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Chapter Twenty-Nine
There were moments of self-doubt throughout the short journey to the Upper-Eastside where the buildings grew even larger than seemed possible, and the materials even more expensive. Any sign of decay was eliminated or shoved back into side streets or other areas of the city deemed less desirable, leaving nothing but posh, up-and-coming neighborhoods with ever-increasing property values. They were meticulously maintained, and everywhere Sabrina looked an expensive car was parked out front of a green lawn decorated with mature trees or colorful flowers or some variation of both.
And she thought she was rich? This was a step up—or five—from what she was used to.
Of course, it would belong to William. He was the modern guy, the one with the unexpectedly hipster twist that loved clean lines and expensive art. His home was a veritable gallery, so why not his neighborhood to match?
Sabrina got out of the cab and half considered asking the driver to stay a while in case she was thrown back to the curb and needed a ride home. But then she decided a defeatist attitude was what would get her that result. She needed to go up there with the confidence of a goddess claiming her man, not one praying to the heavens that she hadn’t already lost him.
Determined not to be a self-fulfilling prophecy, she paid her fare and got out. The building William occupied somehow looked even bigger than it had when she’d first visited. It towered higher than the treetops and gave her the sense of impending doom.
Or maybe that was just her nerves.
With a mental pat on the back, she got moving.
Up the steps, to the buzzer, she stood staring at the little white button with his name beside it, engaged in a heated debate with herself over “Do I” or “Don’t I” until a resident who reminded her of the Wendy’s mascot barreled through the door with an armload of black garbage bags.
Sabrina grabbed the door to keep it from swinging back and hitting the woman, before realizing that she’d just found the perfect way in. Feeling like a burglar, she glanced around to make sure no one saw what she was about to do, and then stepped inside.
It was a quick process after that of making her way to the elevators and getting off on the same floor she had last time when she’d been with all three of the brothers. No guards ever stopped her or made an appearance, and the closer she came to the end of her journey, the more confident she felt.
That is, until she found herself standing outside his door. Then all of the conflicting emotions and nervous energy and doubts came flooding back in like a broken dam, and she didn’t know what to do with herself.
Leave or proceed? It was a tough choice. If she left, she’d never fix what had been broken. She wouldn’t even get the chance. If she proceeded, she might get rejected, and frankly, she didn’t know which was worse: the never knowing or the hurt of being tossed away.
It was a question that was impossible to answer, so she raised her fist and knocked twice.
It felt like forever passed before she heard the lock click on the other side of that door, and then her heart started pounding out a rapid beat that she could feel rocking her body. Just like the first time her father gave her the green light to head her own board meeting, she felt the rush of adrenalin kicking in and making her head swim. She could easily pass out then and there, and at the same time, she knew she had this. She just had to suck it up and face it head on with confidence and determination.
“Sabrina?” William looked at her as if she were the last person he’d ever expect to see outside his door. And to be fair, with how she’d been avoiding them and all that’d happened, he wasn’t too far off the mark to think so.
“Hey.” She smiled shyly. “This might sound funny coming from me, but…can I come in? I mean, can we talk?” It wasn’t lost on her that just yesterday, and today, she’d been telling his brothers to take a hike because she didn’t want to hear a word out of their mouth. Now she was standing where they’d been, and the humility it took was astounding.
Will, with his arm high on the door to extend his already tall frame, stepped to the side, making the opening wider in a silent invitation.
“Thanks.”
The place looked the same as she remembered it. Nothing had changed. Everything was in its place. Yet it still felt foreign to her. Maybe because she didn’t belong there anymore.
Clasping her hands together, she indicated one of the plush leather chairs and when he gave her permission to sit, she did.
“I’m sorry,” she blurted by way of getting things started. Sometimes, you just had to jump into the deep end and get wet. “I ran when I should have stayed and talked to you and your brothers, and that wasn’t very mature of me. I didn’t know how to handle what I was feeling, and so I removed myself entirely, and in hindsight, that wasn’t okay. Regardless of how I felt, I shouldn’t have let everyone worry about me.”
Slowly and cautiously, he made his way over and seated himself on the arm of the couch. “Accepted.”
She’d hoped for more, but much like his brother, Conner, Will wasn’t an open book. She couldn’t read him, but his short-on-words approach was worrisome.
“I talked to Ollie today. And your father.”
Will’s eyebrows arched. “Oh? And what did you learn?”
“That I was wrong not to listen. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions and I should have given the three of you a chance to explain.”
He rubbed his palms on his jean-clad legs, as if he were as nervous as she was. Which was impossible, because Sabrina was practically sweating bullets waiting for some kind of favorable resolution to come out of this.
“I don’t know what to say, ‘Brina. You didn’t trust us when you should have. You ran from us when you should have stayed. There’s hurt on both sides now.”
Sabrina heard what he’d said and she took it to heart. Butshe’d heard what he’d said, and it also gave her a ray of hope. Standing, she approached him like she might a wild animal and didn’t stop until she had his hands in hers. “You called me ‘Brina,” she said softly, allowing her fingers to stroke lovingly over his. “And I have to believe that, if you can still call me that, you can find it in your heart to forgive me. I know what I did was wrong, and I’m standing before you, having climbed the hurdles, asking you to give me another chance.”
