Underneath It All (24 page)

Chapter XXVI

The Annual Ball

The party was in full swing when we arrived. It was held in an extravagant ballroom in one of the most luxurious hotels in Boston. Everyone looked so posh and classy. Immediately, we were surrounded by people I didn’t know and were suddenly caught in such a whirlwind of attention surrounding us.

Reeve introduced me to everyone with his arm around my waist, both for comfort and to show possession.

I saw Eve and Red walking toward us. My grip on Reeve’s arms tightened. Instinctively, his arm tightened around my waist pulling me closer to him.

“Glad you made it, Agata,” Red greeted. The sight of him made me want to puke. I just plastered a perfect fake smile on my face.

“I must say you look great in your gown, Agata,” Eve greeted with the same smug look on her face.

“I know, right? Just like what my boyfriend told me.” I reached up to Reeve and caught him by surprise when I bent his head and kissed him on the lips, just for a few sweet seconds.

A smile spilled across my face when I caught Eve staring. I smiled to myself as I saw Reeve’s lips painted red from my lipstick and tried to wipe the red off him.

Reeve was called to the stage to give a short speech. “Excuse us.”

I sat in the corner chair, looking out at the party before me.

“Good evening, everyone. Let me remind you of the core values of our brotherhood and sisterhood. It is to serve and support each member to become productive and engage members of the society. These values will help create a path that ultimately leads to success…”

I held a glass of champagne, and watched the bubbles rise and fall.

“We have entered what I have called a dangerous new phase. New and old members are jobless, homeless and some are even locked up in jail…”

After a minute or two, I took a sip, and focused on the alcoholic drink once again.

Reeve’s gaze was sharp and heavy. He looked over the crowd and continued his speech. “And yet, there is a way forward. Leading hotelier, Travis Kent, a dear friend of mine, is bringing forward proposals to transform the disparate buildings that Gates University currently comprises into a cohesively designed, landmark hotel that will give Boston much-needed and best in class hotel facilities with excellent new hotel rooms, a destination restaurant, bar, gym and conference facilities…”

The crowd cheered and clapped their hands. The announcement caused me to almost spit out my drink. I was immediately hit with a blast of hot, humid wind even though the ballroom was covered with long cream-colored curtains.

A few people in the audience were still clapping and murmuring as Reeve raised a hand to signal for silence.

“My father, Rufus Gates, has willed everything to me, along with the full ownership rights of the university. Under certain aspects, the acquisition of rights gave me permission to do whatever I want with it.”

I looked at where Red was seated. His jaw was clenched. He met my gaze, stood up from his chair and walked toward me.

“By the end of this school year, Gates University will be taken down and will be converted into a hotel. It will create jobs and new opportunities for all.”

The crowd exploded with applause. The senior members and alumni shook hands with Reeve as they talked further about his “magnificent” plan.

All of a sudden, Red was standing right in front of me. He grabbed both of my arms. “He can’t do this. It’s the only memory my mother left us,” he said angrily.

A few years ago the university was called Litchfield University, named after the founding family. After Diana Litchfield’s death, Rufus took over and changed its name. Now that he was dying, he gave Reeve full control over it. Now, I understood what he meant when he said his kidney came with a price. Rufus willed everything to Reeve in exchange for his kidney, and nothing was left to Ramona and Red.

No matter how hard Red’s grip on my shoulder shook me, I remained frozen. My lungs felt constricted, as if I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t mean to be holding my breath but it felt like the muscles wouldn’t move.

He was dragged away by security officers. I could no longer stand the news. I decided to step out onto a balcony that led into a very large garden.

How could Reeve do that? Tearing down a structurally sound thirty-year-old building that had been a symbol of hope for most of the students seemed foolish. Many students counted on Gates. It had been generous, offering a range of different scholarship programs for students to help cover tuition fees or living costs.

I tried to block out his words that were floating through my head but I was failing.

“Looks like you could use a cigarette.” I turned my head and saw a man sitting down on a bench not too far from me.

His lips seemed to take a delicate drag out of his cigarette before he took another stick from his pocket and handed one to me. He cleared his throat, taking me out of my reverie.

