Chapter 35
Nora
One week later
I hadn’t done much in the past week, even though I was aware of the fact that I needed to start looking for work soon. Katie had been super supportive of my broken heart, and we’d spent hours nearly every night talking. I felt a little better now, even though I wasn’t in full form yet.
I still felt foolish for thinking that I could have a real thing with someone like Felix Stone. I was angry with myself for not listening to Katie when she told me that he was using me. I worried about Cici, and if she would ever have a happy childhood. I could barely sleep at night.
Most of all, I knew I still had feelings for Felix. Despite everything that happened, and as horrible as he had made me feel, I knew that I wanted him. I was magnetized by his good looks, by how hot he was and the way he made me feel. I had given my virginity to him, and I didn’t regret that. I could never have experienced a better first time with any other man.
It was a Sunday and Katie was in the apartment. I got out of bed late, close to noon, and when I appeared in the living room, I saw that she was all dressed and ready to go out.
“You have plans?” I asked, and Katie looked at me with a glittering smile.
“Yes, and so do you. We’re going out!” she exclaimed, jumping up from the couch.
“Going where? I don’t want to go out,” I complained, crashing down on the couch. She grabbed me by my hand and tried to pull me up.
“Nora! You haven’t stepped out of this apartment since you got back from Hawaii. It’s really unhealthy for you. Let’s go…we’ll go to the mall, do some shopping, get a bite to eat at the food court.” Katie struggled to pull me off, and I struggled against her.
“I don’t want to go to the mall, please! I can’t go shopping. I’m broke!” I argued.
“You’re not that broke. Come on! Let’s go get you a sweet little dress or something; trust me, retail therapy really works!” She finally managed to get me off and glared at me, like she wasn’t taking no for an answer.
Huffing and puffing and against my wishes, I eventually went to my room to change.
◆◆◆
“Why are we here again?” I asked Katie as we walked around the mall, which was at least a thirty-minute drive from our apartment. We could have gone to any of the closer ones, but Katie had picked this one for some reason.
“Because they have the best cheeseburgers at this food court,” Katie said, seeming a bit distracted. We had spent the past twenty minutes since we arrived window shopping. It seemed like Katie wasn’t really interested in buying anything.
I rolled my eyes, feeling exhausted both physically and mentally as we walked around.
“Katie, can we go back home now?” I pleaded with her, but she jerked me by my elbow and forced me to keep walking.
I looked around, trying to distract myself, when my eyes fell on a familiar yellow dress. A little girl with dark hair was wearing it, while she walked by herself a little ahead of us, amidst the shoppers. The dress looked exactly like the one that Cici had been wearing that night at the Crystal Room.
This little girl had Cici’s hair too. I stopped in my tracks, feeling a little dizzy, and Katie stopped as well.
“What’s wrong?” she asked me.
“I think I’m getting sick. I think I’m hallucinating,” I exclaimed.
The little girl looked over her shoulder and I nearly cried out because I thought it was Cici. Then she started running, squeezing between the adults walking in groups around her.
“It’s her! It’s Cici! What is she doing here by herself?” I shrieked, and I ran past Katie, trying to chase after the girl.
The place was crowded, and it took me much more time than the girl to get through the throngs of people. When I looked back, I saw that Katie hadn’t followed me.
“Cici!” I shouted her name as I saw her yellow dress in the distance, running towards the elevators. My heart was racing in my chest. Had she come here with Anne or the nanny? Did she get separated from them?
By the time I got past the crowds and headed for the elevators, I saw her step in and the doors shut behind her.
“Oh my God! Cici!” I shrieked, running to the doors and frantically pressing the buttons. I didn’t know what I was doing, or what that was going to achieve… I was panicking; I was afraid that she was going to get lost, that something would happen to her.
I could sense people turning to look at me, startled by my shrill calling of Cici’s name as I looked to see which floor she was getting off.
“Don’t worry, Mom was waiting in the elevator for her,” I heard Felix’s voice say behind me. I froze, gulping, thinking I had completely lost my mind now. I needed medical attention.
“Nora, will you please look at me?” I heard him say. The color had drained from my cheeks. Was I hearing voices in my head?
I turned slowly on my heels, and now I was face to face with Felix. He was in a casual checked shirt and jeans, with his hands tucked into his pockets and a handsome grin on his face. I still couldn’t believe this was real.
“Your friend Katie helped me set this up. I just needed to talk to you,” he said, taking a step closer to me.
“Oh my God, I’m going insane,” I murmured.
◆◆◆
Felix reached his hand out to gently touch my shoulder before I could pull myself away from him. He was trying to calm me down.
