?" I hear from across the room. A woman's voice and I know exactly who that is, Lucinda. "Mom huh?"
"What the hell are you doing here?" I say in a very angered tone.
"Oh Shit's about to go down." I hear from X and then a quick slap. I don't respond to it, my eyes are already locked on Lucinda and Mark who stands right behind her. They're lucky we're in a hospital right now. They are most likely going to need one.