CHAPTER TWO - PENNY
I knew that coming back to Chicago would be tough, but I certainly didn’t expect to feel the dark tug of grief dragging down my heart. It had been years since the last time I even thought of coming back to Chicago for a visit, but when Alyssa offered a place to go away from my mom’s over winter break, visiting Chicago had jumped high on my list again.
It never occurred to me that just being here would bring back those bitter memories, until I walked down the hallway in the direction of Alyssa’s condo that she shared with her father. The building itself hadn’t changed from how I last remembered it as a young girl, clutching my mother’s hand in fright while I watched our things being hauled away in moving trucks, never be seen again.
“Life isn’t going to be the same. We’d better accept that now.” I remember her saying. Blood shot red eyes from tears of mourning - not only from the loss of her husband, but also the loss of life as we knew it.
I didn’t realize it then, but our condo had been emptied out in an attempt to pay off my father’s debts at the time. That was when we moved to New York to live on the little money my mom had managed to keep while we made a living for ourselves there. We stayed in the basement of a five-family house in Queens, until we eventually managed to move to the city when mom’s modeling agency took off.
It had been a strange twist of fate when I had run into Alyssa Bradley on campus years later. She was a nervous little freshman, needing directions around before we both realized who was who. Ever since then, I had latched myself onto a part of my childhood that had been a good part at least. Playing with the little girl down the hallway had been the highlight of my life for a long time as a kid.
While the building had remained the same, thoroughly decorated for Christmas, there were a few things that had changed since I left as a child - Gabriel Bradley, for example.
He stood tall and proud next to his daughter, with his dark hair smoothed back from his bearded face. His green eyes flashed happily from behind his black, square-framed glasses, while he listened to his daughter compliment the private pilot that he’d sent to retrieve us before the snowstorm. My heart rate increased as he turned to look over at me, standing nervously in the middle of the marble foyer while I waited for them to have their moment.
I didn’t remember his muscular frame, but I’d never forgotten the strength he had in his arms when he would lift me up in the air as a kid. He approached me with a broad grin that showed off white and sparkly teeth, and his broad shoulders shifted beneath a dark green sweater.
He asked me about my mom, and I gave him a perfunctory answer, revealing as little as possible. I didn’t want to spoil my vacation talking about her and why I had chosen not to spend the holidays with her in New York.
A crooked, unreadable smirk curled up on his lips as his dark green eyes traveled slowly from my Jimmy Choo’s all the way up to my eyes. His gaze had a kind of intensity I never witnessed before. It was almost as if his eyes could touch me and I felt that touch everywhere. I felt it on my arms, legs, my neck, and especially, on my nipples and in between my thighs.
For the first time in my life in a public setting, I felt moisture gather at my center and soak the thin fabric of my panties. Sure, I had been with boys in the past, but none of them had ever made me feel as hot and bothered as Gabriel that very moment.
What the hell was my issue? Only a few minutes in and Gabriel already had the strongest effect on me. My cheeks warmed and flushed a bright red as I pressed my thighs together to find some relief. He offered to take us to lunch and let us walk around downtown, before telling Alyssa to show me to my room.
Gabriel caught my eyes in a lingering glance before he turned to go back in the living room. I felt myself let out a pent-up breath. My heart was racing, too. I didn’t know what it was about him that unhinged me, but it had happened. I pushed away those thoughts for the meantime. I didn’t want to linger on any awkwardness since I planned on staying an entire two weeks.
“This way,” Alyssa said, grabbing her duffle bag from the floor. “Let’s get unpacked so we can have some fun. No finals. No homework assignments.”
“Speak for yourself,” I said, and followed her down another hallway in the direction of the guestroom. “I have my senior portfolio to hand in the day after we get back from break. My advisor doesn’t believe in vacation. He told me it’s good practice for the real world.”
“Your advisor is a dick. Everyone around campus knows it, too.”
I bit back a laugh because it was true. Mr. George, Mr. Grumpy as we all called him, had a notorious habit of making everyone’s lives a living hell. He was good at everything he did, though. He had known my father from years ago, so it had been a natural choice to pick him at the time to guide me through my last year of college.
Alyssa pushed the guestroom door open with her booted foot. I stepped past her to take in the modest bedroom with large windows overlooking the entire city. Setting my duffle bag on the floor next to the queen-sized bed, I took in the fancy furniture and private bathroom with a smile.
