˚˚˚

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

❝I'M THINKING MY PAST IS COMING BACK TO HAUNT ME.❞

˚˚˚

Winnie woke up with the biggest headache she'd ever had in her life, the constant throbbing made her groan and roll over in her sleep.

The sudden movement made Justin open his eyes slowly as he lie sleep on the floor of Winnie's bedroom with a pillow and blanket to his comfort.

Hearing Winnie groan once more made him slowly rise up from the floor and crawl over to Winnie's side as she rolled over to see Justin making her puff out a breath.

"How drunk was I?"

"Very drunk."

Winnie creased her eyebrows. "Why are you in here?"

"Winnie, do you not remember anything last night?"

"No."

"You're a sleepwalker. . .which I never noticed until last night."

Winnie slowly rose up from her pillow and rested her back against the pillow as she looked at Justin emotionless making him raise an eyebrow.

"Justin, I know I am."

"You do?"

"But only when I'm drunk. . .weirdly, which is why I don't drink as much."

Justin scoffed. "Well I had to carry you away from the pool area twice last night."

Winnie snickered as Justin rolled his eyes and shook his head and picked up the pillow and blanket he slept with and pointed to Winnie's nightstand. "Aspirin and water, should help the headache."

"Thanks."

Justin hummed in response and headed for Winnie's bedroom door and placed his hand on the silver door knob, but he stopped when heard the sound of Winnie calling him.

"Yeah?"

"Um. . .did I do anything crazy last night? Say anything crazy?"

Justin paused momentarily and thought about last night and his talk with Winnie he had right before she passed out and went to sleep, but then again; she was drunk.

"Nope."

Winnie smiled softly and reached over to her nightstand for the aspirin and glass of water as Justin huffed and headed out of Winnie's bedroom to go to his room.

Once he left, Winnie puffed out a breath and took the aspirin and swallowed down some water behind it and sat the glass of water back down onto the nightstand and searched the bed for her phone.

Winnie creased her eyebrows and got on her knees on the mattress as she searched through the blankets and pillows and finding no sign of her phone.

As if on queue, the sound of a vibration made Winnie crease her eyebrows and crawl to the edge of her bed and look down at the floor to see her denim jacket on the ground along with her dress and boots.

Winnie scoffed and leaned off the edge of the bed and dragged her jacket toward her and reached into the pocket and pulled out her phone.

Looking at it, she saw it was a bunch of messages from Jade making her lick her dry lips slowly and unlock her phone to see the messages.

where did you go?

okay, i'm honestly getting worried about you, answer me!

winnie answer your phone! i need to know you're okay!

i asked the bartender where you went and she said she saw you run outside to throw up?

YOU TOOK A CAB? WHAT THE HELL? WHERE ARE YOU GOING????

winnie, honestly finna put your face on the back of a carton of milk

texting you is hopeless isn't it?

After checking Jade's messages, she exited out of it and went into her call log and saw she had 8 missed calls from Jade making her curse under her breath.

There was a sudden knock on Winnie's door making her sigh heavily and hop up from the bed and jog over to the door and open it to see Justin.

"Why is Jade downstairs rambling about where you are with coffee in her hand?"

"Just let me talk to her."

Justin nodded slowly and stepped aside as Winnie jogged downstairs and headed into the living room where she saw Jade in the middle of it pacing back and forth with her coffee in her hands.

"Holy shit, Winnie! You're okay?!"

Jade jogged over to Winnie and hugged her tight making her laugh softly and hug her back momentarily before the two broke away and Jade smacked Winnie's arm as soon as they did.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"You scared me shitless last night!"

Winnie smacked her teeth. "I'm sorry, I was so drunk I don't know what happened."

"Oh I do, the bouncer outside the club and the bartender told me what you did and I pieced two and two together."

"What happened?"

"Well after you danced on the bar you got dizzy and went outside because you thought you were going to throw up but ended up calling a cab and driving off — leaving me I may add."

Winnie huffed. "I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you."

