AN: Thank you for reading and reviewing my previous chapter.
As "hinted", the weekend is not yet over (although it will shortly be for me in my time zone)...and to those who wanted to be the fly on the wall of Mike and Whitney's "chat", here it is. It was a little tricky and I hope it doesn't disappoint.
This one is a shorter update, sorry! I'll try to write a longer one next time.
I am still behind in replying to a number of PMs/emails from several lovely ladies in this fandom and others. Please bear with me. I will get around to them. I do appreciate your patience and wish everyone a safe and enjoyable rest of the weekend!
Tanith
Chapter 11
Stirring the sugar into his coffee, Mike walked toward a small table. "Take a seat." He motioned for Whitney to join him at the table but the young man stayed where he was.
"Listen, Mike, I don't mean to be rude but I think Jeannie and I better get going. It's getting late and I still need to help her pack," Whitney said.
"A few minutes isn't going to make that much of a difference, now is it?" Mike insisted. He was adamant to have his say regarding his daughter and he wasn't going to take no for an answer.
Whitney sighed heavily and trudged over to the table. He placed his Styrofoam cup down and sat in the plastic chair opposite Mike. "I guess you heard that Jeannie and I are moving in together a little earlier than we had planned."
"Really?" Mike cocked his head and looked every bit the part of someone going senile. Of course it was just an act to bring the real Whitney Holden out in the open.
"I'm a little confused," Whitney laughed nervously. "Jeannie told me she mentioned this to you. In fact, she was a little upset about your reaction. And I just wanted to reassure you man-to-man that I only have the best intentions for your daughter at heart."
"Well, in that case, since you care so much about what's best for my daughter, would you mind if I offered you some advice, man-to-man?"
Whitney took a large sip of his coffee before answering with a forced smile plastered on his handsome face. "Sure, go ahead."
"Why don't you let Jeannie make her own decisions rather than making them for her?"
The smile turned into a smirk. "I'm sorry but I don't think I follow."
"Oh I think you do," Mike said pleasantly. He continued to study the young whippersnapper carefully.
"Look, Mike, if you're unhappy with our decision to live together before we tie the knot…"
Mike's hands flew up, cutting off Whitney's forthcoming speech. "There you go again. See? Our decision. Now, I have a hunch – and I've been told my hunches are rarely ever wrong – that you bought this place with the intentions of sealing the deal for Jeannie to move in with you at your whim. It was always going to be your decision, wasn't it? She was never going to have a say in this. The way I see it is, you want to be the one who pulls all the strings in this relationship. Let me tell you something, a relationship is a two-way street." He paused briefly before continuing, "Oh, Whitney, if you think you can manipulate my daughter's kindness and selfless nature so you can call all the shots, then you really don't know what's best for her. In fact, you don't know her at all."
Whitney lowered his gaze to his cup. He suddenly felt hot under the collar as he sat rigidly in his seat. "You're wrong about me, Mike."
"Then why are we having this conversation?" Mike got up from where he sat. "I'm sure you have a lot to talk about with Jeannie so I won't hold you up."
Lost for words and eager to pry his fiancée away from Mike's partner, Whitney simply nodded and hastily left the cafeteria.
For a fleeting moment, Steve allowed himself to fantasize that Jeannie was about to profess her love for him and that she'd made a mistake by getting involved with Whitney but that fantasy quickly evaporated with her next words.
"Whitney was also attacked two nights ago after we all went home from the engagement dinner."
Steve got his thoughts back on track and said, "What? At his pent house?"
"No, near his father's office. Two guys mugged him and roughed him up. I only found out this morning when he was trying to hide the fact that he was hurt."
Steve listened both as a friend and a cop. "Is he okay?"
"Well, he says he is. They got away with some cash after they hit him. Do you think the same guys did this to you?"
Steve couldn't ignore the coincidence between the two incidents but something just didn't add up. "Could be but I don't think so. My place is on the other side of town to Whitney's father's office. Gang related activity including muggings usually sticks to the same location. I guess you could say street gangs are territorial. They tend to stay in their own neighbourhood. This felt more like it was personal rather than a random break in. Did Whitney get a good look at the guys?"
"No, he said it was too dark."
"I guess he couldn't tell the police much then, huh?" Steve sighed in disappointment.
"Well, he didn't report it," Jeannie replied slowly. She wasn't sure how Steve would react to this but she was sure if it were her father she was confiding in, he would hit the roof.
Steve raised his eyebrows, incredulous that Whitney kept this to himself. "Why the hell not?"
Jeannie gave Steve a withering look.
"Sorry, but why would he not tell the cops or at least Mike? What if these guys attacked a little old lady because he didn't say anything? He has a responsibility to report the crime."
"Well don't tell me that. Tell him!" Jeannie said irritably.
Just as the words left Jeannie's lips, Whitney conveniently appeared at the doorway once again. "Tell me what?"