“You know it is rude to stare,” he said.

“S-sorry. I wasn’t staring.”

He let out a small laugh, “No, I was just joking. I know you’re staring out to nowhere.” His hand was still hanging in the air with a cigarette between his fingers.

I hesitantly took the cigarette from his fingers. He lit it for me and I took a quick drag.

“So I’m guessing the grandiose party isn’t really your scene?”

“Just not tonight.” I looked back at him and saw him genuinely inquiring why I wasn’t having a good time inside. I noticed the camera hanging over his neck.

“I’m a photographer,” he said, as if he was reading my mind. “My team is covering this annual thingy they have.”

I nodded but still held my gaze on the camera. I was awestruck. It was the latest model that I dreamed of owning.

“Would you like to take a look at it?” he asked while removing the camera off his neck.

I nodded vigorously and took the camera from him. I was fascinated and momentarily I forgot about the fiasco inside the ballroom.

“Can I…can I try it?” I asked, quite a bit shy. “I really love this camera,” I muttered to myself and took some random shots.

“You’re a frustrated photographer, I guess,” he inquired.

I nodded my head as I breathed out another puff and smiled gratefully at him for letting me borrow his camera for a moment.

“By the way, my name is Caleb.” He introduced himself and held out a hand.

I was about to take it but Reeve’s voice made me pull my hand back.

“The party is over. Let’s go.”

He was standing at my back, as usual holding my waist to show his “ownership.”

I turned my head and shot him a stern glare. He raised an eyebrow and motioned me to follow him back inside.

I looked back at Caleb and politely excused myself. “Thank you.” I returned the camera and he smiled back at me. “It’s Agata.”

I went to the washroom and met him outside. He was already in the car with the engine started. When I opened the door and climbed inside, his anger was palpable. I didn’t know what to say or where to begin.

He recklessly backed out of the driveway, swerving in the process.

“I can drive. You are upset. Just let me drive,” I said as I looked over to him.

He didn’t respond to my request, but heeded his driving, keeping his eyes on the road.

I looked over at him, and he was in his own zone. I knew there was no talking to him right now, so we drove in silence for the duration of our trip to his house.

When we pulled into the garage and he didn’t open the door for me, I knew he was still reeling beyond belief. He quickly entered the house, furiously swinging the door open. He went to the mini bar offsetting the living room and poured a glass of whiskey. “You want a drink?” he asked.

“I’m going to bed.” I strode off but he grabbed my arm, stopping me.

“You’re not going anywhere. I want you to stay here; we have to talk.”

“Do not scold me like a goddamn school child!” I yelled, seething in anger.

“Then stop acting like one,” he gritted out in anger as he slammed his fist down on the counter, causing an echo to erupt in the room.

“Don’t lash out at me just to have some control over the situation.”

We stood there, his gaze challenging me as if to dare me to disagree, and mine was merely wary, waiting for what comes next.

“Yeah, you’re right. We have to talk, about your ‘master plan,’” I told him, adding a hint of sarcasm to my tone.

“Why are you being so difficult?” Reeve let go of my arm and sighed deeply. He walked over to the couch, his eyes beckoning me to come over.

I stomped into the living room, plopping down to the couch next to him. “The fact you didn’t tell me about your plan is just crazy. I’m your girlfriend,” I spat angrily.

He placed the glass of whiskey over the center table and faced me with those piercing blue eyes. “You see, I wanted to hit Red where it hurts the most. If you could have only seen the look on his face when I announced that the only memory his mother left them would be taken down to ashes. It was gratifying, Agata.”

I shook my head in dismay.

“Are you out of your mind? Aren’t you thinking about Ramona? Red is still your brother. This is too much of a punishment for whatever he did to me.”

“Fuck him!” Reeve stood up. His face turned bright red. “Red is an entitled brat who thinks he can do everything he wants. He has no concept of money, and he thinks he has everyone wrapped around his finger!” He yelled, pacing back and forth.

“Ramona is just a child,” I muttered, softly.

