by H. M. Ward
Instead, he says, “Wait, Sky, let me get someone you care about. Hold on.” He looks up at the hotel, but seems torn.
I growl at him, “If you tell anyone what happened tonight, if you ruin Sophie’s wedding any more than we already have…”
“Skylar, this wasn’t your fault.”
“Don’t call me that!” The window finally shuts.
I throw the car into reverse and back out, but the parking lot is new and made for normal sized cars and mine is a monster. I have to pivot in and out and in and out nearly three times, and by the fourth time, I’ve wedged my car in between two SUVs with Nick watching. That breaks me and my forehead slams forward onto the steering wheel and I sob big, yucky, snotty cries.
Nick steps toward me and opens the door. “Move over. I’ll drive you home.”
I do as he says and lean into the passenger seat, as far away from him as possible. When we first leave, he makes a phone call to have all his stuff moved to the room. “Yeah, I’ll pay extra. Just make sure you get the camera bags. Something came up and I had to run. They’re on the path by the chapel.” After that Nick is silent.
I lean against the door and fall asleep. The next thing I know, Nick is calling my name. “Sky? Sky, wake up.” I glance over at him. “I don’t know where you live.”
“In the studio.”
His jaw drops. “You’re not allowed to do that.”
“No one knows. It doesn’t matter now anyway.”
Nick pretends he doesn’t know. “What do you mean?”
“Just go to the store.” Nick doesn’t say anything else. He drives down Montauk Highway until we come to the shopping center where his little studio is on one side and mine is on the other. The stench in the air is horrible.
Nick pulls up in front of the building and turns off the engine. “Sky, you shouldn’t be alone right now.”
“Go fuck a monkey, Ferro. I don’t have time for you or your fake sincerity.” I don’t sound like myself, but I’m too upset to care.
Nick follows me to the store. “Hey, what are you talking about? Sky?”
I shove the key into the lock and pull the door open. The smell worsens, hitting me in the face like a wall. When I step over the threshold, I’m standing in rank water. It fills my shoes and shuts Nick up. I slosh to the light switch and turn it on. I might be able to salvage the table and chairs, but all the books and albums are toast. The biggest problem is going to be the back of the store. My shooting room had tons of stuff on the floor, including my bed.
When I glance through the doorway, into the back, I grab the wall. Everything is ruined. The room is filled with water and it looks like it came down from above and flooded the place. I stand there staring, and feel Nick looking over my shoulder. “Congratulations, Mr. Ferro. You decimated your idol. You can stop pretending you care now and go get a pat on the back from your dad. Oh, and all that bullshit you said to get into my pants was brilliant. You had me convinced.”
I turn to leave, but he stops me by stepping in front of me. “I didn’t do this. How could you blame me for this?”
“My store is the only one that got flooded. The city said the problem with the pipes was within the building, Nick. I may be younger than you, but I’m not that dumb. You got what you wanted. I lost. You win.”
“Skylar, I didn’t do this.” He sounds sincere, but I’m too fried.
“Don’t lie to me anymore! I can’t take it!” I shove his chest, hard.
“I’m not lying.”
“Just go.” I turn away and look at the destruction.
“No, I didn’t do this.” Nick picks up his phone and calls someone. “The tenant in unit 281 was flooded out earlier today. Yeah, this is his son, I have the unit across from her. What happened?” He’s quiet for a moment, and the longer the silence stretches the narrower his eyes become. His jaw tightens until it looks like it’s going to crack. “Thank you.” He hangs up and looks at me. Nick sloshes through the sewage, yanks one of my signs off the glass and marches outside.
The only reason I follow is because I can’t breathe inside. Nick walks to his studio, opens the door and flips on the lights. I watch him grab a razor blade and scrape the name of his studio off the door. When he’s done, he takes a piece of tape and hangs up my sign. When he comes out, he tosses me the keys. “It’s yours.”
I catch them, but I don’t believe him. “Very funny.”
