Underneath It All (22 page)

The truth about his real identity was kept from him for so long that he hated himself for having an incestuous affair with the woman he thought was his real mother. The level of disgust and anger I felt toward Lucy was inexplicable. There had to be something wrong with her for allowing her son, if she did look at him that way, to think of her as a lover and romantic partner. She was no person of sound mind.

However, it all seemed pointless now. What was the point of harboring a grudge against Lucy and his dad? Lucy was dead. President Gates was suffering from renal disease, despite the kidney transplant.

I could only hope someday Reeve could find it in his heart to forgive all of them.

Dad revved the engine and it came to life. They’d fixed up the car and got it running again. Dad looked over at the clock hanging on the wall. “It’s time for your Mom’s meds. Thanks for helping me, son.” He patted Reeve’s shoulder and left.

“Sorry about this,” I apologized. “Let me wash that grease off.”

There was a large metal industrial sink, a hose, and a jar of liquid soap. I began to twist the handle when the hose went wild, spraying water everywhere, mostly on him, but also dripping off my hands and arms. The water had soaked his white shirt, the fabric clinging more so to his chest than before.

“I keep telling Dad to fix the stupid water pressure!” I now had the hose under control. I scooped a handful of soap and wiped it down his arms, rinsing it off. The grease and dirt that was up to his elbows washed off easily and I shut off the water.

“Well, surely I should be rewarded for a job well done, don’t you think?”

I hooked my fingers to the belt loops of his jeans, yanking him closer to me.

“It’s time we get your
engine
running,” I whispered against his ear.

Chapter XXIV

Love You Like I Do

A few days ago, I had the most amazing Christmas and the only way I felt I could possibly make it up to Reeve was to accompany him to visit his mom before the New Year. Reeve arranged our flight to L.A. to visit his mom in prison.

I wondered how Reeve talked our trip over with Dad and how he made him agree with it. there was one condition of course—we had to be back for the New Year’s Eve celebration.

We arrived at LAX an hour earlier, thanks to the good weather. There was an infectious positive energy crackling in the air I could breathe the minute I stepped off the plane.

It was my first time in Los Angeles, but everything seemed familiar and comforting. Maybe because I’ve either already seen films or television shows produced by this very town.

A limo was waiting for us right outside the airport. Our driver, named James, immediately helped us load our suitcases into the gorgeous Lincoln. I grabbed Reeve’s hand and dragged him inside. It was a pure pleasure to be in a super clean and spacious limo service. I immediately felt comfortable and secure. The car was immaculate with cold drinks waiting for us.

The limo weaved its way through traffic while the sky grew darker as the night approached. The passing scenery slowly changed from extreme wealth to extreme edge and grit.

“You like the scenery?” Reeve asked.

I smiled and nodded my head vigorously.

“There are numerous cities I considered my hometown, including Boston, Madrid, Paris, and Prague. But of all those locales, oddly, I love Los Angeles most, for all the things people seem to hate about it—just like a parent who sees the inner beauty in their child when others can’t,” he said, the melancholy in his tone making him frown.

“And just like you, L.A. is made up of small neighborhoods strung together by a crazy mangle of freeways. But the longer you stay the more you begin to appreciate the nuances.” I lifted my hand to gently caress his cheek.

“That’s a nice analogy.” He put his arms around my shoulder and leaned in to kiss my head.

We reached Kent’s Hotel and checked in. I plopped myself on the bed and let out a long sigh. I felt so tired after crossing four time zones.

“Ready to meet her?” Reeve laid down next to me. He had his one arm under my head, twirling a strand of my hair, and his other arm over my waist.

“You think she will like me?”

“She’ll love you like I do.” He leaned over and kissed my forehead.

***

We arrived an hour prior to the visit time.

I was sure she was sweet and nice and everything, but still I felt like I was going to throw up. “Do I look okay?” I asked Reeve for the hundredth time since I had put on my dress.

“Agata, you are not just beautiful, you are as radiant as the sun.” He kissed my cheek before we continued walking to the visitor center located outside the main prison building.

We spent a good thirty minutes waiting in the visitor center for our turn to enter the complex.

We were eventually called up to exchange our IDs for visitor badges, get UV stamps and check our visiting order.