“And Rogue was just an infant.” His eyes were steely and angry as he stared into what felt like the depths of my soul. “Agata, they took everything away from us and I’m gonna take it back.”

“So, this isn’t about me then. It’s about you.”

He slumped back down to the couch and downed his whiskey. “We should be drinking right now, celebrating, but instead we’re having this goddamn conversation,” he said as he let out a sigh. He ran his hand through his hair before he closed his eyes and rubbed his temple.

“Reeve, you can’t take down the university.”

“I can.” His voice was stern.

“I know, but you shouldn’t.” I took the glass of whiskey and held his hand. “Think of the students; think of the families who count on Gates.”

“I left you alone for a few minutes and now you’re turning against me? Is that because you had a moment with that photographer?” he asked, his tone suggestive.

I stared at him in disbelief. “It is not my fault this conversation happened. You know what? I’m going to let you have a moment to clear your head.”

“Where are you going?” he called as I walked over to the front door. He caught up with me, grabbed my arm, and pinned me into the door.

“I have to go.”

“I know there’s little I can say to stop you when you’re mad,” Reeve said, after a long pause. His begging tone was enough to break my heart. “But please stay; we will sort things out.”

I remained silent, staring at him. He held me close, our faces just centimeters apart. He pushed his forehead against mine, as if he was trying to press his thoughts right into me.

I nodded and he kissed me softly.

“When you bottle something so strong inside, it’s inevitable it will break you,” I whispered against his mouth.

“It will never break me…it will never break us.”

His lips crashed against mine, and the whole world fell away as Reeve and I surrendered to each other all over again.

Chapter XXVII

Caught In The Cross-Fire

The next couple of months went by quickly without any news about Reeve’s plan of demolishing the university.

We never mentioned anything about the “take down” since the last time we argued. I could only hope he didn’t push through with it. So maybe he’d changed his mind. I dared not ask; I was afraid to find out.

The past few days something weird and funny was happening to me.

“Reeve.” My throat was feeling funny, like I would throw up just from talking. I didn’t want to wake Reeve up, but I was desperate.

Reeve stirred and turned over to face me. I scooted over and laid my head on his chest.

“Hmm, what’s the matter?” Reeve mumbled.

“My stomach hurts really badly.” I pressed up against Reeve and whimpered.

I had started feeling bad during my classes that day. It was just a little dizziness after lunch, but by 3:30 in the afternoon I could hardly move from how nauseated I felt. One of my professors noticed and sent me home right away.

I rolled onto my right side and buried my face in Reeve’s pillow. I wasn’t sure if I had food poisoning or just a stomach bug or what, but it was bad. I’d thrown up at least once an hour, and I was weak and had no energy whatsoever.

“Babe. Can you sit up?” Reeve asked, and turned on the lamp on the nightstand. I pushed myself up until I was semi-reclining against the headboard. Just doing that wore me out.

“Do you want a drink?”

I nodded, and Reeve stood up from the bed and grabbed a bottle of Gatorade from the mini fridge. I was fine for a minute, and I started to relax again, but I couldn’t even keep that down. It came right back up seconds later, my stomach cramping painfully.

I stood up quickly and ran over to the bathroom to throw up. I reached out a hand to steady myself and I slumped back against the wall beside the waste basket, dropping my head down in an attempt to ease the sudden dizziness which had come over me.

“Are you, all right? Shall I call a doctor?” Reeve asked as he crouched beside me and placed a hand on my shoulder. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

“No,” I told him firmly, lifting the hand I’d used to wipe at my face and placing it on Reeve’s upper arm reassuringly. “I’m fine. It’s nothing. My brain and stomach are just having a misunderstanding. I already feel better.”

“You sure?” I was met with Reeve’s worried gaze.

I nodded. He stood up and reached for my hand just in time when I felt the urge to vomit again. My chest was heaving painfully with the effort of being sick as another wave of nausea hit me.

“Shit,” Reeve cursed as he pulled my hair out of the way and held it against my back.

I spat a few times to rid my mouth of the disgusting taste of bile in my mouth and slumped back against the wall again.

“I’ve been worried sick by the way you’ve been acting lately. You have been moody and lethargic and uninterested in anything. Did you take your second depo shot?”