"Yeah yeah, do you have some breakfast?"

"Probably? You can go look."

Jade nodded and took a sip of her coffee as Winnie ran her hands through her curls in frustration as she plopped down onto the couch.

Taking the remote off the coffee table, she turned on the television and turned on the news and immediately had to do a double take when she saw Iris's face on the news.

"Sources say that Iris Baxter was found leaving the fertility clinic yesterday evening, does this mean she's trying for another baby?"

Another? Winnie thought.

Just then, the sound of keys jangling made her jump slightly and turn the television off and turn around to see Justin walking up to see with his car keys in his hand.

"I'm going to get us some groceries, cool?"

Winnie nodded and gave a closed mouth smile making Justin crease his eyebrows and smile.

"What?"

"Eh. . .nothing, I'll be back in a few."

Winnie nodded and turned back around and let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding and heard the sound of the door opening and closing.

The sudden sound of Winnie's phone vibrating again made her jump and pick it up to see the caller ID and crease her eyebrows and answer.

"Mom?"

"Winnie? How are you baby?"

"I've had better days."

"Well I won't bother you long, but your publisher called the house, she wanted to talk to you about the book."

Winnie rubbed her forehead. "Okay, that's fine, give her my number."

"Winnie. . .are you okay? You sound different."

"I-I'm fine. . ."

"Winnie, don't lie to me now, I ain't raise you to lie."

Winnie sharply inhaled a shaky breath. "I'm sorry. . .a lot has happened in Santa Monica, mom. . ."

"Do I need to come out there?"

"Y-You'd come out here? For me?"

"Of course, baby! You're my daughter! I'll be out there as soon as I can!"

Winnie let out a small laugh. "Thank you, mom."

"No problem, baby, te amo, baby."

"Te amo, mom. . ."

Winnie heard the sound of the phone beep making her take the phone away from her ear as she heard the sound of the microwave stop.

Winnie crossed her arms and walked into the kitchen and saw Jade warming up some leftover food from yesterday. "So is that Justin's shirt?"

"Yeah."

Jade turned around and grinned softly making Winnie's cheeks heat as she shook her head at Jade as she heard her giggle.

"What happened back here last night when you got back?"

"Nothing from what Justin said. . .," Winnie murmured softly as she shrugged her shoulders and sat down on a chair in front of the kitchen island. "But I was drunk out of my mind."

"Damn, no more liquor for you for a while."

"Agreed."

Jade smiled and started to eat the leftovers and drink her coffee as Winnie watched momentarily and then pulled her phone out and saw it was a text from her publisher.

how's the book coming? your time is almost up, girlie! i bet that story is out of this world!

just a few more chapters left

great! just text me when you're almost done, i have to tell the publishers something

they won't wait for long, winnie

Winnie pursed her lips and sat her phone down and stared off into the distant again making Jade raise an eyebrow. "What's up with you?"

"Huh? Nothing. . .I'm just trying to connect some dots."

"About?"

Winnie didn't speak, she just simply shook her head and slipped off the chair in front of the kitchen island and took her phone with her.

"You'll know soon."

Jade was somewhat speechless as she watched Winnie walk off and head out of the kitchen and make her way back upstairs to her bedroom leaving her to eat the leftovers with her mind wondering what Winnie was talking about.

˚˚˚

Justin placed a bag of chips into the basket as he walked down the chip aisle, he then looked for some tortilla chips and a salsa dip on the bottom row.

Once he found it, he reached out and grabbed one of each and placed them into the basket and headed down the aisle, but just when he got to the end, he saw Peter.

From the looks, Peter didn't want to see Justin either, he simply pursed his lips and swerved around Justin making him huff and turn around to walk over to Peter.

"Hey, Peter. . .can we talk about the other day?"

Peter scoffed. "Why do you guys always wanna dwell on the past? It happened okay?"

"I can see you're still upset with me, but you don't have to be mad at Winnie."

"I was never mad, like I told Winnie, I don't hold grudges."

