"Willow, my dude! How about one last fling tonight at my place? We’ll party our heads off!"
I turned around with a deadpan and flipped Chris Grant off. If the crowd wasn’t dressed in robes and waiting in line to receive the high school diploma, I would have punched him in the face. Maybe another person would knee him for harassment, but I wanted to be nowhere near his weenie. Not even if he were the last man on the earth and it was upon me to repopulate it.
I was in a terrible mood already and dealing with the asshole ticked me off further. It had been a week since the call with Mr. Rowe and I had yet to hear back. I had come to the consensus with Lory that if he didn’t call me by that night, I would call him myself.
I was scared that calling him would make the situation worse… that he would get pissed off and dismiss me. The only thing holding me together was that he was across the country and he couldn’t kill me for pestering him.
“Yeah, Willow. You should come to the party tonight.”
I looked to my side and found Joan Ray smiling at me. I stopped myself from shuddering at her voice. There was just something about it that was akin to nails on a chalkboard.
"I’ll pass."
My idea of fun didn’t include being packed into a house with sweaty and drunk people. It also didn’t include being puked on or groped.
"Are you sure? We might never see each other again."
I thanked God in advance if that were the case. I would donate to whatever charity the higher power wanted if they made it come true.
"I bet I will live."
She huffed in irritation at my words. It was hard to resist rolling my eyes.
Joan was a part of a duo with Sasha. They had been downright aggressive since the beginning of high school and nicknamed me "Little Orphan Willow". Much to my displeasure, the nickname caught on when Joan accused me of trying to steal her boyfriend. You ask who that is? Chris Grant. The man I wouldn’t take help from even if I was drowning.
The bullying taught me how to take a step back… become a well-settled person. That was the only good thing that came out of it.
"So, which college will you be attending?"
Of course, Joan knew the answer. Everyone in our school knew of the scholarship drama between Chris and me. And I also knew she was fishing for gossip to spread later on.
“I have decided to dig wells in Africa,” I said blandly. I loved seeing her mouth drop open in shock. I threw a stereotype at her sarcastically and she accepted it without a word. She didn’t even point out how horrible my statement was. Our school needed to restructure the education they gave to students. How was this girl going to survive in the world? “You should pay attention. Your name will be called soon and you don’t want to miss it,” I warned her.
I had to applaud her for graduating with shitty grades. This gave me some comfort. If she could make something of herself, I could do as well. If I kept saying it, it would happen.
Luckily, she turned away from me. I could see Lory waving at me from her seat. I looked past her and at the crowd and a wave of sadness overcame me. It was hard to have no family of my own watching me at this milestone.
I had awoken to find a note from Oliver that morning. It was on the kitchen table and I knew he had come to the house to get the last of his things. I hadn’t even known he had come back. The note contained an apology for not being able to attend graduation and he even left me a generous amount of cash as a parting gift. Another paper came with it. It listed the date I needed to move all my things out and where I had to leave the key to the house. I knew for certain I would never see Oliver again.
I should have been angry. I should have screamed and cried about how unfair it was. But what was the point of it? Nothing would change if I felt sorry for myself. And I was never going to beg Oliver to stay when he had made it clear he wanted to cut ties.
And I was certain I would someday find a place in the world I could call mine. Somewhere where I was wanted and needed.
As I scanned over the faces in the crowd, my eyes landed on a pair of eyes staring right back. It was a man in a dark suit who could have been extended family for any of my classmates. Yet, a strange feeling of familiarity washed over me. I could have sworn I had seen him around town several times over the last few days. Our neighborhood consisted of families that had lived here for decades, so a new face was easy to spot.
I hated to say but he was ordinary looking. With light brown hair, he had nothing particularly distinguishable about him. As I continued to stare, I realized I had seen him near the administrative room at school. He had also bought things at the supermarket a few nights ago when I wash manning the cash counter.
But why was he staring at me?
I shrugged off my concerns and raised my head when my name was called. Much to my shock, I heard a small but distinct round of applause as I walked over to receive my diploma. I gave Lory a smile and turned to her parents with a small nod. I found some of my coworkers from the supermarket too. At least there were a small group of people that had some care about me.
The ceremony ended shortly after I took my seat. Our school didn’t allow hats to be thrown into the air. The graduation gown and hat were rented and losing them would lead to a big fine. I gave back my robes before the others who took pictures with their family. I had little emotional attachment to all things school-related. The only thing I needed was the documentation.
"It's finally over!" Lory took me into a bear hug before dragging me towards her family.
"Congratulations on graduating, girls." Mrs. Adams hugged us both. "Willow, will you join us for dinner?"
They had reserved a table for a celebratory dinner. Though I knew I was welcome, I was not in the mood to join in. I had much more pressing issues to focus on.
"Thank you for inviting me, but I think I have to pack everything at home."