“Please pull out your pockets and turn around,” the guard ordered.

I complied and Reeve, finally, too, after some coaxing. We were then directed through a metal detector.

We placed our mobile phones and other personal items in a secure locker and emptied our pockets prior to entering the main prison building and soon after, we were led through security.

From the visitor center, we made our way to the main prison. Again, before arriving at the visitor’s hall, a pat down and rub down search was performed. They made us open all our food up.

Reeve took hold of my hand and squeezed it before walking inside the hall where his mom would be waiting.

I had no idea what kind of visiting area, or even the amount of offenders that would be meeting us. It was not like what I thought of for a prison visit, where you speak to your loved one through Plexiglas, talking through a phone. Instead, we entered a large, open room. Inside were almost fifty people waiting and sitting on chairs.

“Reeve!” A woman with a long black hair and sparkling blue eyes waved her hand in the air.

“Mom!” He hugged her and went back next to me, placing his hand on the small of my back. “Mom, this is Agata, my girlfriend.”

“Finally, I meet you!” She hugged me tight. “Reeve, you didn’t tell me she was this pretty!” She scowled; he only grinned.

“Nice to meet you, Mrs.…”

“Amanda, call me Amanda,” she urged with a smile.

“Nice to meet you, Amanda,” I said, feeling less nervous now.

I set the food on the blanket while Reeve and his mom held hands and walked around. Our visit was outside on a patio where there was grass that we could sit on if we chose.

I noticed most of the correction officers in the facility were nice. They usually did not bother anyone unless they got way out of line.

I looked around, seeing looks on the inmates’ faces that showed despair and sadness. I could see in their eyes what they were thinking—wanting so badly to run up to their loved ones and grab them by the hand and walk out with them. It was the saddest thing I’d ever seen.

Many of these law-breaking females were not only offenders, they were mothers, and most often it was their children who paid the highest price for their incarceration.

They came back from their walk and sat in the grass with me.

“I am really happy that you come here today, Agata,” she said, smiling at me. “Reeve, talks about you a lot. It’s nice to put a face to a name. You’re very beautiful.”

“Oh, thank you.” I smiled, not sure if it would be weird if I told her that she was too.

“So, how long have you been together?” she began. I started to get nervous again.

“Quite a while,” Reeve answered. Suddenly, he excused himself to use the restroom, and left the two of us alone for a few minutes.

Amanda held my hand. “Thank you for being with him. He’s been through a lot without parental supervision, real parental supervision. You know what I mean, right?” I nodded. “God, you really look a lot like her,” she whispered, but it was audible enough for me to hear.

I looked down at our hands, trying to hide my face. It was one of the reasons I felt so nervous meeting her. My face would remind her of the reason why she was imprisoned. Apparently, I looked a lot like her ex-husband’s mistress.

“I’m sorry,” I bit my lip.

She reached for my chin and tilted my head up. “There’s nothing to be sorry for, Agata.”

“I’ll go if you’re not comfortable seeing me,” I said in a low voice.

“It’s been years, Agata. One thing I learned in this facility is to forgive. It’ll free you from any loathing and grief.”

I smiled weakly at her. “How have you been here?”

“It’s hard but I eventually got used to it. I already paid the price of my sin. I regret it; instead of preparing bag lunches, picking my child up after soccer practice, and being there to teach and guide my little boy, I was locked up for years, missing out on my son’s developmental years.” Her eyes began to water.

I held her hands tighter.

“I can still remember when he was just seventeen months old. He would get into the fridge and help himself to the milk with his sippy cup in hand and try to pour it himself. Even as a child he was very self-sufficient.”

I smiled at the memory of his childhood as his mother recounted them. “You’re an amazing mother and you know your son loves you more than anything.”

“One time he wanted to wear big boy pants so I let him wear his dad’s pants then he was sitting in his chair and said ‘mummy, poopoo.’ I asked him if he needed a poo and he said ‘no, done it!’”

When he got back he found us laughing very hard.

“Well I’m gone for ten minutes and look what happens.”

“I was telling Agata about the time you pooped on me already, but I think all babies do that at some point! Your face cracked me up,” Amanda said, laughing in between. “He does silly things with his eyebrows and mouth—seriously looks like his dad some—”

Reeve frowned with the mention of his dad. “Who wants more pie?” He was looking down, mistreating his pie with his fork.

