Chapter 34
Luke
I stare at the contract on my desk outlining final changes in the takeover of WH Holdings. My dad agreed to all of the terms, including stepping down as CEO. He would have no role in the new company. I flip to the last page with his signature. There’s a blank line next to his, just waiting on mine. I tuck it away in my portfolio case then dial my dad’s number. He answers on the second ring, which catches me off-guard. I anticipated he wouldn’t take my call.
“Hi, Son.”
“Hi, Dad.”
“I take it you have the final contract and that everything’s in order?”
“Yeah. I was just reviewing it. Can I ask you something?”
“You just did.”
My dad hates when people ask if they can ask a question. He thinks it shows a lack of confidence.
“Why did you sign it?”
“Because it’s what you want. As I said, the business was always to be yours anyway.”
I’m quiet for a minute. “So what are you going to do now?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I figured I’d play some golf. Travel. Spend more time with Alice. She’s my current girlfriend. Nice lady. You should meet her sometime.”
“I’d like that.”
“Now I have one request for you.”
“What’s that?”
“Stop by and see your old man sometime.”
“I will.” I’m about to hang up but I have one more burning question. “Did you ever hear from her?”
“Who?”
“Mom.”
“She called once. When you boys were in school. Wanted to see how you were doing. I told her she didn’t have a right to know. Gave that up when she gave the both of you up. I told her she was welcome to call again if she could commit to having a consistent presence in your lives. Otherwise I said I never wanted to hear from her again. It would be too confusing for you kids. And I wanted to avoid the constant disappointment I’d know you’d always feel. I hope I did the right thing.”
“You did. I know I’ve never said it, but you were a good father. And while I haven’t always agreed with your decisions, I understand now they were the right ones.”
“Thanks,” he says. I swear I hear sniffling but then he clears his throat and tells me to stop by soon. I hang up and think about how he tried to protect me and Patrick. It must have been hard for him, keeping us away from our own mother, but he did what he thought was right. He chose the hard route, the unconventional one, and opted to be a single dad rather than having a mother around who’d always let us down. He put us and our needs first. Damn it! It’s an important lesson about love, but one I’d rather not have learned, because I know what I have to do.
I’m supposed to head to Melanie’s after work but plan to cancel. I think a big reason I’ve stayed with Melanie is because of her connection to Lucy. Even if we couldn’t be together, I could still hear about her and see her on occasion. And to be honest, I was biding my time. The only reason I agreed to stay with Melanie was because I thought Lucy would come around. I thought she needed time to sort through her feelings and would realize we belong together. Obviously that backfired. Lucy’s made it clear she doesn’t want to be with me. She chose Melanie. I know their relationship runs deep, but fuck, I wanted it to be me! I never thought it would come to this. Living with her decision is torture. The knowledge that she’s willing to let me go is ripping my heart to shreds, and as much as I want to stay close to her, if something doesn’t change soon there will be nothing left. Staying with Melanie and living a lie just makes it that much harder. She’s a sweet girl and we have fun together. But what we have doesn’t hold a candle to what I feel for Lucy. I would’ve ended things long ago had this been normal circumstances. And had Lucy not asked that I stay.
But our circumstances are far from normal. It’s like I’m living in a goddamned soap opera. So I’m going to end things with Melanie, and thereby Lucy. Cut the cord completely. I’m normally not one to give up until I have what I want. But I’ve realized that Lucy needs me to walk away. It’s the only thing she’s ever asked of me. And my dad taught me that when you love someone, you have to put their needs first. So how can I not give her the one thing she wants?
I’m a fucking coward because I don’t want to let her go. It’s as if my lungs can’t get enough air when I think about never seeing her again. Never being able to hear her voice, make her laugh, look into those mesmerizing eyes of hers—eyes I could get lost in. It makes me want to beat the shit out of something. Until now she brought out the best in me. And now she’s bringing out the worst.
