“Ashley, thank you so much for sharing your story with us,” she said, holding her palms together. “We’re so happy to have you.”
“Happy to be here,” Ashley blubbered.
Lila tilted her head. “And you joined us just in time. We’ve just finished planning the group fishing trip to Lake Mungo in Midland, Texas.”
Ashley’s face fell. “Mungo? Texas?” Her eyes moved from eye to eye as she scanned the group. “But… I thought you guys were going to Hawaii.”
Lila’s head fell to the side and she feigned confusion.
Ashley fidgeted, then stammered, then shook her head, hopping up on the grass so quickly that Lila almost pulled a muscle in her neck as she watched her stand. “I’ve gotta go, I just remembered I have to be…” Ashley’s eyes rolled into the top of her head as she tried to think. “Somewhere,” she finally spat, speed walking away from the group of fifteen kids as quickly as possible.
Lila waited until she was gone to meet the eyes of her kids before joining in on the slow chuckles that had begun to build. Pretty soon, they were all hysterically laughing.
“Unbelievable,” Lila said, shaking her head. “Okay. Seriously. That’s the third student that has come to us with some bullshit sob story. Who spilled the beans about Hawaii? Huh? Who’s the rat?” A plethora of innocent faces looked back to her, but she was unconvinced. Her kids ranged from the ages of twelve to seventeen so she knew that this wasn’t exactly the group you’d give the Nuclear Codes to, but she’d at least trusted them to keep their mouths shut about Hawaii.
One by one, all the eyes of her kids began to gaze over her shoulder and she realized that someone was behind her. When she turned and locked eyes with Grace, Lila jumped to her feet. “Principal White,” she beamed. “We were just—“
“Is that a cuss word I just heard come out of your mouth, Miss James?”
“No.” Lila frowned. “No, never that.”
“I believe the exact phrase was… ‘some bullshit sob story’,” Grace repeated, touching the tip of her finger to her chin.
“Uh…” Lila’s eyes narrowed.
A chorus of ‘ooooohs’ leapt from the crowd of kids and Lila turned to give them a death glare before meeting Grace’s eyes once again. “Fine. I let them cuss, okay? And I cuss in front of them sometimes—okay all the time.”
Grace’s eyes widened.
“I want them to feel comfortable with me and I feel that if I make them feel censored they will only see me as someone who can’t be trusted and not someone they can talk to. This has to be a safe space,” she said, motioning around her.
“Uh huh,” Grace hummed, in that special way only she always did. “I need to talk to you,” she added, before looking over Lila’s shoulder. “Okay, kids, I have to steal Lila away for today and with the midterm scores I’ve seen coming across my desk I think a little extra class time this Thursday morning wouldn’t hurt you one bit.”
Lila’s shoulders dropped and she felt terrible when all of the kids began to groan and sadly gather all of their things, each giving her a hug on their way off of the football field. Only when she’d said goodbye to each and every one of them and watched them disappear into the doors of the school did Lila and Grace begin to slowly make their way towards the school, as well.
“So I had a meeting with administration this morning and I brought up your vacation with the kids—“
“Not a vacation,” Lila corrected.
“Uh huh.” Grace waved a hand. “Anyway. I have good news.”
Lila’s eyes widened. “They’re giving us the money?”
“No,” Grace said, flatly.
Lila’s smile fell.
“They’re not giving you the money, but somebody is. An anonymous donation was made this morning.” Grace stopped walking and clutched the multicolored folders in her hand to her chest. “For twenty thousand dollars.”
Lila’s eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. “Twenty thousand dollars?!”
The smile Grace had been fighting ignited on her face and she nodded her head. “Yes, twenty thousand.”
“Oh my fucking god!”
“I know.” Grace’s nodding became vigorous.
“I could kiss you right now. I just—twenty thousand?” Lila was unable to accept this.
“Yes.” Grace rolled her eyes. “And thank god, because now I’ll have you off my back. If you find out who it was let me know so I can personally send them flowers.”