“It’s not a joke.” He’s storming away, like he’s going to take my car. Nick grabs the driver’s side door and holds out his hand. “I need the keys. I have to go have some words with my father.”
“You’re making this up, Nick.”
“Think whatever you want, Sky, but I need to go take care of this. Right now. And you can’t sleep in your place. You’ll die, the smell is so bad.”
“You did this to me. It happened while we were together. There’s no way you can convince me that you didn’t know or that you couldn’t stop it.” I ball my hands into fists at my sides.
“I know I’ve lost you and I almost lost myself. You brought me back and made me realize I was drifting. You don’t believe me, I know, but I need to go make this right. Please let me.” He holds out his hand, waiting for the keys to my car.
“I’m going with you.”
CHAPTER 33
We drive forever, backtracking out east. Again. Nick puts gas in the beast. I’m barefoot because my shoes absorbed the nasty water. They were stinking up the car so we tossed them in a dumpster. Nick had this waterproof stuff on his boots so all the sewage rolled right off. Someone needs to make that for people. When life gets shitty, you can spray a little on your emotions and they all go back to the way they were before.
I’m not that naïve, but I can wish. We arrive at the Ferro family mansion in the middle of the night. Nick parks my ugly car right in front and rushes up the steps. Then he’s inside and bolting up the stairs. I’m ready to drop, but I manage to follow him through the twisting halls.
He heads straight into a room with tall ceilings and leather walls. Bookcases are scattered about, along with a few sculptures that cost a small fortune. Nick’s father, Darren, is behind his desk, still dressed, tie loosened and talking on the phone. “Jared, things aren’t that simple and you know it.” When Nick rushes in, his dad stops talking abruptly and says into the phone, “I’ll call you back.”
“What did you do?” Nick asks. His shoulders are tense and he looks madder than he did before.
His dad looks at Nick and then his gaze drifts back to me, dipping to my bare feet. “Secured your position and taught you a lesson at the same time. You had only a few days left and, as of this morning, Miss Thompson’s business was still open. You don’t want to lose your place at the company, do you? Acquisitions are hard and you did very well up until now. Being around the acquired business’s owner is a mistake. You proved yourself to me. We just had to finalize everything to make it look all right with the company. I can’t have people accusing me of nepotism.” He laughs and adds, “Or that the Ferros are going soft.”
“Her business is not closed. It’s been moved to my storefront. I lost.” Nick slams his hands down on his father’s desk so hard that it makes me jump.
A knowing smile crosses Mr. Ferro’s face and he addresses me, instead of his son. “He’s had a crush on you for a long time. Do you have any idea how much determination and stamina it takes to destroy the business you admire the most? I watched my son tear you apart, brick by brick. Why you’re standing in my office in the middle of the night, shoeless, is beyond me.”
I walk across the room and stand next to Nick. “I’m standing here because your son loves me. I’m standing here because he gave me his store. My business’s name is on his front door.”
Mr. Ferro smirks. “You think you can get him so easily?”
Nick cuts in before I can answer. “She doesn’t want me.” The words ring loud and clear. Nick leans in by his father’s face. “And I don’t want you.”
>
He laughs. “Nicholas, you’re being ridiculous. You’re going to walk away from everything and for what? A girl that doesn’t share your affection?”
Nick is already at the door. He turns back and shakes his head. “No. I found my soul over the past few days, and I’m not going to work with you and have it sucked out again.”
I follow Nick through the door and hear his father say, “If you leave this house, never come back.”
Nick walks faster toward the front door. That wasn’t fake. I look over my shoulder and then rush at him just as he’s about to step outside. “Wait!” I pull Nick’s arm and stop him. “You can’t walk out.”
“Yes, I can. It’s a step and I’m gone.”
“But, you’re a Ferro.”
“And I wish that I wasn’t. If I stay here, I know who I’ll become and it’s the man sitting behind that desk. I meant what I said up there. I lost myself, but over the past few days, you brought me back. I’m not staying here and changing who I am to please them again.” He laughs. “The Ferro fortune is cursed—the papers say that—and they’re right, because you have to give up your soul to get it. I’m done here and I’m not looking back.” Nick walks outside and takes a deep breath of night air, like he’s been a slave and now he’s a free man.
