He accepted her father’s anger, relished it even.
He deserved it.
“This is what you get for breaking the rules,” he said.
All of his life he’d been a rebel. Bending rules, breaking them, not giving a shit who he hurt in the process.
Lucia was different.
She was worth every second of breaking those rules.
He somehow found himself parked outside his parents’ main city building. They had several homes around the country, and even around the world, that they used for special occasions. For work, they didn’t live that far from where he’d decided to settle down. Jack couldn’t even remember the last time he’d been here, or what he’d been doing. This was a lifetime ago.
So long ago that he couldn’t even think straight.
Rubbing at his eyes, he climbed out, not caring if he got a ticket or if his car ended up crushed. It was the car his parents had purchased for him as if he was just a boy.
Entering the main reception, he ignored the woman at the front who called out to him.
There were only two people he wanted to see right now.
He clicked the code that accessed the lift to their main floors. With his parents being two of the biggest lawyers in the country, everyone had to have an appointment, and only a select few knew the codes to their floor. They never changed it either. He should probably warn them about that.
Standing in the elevator, he recalled being in this exact same elevator with his grandfather.
“They don’t like me,” Jack at age five had said.
“Oh, son, they love you. So much. They just don’t know how to show it.”
Clearly, Lucia’s father had hit him a lot harder than he originally thought if he was already having flashbacks over his life right now.
The elevator doors pinged open, and he saw their secretary and several case analysts leaning over a computer.
“Mr. Parker, we need to let them know you’re here.”
He didn’t say a word. Instead, he went to his father’s office and opened the door.
His father was on the phone, but one look at him and he put it down. “I’ve got to go.”
“Jack, what is it? What’s wrong?” George Parker got up from behind his chair and moved toward him. “Get Nancy, now!” His father gripped his shoulders. “Son, what is it?”
“She’s gone,” Jack said. Tears filling his eyes as he spoke. “She’s gone.” He repeated the same words. “I had … I had nowhere else to go.”
“George, what is going on?” Nancy Parker said, coming into the room. “Jack, what is it? Why does he look like he’s been in a fight?”
The door to the office was closed, and he realized he’d come to his parents. Even though he’d never been able to rely on them in the past, this was where he’d come. “She’s gone.”
“That’s all he keeps saying,” George said.
“Lucia?”
Jack nodded.
“Why don’t we start at the very beginning and we can see if we can help you in any way.”
Jack didn’t fight them as they led him over toward the sofa. Sitting back, he wiped the tears from his eyes, finding it all a little surreal that he’d gone to his parents.
His father started first, asking questions. His mother came next.
He told them everything about what happened, and he knew that even though he’d told them, there wasn’t a single thing that could be done about it.
****
Five months later
Lucia stared down at the book in front of her, not really seeing anything. Today had been a long day. She’d spoken to Marie last night, who’d given her an update on Jack. He still worked at Beyer Hill High School, and no one was any the wiser.
Her father had kept his side of the bargain, and she had kept hers as well. There hadn’t been any contact in five months.
Five lonely months in which she had felt so lost and alone.
England was … nice. It had a lot of people with different accents, people drove on the wrong side of the road, and the city was busy all the time. She rarely found a place near where her parents lived that wasn’t busy.
The parks were always full to bursting, and she couldn’t seem to find a spare minute to be herself.
Life had changed, and she didn’t think it was for the better. What she found the strangest was that her mother had become the voice of reason while her father refused to budge on anything.
“You’re not from around these parts,” a guy said, drawing her attention.
“I’m sorry.”
“Ah, American, right? The name’s Ben.” He held his hand out for her to take, and Lucia simply stared at it. “The polite thing to do is to take my hand and shake it.”
She forced a smile to her lips, and then placed her hand within his. “Lucia.”
“Pleasure to meet you. I noticed that you kept sitting in the same spot, on the same days.”
She pulled away, and the smile dropped from her face.
“Oh, now I just sound like a stalker. I’m so sorry. I’m currently studying for a degree in psychology, and since taking the courses I find myself watching people in a completely non-axe-murdering kind of way.”
“It’s fine. Though the whole ‘you’re new around here’ is a bit off,” she said.
“Very true. Are you here to study, work, or for pleasure? I have to say sitting in the library every Friday evening is not exactly a fun way to spend your holiday.”
“I’m here to live and work.” She’d volunteered at one of the local campuses that helped with anything from class schedules to organizing trips, lectures, and stuff.
Since moving to England, she’d taken a gap year, and with her parents’ help she was getting her visa changed so that she could work there as well.
She’d already graduated high school. Her parents had put in for one of the local high schools to transfer her studies, and she’d done a quick crash course, and now here she was. Graduated, volunteering, living with her parents, being completely away from everything she’d known.
Now she was talking to a guy named Ben.
Yay.
“Ah, so you’re sticking around for a bit.” Ben took a seat opposite. “I don’t mean to blow my own horn, but I’m an excellent guide. I can take you wherever you need to go. You say a place, and I’ll make it happen. You want to see the sights, we’ll go.”
