Showcase

by P. Roper

  For you was scrawled on a card, placed on top. I pulled the ends of the ribbon, letting it fall to the sides of the box. Lifting the lid, I found a white, long sleeved bodycon dress. The neck was square and it hit me mid-thigh. My curiosity as to how I would keep my legs from freezing in the February cold was answered by a pair of thigh high black suede boots that were tucked into a second layer of the box. All the appropriate undergarments were also included with the dress. Once my ensemble was complete, I walked out to meet him in the living space.

  “This dress is something,” I said to his back, as he stood fully dressed in structured trousers and a smart navy sweater. He turned to me with a coffee cup in hand.

  “It looks better than I had even hoped.” His head tilted as he took me in. Scrunching up his face, he admitted, “There’s more.” He gestured to three more boxes in various sizes, set on the table. A laugh broke from his mouth when my eyes widened.

  “Nathaniel, this is far too much,” I said, shaking my head.

  He put his cup on the table and stepped into me. Cradling my face with both his hands, he levelled his eyes with my own. “Deliah, they are just gifts. Physical trinkets and tokens of my gratitude that you would be here, allowing me to have your presence. It’s not too much. Because I believe that for you, nothing I am capable of will ever be quite enough. But I had to at least put forth an attempt. Please, open the gifts? I picked them specifically for you. Audrey only helped with ensuring they were delivered here this morning.” I nodded and his hands dropped.

  The first box held a thick white pea coat and a black cashmere scarf. The second, the softest black leather gloves I had ever held and a new pair of designer sunglasses. The final box was small, but made me most nervous. I knew that it was the kind of box that always held precious jewels. I popped it open and gasped, my hand covering my mouth. Laid delicately in the velvet interior were a stunning 3 carat halo pendant necklace and a pair of diamond solitaire earrings that also had to be at least a couple carats a piece.

  My eyes met his and I shook my head again. I couldn’t take them. But Nathaniel nodded, encouragingly. “They don’t hold a candle to you, but I wanted my pretty girl to have pretty things. Will you wear them?”

  Tears stung my eyes. My pretty girl. He had called me his, so gently and naturally. I nodded, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth. I pulled the necklace from the box and handed it to him, silently. When he took it from my fingers, I turned away from him and pulled my hair to one side. His fingers trailed along the chain before he clasped it. Goosebumps flashed across my skin and I held my breath. I took the earrings to the mirror over the buffet, and fastened them in my ears before turning to him.

  “I feel like I’m going to get mugged, with this much bijouterie,” I chuckled mostly to myself.

  “I assure you, you won’t. You’ll be perfectly safe. I promise.” He met my eyes, seeking confirmation that I believed his words.

  “Okay,” I replied. “So, mister millionaire, where are you taking me?” My hand went to the necklace resting at my collar bone. It felt peculiar to have it there. Expensive and foreign.

  He laughed, pulling my new coat from the table and holding it out for me. “It’s cute that you think I’m a millionaire. And it’s a surprise.”

  “What do you mean, multi still classifies as such.”

  Nodding he said, “I know. I broke the b ceiling in 2018. A year after I took over NAH. The company is worth more than I am though.” He shrugged into his coat casually and tied a scarf around his neck. As if he had just informed me of his coffee order, not his astronomical financial worth. He helped me tie my own scarf, while I remained gobsmacked, before handing me my gloves and sunglasses.

  “Cool, so all this,” I said, gesturing around me. “This is like pocket change for you.” I grabbed my purse from the credenza as he laughed again.

  “No,” he said with a breathy chuckle. “I assure you Deliah; I don’t see any of this as pocket change. My liquid assets aren’t as substantial as my net worth implies. I do well, but the majority of my fortune is in investments.”

  “I see,” I said, still attempting to process his words as he ushered me to the door, a grin prominently on his face. “So, we’re leaving the hotel. Good to know. Are we leaving Manhattan?” I asked, digging for details.

  “I’m not telling you anything,” he stated, pressing the elevator button. “You’ll have to wait and see, pretty girl.” He gave me his disarmingly charming smile and I couldn’t help but return it with a full smile of my own.

  Chapter 18

  A blacked out town car met us outside the hotel and in true New York fashion; we crawled our way around and down Lexington. The car came to a stop in front of a set of iconic black doors, with bubble glass windows. Curiosities filled the windows beside the door. I turned to Nathaniel.

  “Seriously?” I laughed, “So cheesy. Are we going to have Frozen Hot Chocolate too?” I tilted my head at him before turning back to look at the storied store front. He got out of the car and rounded it to open my door.

  Offering me a hand, he smiled at me. “Pretty girl, you can have the whole damn menu, if you want.”

  Approaching the doors, my heart sank when I saw the sign pasted on it. “Shit. Oh well, I guess we’ll have to come another time. Maybe not on Valentine’s Day.” He shook his head and pulled the door open, gesturing for me to cross the threshold.

  “Your doubt wounds me, Deliah.” He said, placing a hand over his heart, as a short girl with an angular blonde bob rushed toward us.

