Cole.

05. Mother Dearest

A/N: A shorter chapter, but a gooder (I hope). Getting into some back story about Kendall, so this might turn into an all around homo story xD Vote, comment, enjoy! :3

“Wait, are we talking about the same Benjamin that left you all those years back? Why the hell would I send him any money? And why the hell are you helping him out!?” She was almost yelling into the phone, I could tell she was not impressed with my decision to help him out.

“Ma, he’s been through a lot. He really needs help, what happened to helping out another person?”

She sighed, “What could he possibly have gone through that was so rough? He was dating some big wig and probably lived the lifestyle only some people dream of. Why doesn’t he ask that bastard for money?”

And so I told her his story, trying to make it sound as believable as possible, I understood the fact she did not like Ben and I was pretty sure she was in the same boat as Kendall, he did hurt her only child.

“Oh my god, is he okay? What a bastard, leaving the poor boy like that. I just transferred the money over; let me know how he’s doing, okay? I’m so proud of you, Derek!”

I said my thank-you and hung up the phone, not really wanting to hear anymore. I walked into the living room; Benjamin was sitting on the couch beside Kendall, who had her hand in his talking to him. If I didn’t know any better, I would think Kendall felt sorry for him … which meant she had a heart after all.

“Alright Ben, I have the hotel set up for you. I will give you money and you can get some new clothes, get some groceries and take care of yourself. I’m sorry these things happened to you, but please understand that I don’t want you back in my life. I have been fine without you or years now, I don’t need you coming back in and screwing things up, do you understand me?”

He gave me a quizzical look, a small smirk hitting his face, “What do you mean screwing things up?”

My heart dropped for a second, at that very moment I saw the inner Benjamin, the old Benjamin. I saw the evil look in his eyes that were screaming to let him out, let him loose on my life again and make this thing with Cole, whatever it might be, fail and burn like everything else.

Before I could even say anything, Kendall must have seen the look in either his eyes or my own and she was off the couch, in a defensive position, “You know exactly what he means when he says screwing things up, he’s got a new boy toy now and you are not needed, do you understand me!? I will not have you ruin the one good thing coming into Derek’s life.” Grabbing him by the arm, she pushed him towards the door, “Now, take that money and get the fuck out of here. We have some better things to do then see your ugly face in this apartment.” With one last push out the door, Benjamin was gone and all that was left was me and a now extremely irritated Kendall.

“I never could trust that boy, I knew as soon as he was all cleaned up and had some money he’s be the same asshole he always was. Never changes. Anyways, it’s getting late and we really need to get you some new broadcasting outfits, are you ready to shop?”

I sighed, forgetting about the imminent shopping trip I had planned. I really hated going and looking at clothes, I always felt like everyone was judging me in secret no matter what I put on. I grabbed my coat and opened the door, looking for signs of Benjamin in the halls. If he was smart, he would be long gone by now. Pissing off Kendall was not something you wanted to do, especially on a Sunday.

“So, on a lighter side, are you excited for tomorrow!? I am so excited, I can’t wait. I cannot wait at all!”

I got the feeling Kendall might be more excited than me for Monday. Don’t get me wrong, I was super excited … I just really didn’t know what to expect from Cole at all. I had seen him maybe a total of three times and now we were supposed to go on a date. I was the lowly little secretary turned news anchor and he was the Boss’ Son. Thee boss of the entire building.

“I’m … excited.” My words were broken apart; I was staring off into the distance as she drove down the road. What was I supposed to say, as excited as I was, my nervousness was taking a front seat. What if I made an ass of myself? What if I screwed up the date and now I had to work with him? He gave me the feeling he was super powerful and his cockiness was only ousted by his power.

The car pulled slowly into the parking stall, a hand hit my knee as she put it in park. “Well I am super excited, I always knew eventually you’d land the big dog, and here we go. It’s happening.”

I got out of the car, looking around at the parking lot. For September, it was irregularly beautiful out. I took my hand and covered the sun beating down into my eyes, seeing the mall in the distance. The one thing about Kendall I really liked was her work out habits. Never parking close to the mall, it almost took five minutes of walking to enter the air-conditioned shops. I started walking as I looked around hoping nobody I knew would be around here.

Shopping was eventful; I ended up getting three new suits and some leisurely clothes. Kendall was a huge fan of Casual Fridays, which was something I didn’t even know about until right now. As I sat down at the table in the food court, I sighed at my purchases, it was like my dream was finally coming true and I should be more happy.

“Are you doing okay over there, buddy? I don’t see the smile I expected to see right now.”

I turned my head into her direction, giving off the biggest fake smile I could. “I didn’t know I had to be happy ninety percent of the time. I’m just thinking, that’s all. Is there a problem?”

She gave me a smirk before getting up, “I’m going to get some A&W, do you want something?”

“Just a teen burger, please.” I watched her walk away as I looked through what I had bought. I really liked the red shirt underneath the black suit I had purchased. I was actually pretty excited to be the sexiest thing around the network. Just I just have a moment of cockiness? I shook my head, Bad Derek!

As I was looking through my purchases, someone tapped my shoulder. I turned around to look who it was. “What are you doing here?” I sighed, not really the person I wanted to see.

“I came to get my brother, who apparently was helped out quite a bit by you. Can you tell me why you were helping him out?” I couldn’t believe the irritation in her voice.

“I was trying to be helpful, is that such a problem?”

“You’re giving him false hope, Derek. You know he always loved you.”

I scoffed at that comment, “Listen Paulina, I don’t need some lecture. After I told your brother I had something else going on, he gave me that same malicious smile I am so used to. So really, you can leave now. I could have done without seeing your face, thank you.”

She was about to leave when Kendall walked up, dropping the food, “Paulina?”

Another look of total shock hit Paulina’s face, “oh. My. God. Kendall James!?”