This Ben sounded sweet and he was charming, but he also wasn’t Jack.
“I appreciate that, but I really don’t … I’m not interested in anything right now.”
“Oh,” he said.
“I’m getting over a bad breakup, and I kind of just want … to be left alone.”
“Say no more.”
Before she could stop him or even try to say anything else, his hands were up in the air, and she watched as he moved on to the next woman.
She felt kind of bad for whoever took him up on his offer.
Closing her books, she made her way toward the shelves, and placed them back. Running her hand across the spines, she felt so empty.
Ever since she’d moved here, nothing had been right to her.
Pulling away from the books, she tried to ignore this desolate feeling, but it was dragging her down.
Leaving the library, she gave a wave to one of the women at the front desk before heading out into the busy city life. People were still coming and going.
Considering it was nearing the end of summer, the weather was miserable, but she’d come to see that was the case for every single thing in England.
It was either miserable or not.
Wrapping her arms around herself, she hiked her bag high up on her shoulder, and began the long walk back home.
Her parents had already gotten into the swing of things here. They were so happy and she tried not to put a downer on everything, but it was impossible to do.
She could have stayed in the States, but her father’s threat of ruining Jack was what kept her home with her parents.
Entering their home, she grabbed a towel from the radiator and began to dry her soaking hair.
“I’m back,” she said.
Her mother entered. “Sweetie, you’re soaked.”
“It’s raining.”
“I made you your favorite.”
“What?”
“Spaghetti. I remember how much you love it.”
“Thank you.”
She put the towel back on the radiator, kicked off her shoes, dropped her bag, and followed her mother into the other room.
Her father was sitting at the table.
Like so many other occasions, she ignored him.
Grabbing some water, she filled it up and took a sip.
“Did you have a good day at the library?” her mother asked.
“Yes.”
“What did you do?”
“I read.”
“Oh.”
She noticed her mother looking between the two of them, nibbling her lip.
Lucia finished her water. “I met a guy today.”
“That sounds pleasing.”
“Yeah, he came over, talking to me, and when I told him I wasn’t interested, I watched him move on to another girl.”
The smile that had been on Patricia’s face dropped.
“Lucia, I know this is hard—”
“Stop pandering to the girl. She wants to be behave like a child, leave her to it.”
Anger boiled up inside her as her father turned the page on his newspaper. It had been like this since they moved. He was disappointed in her. He’d told her many times that he couldn’t believe she’d do something so stupid. How he had faith in her to be the better person. She’d let him down, and their friendship, that trust, had shattered. Instead of blasting out and acting like a child, she left the kitchen.
“Your food,” Patricia said. “I made your favorite.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You know what, I’ve had enough of this.”
Lucia kept on walking toward the stairs.
She heard her father slam his paper down, his hand smacking against the surface and then his feet padding toward the hallway.
“Lucia, enough is enough,” he said. “Don’t you dare walk away from me.”
She stopped on the stairs and turned toward her parents.
Her father had his hands on his hips, looking really pissed off while her mother looked nervous. She stood in the doorway, hugging the wall, or at least from where she was standing it looked like that.
“What?” she asked.
“You’re behaving like a child.”
“No, I’m not.”
“You won’t eat. You won’t give this a chance. Your behavior is…”
“What?” Lucia asked. “My behavior is what? You didn’t give me the chance to explain. You threatened him. Dragged me here to a foreign country just to keep an eye on me. You don’t care about me. You tell me repeatedly what a letdown I am, and how I disappointed you. What more do you want me to do?”
“I’m tired of your moods, Lucia. Grow up.”
“I have been grown up,” she yelled. “I’m sick and tired of you telling me I’m behaving like a child or you’re sick because of the way I acted. Do you even know what a real temper tantrum is, or are you just assuming that any child or person that doesn’t do what you want is acting out?” She glared at her father, refusing to back down.
Over the past five months he’d treated her like a child. It was like he’d forgotten all the years of her being left alone, of fending for herself. When they had a conference to go to, she was left cash or a card to deal with it. She’d never been a fucking child, and yet, he treated her as if that was all she’d ever been.
“That’s enough.”
“Yes, of course it’s enough. Whenever something doesn’t go your way, it’s enough.” She gave a little bow. “I’ll be down for dinner after I get out of my clothes.”
“I said I would believe you, Lucia, but everything you’re showing me right now, your behavior, you make me believe he brainwashed you. That you weren’t old enough to have the choice in this relationship.”
She stared at her father, seeing he believed what he said. “I get it, I do, but, Dad, I love him. Being away from him, it hurts, and behaving like nothing is different, isn’t the easiest thing to do. I’m not cold. I can’t pretend I wasn’t in love. He didn’t brainwash me. Jack isn’t a sexual predator. He’s a gentleman, and one hell of a teacher. I’d be with him now if I wasn’t scared that you’d ruin his life.”
Without another glance at her parents, she stormed up to her room, sitting down on her bed as she pulled her socks off.
