When Hate Turns to Love

Ch. 31

"You told him you loved him!" Kourtney squealed.

"Shh! Kourt!" Nini chastised, but she was smiling.

"And he said it back!" She was ecstatic.

"Yes."

They both squealed together, jumping up and down, not caring that the kids were sleeping.

"He's also going to take Charlotte to daddy daughter day."

"Awwwwww." Kourt cooed, "Oh my gosh, Nins. When's the wedding?"

"What?" Nini stopped jumping, "Kourt, whoa, slow down."

"Okay, okay. But a girl can fantasize about her best friend's wedding."

Nini rolled her eyes.

"What about you?" Nini asked as they poured themselves a glass of wine.

"What do you mean?" Kourt said, reading the menu.

"When are you going to find someone?" Nini asked.

"It just hasn't happened yet." Kourt shrugged.
"Plus, girl. You know me. I'm too busy with work. I've been designing some new stuff. OH! I should talk to Ricky about styling him for a tour or something!"

"Oh my gosh, Kourt! Yes, you definitely need to do that. I'm sure he'd love to have you style for him! That would be amazing though, seriously." Nini said, enthused.

Kourt just nodded her head in response.

"You should have seen how happy Charlotte was when Ricky said he would go with her." Nini said, sighing happily.

"For a celebrity, he's a pretty good guy." Kourt commented.

"Yeah." Nini sighed.

"What is it?" Kourt asked.

"Mr. Mazzara left me a message this morning. I have to find a way to prove that EJ is abusive. The bulk of my case rests on that."

Kourt nodded thoughtfully.

"I have an idea." she said after a moment, "It's kind of a stretch."

"I'm up for anything at this moment." Nini said.

"Well, I think we need to talk to EJ's' wife." Kourtney said.

"Why would I want to talk to my ex-husband's new wife?" Nini said, wrinkling her nose in disdain.

"Think about it, girl." Kourt said, "If he was abusive towards you, what's to say he isn't just as abusive towards Brooklyn? I was watching her in the mediation."

Nini tapped her fingers on the table.

"What do you think you saw?" she asked.

"I saw a scared woman, Nins. She looked like you did before you told me what was happening. Her answers and speech were robotic, as if she had been coached." Kourt said, "I think it might be a good idea to talk to her."

"How can we talk to her without EJ knowing?" Nini asked.

"Leave that to me." Kourt said in her 'sneaky' voice.

"Nothing illegal Kourt." Nini warned.

Kourtney grinned.

"Aw, you take the fun out of everything." she whined.

They both giggled.

"You are one of a kind Kourtney Greene." Nini said.

"Well duh."

LINE BREAK

Kourtney rang the doorbell of the massive house. After a minute she rang it again and pounded on the door.

"Red! I know you're there! Open up!" she shouted.

The door opened up to reveal the redhead.
"Hey Kourt." Red greeted excitedly, "Come in. I just finished making popcorn. You wanna watch a movie?"

"No." she said bluntly, "Listen, I need your help."

"With what?" he asked.

Kourt pushed past Red.

"Sure, come on in." He said to himself, sarcastically.

"You're pretty good with computers right?" she asked as he shut the door. She vaguely remember Nini and Ricky talking to him about some coding thing he did. She didn't know what that meant. All she knew was that it had to do with computers.

"Yeah. I'm-"

"Good. I need you to help me dig up some dirt." Kourt interrupted.

"Okay." he said. "What am I looking for?"

"Brookelynn Caswell." Kourtney said conspiratorially, "Anything on an Brooklyn Caswell."

LINE BREAK

Charlotte nearly fell running to the door Friday morning.

"Char, slow down." Nini cautioned, amused.

She opened the door and Charlotte launched herself at an unsuspecting Ricky. He staggered back, but easily scooped the little girl into his arms.

"Are you ready for our date Princess?" he asked.

Charlotte nodded, her hair whipping around.

"Alright. We'll leave in just a second. Can I talk to your mommy a minute?"

"Ok. But hurry!"

Ricky laughed.

"She is so excited." Nini said, stepping into his open arms.

He gave her a long kiss. He pulled back and framed her face with his hands.

"I love you." he whispered.

"I love you too." she said back.

"Can we go now?" Charlotte said impatiently, tapping a Mary-Jane covered foot.

"Okay, okay. Where's your brother?"

"It's just a girl's day at the preschool." Nini informed him.

"Well, ok." Ricky offered his hand to Charlotte, "Are you ready m'lady? You look so pretty in your blue dress."

"Yes! Let's go!"

Nini laughed as her daughter practically dragged Ricky down the stairs.

"Have fun!" she called, "Get someone to take a picture!"

Ricky waved in acknowledgment. Nini just chuckled.

LINE BREAK

The classroom went quiet when he entered the colorful classroom. He figured that would happen, but he wasn't going to pay any attention to them, he was here for Charlotte.

"Okay girls!" the teacher said awkwardly, "Time to introduce your dads!"

Charlotte held his hand tightly as other little girls introduced their fathers. He was relieved that one girl brought her uncle, so Charlotte wasn't the only one.

"Charlotte, your turn."

Charlotte shyly tugged Ricky's hand and led him to the front of the classroom.

"This is Mr. Ricky. He's not my daddy." she said in a soft voice, and looked up at him, "But I wish he was."

Ricky froze.

Oh boy.
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I wish he was my boyfriend, but we can't always get what we want, Charlotte. Lol.

Nah, this is cute 🥰