"Miss Lexi, are you alright?" a concerned Bernard asked her.
"Fine, just ran here from across town. Chyna said it was 911," she managed to get out through gasping breathes. "You know anything about this Mr. B?"
Bernard averted his eyes to the ground and gulped. "I can't really say," he mumbled.
The two years Lexi had known Chyna, Bernard had always given her a straight answer. Yes, he sometimes answered her in a goofy even sarcastic manner, but he still answered her. She had never been blown off by him of all people. He had never had a reason to. His reaction pumped a fresh wave of adrenaline into her system, and she bolted through the open door. The elevator felt as if it was taking a century to reach the top floor of the building. The classical music was more grating than normal. Lexi could feel her heart beating in her ears as the elevator stopped and deposited her on the floor. She pushed hard against the opening door forcing it to move just a fraction of an inch faster.
Hopping onto the cream carpet, Lexi bolted down the hallway. She fumbled with her key too anxious to get the thing properly out of her bag. The keychain slipped out of her hand and onto the floor. She cursed under her breath as she reached down to pick up the thing. Inserting the gold key into the lock, she twisted the handle and burst through the open door.
"Chyna?" she called racing into the immaculately decorated living room.
Lexi skidded to a halt at the end of foyer her blood turning cold as ice at the scene before her. Chyna was seated on her leather sofa, legs crossed, in a demure, black, pant suit. Lexi wasn't certain Chyna even owned clothes in this fashion. Her beautiful Italian skin was sheet white with just the lightest twinge of green as if she might be sick at any moment. Her bright green eyes were glassy as she looked near to tears, but her head was held strong. She was stubborn and refused to let the hardness leave her features for fear of breaking down. Lexi had never seen her friend look quite so distraught over anything, but she could understand why.
Standing directly in front of Chyna in a very expensive, charcoal suit was a man who was everything Lexi imagined him to be. She had only seen the man once in a photograph, never in person. She gulped hard feeling a knot form in her stomach and making it hard for her to swallow.
The man turned at Lexi's approach and made her body quaver even more at the incredibly threatening and overpowering aura that radiated from his very being. He was well over six feet tall with sharp, all-knowing brown eyes and cropped brown hair. With just one look, it was obvious he commanded attention, not unlike the woman sitting before him.
"Hello Mr. Van Der Wal," Lexi stammered out standing uncomfortably before Chyna's father.
His eyes traveled the length of her body seemingly taking in every detail while at the same time remaining strictly professional. He was observing her as if she were cattle ready for slaughter. No emotion marred his face as he continued his inspection.
Lexi was distinctly aware, in that moment, of her tight, black, Yoga pants that hugged every inch of her lower half and the flimsy white tank damp with sweat from her class. Her hair was in a messy bun stuffed haphazardly onto the top of her head. Wisps were loose from her brisk jog to the apartment and the back of her neck was still slick. She shifted awkwardly onto one hip and waited for him to finish staring at her and actually say something.
"She'll do," he commented indifferently as he glanced back at Chyna briefly. Lexi had no idea what that meant, but she was sure that she didn't want to find out.
"Are you sure?" Chyna asked sarcasm dripping from her voice as she cocked one perfectly waxed eyebrow to the ceiling.
"Don't get smart with me young lady," he snapped, his face hardening ever so slightly into a look that could make anyone shake in their boots.
Chyna didn't even flinch. Lexi was proud of her for that at least. Instead she just swept her long black hair over to one shoulder and smiled as sweetly as she could. A little bit of color had crept back into her cheeks when his attention had been briefly diverted and given her the courage to speak up.
"Never daddy," she purred lowering her long black lashes.
He growled something incoherent and tore his eyes from Chyna. "Just do what you're told," he grumbled just before brushing past Lexi and existing out the front door.
The wave of relief that followed his exit crashed into the room. Chyna slumped back against the sofa and heaved her chest up and down. She placed her hands over her eyes hoping to keep from collapsing into herself. Lexi had no idea what to do. She had never been in this kind of situation, and she didn't even know what was going on. She instantly went to her side and wrapped a comforting arm around Chyna's petite shoulders. It didn't matter what had just happened. All that mattered was that she was here now to comfort her.
"Are you okay?" Lexi asked pulling Chyna close. She knew it was a stupid question. Obviously, Chyna was not alright in that moment, but what else was there to ask. She had just witnessed something that she was certain very few other people had been able to see: Chyna in a vulnerable state.
Chyna pushed her hands up through her silky hair and took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. "I'll be fine," she mumbled.
"I know you will eventually, but what the hell was all that about?" Lexi couldn't help asking. "When I walked in, you looked like a ghost. What is your dad even doing here? I thought you two had nothing to do with each other."
