On the Plus Side
Page 10

I wasn’t too happy with being verbally threatened.
“First of all, don’t put your filthy hands on my daughter. I understand that you’re probably going to kiss her. You’ll be dating her for at least three months and I know that kids do that sort of thing in that time period. You’re not allowed to do anything more than that. The last thing I want is my daughter getting knocked up by some countrified chop shop boy,” she huffed. “Do you understand?”
“Well, golly jeez, Miss, I think I reckon I understand what you’re sayin!” I said sarcastically with my deepest fake southern drawl.
Kissing? Hah! It wouldn’t even go that far. I could make this girl feel like a princess without touching her. Playing women is kind of my niche.
“How can I find her?” I asked.
“She works. As much as I hate it, she’s the manager at Franklin’s Jewelry store downtown on Meeting Street. You can find her there. Also, she spends a lot of free time with friends at a little café called Mirabelle’s. Are you familiar with these places?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said, as I opened the limo door to get out.
“And, Mr. Michaels…my daughter better not ever find out about this agreement, do you understand?
“Yeah, I got it!” I snapped.
“Good. I’m glad we understand each other. Her name’s Lilly and you better not screw this up. I’ll be in touch and you’ll get your first installment when I’m sure that you’ve started the job, so I suggest you get to it.” She straightened her top.
“I gotcha covered,” I said as I climbed out of the big, black limo that was now parked in front of my house.
It’s a little creepy that she knew where I lived without telling her. It’s like she had done her homework and dug up information on me. This lady was clever, and clever ladies are dangerous. I’ll be watching my back around this one.
“See you soon, kid,” she said as I slammed the door in her face.
I watched the limo drive off. The whole scheme was crazy, but I had to do what needed to be done.  One thing was for sure, dad would never approve, which meant he and Jenny could never know. I needed to think long and hard about where I’d tell him I got the money from, but that would come later. One thing at a time, and right now, I had a chubby chick to enchant. Doing hurtful things to strangers wasn’t my thing, but extreme situations called for extreme measures.
I now had three things that I have to do first thing in the morning. One, I had to make Renee think that I’ll be out of town for a while. I’ll just make up an uncle in Georgia or something. There’s no way she’d keep her trap shut long enough for me to finish the job if she thought another girl was getting something she wasn’t. Of course there was money involved so maybe I could just buy her something and shut her up.
Second, I had to clean myself up a bit. If I was going to win some girl over, I really needed a good shave and a haircut. Third, I had to put on my charming face. I had to get rid of “asshole Devin” and bring out the nice boy that I knew I could be.
It could be fun. I’d get to go out a little on someone else’s money with a girl that I’d never have to see again in three months. It wasn’t really a bad deal.
I stripped down to my boxers and jumped into my bed. Before I could do anything, I needed some sleep. Within minutes, I passed out and slept better than I had in the last two weeks.
Four
Picking a Lilly
After finally convincing Renee that I was going to visit family for a while, I made my way toward Charleston. I drove with the windows down and let the cool wind cut across my face. I could use as much fresh air as humanly possible. The radio was off as I contemplated how to go about pursuing this girl. As crazy as it sounded, I’ve never really had to pursue a female before.
The rumble of Lucy’s engine soothed me. I had to stay focused. I’d be fine as long as I remembered that this wasn’t just for me and Dad. I was doing this for Jenny…for our home and our business. No matter what, I couldn’t allow my conscience to get the best of me. This was a cut and dry job, and all I had to do was not get involved. Being emotionally disconnected was easy for me, so this job should’ve been a piece of cake. 
I got to Franklin’s Jewelry store and it took me three tries at parallel parking before I got it right.  Digging out some change for the parking meter, I sat and gave myself a “hell yeah” pep talk. I’m sure I looked like a creeper just sitting in my car, but I wanted to plan. I just needed to go in, buy something, and get a good look at her so I’d know what I was dealing with. I should’ve asked to see a picture so I’d at least know who she was. Hopefully, she was the only fat girl working here.