“Well that’s more than enough,” Lila said, throwing her hands out. “We’ll even have some left over to give to the library and to the teachers for schools supplies and even to our sorry assed football team—“ Lila bit her tongue, coming to the realization of who she was talking to.
Grace was shaking her head no. “The donation very specifically stated that it was meant for your kids, and only your kids.”
Lila was in shock.
“I don’t know what you did, Lila, but you’ve got an angel out there.” Grace winked at her before walking away, leaving Lila sputtering in shock.
---
Mrs. Jackson reached over the table in the bustling school cafeteria and stole some of Lila’s salad, pressing the forkful between her red lips and chewing vigorously. With the stress of college applications and midterms, the two friends hadn’t had time to catch up with each other in weeks. As Lila watched Tracy chew she realized how much she’d missed her.
Swallowing, Mrs. Jackson—Tracy to Lila--gave her a look. “You said, ‘you’re my thunder’?” Lila’s coworker and best friend was highly confused. “Like you actually said those words? Those exact words?”
Lila stared at her. “Yeah.”
Tracy winced. “Yikes.”
“I know. As if his ego wasn’t already big enough.”
“There isn’t a door in the world that his giant head will fit through. Now here you come calling him your thunder?” Tracy shook her head, as if trying to wake herself from a horrible nightmare. “Your thunder? Who even talks like that?”
“It just came out.” Lila shrugged, bewildered herself. “The entire thing was so unexpected, I was caught completely off guard.”
“So he just put his arms around you?” Tracy asked, for the millionth time since they’d sat down for lunch.
Lila didn’t mind repeating herself, desperate to make sense of the events that had transpired over the last few days. “Yeah, he came to my door, I opened it, he looked at me and the next thing I know I’m pressed up against the closet door.”
Tracy was frozen in her seat, mouth agape. “But he didn’t kiss you?”
“No.”
“And he didn’t grab you?”
“No.”
“Not a boob, not an ass cheek, nothing?”
Lila thought for a while, then shook her head. “No. Nothing remotely vulgar happened… but it was the most… intense…” She couldn’t finish. “He caught me completely off guard,” she choked out, unable to say anything else.
Tracy lowered her voice to a whisper. “Did he have a…” She motioned to the zipper of her khaki pants.
As a blush tinged her cheeks Lila looked down into her lap in an attempt to hide it.
“Reeeeeally?” A wicked smile took over Tracy’s porcelain face and she sat up a little straighter in her chair. “Rah-eeeally?” A student approached the two of them and began to say something to Tracy. “I’m on my lunch--I'm invisible,” she said, waving an imaginary wand over herself and giving the student a look as if he should know better, watching in annoyance as he walked off. “Can’t get a moment of fucking peace in this place,” she muttered, tossing her jet black hair out of her eyes which had a slight tilt at the edges, a nice touch that she could thank her Asian father for.
Lila looked up at Tracy from under her eyelids.
“Well I guess it was only a matter of time before that night in Tahoe came back to bite you in the ass, right?”
“Yeah,” Lila mumbled, her stomach tumbling. “Can we stop talki
ng about this?”
Tracy continued on. “So after hearing that story I can say with absolute certainty that Jack is the one who donated that money. And we need to have a girl dinner. Stat. Like tonight.”
“It had to be him, right?” Lila took her head from her hand, which she’d been cradling. “The question is why.” Her eyes jumped across the cafeteria and she caught Chase staring at her. Without realizing it, she sat up a little taller and gave him a quick smile. He didn’t return it, but instead gathered his food and belongings before leaving the cafeteria all together. Lila itched to follow him, but she forced herself to sit still.
Tracy laughed, unaware of what was transpiring. “Jack’s really got it bad.”
“He can’t have it bad. We’re not even together. He grew up in a rich family and you know how rich people are. He probably thinks he can buy me, or something.”
“Can’t he? For twenty thousand dollars I might give him a second look.”
“Tracy. You’re a married woman.”
“Are you getting to the part where I give a shit soon,” Tracy mumbled under her breath.