  “Mister Halstead!” She all but shouted. “Pick any table; I’ll be back with menus.”

  My eyes widened and I spun on him. “You rented the whole fucking place?! Nathaniel. Why?”

  While his fingers unbuttoned my coat, he took a deep breath and shrugged. As he slid it off my shoulders and draped it over the back of a nearby chair, he spoke. “If I could give you the world, I would. They technically opened early for us, so they wouldn’t have to bump any reservations. But anything you want, you can have. As to why? Because I want nothing more than to lay the world at your feet.” The expression on his face took me off guard as I dropped into a chair.

  He slid into his own seat, depositing his hand on the strip of thigh exposed between the hem of my dress and the tall boots. “Right,” the tiny woman said as she returned, “Cappuccinos and menus.” She placed them down and was gone as quickly as she had appeared.

  “What looks good?” He nodded at the menu, prompting me to take it in. “I’m partial to the apple pie in this one,” his finger hovered over an item. “But look through and get whatever you choose.”

  We ended up getting the Forbidden Broadway and Cinnamon Fun sundaes. While we waited, I took in the elaborate details of the café. The eccentric chandelier and the moulding in the ceiling may have been my favourite parts. But all the bright colours scattered through the space captivated me. We talked and laughed our way through the massive desserts. And once we were done, he ordered two more Cappuccinos to go before escorting me back out through a crowd that had formed at the doors and into the waiting town car.

  Leaning back in the seat, I sipped the hot drink. “Where are you taking me now,” I inquired.

  Nathaniel slid across the seat and ran his nose along my jaw. “Next is something a little more interactive,” he breathed across my neck and I shivered.

  “Interactive? I don’t know if I even want to guess on that one.”

  “I promise it’s not what you’re thinking right now,” he chuckled, his hand gripping my thigh.

  I licked my lips as his peppered kisses over my neck and jaw. “Then you need to stop, or you’re going to thwart your own plans.”

  His face nuzzled into me. “I’ll stop. But we will continue this later.” He removed his hand, releasing my leg to tangle our fingers together. Then he sat back and just watched me.

  After some time driving down 2nd Ave, we pulled to a stop in front of an o
bscure shaped, tall grey building. “You brought me to a museum?”

  He shook his head. “Not just any museum.” Noting my curious expression, he smiled and added, “You’ll see.”

  When we approached the glass doors, Nathaniel tangled his fingers with mine and I couldn’t help but smile.

  He led me through the museum, smirking at my awe. I marvelled at art like I had never seen before. Sure, I had been to museums all over Europe, but they were filled with classics. In contrast, that concrete building held abstract, interpretive art that I couldn’t help but marvel at.

  “A pile of grass?” He questioned in one room, but I was drawn to what looked like a large white sheet, frozen in time, blowing in the wind.

  “I can’t imagine how long these pieces took,” I stated, taking in a large metal horse skeleton. Curiosity racked me, marvelling at a typewriter with hundreds of pages of what looked like news headlines pouring from it.

  “The artist has been actively making social and political statements since the seventies. He’s found himself being turned away for being too controversial on more than one occasion through his career.” Nathaniel whispered in my ear, details about the artist and his life’s work, as we slowly made our way through the obscure instalments.

  By the time we had seen everything to see and discussed the possibilities of every piece that struck us, the sun had begun to set on the city. We slid into the car and drove through Manhattan, while Nathaniel tapped out messages on his phone. “Who are you talking to so frantically?” I had to ask.

  He paused to look at me, “No one.” He tapped a couple more times before pocketing the phone. Moments later, we pulled up in front of the Empire State building and I turned back to him eyes wide. He smiled and raised a brow, “ever been up?”

  “No. As a broke as hell student, I couldn’t justify the price. And once I could afford it, the lines were too long whenever I had the time.” I shrugged. I had always wanted to see the skyline at twilight though.

  “Well, pretty girl, here’s your chance.”

  I looked back out the window. “But the line is at least an hour long. Didn’t you say we had dinner reservations? By the time we make it up there, we’ll have to turn around and come right back down.”

  “You dear, have no faith,” Nathaniel declared before turning his attention to the driver. “Dennis? Could you pull around to the main lobby on Fifth?”

  “As you wish sir.”

  In minutes, we were being escorted onto the observation level of the elaborate tower. It was unlike anything I had ever witnessed. Millions of lights glittered across the expanse of the skyline and eighteen million hearts were beating in the glowing city beneath our feet.

  “This is unbelievable,” I breathed out as Nathaniel’s arms came around me. His chest pressed to my back and he rested his chin on the top of my head. I leaned back into him as he pointed out various buildings.

  We descended the tower an hour later, only after snapping several pictures of each other, ourselves, and the view. The car drove us up 6th Avenue before turning onto 59th and looping through Columbus Circle, finally coming to a stop outside the glass façade of the Time Warner Center. Nathaniel whisked me up to the fourth floor, to the exclusive Per Se restaurant.

