Chapter 29: Uninvited Guests

He had gotten up an hour earlier than normal to get dressed and drive over to Rae's apartment. He had a meeting at eight that he couldn't be late for. This trip was really throwing a wrench in his schedule but it had to be done. He had gotten a call about her and needed to hear the truth from her face to face so he would know how to proceed. He parked in a guest spot and made his way up to her door. He used the key he'd had made from the set she was issued when she'd gotten her locks changed. Of course, she didn't know that but it didn't make any difference to him. He opened the door and headed to bedroom figuring she'd still be asleep. As he got closer, he heard moans and panting and rolled his eyes. "Kids" he thought to himself. He burst through the curtains not caring what he was interrupting.

"Rae, I need to talk you" he said. Rae and Olivia both gasped when they heard his voice. He scared the living daylights out of them. It took him a moment to notice that she was with another woman. He rolled his eyes again. He'd known for awhile that Rae dated girls but he personally thought it was ridiculous. If it were up to him, there was no way any kid of his would be gay. When she was dating Ashley she would never bring her over when Charles was home. If he came home and she was there with Ashley, they would leave and go to Ashley's house. He always said that he wouldn't allow that perversion in his house. When Rae moved out, he had no longer had a say in her guests. After another moment of looking at them, he noticed that the woman looked a lot older than Rae and started thinking about how he would handle this.

"Jesus Charles, do you knock!?" Rae yelled. She climbed off of Olivia's lap and pulled up the sheet to cover them. Charles always did whatever he wanted, to hell what with how it affected anyone else.

"On what door?" he said gesturing to the curtain hanging from the opening to Rae's bedroom.

"The front one!" she yelled angered by his intrusion. "How did even you get in here? I had my locks changed."

"Yeah, Danny told me. I got a copy of the key from the locksmith" he responded not even looking at Rae. He was on his phone texting or emailing or whatever. Rae couldn't believe how casual he was acting. "What? They can't do that. I didn't give them permission to give anyone an extra key."

"Honey, money talks. I offered the guy two hundred bucks to make me a copy. You think he'd say no to that?" Rae scoffed at him. Typical Charles. He was always throwing his money around to get what he wanted. Olivia sat there next to Rae, not sure whether she should intervene or let Rae handle it. "Charles" she thought, "why does that name sound familiar?". She decided to sit quietly and let Rae sort out the situation. "Who's she?" Charles said motioning towards Olivia.

"She's...uh...she's nobody" Rae said flustered. She wasn't sure whether it would be a good idea to tell Charles who she was or not.

"Uh...nobody?" Olivia interjected in a slightly offended tone. Rae closed her eyes and let out a breath. She looked at Olivia and saw the hurt on her face.

"I...uhh...I" Too much was happening at once and Rae couldn't put all of her thoughts together.

"Whatever, you two can hash that out later. I need to talk to you" he said pointing to Rae. "I got a call from Danny and he said..." Rae couldn't believe that he was trying to have a conversation with her while she was naked in bed with her girlfriend after having walked in on them having sex.

"Charles!" she yelled stopping him mid-sentence, "Can you just...let me put some clothes on?" she said annoyed by his very presence.

"Oh yeah, please, go ahead." He went back to whatever he was doing on his phone but made no effort to leave her bedroom. "Can I have some privacy?" she asked. He rolled his eyes yet again, "Hurry it up. It's seven o'clock and I have meeting at eight. So chop, chop." He turned and walked out to the living room. Rae put her face in her hands, embarrassed by what had just happened. She took a deep breath before getting up and putting on her shirt and shorts.

"So, I'm nobody?" Olivia asked softly. Rae sighed and shook her head, "Liv please. Not now okay? Just...not now." She walked out into the living room, leaving Olivia sitting on the bed alone. "What the hell is wrong with you? Can you be anymore inconsiderate and obnoxious and just rude?" Rae was pissed and she wasn't shy about letting him know it.

"Look I'm here strictly on business. Danny called and said there's a cop that's been coming here." Rae rolled her eyes. "Fucking Paul" she thought. "He said she came to see him to talk about you and that she still comes here asking you questions. What the hell is going on? Are you doing something illegal in this place? Cause if you are..." she had heard enough of his ridiculous reason for barging in and wanted him gone as quickly as possible.

"I'm not doing anything illegal" she said cutting him off. "Danny and Paul need to mind their own business." She didn't know if she wanted to explain yet that Olivia was the cop and that she wasn't there asking her questions, she was her girlfriend. "So now you know. Everything's fine. You can go now." she said motioning towards the door.