Lila made a determined face. “You know what? I’m going to call him.” She pulled her phone out of her bag. “Who the hell does he think he is giving me this money? Of course he's going to expect something.”
Tracy pointed her fork at Lila. “After you’re done making that call I’m going to explain to you the proper way for a lady to accept twenty thousand dollars. Let’s just say it involves your knees and your tongue.”
“You’re right. I can’t call him. I don’t even know for sure if he’s the person who gave the kids that money.”
Tracy stared off absently. “Maybe you should just sleep with him.” She watched as Lila nearly choked on her salad and stifled a laugh. “Honestly, Lila. It’s going to happen, eventually, why not just cut out the middle man and do it?”
Silence passed between the two as they ate their lunches and Lila did her best to let it go. She couldn’t. “Tracy, you and I both know what that would do to Chase. Outside of that midterm, he’s been doing so well this year; accepted to Harvard, making friends, the only thing missing is his complete lack of a relationship with Jack. If those two could just work things out then I would finally be convinced that the hundreds and thousands of dollars in student loans I’ve been paying off haven’t been a complete and utter waste.”
“How can you say that? You’re the Associate Director of Counseling at one of the top private schools in Manhattan. Not only are you the first African-American woman to hold that position but also the first person under thirty. I’d say you’re doing pretty well for yourself.”
“Yeah,” Lila mumbled, absently. “I just want Chase to be happy.”
“Look, Lila. I’ve known you for a long time, and I know that everyone around you is just giving it to you halfway. I’m going to give it to you straight.” Tracy leaned in. “Chase will never be happy until he has you. Chase will never have you. Therefore…”
“Chase will never be happy...” Lila trailed off, her eyes falling.
“Bingo.” Tracy winked, pointing her fork. “There’s that PhD.”
Lila rolled her eyes.
“Listen. Chase will be fine in the long run, especially once he goes off to college, but what about you, huh? Jack’s not a bad looking guy…” Tracy threw down her fork. “Who the hell am I kidding? Jack is fine—and if you don’t take advantage of that situation he’s been throwing at you for the last five years then I might have to give Columbia the side eye because they graduated a lunatic.”
“He only wants me because he can’t have me.”
“He wants you because every man wants you, Lila, you are gorgeous.”
“I’m twenty-eight years old, Kris.” Lila said. “Which means I’m officially ten years too old for Jack Almeida.”
“That may be true.” Tracy nodded. “But you’ll never know until you try. And I’m asking you to try, for all our sakes… And report back.”
Chapter 5
Five Years Earlier
Jack Almeida spoke quietly to the beautiful brunette that he’d been talking up all night. At twenty-four, the bat mitzfah that his parents had forced him and Chase to attend was the last place Jack would have ever wanted to be. The party was in full swing at The Plaza Hotel and, though he’d been dreading it, it had turned out to be wildly successful. Who knew that a children’s party would be teeming with so many hot women, ripe for the picking. The one he’d been speaking to for the better part of the hour, the birthday girl’s older sister, was easily the best looking woman he’d ever laid eyes on.
“What did you say your major was, again?” Jack asked her, silently wondering just how much effort it would take to pull apart the complicated looking neckline of her slinky evening gown.
His beautiful company went to answer, but she was cut short when thirteen year old Chase Almeida stepped in between them, panting.
Jack’s eyes caught fire as he looked down at his extremely rude brother in shock. “Chase…” He feined happiness because he knew his company was watching, but lowered his voice to a whisper just for Chase. “Get lost, now,” he said, through gritted teeth.
Chase was unaffected by the anger in his brother’s eyes. “You have to talk to Dad. He’s trying to make me give him the keys to the Porsche but he’s drunk.”
“Why do you have his keys in the first place?”
“I lied and told him that I left my headphones in the car. I just said that so he’d give me the keys. Now he wants to leave and he wants them back. He really is wasted beyond belief, Jack.”
Jack held his hands out. “He’s always wasted beyond belief. Give him the damn keys. Or give Mom the keys.”
