Stealing Promises (4 page)

4

Levi and Victoria had spent the night together on that rock staring at the stars. It was a beautiful way to end the night. But Victoria hadn’t really thought about the fact that she was lying on rocks for hours, or that they were on the beach and sand could get into places that she didn’t even know existed. The next morning she allowed the hot water run down her body and clear away the soreness from the night before, but her memories remained intact. She admired the plain ring on her left ring finger and thought about his promise.

Claire had texted her a few times during the night to see how things were going with the trip. But with all that had happened, Victoria hadn’t gotten the chance to get back to her. She wrapped in a towel and flopped down on the queen size bed and started texting Claire about the night before. She kept their escapades on the rock a secret. That was just a moment for her and Levi to enjoy. After explaining the incredible situation at the restaurant to Claire, Claire had only one response:

Holy shit, no way! Call me ASAP, I want details!

Victoria laughed at her response. She quickly typed back.

Will do! Hugs!

She twirled the white gold band around her left ring finger a few more times just to make sure it was real. And it was. It hadn’t been a dream. She and Levi couldn’t wait to get started on their own version of forever.

They packed up after her shower and set off back to campus. The truck chugged along while spring had finally arrived. Victoria put her window down to feel the warm breeze on her face.

“Finally.”

Levi smiled, looking at her for a moment before returning his eyes to the road.
“Nice, isn’t it?”

“
Smells like spring. I love it. I can’t wait for summer to arrive. The beach is calling my name.”

“
You were always such a fish when we were kids. Why don’t you swim anymore?”

“
I still like to swim, just not in the open water. The ocean is too big, too many unknowns.”

“
You really like every moment planned out, don’t you?”

“
You make me sound crazy,” she said impatiently.

“
No, I just know how you are. I know who you are. It’s part of your personality and it’s not a bad thing.”

“
Well, speaking of plans, I guess I should tell you we’re going next weekend for Claire’s twenty-first birthday.”

He rolled his eyes.
“Seriously? You know I hate those sticky clubs. They’re so hot and disgusting. Why can’t we just take her to dinner?”

“
I don't know, maybe it's because every time we promise to take her to dinner you're always almost an hour late.” She knew it stung his ego a bit, but she also knew she was right. Levi had the tendency to put work and other commitments before fun and friends and occasionally that got on Victoria's nerves.

He rolled his eyes again,
“Well, I can guess what she wants for her birthday... Which disgusting hole in the wall are going to this time?”

“
Club Xcess. The one right downtown. It's only a short walk from campus. She's coming to stay for the whole weekend. I think it will be good for her to get out from her all girl school for a bit.”

Victoria's best childhood friend, Claire, had been sent to S
tern College for Women by her parents in order to keep her away from boys with bad habits. But what they hadn't expected was their daughter to rebel and spend more time in Victoria's dorm than her own on the weekends.

“
Oh, right, because she’s never here visiting you.”

She laughed,
“Yeah, I know. I think next semester when I get my own place I’ll get a two bedroom just so she has her own space.”

“
I love how you consider her feelings above yours.”

Victoria shook her head,
“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“
It means,” he paused, “that you are always putting other people before yourself. It’s something I really love about you. But, anyway, when do you think you’ll start looking for new place?”

She shrugged looking out the window, she watched the sun peak from around two clouds and closed her eyes feeling the warmth on her face. When she didn’t answer he pressed on,
“You know you’ll have to secure a place before summer begins. That’s only a few weeks away, if you’re really thinking of looking for a place you should start soon.”

She scoffed,
“This coming from you is almost laughable.”

He sighed,
“Don’t start this again. I’ll look when I’m ready, but you’re on a time crunch.”

“
Well, maybe after I see Claire this weekend I’ll start looking at a few places. I don’t think she’s going back to Stern in the fall. She’s even talking about graduating early, this semester. Maybe while I’m at Yale she’ll find something to do around there--we’ll be roommates permanently.”