"We don't," Chyna said standing from her spot and pacing the living room. "That's the way we like to keep it. Didn't you hear what he said?"
"About what?" Lexi asked confused.
"He told me not to act like my f**king whore of a mother," she cried slapping her hands down against her thighs angrily.
Lexi's mouth dropped open. She knew the history between Chyna and her parents. They had divorced when Chyna was in high school because they were both sleeping around. Then after giving her the apartment Chyna was now living in, they had equally decided they wanted nothing to do with her. Chyna was too much like her father in personality and her mother in appearance for either of them to be able to handle their daughter.
"I can't believe that," Lexi mumbled in shock.
"He can't even look at me without thinking of her. I can't believe he had the gall to come here and speak to me like that in my own home. I don't give a f**k if he paid for the place ten fold. He has no right to barge in on me and boss me around. Then spring a f**king bomb on me."
"What happened?" Lexi asked her curiosity getting the best of her.
Chyna turned around abruptly and faced her best friend. The color was draining out her cheeks again at the realization that she was going to have to talk about what had just occurred. She wasn't used to being in this kind of position. Typically, she went through her problems alone. She liked to bottle up every terrible thing that had ever happened to her and keep it hidden away in a place no one else could see.
She didn't care about the strain that put on her as well as her relationships. She didn't care that it would dampen ever having a real relationship. Her reality couldn't exist any other way. It certainly hadn't helped her parents' lives by discussing all their issues with the general public, and she didn't think it would help her either.
But this wasn't the general public. This was Lexi, someone who already knew her history.
"My dad is getting remarried," she finally sputtered out.
"What?" Lexi balked her eyes bulging out. Her heart pounded away at the mention of marriage. It was still too soon for her to dissociate herself from Jack's betrayal. But she needed to focus on the present or she would fall back into her own state of depression when she needed to be here for a friend. "Since when?"
"Since four months ago when he proposed to her," Chyna muttered dejectedly.
"Four months? Oh C, I'm so sorry," Lexi said hopping up out of her seat and standing in front of her friend.
"I've never even met her," she blubbered falling into Lexi's open arms. She hadn't wanted to cry about this, but how could she not? Her father was marrying a woman she had never met before. She knew deep down that he didn't really want her in his life, but she had never thought that he would get engaged before even introducing the woman to Chyna.
"The bastard," Lexi cried encouragingly.
"I know," Chyna said pulling back and swiping at her eyes. "I'm sorry that I'm all…" she trailed off waving her hands in front of her face.
"Oh you don't have to worry about that. How many times have you seen me in a fit?" Lexi asked knowing the answer was a ridiculous amount. Lexi had her fair share of moments of the past two years for the both of them. Chyna was certainly due tears if she wanted to cry.
"I know, but this is dumb."
"What?" Lexi asked astonished. "You think it's smarter for me to cry over Jack, then for you to cry about your parents?"
Chyna chuckled once and let a small smile tease the corners of her mouth. "Well when you put it that way."
"See, I'm much more dysfunctional than you. You have every right to be upset."
"There's more," Chyna mumbled letting her green eyes rest back on her friend. Lexi didn't like the way she said that. What more could her father want from her? After barely speaking to Chyna for two years and dumping that tidbit of information on her, it was an asinine move to then continue the conversation.
"What else could he possibly have to say to you after that?"
Chyna took a deep breath and crossed her arms over her chest. "He needs me to be at the engagement party this weekend."
"He cannot honestly expect you to show up to that."
"He didn't ask me to. He told me to," she said tilting her chin up.
"You don't have to go," Lexi told her reaching out to her.
"No, I do. You don't know what he's like. If I'm not there, it will be the end of the world. Even though I'm twenty-one, he still has direct access to my trust, and he's the owner of this apartment. He could kick me out on the streets," she murmured helplessly.
Lexi gasped. "He wouldn't dare!"
"Wouldn't he?" she screeched. "Did you see the look on his face when you got here? He was murderous. If I'd disobeyed him, I wouldn't have put it past him to ruin my life."
"But you're his daughter," Lexi cried unable to believe what she was hearing. How could anyone be so cruel?
"The daughter who is a constant reminder of his past life, of the life he was trying to get rid of. The daughter he was so eager to get rid of. He'd have already cut me off if he could."
Chyna couldn't believe she had just admitted everything. Speaking it all out loud for the first time really put everything into perspective. She truly believed that he would have gotten rid of her if he could. The only part of him that wanted to keep her around was the part that wanted to keep himself out of jail. He was a self-motivated a**hole and his self interests would always come first.
"Chyna, I…I don't know what to say," Lexi muttered sympathizing with her friend's pain as best she could.
"Just say you'll come with me."
"Oh," Lexi stammered surprised by this response. "Yeah, I guess I could. Wouldn't that be awkward?"