“You know he’d never let Mom drive that car. Besides, she’s trashed, too,” Chase reasoned. He threw the woman standing behind him a quick look, before looking back to Jack.
“Chase I’m not doing this right now. Please.” Jack placed a hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him off. “Just give him the god damn keys. He’ll be fine.”
Chase blinked back to reality, having gotten lost in his thoughts as he looked back on that fateful day so many years ago. He focused on the heavyset woman sitting across from him as she said, “I’m sorry, doll, you’re adorable but no way in hell anyone in their right mind is going to rent you an apartment in New York City.”
Chase tried to ignore the smell of curry coming from the kitchen downstairs. “And why the hell not? With all due respect Miss this isn’t exactly a five diamond establishment you’re running.” He almost leapt out of his seat when a roach the size of a quarter raced across his foot. “Shit!” He screamed, kicking it off.
“Sorry sugar, but in order to rent an apartment you have to be…” The landlord began ticking off on her fingers. “One, eighteen. Two, employed. And three, able to prove you’re employed with six months of back pay. Three luxuries that you don’t got and three luxuries that even this shithole can’t afford to cut corners on.”
“Actually I’ll be eighteen in approximately…” Chase checked his watch. “Twenty-four hours.”
“Not good enough, doll face.”
Chase scoffed and raised his hands before slamming them down on the chair. “Then what the hell am I supposed to do?”
She studied his perfectly pressed jeans and the red shirt that even a slumlord like her immediately recognized as as Gucci classic. “I suggest you go back to where you came from, sugar.” She smacked her gum. “And quick.”
---
The next day at 12 noon Chase was at Lavo Restaurant on Madison and 59th, thankful when the person he was looking for was already at the hostess stand at the front door. Eli Levesque was giving hell to the hostess who appeared to be near tears but when he looked up and saw Chase his angry face collapsed into a smile.
“Well I’ll be damned,” he beamed, slamming down whatever object he’d been shaking at the hostess before circling the stand with his arms open. “Chase, my b
oy!”
Chase accepted Eli’s hug gratefully, laughing as the old man gripped him with all his might. “How ‘bout it, Eli? It’s been a long time.”
“Too long, son, much too long. How you doing? You hungry? “
“Naw, I’m good. Just ate.” Chase jammed his hands in his pockets and his eyes narrowed to the hostess, who was watching him closely. She dropped her eyes to the menu the moment he’d caught her. He smiled softly as she began studying the menu like her life depended on it.
“Well how are you?” Eli asked, his perfectly styled, jet black hair making his blue eyes nearly leap from his face.
“I’m good.” Chase nodded. “Got into Harvard…”
“That’s fantastic,” Eli cried. “How’s Jacky-boy? Is he here?”
Chase’s jaw tightened.
Eli sensed the tension and caught Chase out of the corner of his eyes. “You looking for a job kid?”
Chase blushed. “I hate to be so predictable but.” He frowned in embarrassment. “I was hoping since you and my dad were so close…”
“Stop right there. Your father was my family so his family is my family. How old are you now? Seventeen?”
“Eighteen, sir, eighteen today.”
“Any big birthday plans?”
Chase shrugged. “Not really.”
“Then you start today.” Eli came up next to Chase and patted him on the back. “It just so happens that a position just opened up.” As Eli led Chase into the restaurant he nodded to the hostess. “Tell Dean he’s fired.”
Chase and the hostess shared expressions of wide eyed concern for whoever ‘Dean’ was, but he was too thankful for the job opportunity to dwell on it for very long, allowing Eli to give him the grand tour of Lavo Restaurant. For the next six hours Chase went through his first round of training and his phone vibrated in his pocket the entire time.
---
Jack was going crazy. It had been two days since he and Lila had shared their first civil morning together and he could no longer focus. He’d been sitting in his office for the last twelve hours. He was sure that he’d made about a million phone calls and filled even more paperwork, but everything was a blur. He couldn’t keep his mind off of her.
Lila's Thunder: The Almeida Brothers, Book One Page 7