79. Walking the Plank
We left the restaurant, my hand stiff in Carter’s firm grip, his parents huddling together against the wind. I breathed it in with relief, grateful for fresh air after the tension-filled dinner, his mother’s judgment choking me the entire meal. She thought I was a gold digger, had all but called me one during the meal, multiple insinuations made that I was with Carter for his inheritance. An inheritance I hadn’t even known about. It was ridiculous.
I couldn’t wait to get home, was almost distracted enough by the idea to miss his mom inviting themselves over. I blinked, turning my head against the wind, toward their conversation, just in time to hear Carter politely push them off.
His mother, damn her soul, didn’t back down. “Don’t be silly, Carter. I haven’t seen the building since … gosh. Since we interviewed Chloe. Let us check in on our investment, sweetie. It’s the least you can do.” Her eyes glowed at me, and I wanted to throw up my hands in frustration.
“You don’t mind, do you Chloe?” Oh … the witch. Bringing me into it.
I gave my best smile. “Of course not.”
She eyed me with suspicion. “Well. Let’s go before it gets too late.”
Oh yes. One thing I agreed with. Let’s move this disaster along as quickly as possible.
We walked the few blocks home, Carter and I following behind his parents, their slow shuffle painful to follow. I gripped Carter’s arm and watched the street, the road bumper-to-bumper, an odd occurrence at 10 PM on a weeknight. I looked up ahead, trying to see past the mess of traffic, hoping to see the source of the problem. Probably an accident. Maybe a brazen New York jaywalker got hit. It was a wonder we didn’t all end up splattered on these dirty streets. I glanced up at Carter, wanting to whisper an apology, wanting to laugh about this ridiculous situation, but his body was tense, his eyes straight ahead, and I didn’t.
Just across from our apartment building, his parents suddenly stopped, right in the middle of a crosswalk. I swallowed a response, pulling on Carter’s arm to go around the suicidal couple. It was then, stepping around them, that I saw what had slowed traffic, the face of our building transformed, and I stopped, my eyes darting in a hundred places at once.
I saw our building through wisps of my breath in the crisp night air. Beside me, my silent boyfriend, a man who had been tense all evening, something I had attributed to stress over his parents, then anger over my secrets. I hadn’t even considered something else. Something like this. When had he done it all?
The trees before our building were wrapped and draped in white lights, white rose petals lining the front walkway, our front planters suddenly overflowing with jasmine, orchids and roses. But the real impact was the building itself, the white brick illuminated with a light show, images dancing across its surface, the production impressive in its detail and clarity, the twelve stories a giant canvas of all things Chloe.
Me, as a child, in pigtails, running through the Miami surf, my head thrown back in a laugh. The image dissolved into a more recent one, me sipping a drink, my eyes on the camera, my mouth curved into a smile. I tried to place the image but then it was gone, replaced with a slow-motion shot of me, spinning in the New York snow, my arms outstretched. I remembered the day, Cammie and Benta and me in Central Park. It was a couple of years ago, and I smiled at the memory. I snuck a glance at Carter but couldn’t read his expression, his face in shadow.
Across the street, the parking lot had been emptied, all the cars gone—all except my gleaming Maserati—music started. Lilting, haunting music, and I stepped forward to get a better look, moving through the stalled traffic, everything unreal, as if I was in a dream.
A grand piano. There was a grand piano in the empty lot, a woman in a red evening gown seated before it, her hands quick on the keys. Beside her, a man in a tux stepped forward, his steps confident and strong toward me, and I stopped, suddenly understanding everything about this situation.
This wasn’t a dream, a romantic surprise orchestrated by Carter.
This was a nightmare, dressed in Armani and striding closer.
I turned and found Carter. He was still on the sidewalk, his mother’s mouth in his ear, his head forward, ignoring her words, his eyes on mine. The building’s display changed, a new image of me, and the transition lit his face, giving me a brief peek at the confused hurt there.
“Chloe.” I turned on reflex, and dropped my eyes to Vic, who knelt on one knee before me. “Will you marry me?”
“What?” The word sputtered out of me. I darted my eyes to Carter, stepping back, and Vic caught my wrist.
“I know.” He said the words softly, almost tenderly, his voice hushed as if he had a secret, his tone so serious that I stopped.
“You know what?” My mind flashed through all the things that he could know. About my embarrassing pant-rip incident in Sephora on Tuesday? My one, super-quick spin around the block in the car he bought me because I just couldn’t help myself?
“About the baby.” He pulled on my hand and stood, his eyes on mine, warm and loving, the man before me a Vic I had never seen. He looked at me as if he worshipped me, excitement radiating from him, his hands moving to cup my shoulders.
“The baby?” I repeated blankly. I was vaguely aware of the crowd growing around us, a crowd that included Carter and his parents. In the city that never slept, that loved a show, the attention had strayed from the hundred-foot light show and turned to us, hushed whispers darting from the crowd, camera phones out, and … somewhere … a girl awwed. I wanted to find her swoon and break it in half. Grab her shoulders and shake some sense into her. Tell her that roses and giant displays of affection didn’t equate to real love or good decisions.
I tried to step back and he held on. “I know you’re pregnant,” he said softly. “And I know it’s mine.”
“You’re pregnant?” Carter suddenly spoke up, stepping closer. He was angry, I could hear it in his voice, and I looked from Angry Carter to Loving Vic, the role reversal strange.
“No!” I pulled at Vic’s hands, prying them off my shoulders and stepping back, turning to Carter, giving him my full attention and ignoring Vic altogether. “I’m not pregnant.”
“Yes she is.” Vic spoke with such authority that I almost believed him, my mind skipping back to my last period, trying to do a rush job of figuring out if pregnancy was a viable possibility.
“How do you know?” Carter turned to Vic, and as I watched his fists clench, I was transported back in time to the bar, to their fight, and steeled myself for a repeat. I watched with dread as a confident smile spread across Vic’s face.
He had something, knew something. And I was both terrified and fascinated to find out what it was.