I feel bad breaking up with Melanie. I never set out to hurt her. She was a distraction to help me get over Lucy. How could I have known she’d get caught in the crossfire? And now she’ll be another casualty of this mess that we’re in. I wish I could spare her the pain I feel, but it’s inevitable. I guess I should do it in person, be a standup guy, even though my mood is anything close to civil these days. She invited me over after work, so I’ll tell her then. I hope she doesn’t lose it. I don’t think I can handle that right now. I take a deep breath then make the call to confirm our plans.
She answers right away and before I can get a word in she says, “Can you believe Lucy broke up with James?”
“What?”
“She did! I had no clue there were issues. Can you believe she never told me?”
“What happened?” She has my complete attention.
“I don’t know. She gave me some cryptic speech about how when she looked at her future she didn’t see him.”
She doesn’t see him.
“I love James. I thought they were great together. He’s an awesome guy and he worships her. I’m telling you, this Mr. Anonymous has really scarred her. I basically told her so and gave her some tough love. Can you believe it?”
Holy shit! She doesn’t see him in her future.
“Luke? Are you still there?”
“Yeah. You know what babe? I’m sorry but I have a last minute happy hour I need to attend. It’s with a big client of ours.”
“Aww. You can still come over after.”
“I wouldn’t count on it. These guys are big drinkers. If I have any ounce of sobriety left by the end of the night I’ll text you. And crazy news about Lucy.”
“I know.”
“How did she seem?”
“She seemed OK with it. I had offered to come over but she said that she wanted to be alone. I would’ve insisted but she honestly seemed OK.”
“Good. I’ll talk to you later.” I disconnect the call before she even says goodbye.
Fuck everything I said earlier. This changes everything. My mind is racing with ideas. I need ammunition. Cupcakes. I need cupcakes. What’s the name of that place Lucy loves? I think back to our conversation from our weekend together but can’t remember the name. I Google a list of local cupcake bakeries and Simply Sinful rings a bell. I call them up as I head in that direction. I tell the woman who answers, Marie, that I want to place an order for a small box of cupcakes and one has to be their peanut butter flavor.
After I give her my name and rattle off my credit card number she says, “You know this isn’t a retail bakery, right? We only take catering orders.”
“Marie, is there anything you can do to help a guy out? I need these cupcakes to win over Lucy Chalmers.”
“Oh, these are for Lucy. She did mention she was seeing someone.”
“She is. Was. They broke up.”
“So you’re not the boyfriend?”
“Nope. But I intend to be. That’s where you and your cupcakes come in.”
“I see. Son, you’re gonna need a lot more than cupcakes.”
I laugh. “You leave the rest to me. I’ll take whatever you can spare. If you can’t fill a box I’ll take one. Whatever you have, preferably peanut butter. But I need at least one. Do you think you can do that?”
She asks when I need them by and I tell her within twenty minutes. She balks and I worry I’ve pushed my luck.
“Marie, I need these cupcakes. Lucy was crazy about them, craved them, but then she decided she needed to stay away. Because she has no self-control. So she deprived herself of something she loves. But I know if I tempt her, she’ll bite. You see?”
“One hour.” And then she hangs up.
Yes! The wait is torture. The walk takes me thirty minutes, so I have another thirty to kill. I decide to call Patrick.
“Dude, what’s up?” he asks by way of greeting. “I stopped by your office around four but Cynthia said you already left. I thought she was fucking with me.”
“I had something to take care of.”
“Slacker.”
“Did you know that dad signed the contract?”
“I figured he would.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because last I spoke with him he said, and I quote, ‘I don’t care about the god-dammed business if it means not having a relationship with my sons.’ And by sons I assume he meant son, because it’s obvious he just meant you.”
“Oh. I saw him the other day.”
“You saw him? Where? I thought he was still in the hospital.”
“He is. I went to visit.”
“Are you shitting me with this?”
“No. I went to see him. I brought Lucy with me.”