There was silence. When Levi didn’t respond she looked over at him to watch his eyes focused on the road. He suddenly didn’t seem so interested in the conversation anymore. Victoria turned up the radio and watched the landscape pass her as they made their way back to her campus.

When they arrived at her dorm, Levi opened the side door for her and carried her bag. It was only mid-afternoon but she had homework to do and needed to focus on getting it done before classes the next day. He stopped at her door, “Victoria, I’m sorry I got so defensive in the car. There’s just a lot going on right now. I’m sure next weekend will be great.”

She saw the apologetic look in his eyes and she knew he was being honest.
“It’s fine. I just keep hoping…” She shook her head, “Never mind.”

He cocked his head at her,
“What?”

“
I don’t know. Sometimes I wish you would stop me and say that we’re going to look at apartments together.” She chewed on her lower lip not making eye contact.

He lifted her chin up so that her eyes would match his own. She admired his
chocolaty brown waves and stared almost unwillingly into his eyes as if they were magnetic. “Babe, I love you. We’ll figure this out. I just need a little bit more time.”

She nodded,
“I know.”

He kissed her softly on the lips, when he broke away he said,
“I’ll see later.”

“
Sure, later.” She whispered as he walked away.

It wasn’t the way she wanted to weekend to end, but sometimes you can’t plan out life the way you want it to go.

5

Victoria was still in her pajamas when Levi showed up the next Saturday to have some alone time before Claire’s birthday celebration. Victoria was holding up various outfits for him to choose from; she appreciated getting his input. There is only one guy she wanted to look good for and she knew that Levi liked getting a say in what she put on.

After trying on multiple outfits she said,
“It’s not fair that you get to watch me have a fashion show, and I don’t get to see your sexy butt in some jeans.”

Levi smirked at her and moved behind her so she could see him in the mirror. He whispered,
“I’d rather see you out of those jeans.” She laughed before moving to the attached bathroom and stood behind the bathroom door fanning herself. That boy sure did know how to make her feel good.

She was brushing her teeth as he said,
“So what’s the plan for tonight? Like what time are people getting together?”

She stood up to turn off the running water in the sink when she said,
“Claire should be here in a couple hours and then I guess we’re meeting her friends at nine.”

She emerged from the bathroom to see him sitting on the bed,
“Friends of hers from school?”

Leaning on the doorframe she said,
“Yeah, I think so. Just a few girls and their boyfriends. It might be kind of weird though; Claire is the only one who doesn’t have a steady boyfriend right now.”

Levi laughed,
“Does she ever?” He looked smug.

“
You shut up.  That was me for a long time, remember? Before I found you.”

He stood up slowly, t
he bed creaking with his release, and approached her. Placing his hand on the side of her neck he kissed her opposite cheek. Lingering, he continued to lay sweet kisses along her neck until he reached the top of her camisole. He took a single finger and pushed the thin strap slowly off of her shoulder allowing his lips to continue down to her collarbone. Whispering against her skin he said, “Aren’t you glad you found me?”

Victoria could feel her heart thumping within her chest. This was when Levi’s love could get dangerous.

She tossed her head back, “Yes.”

“
Show me,” he said, daring her.

For the next hour Victoria put all of her effort into proving to Levi how much she appreciated him. The tension had faded away from the weekend before and she began thinking more about their future and the promise she had made him. Lying on his bare chest tangled up in the sheets she thought about how this would feel if it were every day.

“What time is it?” Levi asked shaking her out of her beautiful thoughts.

She sat up slightly,
“I don’t know, why?”

Levi reached over to the bedside table and grabbed his watch,
“I have an appointment before we go out tonight.”

Victoria pulled the sheets up around her body and sat up completely,
“An appointment? On my best friend’s birthday?”

Levi hopped out of bed and started to pull his pants on.
“It won’t take me long, I promise.”

“
Is this something for work? On a Saturday?”