Justin rubbed his jawline. "Can we talk about this another time?"

"About what? How you managed to flip the script in Winnie's head with just one sentence?"

"Peter—"

"Or. . .maybe you want to talk about the feelings we've had for the same girl without even knowing."

Justin clenched his jaw momentarily and looked over to the the side as Peter sharply inhaled a breath and ran his fingers through his curls.

"I'm sorry. . .I should go."

Justin watched Peter turn around and head down the aisle and take a left and head off making Justin let out a small breath and rub the back of his neck.

This is why Winnie grocery shops, Justin thought.

Justin sighed softly and walked back over to the basket and wheeled it out of the aisle and continued to shop for groceries quickly so he could head back home.

˚˚˚

A knock on the door made Winnie sprint downstairs and head over to the front door and open it to see her mother with a brown leather duffel bag in her hands and her purse on her forearm.

"Mom. . ."

"Hi, baby."

Winnie smiled wide and motioned with her head for her mother to come inside, once she did, Winnie took her bag and sat it down and wrapped her arms around her mother's shoulders.

Elaine was caught off guard but let out a laugh and wrapped her arms around Winnie's shoulders and hummed softly.

"I missed you too, baby. . ."

Once the two broke away, Winnie looked over her mother and saw that she was still looking the same — her brown eyes she inherited from her were still showing the color as before.

"You okay, Winnie?"

"Yeah. . .I just wanted to look at you."

"Well I'm fine, I've been the same since you left."

Winnie cleared her throat. "I know. . ."

"Well, are we going to talk?"

"Yes, there's this fire pit out back that's so comfortable. I'll put your bag up and then we can sit out there and talk."

Elaine smiled softly and nodded as she stood in the middle of the room while Winnie took her bag and went upstairs to the guest bedroom and sat it down on the floor.

Winnie then jogged back downstairs and interlinked arms with her mother and took her with her to the fire pit outside and sat down with her.

Once she did, her mother let out a breath and sat her purse down at her side as Winnie hugged her knees to her chest.

"So what do you want to talk about? This is all about you, Winnie."

"Well, life's been a roller coaster lately."

Elaine rose an eyebrow. "Is it a boy?"

"Mom I'm not in middle school anymore. . .but yes."

"Who is he?"

"He. . .we can't go into detail right now. . .but his name is Peter and we're not really on speaking terms as of right now."

"And why's that?"

Winnie shook her head. "Personal stuff."

"Do you really like him?"

Winnie paused for a moment and thought over her mother's question, did she really like Peter? Even though he said he didn't want to be in a relationship with her, maybe she should fight for him.

"Yeah. . .yeah, I do."

"I remember your father and I when we first started dating, he was such a lady's man. I didn't date the fool until junior year of high school."

Winnie smiled wide and moved herself so that she had her head rested on her mother's shoulder and she let Winnie get comfortable, she knew Winnie loved hearing stories about her parents, she always found them to be romantic.

"Tell me about when you and Papa met."

"Well. . .I was a sophomore and he was a junior and boy did he want to get with me, he even tried to sit next to me in math class for help just to talk to me. . .but he had this look in his eyes, I don't know, I always thought he wanted to get in my pants which is why I barely gave him the time of day. But when he was on his senior year he tried his hardest to take me to prom, you know he even told me he would try all year on the first day of school? That man was so determined. . .but in the end, he finally won me over with a mixtape of all of N.W.A's greatest hits and my favorite candy."

Winnie giggled softly at the last part and heard her mother giggle as well as she let her fingers play with Winnie's curls as she let out a small breath.

"I remember when we dated in college. . .people looked at us funny since I was black and your daddy was Hispanic. . .back then, interracial couples were frowned upon, but it never bothered us, Julian told me he was going to ask me to marry him one day."

"And?"

"He asked me to marry him the night I told him I was pregnant with you, baby."

Winnie looked up to her mother and smiled softly as Elaine laughed softly and rubbed Winnie's chin softly and watched Winnie rest her head back on her shoulder.