“What the fuck is going on? First you visit dad. And then you go with a girl who’s not your girlfriend.”
“I know. But she’s going to be. As for dad, I understand him better. I’m not saying I totally forgive him. But I get him.”
“Well that’s a start. Thank fuck. Maybe we can have a normal family get together this year.”
I laugh. “I wouldn’t say normal, but you never know.”
“And why did you say Lucy is going to be your girlfriend?”
“I’ll tell you about it later. I’ve gotta go pick up some cupcakes.”
“Who are you and what did you do with my asshole brother?”
I hang up on a bewildered Patrick.
I find Sinfully Sweet and walk in ten minutes early. There’s a plump woman behind the counter wearing an apron with flour in her already graying hair.
“You must be Luke,” she says.
“I am. Thank you so much Marie. You don’t know how much I appreciate this.”
“I’m only doing it for Lucy. She’s one of my favorites.”
“Mine too.” I smile at her.
“Hmph,” she manages. But then she pulls out a box and lifts the lid. “Two peanut butter, two red velvet, and two cookies n crème. All her favorites.”
“Thank you,” I say as I make my way behind the counter. She narrows her eyes but before she can scold me I give her a hug that literally lifts her off her feet. “We’ll be sure to book you for our wedding.”
She looks like the type who doesn’t fluster easily, but I seem to have made her blush.
“How much do I owe you?”
“It’s on me.”
“Marie, please. Let me pay you.”
“Luke, I won’t have you arguing with me. Now go get our girl.”
That I intend to do.
I decide to take a cab to her building. It would take me far too long to walk, plus I’m carrying precious cargo. As I walk through the revolving door I realize I hadn’t thought about how to get past her doorman. If George is on duty he’ll call the police if he sees me. And if it’s someone else and he calls Lucy to tell her she has a visitor, I’m not sure she’ll let me in. I’m taking the gamble. Luckily George isn’t at the desk; there’s a different doorman on duty. His nametag reads JOSE and I realize it’s the same doorman from our weekend together. He doesn’t appear to recognize me, so I give him James’s name and he tells me to go on up. I take it as a sign. What can I say, Lucy’s rubbing off on me. I take a deep breath then knock on her door. She opens it and seems surprised to see me standing outside.
“Can I come in?”
She nods and ushers me inside. “What are you doing here? And how’d you get in?”
“Jose let me through. You need better security. As for why I’m here, Melanie told me you broke up with James.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“I’m not sure I need to share my reasons with you. What are you holding?” she asks, changing the subject.
“I bought you something,” I say as I open the lid.
“I thought I recognized that box. You went to Sinfully Sweet!”
“I did.”
“But they don’t take retail orders.”
“They do now. Let’s just say Marie’s a fan.”
She tries to hide her smile. But then she turns serious.
“Luke,” she groans. “I can’t eat these.”
“Why not?”
“You know why. They’re my weakness.”
“I know,” I say quietly. “But why deprive yourself of something you really want? You’ve been doing that, and look where it’s gotten you.”
She hesitates, understanding where I’m going with this.
“There’s nothing good that can come from eating it,” she insists. “I made the decision for the right reason. And giving in now would be a major setback.”
“I disagree. Everything’s fine in moderation. As for your reason, I think you need to re-evaluate what’s best for you. Put yourself first for once. Now, how about one small bite? Just this one time?”
“I can’t. As tempting as it is, I’ve been good for so long. I know if I take even a taste I’ll never be able to resist again. I’ll undo all of my hard work. It’s been such a struggle, you’ve no idea.”
“Oh, but I do.”
We stare at each other, neither of us backing down.
I take the peanut butter cupcake out of the box and hold it out to her.
“Just one taste, please?” I say as I take a step closer.
“Luke, it’ll be like opening Pandora’s Box. You know I can never have just one taste and go back to how things were before.”
“I know,” I say as I dip my finger in the frosting and brush it across her lips. “I’m counting on it.”
She closes her eyes and takes a bite.