She looked sad as she nodded in understanding. Before Lory could try to change my mind, I was ushered away by the well-wishes of my coworkers from the supermarket. Even the owner handed me a gift card.
“This should help you buy things for college,” he said.
"Thank you," I told him softly.
"You’ll be sorely missed, Willow. But don’t forget us while you are living in the big city. I will be waiting for you to make a name there." I knew he was simply teasing, but I couldn’t joke back.
Make a name for myself? If I was lucky I would have a shoebox to live in and food in my stomach. I had to repress the dissatisfaction from being ignored by Mr. Rowe.
Lory found me again and pulled me aside. "Are you sure you want to go home?" she asked. I squeezed her hand in reassurance.
“I will be fine. I am just not in the mood to celebrate.”
She was silent for a moment. “I will go over to your house after dinner. Packing is better when you have someone to accompany you.”
"Okay." She wasn’t wrong. I would have her by my side rather than be alone in that empty house. I didn’t need a hand to pack my meager belongings, though.
"Willow, hop into the car. We will drop you at your house on our way," Mrs. Adams called out.
"Thank you," I told her.
Lory threaded her arm through mine as she spoke in low tones. “Will you call him when you go home?” she questions.
“I have no other choice,” I said. There was no time left to dilly-dally. I had to contact him.
If only it were that easy.
“How about you wait until I return to make the call? It won’t be late then.” She knew how nervous I was to call. Everything was riding on Mr. Rowe’s decision.
"I’ll let time decide." I remained noncommittal. I would fake being relaxed until I felt it completely. If I kept using Lory as a crutch, I would never be able to stand up on my own.
The conversation remained light on the ride back. They all knew to steer clear of my immediate future. I hopped out of the car and heard Lory yell that she would see me soon. Once inside the house, I stripped off my formal clothes and rushed toward my phone. I was appalled that the school didn’t allow phones at the graduation ceremony. Some of the people in the education industry were still living in the dark ages.I groaned in frustration when I saw that I had no notifications.
I threw myself on the bed and tried to calm myself. There was a possibility he was busy and didn’t have time to call me. I really wanted to think he was a good guy. That he would give me a chance.
I was startled out of my thoughts when the doorbell rang.
"Just come in, Lory," I yelled as I ran downstairs. I yanked the front door open, ready to chew her out for rushing her celebratory dinner. Instead, I came face to face with the stranger in the dark suit who had been staring at me during the graduation ceremony.
I should have looked through the loophole before opening the door. I was an idiot!
I was having a breakdown right at my front door. I was close to slamming the door shut and hiding in my room, but my shock prevented me from moving.
"Willow Taylor?" His voice was low and non-threatening. But what would I know what threats sounded like?
My thoughts ran at the pace of lighting: Who was the guy? Was he stalking me?
He noticed I was scared and held his hands up in surrender. He even offered me a guilty smile.
“You may rest assured, Miss Taylor. I mean no harm. My name is Virgil and Mr. Rowe sent me to speak with you.”My mind went blank for a split second before I narrowed my eyes in suspicion at him.“Please call Mr. Rowe if you are uncomfortable with me. You can confirm my identity with you before you speak to me.”I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. I glance at my phone, hatching a plan in my head. There was no way in hell I would allow a stranger inside my house on his word alone.“Please wait here,” I said and started closing the door. I saw him give a short nod before I shut it completely and bolted the door.I walked into the kitchen and called Mr. Rowe quickly."Hello, Miss Taylor."It sounded like he knew I would be calling. His voice dripped with smugness and I could practically see the smirk on that pretty face of his.I sucked in a deep breath so that I didn’t reprimand him badly. “Mr. Rowe, there is a man at my front door, claiming that you sent him.”“Yes. That is
Virgil blinked quickly as if in confusion. “Out of everything I said, you took that away?” he asked. The look on his face was almost offensive.“Is there another way to understand it? I recognize that he is wary because of how aggressive I was. I just want to reassure him that I would never do something that would make him doubt his decision to help fund my education. He is rightfully protective of his assets and privacy. And I respect that.”He chuckled again. "I am glad you got one part of it correct." He shook his head and then his eyes shifted to look around the house. “Are you packed to leave in the morning?”"Can you estimate how long this trip will be? I planned on moving to Quentin with my friend in a few weeks' time.""I know," Virgil said cryptically."Should I ask how you know?" I narrowed my eyes again. “There is little I don’t know about you. As I said, I am the best in the industry.” He shot me a cocky grin and I huffed."Okay, Mr. Know-it-all, can you answer my questio
"Oh, yes, you do! You will have Mr. Rowe eating out of your palm. Didn’t you always want to live the high life, here is your one-way ticket to it. But you have to act like you belong there. You have to do that to make the best of it. What are your thoughts?"“He is willing to help me with my tuition. Don’t immerse yourself in a flight of fantasy that will never happen. Moreover, I am not trying to seduce him, Lory.”I kept to myself how the fantasy made the butterflies in my stomach flutter.Could I be sexy and seductive?I snorted. Mr. Rowe had socialites and celebrities hanging from his arm at every public event he had been photographed at. I could not compare to those women who had a team of people keeping them pretty and classy. I had to get my head out of the clouds before I plummeted to the ground without a parachute. My aim was to work my ass off at college and make something out of myself. I had to remember that I was not on a mission to seduce an older, rich man.“I know exac
Only a few seconds passed since that sentence was uttered that my phone started to ring."It's him," I whispered to Lory, looking down at the cellphone screen to find Mr. Rowe’s name flashing on it. My heart was about to pound out of my ribcage as my finger hovered over the accept button. I sucked in a deep breath before pressing it. “Hello?” I answered after a moment of complete silence."Willow." His breathing was heavy. He sounded anxious and relieved at the same time to hear my voice. “Are you well?”"Um... yeah," I said tentatively. I had no idea why he was calling. Moreover, I still hadn’t wrapped my head around what had happened earlier."He didn't hurt you?" He bit out.I hesitated to respond as my mind became completely blank. I had zero ideas what he was referring to. It took me a moment to consider that Virgil had already called and told him about the incident. Why would Virgil do that, though?“Are you speaking of what just happened with Chris?”“Is that what his name is?
