Unexpected Chance (8 page)

Oh my God, I’m afraid of being alone, too. Those were the last words I heard as my happy and carefree childhood ended and the next eight years of worthlessness began. But it wasn’t just the next eight years. It’s been every single year of my life ever since. I’ve gone from my aunt’s house, to a deadbeat man, to an abusive man’s house, afraid of being alone. Anything was better than being alone. The only good thing I held onto was what that nurse did for my mother. She didn’t know my mother and she didn’t treat her like it was a job that she had to do. She actually cared and held my mother’s hand until her very last breath.

“Savvy, are you alright?” Aiden asks, leaning up on his elbow.

He looks into my eyes and it’s then that I realize, I’m sobbing again.

“I’m afraid of being alone,” I tell him. I don’t know why I just told him that. I’ve only ever shared my mother’s dying words with one other person, Chloe. I think I shared it with her because of what she was going through at the time, and I saw the hurt and hopelessness in her eyes and it was a mirror image of my own.

“You’ll never be alone again. I promise you that,” Aiden says, turning me around. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me on top of him. He strokes my back and gently pulls my hair off my shoulders. With my ear to his chest, I listen to his heartbeat, and it’s music to my ears.

After about twenty minutes, he kisses the top of my head and asks, “Do you have class this morning?”

I lift my head off his chest and look at the clock. I do have class in thirty minutes. I don’t even have time to take a shower. I bring my forehead to his chest and answer, “Yes.”

“I can take the day off. We can stay in bed all day if you need. I’m not letting go, Savvy.”

I sigh, because I’d like nothing more than to stay in bed with Aiden all day. But the reason I go to school, the reason I fry my brain with what seems like useless knowledge, is for my mother and for that nurse, Ginger, who made such an impression on my young life. It gives purpose to why my mother died. I will one day be that person to someone else. I will give them the gift Ginger unknowingly gave to me. I was too young and my aunt was a dipshit who couldn’t hack putting her own grief aside for the needs of her sister. If I can give just one person the gift of knowing I cared about their loved one, and gave them final peaceful moments, then everything I lived through will be for something. I will become someone else’s meaning.

“I need to get to class, I can’t miss a day,” I tell him, and start to get off of him. I never intended to get out of my car last night. My intentions were to drop him off, then I was going home. It really doesn’t matter what his sisters said last night, or the look in Aiden’s eyes whenever he sees me. They’re all better off never knowing I even existed. Aiden doesn’t let me up, he holds me on top of him with a tight squeeze.

“Look at me,” he says. I lift my face with my eyes closed and plant my chin on his chest. “Open your eyes,” he whispers. I do and look into his eyes. He places both of his hands on the side of my face and wipes the tears away with his thumbs. “You aren’t alone,” he says. “Do you get me?” he asks.

I nod my head. He lifts his head off the pillow, his lips come to mine, then he sits up. I straddle his lap and touch his morning stubble cheek. “I get you,” I whisper.

He kisses me again, then pulls away and rubs his thumb on my bottom lip. “We better get going or we’ll both be late,” he says.

I get off his lap and go to my bag on the chair. He goes into his closet and takes out a three piece dark, navy blue suit, a pastel pink shirt with a white collar, and a blue and pink stripe tie, then sets them on the bed. He takes out a wrist watch and a pair of cufflinks from his dresser and sets them next to his suit. I walk inside the ensuite bathroom and take off the clothes I wore yesterday and slip on a new pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I give my pits a quick discrete smell and pray they don’t smell like a wildebeest sitting in the hot sun in Africa. I slap on some deodorant then go brush my teeth. My cosmetic bag is still sitting on the counter from yesterday, but I can’t find my toothbrush anywhere in the bag. I look on the counter and it’s sitting in a toothbrush holder alongside Aiden’s. This is one crazy family, and I don’t know where these men learned supersonic lightning speed relationships, but I secretly thank them.

Aiden comes in the bathroom wearing a white undershirt and the trousers to his suit. He walks to the other sink and brushes his teeth, and then he flosses. Funny, I’ve never been in a relationship with a man who flosses. He swishes some mouthwash in his mouth and spits as I watch in awe. He sees me watching him, smiles at me, kisses me on the cheek, then leaves the bathroom. Now I’ve wasted about ten of my thirty minutes gawking at Aiden again, I need to get ready.