CHAPTER 34
The ride back to the store is awkwardly silent. He just threw his life away, or found it. I wonder if he has any money or if he plans on becoming a hobo. On the way, I tell him to divert to my parent’s house since they’re still at the hotel. I can’t take his store. I have no intention of doing so.
When we go inside, the smell of my childhood home hits me hard—lemons and Lysol. My mom is a clean freak. Even if I put everything back exactly where it was and make it sparkling, she’ll know we were here.
Nick looks around. “You grew up here?”
“Yeah, I’m Baby Oops. My mother kind of resents me ruining her body after she finally got it back again.”
Nick looks at the pictures on the walls. There are several of my siblings and only one of me. I’m wearing a cap and gown with a plastic smile. It’s my high school graduation picture. He notices there aren’t any others. I know he does, but he doesn’t comment on it.
We go up to my old room. It looks exactly the way it did when I left because my mother said I would fail and would need a place to go when it happened. I don’t tell Nick, but he’s moving like he’s walking on egg shells. He finally asks, “Do you want me to call Amy? Or someone to stay with you? I can’t leave you alone, Sky. Too much has happened to you today.”
I flop down on my old bed. “Then don’t. There are blankets in the closet. I call dibs on the bed.”
He makes a spot on the floor with blankets and a pillow, silently, before he turns off the light. I hear him tug his shirt off and slip under the blanket. When I roll over, I look down at him. His hands are tucked under his head and his eyes are closed. I watch him for a minute and then try to sleep, but I can’t. I keep trembling and silent sobs randomly choke me.
After a few hours, I’m sure Nick’s asleep. I slip out of my bed and lay down next to him. His eyes open and we watch each other. I finally ask, “You really love me?”
For a moment he doesn’t answer. Finally he says, “I’ll always love you.”
“What are we going to do?”
“We?” he asks, and those gemstone colored eyes look so soft, so vulnerable. He touches his pocket like he’s checking to make sure he has his wallet, but that’s not what he’s checking for.
Smiling softly, I nod. Tears form in my eyes and roll down my cheeks. “You still have my kiss in your pocket, don’t you?” He offers the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen and those dark lashes dip before meeting my gaze again. “So, yes, we. Plus, I’m your shadow. We belong together. You can’t separate a guy from his shadow, he’ll float away.”
Nick’s eyes flick between mine intensely, before he asks, “Do you still love me? After all that? Sky, don’t do this because you pity me. I couldn’t bear that. It’s less painful to know I’ve broken things beyond repair, that I had you and lost you, than having you stick around because you feel sorry for me.” His finger swirls around the thimble in his pocket. I’m not sure he knows he’s doing it.
“It’s not pity.” I manage, certain it isn’t. After everything that happened today, I know it’s nothing like that. When Nick came out of nowhere, I wanted it to be him. When he drove me home, I wished I could lean into his side and he could wrap his arm around me, but I was too afraid, too hurt. Now he’s here and I’ve heard the whole truth and I love him more than I did before. “And I’m not taking your store.”
He grins and fiddles with the blanket. “Yes, you are. I owe you a store. Besides, they look the same. No one will notice.” He glances up at me, and I laugh.
For once, I feel like I’ve found my home and it has nothing to do with the bed or the walls. It’s the man who’s with me. Shyly, I ask the question again, searching for the truth, needing to hear it from his lips. “Do you love me?”
“I love you. I love you, Skylar. I love you today, I loved you yesterday and I’ll love you tomorrow.” He says it again and again.
I finally inch toward him and let him wrap his arms around me. “Nick?” He kisses my brow and snuggles into me.
“Yes, my love?” he kisses the top of my head and strokes the hair away from my eyes, before looking down at me.
“I love you, too.”