“Okay, we had enough funny memories of your childhood for today I think.” Amanda kissed his cheek.

She was an amazing woman. She seemed to love him so much.

I almost cried when I got in the car because I wasn’t ready for it to be over so soon. Two hours wasn’t anywhere near enough time. But we laughed and joked a lot, and had some serious moments too. All in all, it went well. It had been a fun and memorable visit.

“So, where are we going now?” Reeve asked.

“I want to go to the Universal Studios or maybe see the Hollywood Walk of Fame, then tomorrow we will go to Disneyland. I’ve wanted to go to Disneyland since I was a child!”

“Great. I already bought our VIP tickets in advance so we don’t have to wait in line.”

“You. Are. A. Genius!” I squealed and gave him a power hug.

We drove for a few minutes, “Oh my gosh!” I poked my head out the window to take it all in—the sun, the smells, and the sights. Everything was just like how I pictured. In the distance, I could see the Hollywood letters on the mountain.

“Pretty cool, huh?”

“Cool? Are you kidding! This is amazing! L.A. is so beautiful and sunny and filled with wonders!”

“Just relax, okay? You will do more sight-seeing later.”

After few minutes of driving, we parked along the Walk of Fame, no more than a mile from the Chinese Theatres. We walked up one side of the street to the Theatres then turned around taking in the stars of lots of my favorite actors.

“Oh my God! The Backstreet Boys!” I squealed, leaning down to look at the star. Yeah, I really looked like a tourist now. Almost every single local I bumped my shoulders into has walked over those stars without ever looking down.

Reeve chuckled and shook his head. “Hollywood Boulevard of today and for the past twenty-plus years ain’t what it used to be,” he said. “Let’s get going.”

I can honestly say this was one of the most famous sites in Los Angeles; however, it had been hyped up a lot. The stars were cool to see, but the surrounding area was nothing special. We quickly walked the stars and left. I felt very uncomfortable in the area.

We then went to the Highland and to the Chinese Theatres, Wax Museum, and for our last stop we headed to Universal Studios.

We had a forty-five-minute tram tour ride where I discovered where the best movies took place and where they were made.

Reeve smiled and laughed as if he’d never had a care in the world. His smile and the pure joy on his face reminded me of a happy child. We did not hit all the rides since we came mid-afternoon, but I enjoyed the front of the line special access to all attractions and shows we went to.

When we left the park, Reeve was still smiling like a schoolboy.

We took our dinner at a restaurant only few blocks from the hotel. Reeve looked more genuinely happy than I’d ever seen him as he sat down and ate with me. After which, we enjoyed a stroll down the street before returning for the night.

I headed for our room while he was talking to the front desk. After a refreshing warm shower, I changed into my pajama pants and tank top, slid into bed and pulled the covers back up. I yawned, already
feeling tired from our day tour.

“Agata?” I heard a whisper beside me. I turned to meet Reeve’s gaze.

“Hey,” I said softly, gently kissing his nose. He pulled me closer to him and kissed me sweetly.

“Did you have fun today?”

I laid my head against his chest, breathing in the masculine scent.

“I had a great time. I met your wonderful mom and went to places I never thought I’d see. What’s not to like about that?”

My eyes fluttered closed as his warm breath fell on my lips. He got on top of me and started to kiss me with such desire and want.

I gently pushed him, “W-wait, are you sure? Are you not going to bleed? Your wound might open and—”

His kiss silenced me.

“Sunshine, a kidney donor may engage in sexual activity when they feel well enough to do so and besides, we had sex last Christmas and nothing happened.”

“Because I was doing all the work.” I cut my eyes at him. Reeve chuckled and caressed my cheek.

“Shut up and strip. Now it’s my turn.”

Reeve pushed my top up and kissed my stomach, moving down to my navel.

He cupped my breast and moved his mouth onto them, swirling his tongue around them. I moaned as he moved onto the next one.

“R-reeve…” I whimpered as he came back up and kissed my lips and pulled down my pajama pants. I helped him by kicking them off. He smiled playfully as he kissed my legs down the sides before pulling my panties down with his teeth.