“I…I missed it. When the nurse called to remind me it was time for me to take the shot, I asked them to postpone it. I re-scheduled the next day, but forgot to go. I was very pre-occupied,” I blabbered. I was honestly scared, and I knew so was Reeve.

“When was it?” he asked.

“Two or three weeks ago, I’m not sure.” I swallowed and just took a deep breath allowing myself to speak again. “I totally forgot about it.”

“We need to see a doctor,” he said, wrapping his arms around me. I held him tight. Now I was scared.

“I must’ve caught some flu or something,” I said over his shoulder. I let go of the hug and sat on the bed, fiddling with my fingers. “I’m afraid of this…” I whispered. I was starting to break.

Reeve kneeled down in front of me. “You don’t have to be afraid. If it’s meant to happen it will.”

Now my stomach was flipping again, as it had when I’d seen him for the first time during Dean O’Neal’s funeral.

***

When I went to the university the next day, a group of students had begun staging a protest against the administration.

“The administration is continuing to seek constructive dialogue with you all. Please, let us be civil.” Anthony announced over the megaphone when assaulted with tons of questions by students and parents alike.

“What’s going on here?” I asked, when I got the chance to get closer to him.

“They declared they would not leave the campus field until the university administration cleared out rumors about taking down the university,” Anthony explained.

“What did Ree—President Gates say?”

“He’s not in yet,” he shook his head and went back to alleviating the crowd’s anxiety.

“Gats!” Apple was waving her hand. Raven and Tats were with her, among the protesters. The crowd was loud and I was being jostled around as I pushed my way toward them.

“What are you guys doing here?” I asked them. “Tia Tabatha, hi!” I greeted Tatiana’s mom with a hug.

“I can’t let this pass,
hija mia
. Same with my fellow parents who can’t afford to lose our children’s scholarships. You know Tomas is in his first year, and we don’t have that much to support his studies. The new president needs to hear us.”

Even though the rally had clearly caught attention and spread quickly, they had, in truth, almost no chance of changing his mind. If the goal had been to save Gates University then it was already lost.

“Gats, we need to do something about it,” Raven said, determined. “Gates has been our home for almost four years and it will also be home for our younger siblings. This is one of the best universities in the entire state and we won’t let some personal issues bring it down to ashes.”

“You need to help us, Gats,” Tatiana said, holding my hands.

A multitude of feelings and emotions blazed through my chest.

“I’ll see what I can do.” I squeezed her hand and gave her a small smile.

“The new president has a fresh mind and world view that could see the opportunity for really progressive change,” announced Mrs. Roosevelt, the Director of Public Affairs. Our heads turned in her direction.

The crowd screamed their disapproval.

Multiple meetings were held by everyone involved, except the new president, Reeve, who apparently was very busy at work with some big acquisition.

Although I hadn’t known Reeve very long, it was clear that when he had decided on something he would never change his mind about it. He was strict, domineering, and unyielding. I thought somehow, I could change his mind, so I decided to take my chances. Maybe, just maybe, he would listen to me.

I was on my way to talk to Reeve, to try and find any way to salvage his plan. I turned sharply on a corner, and fell backwards as I bumped into someone.

“I’m so sorry! Miss, are you okay?”

I looked up into him and took in all his features. I thought he looked familiar. The guy had wavy ash-blond hair, green eyes, and was handsome in a surfer dude way.

“Agata?”

“You’re the photographer, right?” I asked as he helped me up to my feet.

“Yeah, it’s me, Caleb.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I was invited by Professor Castle to conduct some demo for his photography class,” he said. “You study here?”

I nodded and smiled at him. “Yeah, biology major.”

“That sucks,” he uttered. “Sorry, don’t get me wrong, though. I just didn’t expect you to be a biology major. I thought maybe, something you like to do, but yeah biology is cool and maybe you want to be a physician someday or whatever…sorry.” He babbled and scratched the back of his head.

“It’s just something I want to do,” I answered him honestly.

“Cool,” he kept nodding his head.

“I gotta go. It was nice seeing you again,” I bade and strode off the hallway. Caleb called me as I walked away.

