2 *CHAPTER TWO: Duffel bag bomb

"Not so fast young lady...I have a condition for giving you the innocent project and taking over McMara's defense....you and Tyler can't ever think of dying until Mia is seventeen, I can't stand babies but I can hang with a teenager and talk about boys and shoes or hair. I will be the cool aunt Ally that visit her in a boarding school, buys girlie stuff and teach her how to be independent....so deal or no deal?" I asked my best friend as my eyes narrowed and I pouted.

"The idea of you raising my daughter is so terrifying that I think I am going to be alive until I am a hundred and one years old.... So deal"

We shook hands like we just made an important business transaction that was legally binding.

Charity's phone beeped and she went through the text that entered her phone and replied while smiling like a love struck teenager.

"Tyler is out front waiting for me, I got to go babes" Charity said to me smiling.

It made me miss those days that we would hit the dance floor and party all night on Fridays after work. The good old days when we would make out with cute guys we could not remember their names the next morning…. but Now, Char is married and I was in a mutually beneficial relationship with a man that respect me and didn't cross my established boundaries for the past two years by.... today.

Today was our two year anniversary. We met two years ago in one of his night club. I was dancing and having a good time with Charity who was still in the early stage of her relationship with Tyler and was still fun; anyway I was dancing, when this rude guy thought it was okay to grope me. I turned in shock but Charity already had his hand twisted to his back. Charity had a black belt in taekwondo.

The rude guy was screaming when Charity pushed him to the ground. Jackson emerged mischievously and ordered the bouncer to throw the rude guy out. We started talking and we didn't stop for a long time. The next day, he sent two VIP invite to charity and I. the rest they say is history.

As I unplugged my iPhone charger and proceeded to off the switches in my office as I close for the day, my phone started to vibrate.

It was my boyfriend. He wanted to Skype with me and it wasn't a good sign, it means he wanted to cancel our date.

"Hi beautiful" Jackson voice was husky in a sexy kind of way.

He had a rich baritone voice that was alluring to the ear. He was almost my height at 5 feets and some inches, with a muscular lean body and a face that you could almost describe as angelic. He was the perfect gentleman and never asked for commitment, at least not more than I was willing to give to him.

He was just as married to his job as I am. He owns strings of nightclubs all over Manhattan.

"Hi Jackson...this call can only mean you are calling to cancel our dinner plan"

"I am really sorry Ally, I am currently swamped at work and I've this famous club promoter that is willing to make Red fire club the new sensation in town and he is only available this night. I am afraid I have to cancel our plans for tonight"

I was a tad disappointed but I understood. I have cancelled dates before for my job.

"It's fine, I needed a night to myself anyway...with a bottle of champagne while I soak in a warm... foamy.... bath, the type you enjoy watching me take. Think about that as you spend your evening with a club promoter in a club packed with sweaty entangled bodies" I said in a slow seductive whisper and Jackson licked his lips like he was imagining a pot of French cuisine.

"I am really sorry babe. I will make it up to you. Happy two years anniversary and I sent a surprise to you" as Jackson talked, someone called his name in the background. It was a woman's voice and he seemed distracted.

"I have to go beautiful, the promoter is here. Bye"

Jackson didn't give me a chance to say goodbye before he hung up.

I packed up my nude color Gucci bag and headed home. I wanted to stop by a bar for a few drinks but I was suddenly tired.

My building was an upper-class building with a doorman, a resident lounge, yoga room and my personal favorite - a fitness center. It cost me a fortune but it also give me access to a package room, a conference room and a 24 hours concierge.

It was a premium apartment in Manhattan New York city called the Lantern, five minutes' walk to the train station and in an inspiring but charming neighborhood.

I stepped down from the cab I took from the office; I hardly ever go out in my flying spur Bentley car that was in the parking lot since I prefer to take cabs.

I simply gave a nod to the doorman's greetings and entered the elevator to my floor. I ransacked my bag to find my door key and pushed my way inside. Just like my office, most of my furniture was in burnt orange color and the rest was in grey color.

My apartment had most amenities every girl can kill for, kitchen aid stainless appliances, a shinnoki granite walnut cabinet, quartz counter-tops and a Bosch washer and dryer. My apartment also had a watermark plumbing and fixtures and a mosaic bathroom tiles.

I entered my room and stripped down to just my panties and bra. On my way to the bathroom to take my bubble bath, I glanced at my reflection on the mirror and stopped.

I had a striking face, oval with blue eyes. My lips were a tad bigger than Charity and while I couldn't exactly be called slender, I had a body I was comfortable with. I was also a natural red hair.

I barely made it out of the bathroom and pulled on a T-shirt and floppy slippers, when the doorman called to inform me I had a delivery and if he could send the delivery man up.

Ten seconds later, my doorbell rang and I opened the door to meet the most beautiful and biggest roses I have ever received.

I gave the delivery man a tip and close the door with a smile on my face. I dialed Jackson's number but he didn't pick up.

I got a vase from the kitchen and placed my roses. I was about dialed Jackson's number the second time when the doorman called her again that I had another delivery.

I smiled and asked him to send the delivery man up and hung up before he could finish. I dialed Jackson's number again when my doorbell rang and I opened my door to find a weirdly looking delivery girl.

She was barely standing upright and reeked of alcohol. She was a brunette with a nasty scar on her forehead and the T-shirt she was wearing had a faded logo that could have belonged to a delivery company maybe sometimes in the nineties. Her lips pouted and her hands rubbed against each other in an itching kind of way.

She appears to be in her forties with tarts everywhere. She was carrying a duffle bag. She was also holding a piece of ruffled paper and she wanted my signature.

My first thought was, what was Jackson thinking sending someone like that to deliver a surprise anniversary package to me?

"Are you Aaliyah Macks?" The weirdly looking lady asked.

"Yes" I simply muttered.

"Please sign this"

She placed the papers so close to my face that I had to take a step back to write my name and signature.

I was almost done signing when Jackson picked up his call.

"Hi babe, I received the flowers you sent to me. They are my favorite and you really didn't have to send another gift to me" I said as I raised my index finger to stop the delivery woman from making a sound.

"What are you talking about Ally? I didn't send a second gift to you just the roses"

I became apprehensive.

"Let me call you back Jackson" I ended the call.

My gaze seemed to penetrate the lady's skin at least enough to make her agitated.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked with my serious face.

"You know how people pay other people to do chores for them? They even have an app for it called chore-simplify. Well I answered an app notification for a chore and this weird looking gal wanted me to deliver a package to a rich gal in Manhattan for a hundred bucks. So here I am...with your package"

I was finding it difficult to make sense of what the delivery lady was talking about when she dropped the duffel bag on the floor. My first thought was duffel bag bomb and I lifted the nearest weapon to defend myself - a lamp. Now that I think about it, it was really ridiculous thinking I could defend myself against a bomb with a lamp.

The lady opened the bag and I heard it move and then it whimpered. It wasn't a duffel bag bomb; it was something much worse …a baby.

"Aaliyah Macks meet your nephew Noah Macks"

I felt air leave my lungs.