Levi turned away from her,
“Uh, yeah, I have to go in to the office and get something quickly. Chat with a client, shouldn’t be more than a couple hours.”

“
So are you coming back here first, or meeting us there?”

“
Uh,” he turned back to face her while buttoning up his shirt, “I’ll send you a text. I’m really sorry to run off like this, I had no idea how late it was! Claire is going to be here any minute.”

He quickly kissed her on the cheek and let himself out the door.

She raised her hand to tell them that she loved him before he left but he was already gone. It wasn’t like him to plan something on the weekend for work, especially when he knew they had plans. Victoria tried not to read too much into it as she grabbed the outfit she had picked out for that evening and started to get ready. Only a few minutes later Claire called and told her she was waiting downstairs. Victoria bounced down the steps eager to see her best friend after a few weeks apart. The petite blonde stood next to the door waving. Quickly Victoria forgot her concerns about Levi and put all her focus into her friend’s birthday.

Victoria and Claire caught up in what had been going on in each other’s lives for an hour or so before leaving for the club. She had texted Levi a few times but he hadn’t responded yet, and she was getting impatient.

“I don’t understand his problem lately. I feel like he’s being so secretive all the sudden. Like last weekend didn’t even mean anything.”

Claire looked at her from beneath her highlighted bangs. She flipped them off her face as she did whenever she was nervous.
“I don’t know, I think you need to give him a little bit more time.”

Victoria sighed,
“But last weekend… I mean don’t you feel like that propelled us into a new level of our relationship?”

“
Well you told me on the phone that it wasn’t a real proposal. That it’s a promise ring, right?”

“
Yeah but…”

Claire interrupted her,
“Tor, sometimes you just have to let things happen. I know that’s really difficult for you, but you never know what fate has in store.”

“
Yeah I guess you’re right,” Victoria conceded. Claire was always the one to bring Victoria back to reality. It was one of the reasons they had stayed best friends for so long.

Claire put her arm around Victoria shoulders,
“Hey, cheer up! It’s my birthday, and it’s going to be awesomesauce.”

“
You’re going to be on some type of sauce tonight alright.” Victoria laughed. She knew that Claire was right. It was time to let loose and have a little fun, something that rarely happened in her day-to-day life. She was always so focused on school and her future that she hardly ever took time to enjoy the present. Tonight would just be about having a good time and letting everything else fall away.

###

Victoria drove to the club. Claire said she’d be getting a ride home with other friends. “It’ll give you and Levi a little alone time.” Victoria hadn’t mentioned to her the alone time they already shared earlier that day. “Did he get back to you yet?”

Victoria checked her phone before they walked into
to the club, “Yeah he said he is just going to meet us here. Should be here pretty soon.”

Claire looked at her,
“Did he say where he was?”

Victoria’s shrugged,
“Not really. I don’t know; this is just so unlike him.” Claire showed her ID to the bouncer and they walked in. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure everything will be fine. Now let’s go buy me my first legal drink!”

Victoria smiled,
“Definitely!”

It was hard to see in the dark club but every once in a while Victoria could make out a face as the light shone down on them. Most of the girls had long sleeveless tunics on with tight skinny jeans and flats, not unlike her own outfit. There are plenty of attractive guys here for Claire to flirt with. Maybe she would find someone on the dance floor. The DJ booth was on the opposite side of the club away from the bar, but it was still hard to hear.

“What do you want?”

“
HUH?” Claire yelled over the music.

Victoria laughed,
“I said what do you want to drink?”

“
Oh, ummm… Whiskey Sour.”

“
Got it.” Victoria yelled their order to the bartender and looked out over the crowd. “This place is nuts!” She yelled at Claire.

“
Yeah I know! Tonight is going to be EPIC!” Victoria watched as Claire waved to a few friends from school she invited.

“
You go, I’ll wait for the drinks.”

Claire smiled and bounced away.

Victoria was rocking her head to the beat when she heard a voice behind her she recognized. “What does a girl have to do to get a drink around here?”

