AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“And?” she murmured, sleepily.
“And I took the subway.”
“And?” Macy murmured, even quieter now, almost just a whisper.
“And I saw Aunty Sara, and we talked about you and how great you are, and how much we both love you.”
“And?” Macy whispered, as her eyelids fluttered a little, and closed.
“And?” I said, laughing. “What else is there, baby? I thought about you, of course. And how much I love you.”
But Macy couldn’t hear me. She was already fast asleep. I lowered her under the covers, and adjusted the pillows. I brushed a strand of her dark hair aside, and kissed her forehead.
“I guess I saw your daddy today,” I said, softly, so there was no chance Macy could hear me in her deep, deep sleep.
I got up, and quietly stepped out of her room, switching on Macy’s night-light.
I went to the kitchen to make myself some tea. I thought about listening to some music, but the events of the day had completely exhausted me. And besides, with Macy asleep, a perfect peace had descended over my home.
Then, my phone began to ring. I would have noticed the number if I hadn’t been so tired. A number I’d memorized, a number that I saw behind my eyelids on sleepless nights for the last six years.
I answered. “Hello?” “Lola? Is that you?”
And all of a sudden, my perfect peace was gone.
Chapter 4
Alex
AfterIleftthecoffee shop, I got a car to take me back to the penthouse. I had to get home, had to do something, anything to take my mind off Lola Ryder.
It was time to sweat.
I worked out for a while in my private gym, located at the top floor of my penthouse. Beginning with some gentle cardio, I warmed up with a 6 mile run, and then hit my own personal set of weights. I began with the barbell, exercising the big muscles—deadlifts, chest press, curls and squats—and then toned for a little bit on a smaller set of dumbbells. By the time I was done with my workout, I was soaked and panting, but I’d lifted close to 20 tons in weight, and felt on top of the world. I showered and steamed for a while in my personal sauna.
But after I got dressed into my bathrobe and sat down in my living room with a protein shake, all I could think of was the beautiful, red-headed woman who’d walked into my restaurant earlier that day. Even now my heart and my groin hungered for Lola, and I couldn’t suppress the ripple of desire coursing through my body. I hadn’t been lying earlier when I spoke to the journalist. I’d been on dates, with successful, beautiful women. But nothing had ever worked out. And even if I told myself that it was just my workaholic nature, my passion for my job, for making money and succeeding on the terms I’d set for myself as a young man, I knew there was more to my lonely life than that.
It was that no one had ever rocked my world like Lola. I’d never wanted anyone so much. And the years had only made her more beautiful, accentuating her best features.
Time heals all wounds, huh? My ass. There was no denying that the memory of Lola Ryder still clung to me, baggage that I couldn’t shake off.
I brooded for a while. Suddenly I was full of memories, not just of Lola, but of a time I preferred to forget. I felt like I was back there again, in the close, cramped streets of Fairhill. Dark nights, spent out in back alleys doing god-knows-what. I hadn’t told the whole truth to the journalist that morning. I’d run wild as a kid. Even here, in my luxury penthouse, I could never forget who I was. And how all this might go away someday. And then, those terrible memories would be all I had left.
My penthouse was at the very top of a high-rise, at the Southern end of Central Park. Through the wide, floor-to-ceiling window in my enormous living room, I looked down at the trees, watching cars go by, microscopically small below me.
I climbed the open staircase at the Eastern end of the room. My gym and a seldom-used guest bedroom were at one end of the corridor. At the other end, the master bedroom and my ensuite bathroom. Just on its own, the bathroom was bigger than the apartment where my mom and I had lived in Philadelphia.
How far I’d come. Not just since I left Philadelphia, but since I’d met Lola. When I met her, I was already making millions as a bartender and casual investor in the stock market. Now I was growing in power, consolidating my empire. And even though I kept thinking bigger, pushing the envelope, figuring out ways to expand, it rarely filled the hole. I’d come to learn that by now.
Only, I didn’t know what would.
I was thinking these melancholy thoughts when I got a call from Zeke.
“How’s it going?” I said. “What do you need?”
“Well, I got some good news and some bad news. Which you wanna hear first?”
“Come on, Zeke, you know me. Hit me with the bad news first, buddy.”