She needed to find some that were waterproof or something because her feet were soaking wet.
Padding over to her computer, she saw a message from Marie.
Marie: How is today? Still working your ass off or are you studying? Have you figured out what you want to be?
From previous conversations, she knew Marie was undecided about going to college or not. Her ranch hand friend had asked if she wanted to come and see him, to spend some time traveling across Europe.
She sat down at her desk, her fingers poised over the keyboard.
With every passing day, she was growing less tolerant of all the changes.
This gap year was becoming one of the longest of her life.
Lucia: It’s another day in a long line of days. Nothing much has changed. Just had an argument with my dad. What’s really new about that? Nope, don’t have a clue what I’m studying when I do go to college. I like working though. Everyone speaks weird here, but that’s okay. Have you decided on what you’re doing to do?
She clicked Enter and saw her message appear in the talk box.
After a few seconds she saw the three magic dots appear beside Marie’s name. She had never lost contact with Marie.
Her father had wanted Lucia to stop all contact with everyone from her past life, but she’d gotten angry. Her mother had finally talked him down, and Lucia was able to keep in touch with Marie.
It was the only link she had to her old life, and she didn’t want to lose it.
Marie was the only one willing to talk about him.
Marie: I don’t know. We’ve kept in touch but we’ve also agreed that we’re not waiting for each other. What if I get to wherever he is, and he’s with someone else, and I’ve misread all the signs? Also, I have met someone else. I always wanted to travel, and I could do that after college. I miss you.
Lucia: True, you can do everything you want after college. Who is the guy you’re dating?
Marie: His name’s Sean and he goes to the local college. He’s sweet and funny. You’d like him.
Lucia frowned as she read the last message.
Lucia: Local college?
Marie: I’m undecided. My BFF is in England and these conversations can be a pain in the ass. I love talking to you but I miss talking to you in person. This fucking sucks, and you know I’ve always hated typing.
Lucia missed her friend so much.
Lucia: I wish I was home with you. We’d be able to help each other solve our problems, and we wouldn’t have to rely on someone else. I haven’t got a clue what to do. My parents want me to get over whatever misery I feel. I’m just … all alone.
Marie: I know. He’s not doing much better, just so you know. Of course, he’s still a kickass teacher but it’s not the same. He misses you.
Lucia sat back, pressing a hand to her mouth. She couldn’t help it. Suddenly overcome with raw emotion, she closed her eyes, and tried to stay focused.
Lucia: I miss him so much. I never realized just how much until now. I … I don’t want to lose him. I don’t know how much more of this that I can take. Dad’s unreasonable.
Marie: Try to come around and see it from his point. You’re his little girl and he was your teacher. I’m so sorry. I’ve got to go. Chat soon.
She saw that Marie had left, and she was once again alone.
For a few moments she was able to think of Marie’s voice, pretend to be listening to her.
Staring at her computer screen, she nibbled her lip and wondered what to do.
There was a soft knock on the door, and she turned around to see it was her mother.
“Dinner’s nearly done,” she said.
“Okay.”
She left the computer, not caring that her mother would probably read it.
Pulling her shirt over her head, she entered the bathroom, throwing it into the laundry room. Removing her jeans, she wriggled out of them before going into her room. She had her own en-suite bathroom still.
Her mother was sitting at the desk, scrolling through her conversation.
“No one said that I couldn’t talk about him,” Lucia said.
She grabbed a large shirt and some sweatpants, pulling them on.
“I know this is hard for you,” Patricia said. “I think it would have been difficult for me as well.”
“Try to imagine being in love with Dad only for your parents to decide that they know what’s best for you at every single turn. You can’t see him. Talk to him, and you’re forced to attempt to live a happy life, and you’ll understand what I’m feeling.”
Patricia sighed. “It was never supposed to be this way. We’d hoped that you’d love it here, and that we could be the family that we always wanted to be.”
Lucia sat on the edge of the bed, staring at her mother. There was a sad smile on her face.
“You loved him,” Patricia asked.
“Yes.” Tears filled her eyes. “I know you and Dad think it was gross and seedy, and wrong. The only thing that was wrong was that he was my teacher, Mom. Jack…” Even his name was hard to say. She closed her eyes, trying not to cry. She was tired of shedding tears. “He was always there for me. When we were together, he stopped being my teacher and became something more. Something perfect. He always knew what to say to make me smile.” She frowned. “I don’t know what to say about it, to be honest. Dad hates me.”
“Your father doesn’t hate you, Lucia. He’s worried about you. We both are. You’ve lost some weight in the past five months.”
“Yay, that’s always what you wanted.” Eating made her feel sick, so she nibbled when she could.
Her mother’s face lost the smile. “I never wanted you to be unhappy. I remember what it was like in high school being a nerd. The way they bullied everyone. I’m not the best mother. In fact, I’d say I’m probably an awful one, but I do love you, Lucia. Very much.”
Neither of them said anything more as her mother got to her feet and the conversation was terminated.
There was nothing that either of them could do.