“Nora, I’m sorry if we startled you. That wasn’t my intention. When Cici heard that I was going to try and win you back, she wanted to help. She was sure that you would go running after her if you saw her in a crowded place,” Felix said.
I snapped my head up to look at him. My throat had gone dry. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“Win me back?” I asked, in a weak whisper. A smile was spreading on his face.
“I was foolish. I was an idiot, and I lost you,” he said. I shook my head, my eyes wide with shock and concern for my own sanity.
“But you didn’t want me in your life; you made that very clear to me!” I exclaimed. Felix held me by my other shoulder too now, and it felt strangely calming to have his hands on me. I knew I was melting already, even though I was trying hard to hold my ground.
“That was what I thought, but I was panicking. I’ve never felt this connection with someone before, and I didn’t want to jump into a relationship…like last time,” he said, and I gulped as I stared into his clear green eyes.
“So, what are you saying?” I asked, and he stepped closer to me. Close enough for me to get a whiff of his cologne, to see the bright spark in his eyes, the genuine smile on his face.
“I’m saying that I want to see you. I want you in my life,” he replied.
His words felt too unreal to believe. I was panting and out of breath, even though I had been standing still, frozen to the spot for several minutes now.
“I don’t know how to trust you, Felix, you’ve disappointed me…you’ve hurt me so many times,” I squeaked, forcing the words out. He nodded his head, and his smile was drooping.
“I know I have, and I don’t deserve your trust. But Nora, if you just give me a chance to prove it,” he said and reached for my hand. I allowed him to pull my hand to his chest. I could feel his heart beating, my knees wobbled. I wanted to be in his arms; I wanted to feel his breath on my face.
“I know I can prove it to you; that I’m never going to hurt you again. Never on purpose,” he continued.
I looked away from him, and he stepped even closer to me. This time, his hot breath did fall on my face and I knew my resolve wasn’t going to last very long. He was going to break me very quickly.
“Nora, you can come back to the hotel if you want. Your job is still waiting there for you. You can do whatever you want; all Cici and I want is for you to be with us,” he said.
I jerked my face around to look at him, to look into his eyes. His lips were dangerously close to mine; I could feel the warmth of his body against mine.
“And I want to hear what you have to say. I want your advice on what to do with my life. I want you to be there to support me because, right now, I feel lost,” he said. I couldn’t listen to him anymore; I’d heard everything I needed to hear.
I leaned towards him and he took my lips into his. I gasped when I felt our mouths fuse. That familiar spark of electricity ran down my spine, and his arms wound around me. I was squeezed in between his arms, pressed against his chest as his tongue dove down my throat.
I still felt like it was a dream; I couldn’t believe this was happening. It was when his hand traveled down my back to my ass that I knew it was real. I was panting when he pulled away from me. His eyes were focused on my face; he wasn’t even batting an eyelid.
“Nora Stevens, I’m falling for you,” he whispered in my ear, and I felt a flutter in my stomach.
“I fell for you the moment I saw you,” I replied and he smiled, lightly kissing my cheeks.
“Nora!” we heard Cici’s shrill scream. We turned to see her running towards us. Behind her, Helen and Katie were standing together, with pride flushed on their faces.
I turned to Cici, opening my arms wide for her, and when she fell into me, I lifted her up. I kissed her cheeks, and she knocked her forehead against mine.
“I missed you, Nora,” she whimpered.
“I missed you too, little bug,” I said and then she looked at her father.
“Did it work, Daddy?” she asked, and Felix laughed before he ruffled her hair.
Helen and Katie had walked up to us. Helen hugged me and then Katie hugged me too; it seemed like they had all been rooting for me to accept Felix’s apology. Even Katie! I didn’t expect her to be on his side, but then, I knew just how convincing he was.
“I’ve made sure he knows that if he plays you around again, I’m going to have his ass kicked. My brothers play rugby for a living,” Katie said. Helen and Felix laughed.
Helen held my hands, smiling at me warmly.
“My son is stupid, he should have done this a long time ago,” she said, and my cheeks turned bright pink.
“Helen, you should know. We lied. I’m not really a manager at the hotel,” I said, exchanging nervous glances with Felix. Helen waved a hand in the air.
“You think I didn’t know that already?” she remarked.
Felix wrapped one arm around me and held Cici’s with his other hand.
“Someone said something about cheeseburgers at the food court,” he mentioned, and Cici squealed with joy. I couldn’t believe he wanted cheeseburgers. I couldn’t believe that we were going to do something this normal as a family. When Felix kissed my forehead again, I knew everything was going to be all right.