I throw my hair up on the top of my head in a messy knot, then I go at the bruises on my face with concealer like a mad woman. I dab on some eyeliner and mascara, grab some floss and floss my own teeth. Floss together, stay together . . . maybe.

When I walk back out into the bedroom, Aiden is gone and so is the rest of his suit. I walk into the kitchen where he’s pouring coffee into two travel mugs. Shit, I forgot to bring back his other mug. He takes his suit jacket from the back of the kitchen chair and puts it on. He grabs his briefcase and my school bag and asks, “Are you ready to go?” handing me a coffee cup.

I smile, take the coffee mug from him, grab his off the counter, and follow him out into the garage. Ruby is sitting next to Jade, but I distinctly remember leaving her on the street last night.

He holds open the door and I get into Jade. I plop our coffee mugs in the cup holders. We drive to school drinking coffee. Occasionally he glances my way with a smile or puts his hand on my leg, which is nice. He drops me off at school and says he’ll pick me up at five. I go to my first class with a smile and hope in my heart that I haven’t felt since I was a little girl.

Chapter 5

Aiden

On my way into the office, I drive by Savvy’s condo to see if the brown Chevy is hanging around. No brown Chevy, and there doesn’t seem to be anything out of place, so I head to work. I park in the underground garage and take the elevator to my floor. The second I get in my office, even before I can put my briefcase on my desk, Asher comes in.

“Knock knock. Do you have a minute?” he asks, knocking a knuckle on my door.

“I always have a minute,” I tell him.

“Please tell me you’re good for more than just one minute?” Asher asks with a smirk.

“Dude, we’re at work. And I can go
all
night long,” I tell him.

“In your dreams,” he says smugly.

“Is there a reason you’re bugging me at nine in the morning?” I ask.

“This merger with Stran Corp. isn’t going well. We have some major issues and I think you’re going to have to take a trip to Chicago to iron them all out,” he says.

About a month ago, Asher put in an offer to buy Stran Corp. The deal was accepted, but some of the contingencies aren’t being met.

“This isn’t a good time for me to be leaving. Can you send Ava?” I ask.

Ava recently joined Wellington Corp. after leaving a prestigious law firm. I’m actually relieved she’s here, she’s been a huge help.

“This is more in the area of your expertise than hers,” he replies. I’ve always been a corporate lawyer, where Ava has more general experience. “Is this about Savvy? How’s she doing?” he asks.

I start pulling out files from my briefcase, then stop and look at him. “Why does it take women so long to see what we see?” I ask.

“Man, your guess is as good as mine. I’m with you. You know it when you feel it,” he says, patting his chest.

I honestly didn’t believe that until that night at the bar.

“She’s got a lot of issues to work out. She’s been staying at my house for the past few days. Have you heard anything from Max about Reno?” I ask him.

“I haven’t heard anything, but no news is good news, right? Look, don’t worry about going to Chicago. I’ll see what we can do from here, and if I have to, I’ll send Ava. You take care of what you need to take care of. You need anything, you ask. Call Max, see if he’s got any news for you,” he says, and leaves my office.

I take my cell phone out of my briefcase and call Max.

“Yo,” he answers.

“Do you have any news for me?” I ask him.

“I’ve got it under control. Just keep doing what you’re doing. Keep Savvy with you at your house until you hear otherwise,” he says, and hangs up.

I sit down in my chair. Two seconds later, Ava walks into my office. “Oh for crying out loud,” I say, and stand.

“Sit down. Don’t get your panties in a wad. I want to talk to you about something from last night,” she says, and takes a seat in a chair across from my desk.

“What happened last night?” I ask concerned, sitting down.

“It’s not exactly what happened, but something Savvy said,” she says.

“Go on,” I push.

“She said that she’s not like us, and that she’s last week’s trash. We tried to set her straight, but I think she has some pretty deep emotional scars and I think you need to be gentle with her heart. I can see by the look on your face that you see the same thing I see,” she says.

“You don’t have a clue what I see,” I say angrily.

“Panties. Bunch. Chill. I was going to say, that for her to put that smile on your face and that same love in your eyes that I feel for Jax, that she’s priceless. She’s not trash, and I’m happy for you both,” she says.

“I know it’s only been a few days, but really, she’s been a part of this family since Chloe introduced all of us. If I have it my way, I plan on showing her for the rest of my life just how priceless she is,” I tell her.