  Course after course, from the chef’s daily menu was set in front of us. We conversed through the meal, looking out over the circle to Central Park. I found myself fascinated when the waiter explained that no ingredient was used twice through the gamut of dishes. We shared a bottle of wine between the two of us, recommended to compliment all nine courses.

  Following the most elaborate, beautiful meal I’d ever sat down to, the car drove us to the corner of 79th and 5th. Once we left the vehicle, Nathaniel walked us into Central Park holding my hand tightly. We meandered a little, but he seemed to know exactly where he was leading. Several minutes into our walk through the park, we came to a circle. At the center of the circle stood a handful of large bronze toadstools. Upon one sat a young girl and beside her stood an upright rabbit in a tailcoat.

  “The Alice in Wonderland monument?” I turned to him, wonderment washing over my face. “You remembered,” I said, tears filling my eyes.

  “Pretty girl, everything you’ve ever spoken to me, I remember. Even some things I wish that I didn’t have embedded up here,” he tapped his head. “But your words are important. Your memories and how they have impacted your existence are more significant than I could possibly explain.” He kicked a stone, like a child unsure of their words. “When you told me about Alice being a way your dad would connect with you while he was deployed, I couldn’t stop wondering. Had you been here before? Would it be too much? But then it occurred to me that even if you had, I wanted to bring you here. Because I wanted to experience you, connecting with a lost piece of your childhood. And to be here to comfort you if the need arose.”

  I swallowed the lump in my throat as a few stray tears left trails down my cheeks. “Nathaniel,” I stepped into his space and his arms closed around me. “I lived in the city for five years. I studied in this park for four of them. But I could never bring myself to come to this place. I knew it was here but I couldn’t come alone, and that’s how I spent those years. Yeah, I had roommates. But never close ones and this wasn’t something I felt I could trust them with.” I sniffled back more tears, wrapping my arms around his middle tightly and pressing my ear to his chest, listening to his heartbeat. “Thank you for bringing me here today. It truly means more than you’ll ever know.”

  We stood in each other’s arms in the dark park, beside the bronze statue, for longer than we probably should have. But in those moments, I felt so at home. The thought scared me to death, yet I couldn’t deny the truth in it. Eventually we wandered back out of the park and to the hotel. Nathaniel asked the concierge if the arrangements had been made and thanked the man when his query was confirmed.

  We rode the elevator in silence, fingers still laced. And the moment we stepped back into the suite, the air caught in my lungs. There were bursting bouquets perched on every surface. Vases filled with peonies, gardenia, lilies, daisies, pink roses and even one filled with sunflowers. There was a service cart with a bottle of champagne on ice and trays of truffles and strawberries. I heard the door click before his arms slipped around me, undoing my coat and slipping it off of me. He strode past me and draped it over a chair before returning to me to gather the things from my hands. Stepping into me a third time, he dropped to his knees. His fingers lingered on my inner thighs as he undid the zippers holding the boots on my legs, glancing up at me with hooded eyes. Once the boots had been removed, he ditched his own outerwear before threading his hands into my hair.

  “I want to ask you to stay with me. Not just for tonight, but to return to the estate with me. I’ve missed you desperately, Deliah. And this week with you has been nothing short of extraordinary. I won’t actually ask that tonight though. Tonight, will you just be present with me?” He tucked a curl behind my ear, “Let go of the inhibitions I know are filling that beautiful mind of yours? Please, pretty girl? Grant me this wish.”

  His eyes sought something in mine, waiting for me to respond in some way. I pushed myself up on my toes, meeting his mouth with my own. I lost track of the moments as we kissed feverishly, just standing there surrounded by flowers. When his hands left my hair and hitched up the skirt of the tight dress I wore, I sighed. His hands hooked around the back of my thighs, pulling them up around him. I framed his face with my hands and I deepened the kiss as my core pressed at his waist. He backed into the bedroom and sat himself on the bed, leaving me straddling him. I rolled my hips as he undid his tie. My fingers unbuttoned his shirt as he lowered the zipper that ran the length of my spine.

  As his hand reached between us, he groaned, “Pretty girl, you’re so wet.” His finger dipped under the lace and ran the length of me before pushing inside. I gasped, but he removed his hand quickly, bringing it to his face and sucking the finger
coated in me into his mouth. “I’ve wanted to taste you all day, but I just need to be inside you right now.” He stated, frankly.

  He stood me in front of him, peeling the dress and my underwear from my body as I watched him. I undid the front clasp of my bra, dropping it from my arms.

  His hand pressed at my back, drawing me back toward him. He pulled one of my nipples into his mouth, as he undid his own belt and pants. Switching to my other nipple, he slid out of his pants, letting them pool at his feet. I climbed back into his lap, my legs once again encasing his. I rolled my hips again, feeling his hardness rub against me. I bit my lip and made eye contact with him before reaching between us and lining him up with my waiting heat.

  I sunk down on him, a moan escaping me. I had never had anyone inside me fully bare before. The rawness of it was overwhelming. “Pretty girl,” he gritted out. “Condom,” I was reminded.