4
Will
Once inside his apartment, Will leaned against the door. He couldn’t believe Emma was actually here. Her soft vanilla fragrance still invaded his senses as he replayed their conversation over and over in his mind. Why did he have to come off so arrogant and sleazy when he was nervous?
He hadn’t meant to hit on her. At least he didn’t think he had. But he couldn’t deny he still had some sort of feelings for her. Call it unrequited love, but there was unfinished business between them, and Will wouldn’t be able to get Emma out of his head until he got to the bottom of it.
He needed to figure out a way to see her again. He thought for a minute and pulled out his phone, selecting a contact under favorites and banging out a text.
Will: Hey Cran, feel like throwing a party?
Cranston: What’s the occasion?
Will: When have you ever needed one?
Cranston: Touché
Will cracked a smile, practically able to hear Cranston’s preppy drawl.
Will: Tomorrow night. The hotel.
Cranston: Done. Guest list? The usual suspects?
Will: Actually, I need you to invite our whole class.
Cranston: This just got interesting. Do tell, William.
Will could picture Cranston’s look of amusement. He didn’t normally mingle with the ‘little people,’ as he called them. But then again when your father owned one of the biggest hotels in Manhattan, everyone was the ‘little people.’ But Cranston liked to think of himself as the Gatsby of St. James, so slumming it sometimes appealed to the philanthropist in him.
Will: I’ll explain later.
Cranston: You bet your ass you will, but my priorities are on the ladies. Any special requests?
Will: Nah. I got my date covered.
Or he would rather, if Emma accepted.
Cranston: Nice. I’m feeling a martinis and mistletoe vibe. You down?
Will: Sure, whatever you want. Just send out the blast.
Cranston: On it.
Will slipped his phone into his pocket and let the utter silence of his empty apartment wash over him. He looked around the massive space with disgust, still bitter his parents had uprooted him to move to the giant flat six months ago. In Will’s opinion it was a total waste. The Upper East Side was all the same to him. Who cared that they moved two buildings closer to Central Park and had a few more square feet? They certainly didn’t need the extra space.
It was just Will and his parents who lived there. Although, lived, was quite a loose term considering his parents were away more than they were home. Will was closer to the full-time staff that cared for the palatial apartment than he was to his parents these days.
He was the youngest of five boys, with a six-year gap between his closest brother, Gabe. Once Gabe graduated and shipped off to college, Will’s parents started traveling. Each year the trips grew longer. This year, they’d hardly been home at all. He knew they didn’t need to. Will’s mother didn’t work and his father owned an international software company that allowed him to work from anywhere. But Will couldn’t help feeling slighted. It’s not that he needed looking after, but it was his last year of high school. It would’ve been nice if his parents at least pretended to care, like they had with his brothers.
Will sighed, wagering whether his parents would make it home for Christmas. Just the other day, Sharon, his favorite housekeeper, had asked him if he wanted a Christmas tree delivered in case his parents were held up. Sharon had been with Will’s family since before he was born. She was like a sudo-mom to him. And although he knew Sharon was only looking out for him, Will had stubbornly declined her Christmas tree offer.
Picking out their holiday tree was the one tradition his family had. Every year, they drove to a little tree farm upstate and picked out the perfect Christmas tree. They cut it down and everything. He knew he shouldn’t hold his breath, but Will wasn’t quite ready to let go of the last of his childhood just yet.