“There will be an International Photo Expo this weekend at the Boston Convention. I hope to see you there.”

I just shrugged my shoulder and walked off.

***

With one last calming breath, I knocked quietly on Reeve’s closed door and waited. Knocking on his door, my palms started to sweat. I was so nervous, I jumped in fright as he bellowed, “Come in,” with that familiar authoritative tone.

I wiped my hands on my jeans one last time, and slowly opened the door. Reeve was seated behind the huge oak desk.

Reeve looked up from his desk, his piercing blue eyes softening at the sight of me.

“What specifically can I do for you, Miss Ferrero?” he raised his eyebrows, looking at me expectantly. His tone was clipped and his face neutral and impassive.

“Sorry, did I disturb you?”

His gaze held me where I stood, unable to move, breathe, fuck—I couldn’t even think. I had to look away, it was too much for me to handle.

He let out a soft chuckle and set aside the pile of paperwork on his desk to accommodate me. “Come here.” He stood up from his chair, I walked up to him, and he enveloped me into a loving hug. “I’m just messing with you. You can disturb me anytime you want, sunshine.” He squeezed me tight and put his chin on top of my head as I snuggled into his chest. “How are you feeling?”

He looked so vibrant and glowing. I didn’t have the heart to spoil his day.

From the very second the thought crossed our mind that I was pregnant, he was into it. He loved his potential baby already. I’d seen little changes in him. He smiled more and teased me more.

I pulled back and looked at him. “I’m quite a bit tired. From 9:00 A.M to 6:00 P.M., I dissected mice, sat at the microscope, pipetted reagents, analyzed data, and planned future experiments, just like almost all the other graduating students.”

“I could almost hear you making your speech during your commencement exercise,” he said, smiling and pulled me back into his embrace.

Neither of us spoke for several long seconds.

“I set an appointment with Dr. Cromwell this weekend. I’m not gonna be able to sleep until we know.” He squeezed me tight and kissed my head.

“Cromwell?” My head jerked up to look at him, an eyebrow arched.

“She’s the sorority’s doctor. Eve’s auntie; I trust her.”

“Reeve, do you know the students are protesting right now and you’re acting so cool about it?”
I wanted to say, but my tongue felt thick in my mouth.

After a few moments of silence, I spoke.

“How is it being the President?”

He moved then, lifting his weight off me. “Nerve-wracking, daunting, and stressful, but I easily fell for it,” he answered with a smile.

“Uhm…have you been informed about the protest outside?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, his expression changed and my anxiety ratcheted up a notch. “Let them express their feelings and opinions. This is a free country, nobody will stop them, and nobody can stop me.”

I paused for a moment. “I know,” I said and smiled weakly at him.

I gave up the urge to press the subject further. He was likely to explode if I asked him one more time if he was sure he wanted to demolish the university. I didn’t even want to argue because of this issue.

It was strange, probably, to not hear a single argument or question out of me, but I was tired of questions, of conflict, of drama today. I just wanted to work through our relationship, together. Inserting myself into the mess was not a good idea by any means.

***

“So…what did he say?” asked Tatiana when I arrived at our dorm that night.

“Say to what?” I asked, pretending I didn’t know what she meant.

“About the take-down,” Raven pointed out the obvious.

The three of them sat on the bed with me, anxiously waiting for my answer.

“You didn’t convince him, did you?” Tats asked. I couldn’t look at her.

“Let alone discuss the matter with him, I suppose,” Apple stated.

“I don’t have the heart to ruin his mood,” my eyes were downcast as I spoke, unable to look at them in the eyes.

“Gats, what happened to you?” Tats asked, with a hint of disbelief in her voice. “Gates University alumni, faculty, staff, community members, local organizations have written letters of support for the students. We should all be in this together, right?” She shook her head in dismay.

“He will never change his mind. He announced this plan back in January when we attended the ball. He is very determined to bring it down.”

“And you just agree with that?” Apple asked disappointed.

“We argued about it before, and I don’t want to argue about it now, especially now that…” I muttered nervously playing with my fingers.