"Not so fast. Who is that?" he asked pointing towards the bedroom. Rae turned her head and could hear the shower running. She looked back at Charles who was standing there waiting for an answer. "Why do you wanna know?" she asked avoiding answering the question. "Why do I wanna know who my daughter is sleeping with?" Rae scoffed at his use of the word daughter. "Oh, please, don't give me that concerned parent crap. We both know you only care because she's a she."

"She looks too old for you" he said. Rae caught a hint of seriousness in his voice and figured this was going to be a battle. "Well she's not" she said simply. She stood there staring him down, not showing one once of fear. "I'll be the judge of that. How old is she?"

"None of your business" she shot back. "I'm eighteen. That's all that matters" She decided she definitely wasn't going to give him any information about Olivia. He took a step closer to her pointing a finger in her face, "You listen to me. My name is on this place. That means I have a say in who comes in and out of here, you got that?" he said raising his voice. "I'm in charge! Not you!" he yelled towering over her.

Olivia had finished showering and getting dressed and was waiting for Rae in the bedroom. She'd remembered that Charles was her mom's husband and that she'd seen a picture of him before when Rae told her about her family and how she ended up here in New York. She decided she didn't want to go out there and interrupt a conversation between a parent and their child. She was pacing nervously when she heard Charles yelling. She quickly came through the curtain to see Charles standing a little too close for comfort. He was much taller than Rae and she looked extremely uncomfortable. She was at Rae's side in an instant.

"Hey, is everything ok here?" she asked looking at Araeyah.

"Everything's fine." Charles said answering for her.

"Yeah, I wasn't asking you" she retorted. She stepped between him and Rae, rubbing her hands up and down her arms to sooth her. "Are you ok, babe?" she asked concerned. Rae shook her head. "Yeah, I'm ok."

"See you heard her. She said she's fine. You can go now" Charles said. Rae rolled her eyes at how much of an asshole he was being. She was used to it but she didn't like him treating Olivia that way. Before she could say anything, Olivia turned to face Charles, "I think I'll stay right here" she said putting an arm around Rae's shoulder. Rae leaned into her, wrapping her arm around her waist. Charles looked down at Olivia's belt and noticed the badge on her hip. "Wait a minute, you're the cop?" he asked. "Detective" she corrected. "You know how old she is correct?"

"Of course I do" Olivia said, her voice full of disdain. "Good. I'm gonna need your badge number. What precinct are you out of? Oh, and what's your captain's name?" he asked getting his phone ready to take down the information.

"Charles stop it. Leave her alone. She doesn't have to tell you anything." Rae said stepping forward as if to protect Olivia. She let her hand fall from Olivia's waist and grabbed her hand as it fell from her shoulder. "She isn't doing anything wrong."

"Well then she shouldn't have any problem giving me the information" he said. He stood there waiting for them to say something. He checked his watch and saw that it was nearing seven fifteen. "Look, I don't have all morning" he said holding his hands out. Olivia was about to speak but Rae squeezed her hand and shook her head to stop her. Charles waited another moment before speaking again. "Alright. Have it your way. I'll just get your name from Daniel and have a buddy of mine get the information for me. See you at dinner on Saturday" he said as he turned and headed for the door. Once he was gone Rae let go of a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. She turned to Olivia still holding her hand.

"I'm sorry" she said softly. Olivia pulled her into a tight hug and kissed the top of her head. "You're not nobody. I just...I know how Charles can be and I didn't want to tell him anything about you and..." Olivia silenced Rae by grabbing her face and pulling her into a kiss. She broke the kiss and looked into Rae's big, beautiful brown eyes. "Thank you." Rae was confused as to why Olivia was thanking her. If it wasn't for her and her asshole stepfather, they wouldn't be worried about being outed. "I don't understand" Rae said looking up at Olivia. "Thank you for standing up for me. Trying to protect me" she explained. Rae smiled and shook her head saying you're welcome and stood on her toes to kiss Olivia again. Once the kiss ended, Rae looked over at the clock. She could barely make out the numbers without her glasses on but saw that it was almost seven twenty. "Why don't I take a quick shower and get dressed and we can stop by the coffee shop for breakfast?" Olivia leaned down and kissed Rae sweetly on the lips. "Sounds good to me." Rae turned to go into the bedroom to get ready but stopped and turned when Olivia grabbed her hand. "You talked before brushing your teeth" she said smiling. Rae laughed and headed into the bathroom to prepare for the day.