“I honestly believe you’ll make that happen,” she says, winks, then leaves my office.

I work through lunch to make sure I get all of my work done, and leave at four forty-five. I pull up to the spot where I dropped Savvy off this morning and she’s sitting on a bench with her nose buried in a book. I open my door and step out of the car. The noise from the door opening gets her attention. Her face comes up and lights my world. She smiles, packs her messenger bag, and walks to the car.

We both get in at the same time, and an idea hits me as I drive off.

“Do you have to work at the bar tonight?” I ask.

“No, I don’t have to work until Friday night,” she answers.

“Do you have homework you need to do?” I ask.

“I always have homework to do, but it won’t take that long. Why?” she asks.

“Have you ever been to a drive-in?” I ask, getting on the freeway.

“Is that like a drive thru? Like for dinner?” she asks innocently.

Again, I can’t help it, I laugh. She’s like a baby just learning to walk. The things that come out of her mouth light my belly on fire.

“Are you laughing at me again? Man, I’m sure glad someone finds what I say funny,” she says laughing at herself.

“A drive-in, as in drive-in movie theater,” I explain trying not to laugh too hard.

“Get out! They still have those?” she says, pushing my arm excitedly.

“They do, it starts at eight. My mom and dad used to pile all of us kids in the family Suburban on a Friday night with pillows and blankets. My mom would pop popcorn; we’d all sprawl out all over each other. Asher, Adrian and I used to take bets on which one of our sisters would fall asleep first. Without fail it would be Ava, every single time,” I tell her with a chuckle.

“That sounds like fun, I’ve never been. To be clear though, isn’t there a type of restaurant also called a drive-in where you pull your car up to a parking spot and order food from a board or from a person on roller-skates, you order your food, and they bring it to your car?” she asks.

“Yes, they do, and I suppose they are called the same thing. You’ve never been to Dick’s?” I ask.

“Nope, can’t say that I have,” she says, popping a piece of gum into her mouth.

“Alright, we’ll do both. Two drive-ins in one night,” I say with a smile.

“Goodie!” she says, clapping her hands and chomping on her gum.

I pull into Dick’s and park the car. I order us a double order of cheeseburgers, fries, and milkshakes, something Dick’s is famous for. While we wait for our food I ask, “What’s one thing you’ve always wanted as a little girl, but could never have?”

She thinks about it for a few minutes, then answers, “I always wanted a puppy. Aunt Molly told me she was allergic to dogs. I think it was a big fat lie, just like her ass, big and fat,” she says, holding her arms out wide. “She would never have allowed me to have one, probably because it’s something that would have made me happy. I must have peed in her Cheerios when I first moved in or something. I don’t know what I ever did to her to make her hate me,” she says, like it’s nothing. Our food is delivered, Savvy digs right in eating and eats every last bite.

I drive to the drive-in theater and pick the 1976 classic, The Legend of Bigfoot. I pull into our spot and to make her experience complete, I get popcorn and drinks.

The movie is almost over and I feel like a teenager taking out a date for the first time. We both reach in the bottom of the popcorn bucket at the same time, our fingers touch, and then our eyes meet. Yep, I totally feel like a teenager again. I take the popcorn and set it in the back. Her eyes sparkle in the dim light from the movie. I inch closer to her lips; they touch with the gentlest of touches. They’re salty from the popcorn and form perfectly to mine. I thread my left hand in her hair, her mouth opens, an invitation. My tongue dances with hers in a slow, warm, tangled kiss. I break the kiss, start the car, and drive home, my pants a little tighter than comfortable.

I pull in the garage, open her car door and take her hand. I take her purse from her and set it on the coffee table along with my suit jacket, then guide her to the bedroom. I stop just inside the doorway. She presses her body and her face to my back, then she wraps her arms around my chest. I cover her hands with my own. I love the way her body feels on mine. I turn around in her hold. She tips her chin up, and rolls up on her toes. She cocks her head to the side, then smiles a crooked smile. I smile back at her, put both my hands on the sides of her face and kiss her. I’ve kissed my fair share of women, but Savvy’s lips feel like they were made just for me. I take a step backward and then another toward my bed. I sit on the bed. She straddles my lap, grabs the hem of her shirt and pulls it off over her head. She’s wearing another orange bra, this one neon orange. Looking in her eyes, I reach behind her back, unhook her bra, and toss it to the floor.