"So we eloped after college. . .I had you and we moved out to California when your father got relocated for a great paying job, Winnie everything was perfect. . .you were perfect."

"Papa was great."

"Yeah. . .he was, baby."

Just then, Winnie and Elaine let the silence of them both take over as Winnie looked out in the distance and saw that the sun was starting to set.

The sudden sound of knocking at the front door made Winnie rise up from her mother's shoulder and crease her eyebrows.

"You expecting someone?"

"Nope, I'll be back."

Elaine hummed in response and watched Winnie get up from the couch and make her way back into the house and head over to the front door and open it to see Justin's father.

From their facial expressions — they weren't expecting to see each other.

"Uh. . ."

"Is my son home?"

"No, he went to the store. . .I don't know how long he'll be gone—"

Jeremy ignored Winnie and walked around her and walked into the house making Winnie scoff and shake her head. "Who the hell said you can barge in here?"

"Me, myself, and I."

"Last I checked, you paid nothing on this house."

Jeremy chuckled. "Sweetheart, I could buy this house in the snap of a finger or phone call, don't test me."

Winnie scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest and was just about to speak but the sound of Elaine speaking interrupted her.

"Now who the hell do you think you are talking to my daughter like that?"

Jeremy's eyes went wide as if he'd seen a ghost. "Elaine?"

Elaine looked over Jeremy and felt her breathing slowly start to hitch as she creased her eyebrows. "Jeremy?"

What the hell? Winnie thought.

˚˚˚

Justin knocked on the front door of Iris's house and waited patiently for the door to open, once it did, he was expecting to see Iris.

Instead, it was one of the housemaids making Justin clear this throat as he slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"Is Iris. . .?"

"No sir, I'm afraid she's been gone all evening."

Justin smacked his teeth. "Great, well tell her I stopped by?"

The housemaid nodded and smiled softly as Justin gave a closed mouth smile and stepped back off Iris's porch and creased his eyebrows and pulled his phone out.

His eyes went wide as he saw his father had texted him about several different times making him unlock his phone and look at the messages.

what the hell?

is what the news saying about iris true?

justin you don't have time for a kid right now, and we still need to talk about the company.

forget it, i'm on my way to your place now, see you soon.

Justin's eyes went wide as he jogged over to his Bentley and slipped inside quickly and started the engine, if he knew one thing, it was that Winnie was home and his father was on the way.

That's a recipe for disaster.

˚˚˚

Justin opened the door to the house and to his surprise, his father and Winnie and another woman were standing in the middle of the room making him slowly shut the door.

"Uh—"

"Justin, we need to talk, now."

"Wait, what the hell is going on here?"

Jeremy sighed softly. "I thought you said this was one of your little girls you date or what not?"

"I didn't say that, you said that."

Jeremy sighed softly and threw his hands up as Winnie scoffed and shook her head and walked over to Justin and grabbed his wrist and took him to the kitchen.

"Jay. . .what the hell is going on?"

"I don't know. . .who is that woman in there?"

"My mom."

Justin creased his eyebrows. "What is she doing here?"

"No no, we're not talking about that. . .why is your father here?"

"I-I don't really know. . .he just texted me and said we needed to talk about Iris."

Winnie swallowed. "What about her?"

"I honestly have no idea, I've been trying to reach her for the past day and I can't."

"Jay—"

"Are you two done talking? I must talk to my son."

"You can talk to him when you answer my question I've asked you ten minutes ago." Winnie spoke up as she crossed her arms over her chest and saw Jeremy roll his eyes and shake his head.

"Winnie, baby. . .we can talk about this later—"

"Mom, how does he know you."

"He. . .he was your father's boss."

Winnie creased her eyebrows. "Why was that so hard to say?"

"Goddammit, can you stop with all these questions? You're so clueless it's nauseating."

"Can you stop bad mouthing her in front of your son?"

Jeremy scoffed. "It's not like she means anything to you."