She flipped her blonde hair in Levi’s direction.
“Took you long enough,” she said smugly.

“
Sorry, I can’t even say work was the problem.”

“
Oh, then why were you late?” This was particularly late, even for him.

“
Well,” he paused, “I was putting a deposit down on a place.”

“
No way, really?” Victoria was elated. She felt like Levi was taking this step for her. For them, for their future together. She wrapped her arms around him. “This is great!”

He pulled back slightly laughing.
“Yeah, well it’s just a little one bedroom, so I don’t think Claire will be happy.”

“
Claire? Wait, what?”

He dangled a key in front of her.
“Well, I mean she won’t have her own room, at
our
place.” He smiled broadly.

“
You got a place for us?” She squealed.

Levi laughed,
“Sorry about all the secrets babe. I just really wanted it to be a surprise.”

“
No! This is an amazing surprise. I can’t believe we’re moving in together.”

“
This is what you wanted, right?”

There was no way she could use words to describe how she was feeling about his choice to move forward in their relationship. This was a big step, the real follow up to the promise that they had made last weekend. This was what she had been waiting for. She grabbed the key and then pulled his face towards her with her hands on his cheeks. She pulled him into a sultry kiss. They were interrupted when the bartender asked them if they wanted to keep open a tab. Victoria responded to him,
“Yes! And we need two flutes of champagne please.”

The bartender returned with their drinks Victoria toasted,
“To us.”

Levi added,
“And to our future.”

They clinked their glasses before swallowing down their drinks.

“So, are you going to tell Claire the big news?” He asked craning his neck around to see where the birthday girl had gotten to.

Victoria’s shook her head,
“No. Tonight is her night, I’ll tell her in the morning. That is if she even remembers me tomorrow.” She pointed across the bar at Claire who was chatting with some college frat boys and enjoying their attention. When she looked back at Levi he was messing with his phone.

“
What are you trying to do?”

He laughed,
“You know I’m terrible at these things. I just wanted to take picture of us on our big night. Something to remember.”

She grabbed the phone from his hand and pulled it out take a shot of the two of them. He dangled the keys in the picture. She put the phone on the bar and they continued to drink. When a song came on that was one of Claire’s favorites she came over and dragged them away from
the bar to dance with her. While Victoria moved to the music she couldn’t believe how happy she was. What an amazing night! Spending it with her best friend and the one she had promised herself to. It seemed like nothing could go wrong.

When the night ended Claire left with some guy named
Brad. Victoria and Levi were making their way to the car when Levi realized that he had never gotten his phone back from Victoria. “Do you have my phone?”

She shook her head feeling the alcohol slosh around in her brain.
“No… I think I left it at the bar.” She admitted.

“
Shit,” he said as his hand searched his pockets, “I’ll be right back, okay?”

Victoria nodded.
“No problem, I’ll just wait over near the car.” She pointed across the parking lot.

“
You sure you’re okay alone?”

“
Yeah, it’s fine, there are plenty of people around.”

“
Okay,” He gave her one more quick kiss before jogging back to the club.

It was dark, too dark, and Victoria walked as fast as she could across the nearly empty parking lot. Her heels clicked on the pavement as she tried to stay vigilant. She hadn’t had too much to drink, but it was enough that her senses felt impaired. She didn’t realize she was being followed until she got closer to her vehicle.

A man in a gray hoodie started walking towards her. She quickly tried to get her keys out of her bag but she wasn’t fast enough.

“
Give me your purse,” he yelled at her, now only a few feet away.

She denied him, moving back next to the car. He came close and she could feel the cold metal on back of her bare legs.
“The purse, now!”

“
Help!” She screamed praying someone would hear her. She looked around, but all the people who left the club at the same time as her had disappeared, she was completely alone.

He made a grab for the bag but at the moment Levi strode over to the pair with such confidence that she was sure he would scare the other man away. Oddly, the man continued to verbally assault Victoria.