Loving A STRANGER

"What are you doing here?!" Kylie wondered.

Ken lifted his broom and said, "My love, isn"t it clear? I"m doing housework."

Kylie rolled her eyes and asked him who had asked him to do the housework.

"I did," Laurence chuckled as he walked out from the bedroom that he"d been in. "Is it a problem?"

There was a kindness in Laurence"s eyes that she wasn"t used to, and it made her nervous. She looked around, and when she noticed that there wasn"t any furniture, she said, "Where is the furniture? Faith was supposed to have it delivered yesterday…"

"Oh, that," Laurence replied. "Faith said that she was busy yesterday, and someone would bring it by as soon as possible."

"Faith has an ugly soul," Ken scoffed. "Could you send someone else?"

Kylie laughed at that, and she said, "Beggars can"t be choosers."

"Whatever!" Ken shouted. "I"ll quit the minute I see her!"

"Oh, boo-hoo," Kylie chuckled. "You"d better take off now. Faith is on her way as we speak. I don"t like having you around anyways."

"I don"t believe it," Ken smirked. "Everybody loves me. Come. Let me give you a ma.s.sage."

Kylie looked at Laurence then and said, "Can you give us some privacy. I want to put Ken in his place, but I have no desire to humiliate him."

Laurence looked at her carefully, and once she"d nodded to say that this is what she truly wanted, he slipped into the next room.

Once Ken and Kylie were alone, Kylie said, "I saw you were with Tom Thomas; what is your connection to him?"

Ken asked, "Who?"

Unhappy with his answer, Kylie pounded her fist down on his fingers. There was a satisfying snap, and Kylie said, "Maybe that will jog your memory. The last time your fingers were broken, it had been by Tom Thomas. Perhaps the pain will jog your memory."

It took a while for Ken to recover from the pain but, once he was recovered, he still denied having heard the name previously. "I know that their leader"s family name is Thomas," he said, "but the man who hurt me was not called Tom."

Hearing this, Kylie was puzzled. "Do you think your a.s.sailant might have a twin?"

"Anything is possible," Ken replied, "but it is a bit of a stretch, don"t you think…?"

Kylie said, "What is their leader"s occupation?"

Ken replied, "I"ve heard he is some kind of a director or something."

Kylie frowned, and she said, "You know more than you are saying. I can see it in your eyes. Who are you protecting? What hold do they have against you? Fess up, and I can a.s.sure you your safety and a prosperous future!"

"Kylie," Ken laughed, "are you flirting with me?"

Kylie scowled, but before she could answer, Faith"s voice interrupted her. "Laurence!" she called. "Kylie! I am here with the moving company. If you don"t want all of this unloaded on the living room floor, you had better come out and direct them!"

"Let"s go help them," Ken said.

"Yes," Kylie replied, "but don"t think this conversation is over. It is not!"

Ken looked around the bedroom and the living room in search of Faith. When he didn"t see her, he let out a sigh of relief and said, "I am so glad that Faith is gone."

He hadn"t seen Faith since she"d lost weight, and he didn"t realize that the s.e.xy little number that was directing the movers was her. "Hey, beautiful," he called out.

"What is a babe doing in a place like this?" he added. "Are you free tonight? If so, we should go on a date!"

Faith looked at Kylie nervously and said, "What kind of a joke is he trying to play on me?"

Kylie looked at Ken curiously and said, "I don"t know. Normally, he only has eyes for me…"

Ken turned back to Kylie and said, "Don"t be jealous. There is enough of me for both of you!"

Laurence, who was watching everything, was completely confused. Only a moment ago, Ken had been talking trash about Faith, and now he was trying to get into her pants… It made no sense to him. Before he could say a word, though, Kylie called his name. "Laurence," she said, "You can direct the movers with Faith. Ken and I need to finish our conversation."

Laurence nodded. "Have your talk," he said, "We"ve got this under control."

Once they were alone, Kylie grabbed Ken"s collar and said, "You once told me that you knew why Laurence married my mother. It is time to squeal."

Ken pushed Kylie away, took a cigarette out of his pocket, lit it, and took a drag. "First off, he said, "I did not tell you that I knew why Laurence married your mother. What I said is that I might know why Laurence married your mother. Do you see the difference? What I have heard may or may not be true…"

"I don"t care," Kylie hissed. "Just tell me what you"ve heard!"

Ken didn"t say anything until he"d finished his cigarette. Once it was done, he flicked the b.u.t.t to the ground and said, "I heard that your mom fell in love with a hoodlum. She wanted him to find legit work, but he thought that he couldn"t. In the end, they fought, and then they split up.

"I suppose that your mother didn"t want you to know that your father was a hoodlum," Ken continued, "so she married Laurence to protect you. The story may or not be true, but it sounds legitimate."

Kylie turned her back to Ken and fixed her eyes on nearby bushes. After everything he"d told her, she felt like crying, but she didn"t want him to see her cry. "What was my father like?" she wondered. "Was he a terrible man?"

"I have no idea," Ken replied, "Who cares? It is not as if you were going to seek him out, right?"

Kylie sighed as she thought about how much she intended to tell Ken. She didn"t want to tell him anything, but she sometimes had to give some to get some.

Ken said, "I heard that, when your biological father heard about you, your mother ran away with you to protect you. If that were true, I don"t understand why she returned. If everything I"ve said so far is true, it suggests that he might be dead…"

Kylie stared at Ken and said, "You have given me a lot to think about. Please help me find out what happened to my mother."

Ken nodded and said, "I will do what I can."

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