Virgil’s presence kept me grounded and calm during takeoff. He even gave me chewing gum so that I didn’t suffer from ear aches when the air pressure changed. The flight was grueling and long, but it went by quicker than I had imagined. The flight attendant was polite and came often to ask if I needed anything. She even condoned my tinkering with the entertainment system and helped me function it. I must have succumbed to exhaustion somewhere in the middle of the second movie I chose to watch because when I woke up, Virgil was gently nudging me to say that we had arrived.As we got off the jet, I saw a car stop on the runway in a distance. We got off the jet and I was led into the back of the limousine. It was already early evening, and I stared at the Quentin scenery as we passed it. I had been to the central cities before, Fairview was near Atkins and if someone wanted to go out for a trip, that was where they went.But Fairview was nothing like Quentin.Time seemed to flow and ebb a
He let out a soft laugh. "Come. Laura went ahead to prepare our dinner, so I will show you to the terrace. The weather is too nice to dine inside." He took my hand gently in his and led me out the glass door of the top floor.The scenery outside was surreal. I could barely believe my eyes when I saw the sugared stoned of the floor perfectly aligned and stretching throughout the terrace. I smiled at the cozy table setting, complete with candles.But my eyes were stuck on the sparkling water of the rooftop swimming pool."Do you like it?" His excitement made me grin. "It's rare in this city to have a private pool because of the space crunch." He pulled me closer to the pool, showing me how half of it was indoors. "The glass goes down into the water to form a tunnel you can swim through from the outside to the inside," he explained. As beautiful as it looked, the thought of swimming under it made me feel slightly claustrophobic. Well, I wasn’t going to swim there, so I didn’t need to thi
'Please… please, kiss me,’ I screamed inside. My hormones had taken full control of my body. Still, I had the presence of mind to only say, "Okay." His hands inched up gently, cupping my heated cheeks. I closed my eyes when he brushed his thumb across my cheekbones. My heart skipped a beat when his soft lips pressed against mine. There was no urgency in his actions… no sense of dominance. His tender kiss only filled me with sweetness. When he slid his tongue along my bottom lip, I opened my mouth instinctively. He tilted his head to the side to deepen the kiss. God, he tasted like chocolate, wine, spices, secrets, and dreams. His hand moved to support the back of my neck. Tingles ran down my spine and I was certain I would have jumped off a building if he asked me to at that moment. "Mmmm," he hummed, brushing my lips lightly a few more times before his nose skimmed along my jaw. He placed a small kiss below my ear before whispering, “thank you.” I couldn’t come up with a suitable
He offered me a small smile. “Excellent question, Willow. I am comfortable facing this with some control over the situation and the people involved. I have been looking for the right woman and nobody threw me off as you did from the first moment we spoke.” He lifted my hand and kissed my knuckles in a gentlemanly manner. “I want you. I like that you lead an uncomplicated life and have no ties holding you back. I like that you are determined and feisty—” he gave me another flirtatious wink. “And I want you to be mine. I want you to be completely devoted and invested in me… in our family.I was lightheaded from all the information he had dumped on me. The sensation was bizarre; I was hovering over us, watching myself sitting with this handsome yet lonely man.A part of me was yelling profanities at myself for entertaining this absurd conversation. I wondered what I would be called if I accepted this proposal. I couldn’t be called a ‘prostitute’ because Nicholas wanted to marry me. Slave