“Will this do your majesty?” Alyssa asked sweetly. “I know it’s been a long time since you’ve enjoyed some time in luxury.”
I rolled my eyes, and she burst out into laughter. We walked together back down the hallway in the direction of Alyssa’s room. Gone were the obvious things that I remembered from my childhood—bright pink walls, Barbie dolls scattered everywhere, and a ridiculous amount of toys. Alyssa’s room was a simple room now, from her canopy bed, candles that covered her dresser, and a bookshelf filled with books.
She tossed her bags down to the floor with a relieved groan. “I’m so ready for this break. Maybe my dad would cover the bill for a day at the spa? What do you think?”
“Your dad’s famous for his algos predicting consumer behavior,” I said. “I’m sure you could retire from life right now and be just fine. Including your trips to the spa.”
“Your mom works with models,” Alyssa said. “Not to nag on my dad, but that’s a lot cooler than his job. She makes a lot of money. You get clothes before they are even released, along with all the new makeup lines.”
“It’s a dream come true,” I said sarcastically.
I glanced down at my iPhone. A stab of guilt went through me at two missed calls from my mom already. I knew what a phone call would turn into, so I erased the missed calls with a sigh. The truth was, I wanted to be home for Christmas. It felt strange being around Alyssa and to be so close to my childhood, as well. I just couldn’t go home right now, not with the way things were between my mom and I. Not while he was in the picture.
I sent her a quick text instead. We landed in Chicago. At Alyssa’s dad’s condo. Love you. I’m fine.
Alyssa unzipped her suitcase to dump out a pile of dirty clothes. “Is your mom trying to get ahold of you?” Alyssa asked curiously.
“Yes,” I said, and took a seat on the edge of Alyssa’s bed. “She’s upset that I decided to come to Chicago instead of home.”
Alyssa frowned at me. “She still doesn’t want to believe that you’re uncomfortable with her boyfriend?”
“No, I guess not. She has this incredible talent for thinking she can polish a turd and turn it into something sparkly and pretty. She hasn’t figured out yet that a turd is a turd no matter how much effort you put into it. Whatever, he probably won’t last long anyway. None of them ever do,” I said.
“You think this one will be gone within a few months?”
I shrugged my shoulders, even though a part of me desperately hoped so. After years of dating sleaze bags, I couldn’t wait for my mom to either just give up hope of finding love again, or find someone worth her time. Many men, younger men in particular, were attracted to my mother because of her fat wallet. They all thought that they could get something from her, or that she could make them a star. It was pathetic really.
“Probably,” I said. “I think men are into dating older women like my mom because of her status and wealth. She’s become quite the socialite.”
“So she’s just a means to an end for them?”
“Unfortunately,” I replied, grimacing at the thought. “I mean, who knows? I guess they could be into her. Some women are into older men, too. I mean, you know how many of our classmates have imagined having sex with one of the older professors at school?”
“That’s because they are desperate for good grades,” Alyssa replied, rolling her eyes. “It’s gross, Penny. Don’t even think about things like that.”
“I’m not thinking about it. I’m just saying that not everybody likes dating the douchebag frat boys at our college, is all.”
Alyssa opened the door mid-reply and jumped in surprise to see her father standing there. “Shit, Dad. I didn’t know you were standing right here.”
She opened the door all the way to reveal Gabriel standing in the doorway. The center of my cheeks burned when our eyes met. I hoped to God he didn’t hear that previous statement out of context.
He urged us on with talks of a big snow about to fall and we decided to go grab lunch now.
I rose from the bed to follow Alyssa out into the hallway. Gabriel lingered back to give us both room to walk by him. I found my eyes drifting up from the carpeted floors to meet Gabriel’s stare. A ghost of a smile tugged at his lips. A smile graced my face in return as I followed Alyssa into the foyer to grab our coats from the closet.
My phone buzzed in the back pocket of my jeans. I pulled it out while Alyssa chatted absently with her father to read my mother’s text message.
I wish you would pick up my calls, Penny. Really need to talk this out. Would be nice to hear from you this week. Shall I ship out your Christmas present to you there?
My mother was the Queen of passive aggression. I deleted the message with a frown because I didn’t want it festering throughout my time off. My mother would never intentionally sabotage my break away from college, but she wouldn’t hold her feelings back, either. No matter how hard she tried to understand, she had her opinions about the situation.
And when it came to her recent boy toy, nothing else mattered; including her own daughter.