CHAPTER 35
The next morning we both shower and head back to the studio. I flinch when I see his car out front. “How’d that get here?”
“I had someone bring it.”
I glance at him. “How? I mean, I don’t want to pour lemon juice on your circumstances, but didn’t that cost a lot? How’d you pay for it?”
He laughs. “I’m not poor, Sky. I’ve been saving my own money for a long time, cash I earned myself. I’ve been working since I was fourteen. I invested some of it and as you said, I was over here rent free. The old man made me sign a lease and actually wrote $0 on the line. However, he did not say I couldn’t sublet the space, so I am—to you. There are two years left, and it’s all yours.”
My jaw drops. “Are you still Ferro-filthy-rich?”
He laughs. “No, no private jets for us, but we can get an apartment, buy clothes, and eat. What’s that called? Middle class?”
I nod and smile, watching him as he walks around and pulls our gear out of his trunk. “Come on, let’s process what we have from Sophie’s wedding.”
“Nick, I can’t take your store.” But he doesn’t listen. He walks inside, sets things down and starts turning on lights before turning to see me standing in the parking lot, gaping like a fish.
He holds out his hand, “Well, then let’s make it our store. Work with me, shoot with me, live with me, love me…” Nick’s hand dangles in the air as he reaches out to me.
My stomach twists because this will change everything, but it’s a good, warm, feeling and I’m not scared anymore. Reaching for his hand, I say, “Yes,” and allow him to hold onto me tight. Nick kisses the top of my head, and then my temple, and finally my lips. He lingers there, kissing me softly and making the butterflies in my tummy swirl with glee.
“Come on.”
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We work together for the next few days, sleeping in our studio until we find a little apartment down the street. It’s closer to the water and it’s on the second floor, so it’s nice at night, when the moon is full. You can see the lake and watch starlight ripple on the surface. Nick finds me at the window sill, leaning out.
He slips his arms around my waist and kisses my cheek. “There’s a text message from someone I know you’ll want to see.”
“Oh?” I turn around and take the phone. The smile fades from my face. I can’t really tell what kind of message it is based on the first few words. Actually, it looks like she’s texting me from her honeymoon to tell me off. I hesitate, not wanting to know i
f I’ve lost her.
Nick pulls me to the bed, our bed, and says, “Open it. You wanted to know; now you’ll know.”
Shoving my fear aside, I flick the screen and read her message. It starts with how disappointed she was when I asked for the glue. That was the part I could see on the screen before I opened it, and then the message apologizes for taking such drastic measures, but I mattered to her, and she couldn’t let me become that kind of person. She was aware of the costs and the possible outcomes. When she heard my store was flooded, she sent the text. The last line of the message says: I’M SO SORRY. I HOPED THINGS WOULD WORK OUT AND YOU GUYS WOULD REALIZE HOW YOU FELT. IS NICK WITH YOU?
I type back three letters: YES
Nick is affectionate and touches me the way I’ve always craved. He takes the phone from my hand and pushes me back on the bed. “Please tell me you’re done working. I have plans for us.”
I laugh and push him off. “I have a few more shots to edit. I want them done by the time Sophie gets back.”
He nods. “Can I see the one you’re working on? Every time I walk by you shut off the screen.”
Watching him for a moment, I consider his request. We pooled the wedding photos and have been editing them together, but I haven’t let Nick see the boudoir shoot even though Sophie is clothed in all of them. I shot those based on how I felt about Nick, and it lets him see a little bit further into my mind than I’d like right now. “Maybe, but I don’t think you’ll like it. It’s too dark, with an odd amount of juxtaposition.”
He takes my hand. “Show me.” Eagerness fills his gaze and I know he’s excited about it for the same reason I’m frightened. Art is weird like that, it’s a direct line to the soul. When someone doesn’t like my work, it’s hard not to take it personally. I’m not sure he’ll like this. It’s very different than the things I’ve done in the past.
I walk to the kitchen and pull up a chair in front of the computer, warning him of these facts.