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“Are you running a marathon? What are you doing?”
He laughed. “Training. I still have to do that, you know.”
“Right. I won’t be long. I’m just calling to check on Fay. Is she doing okay?”
“Better than ever. Great, actually. Her sickness is fading some. She stays busy with your grandfather.”
“Busy? Doing what?”
“You know I can’t discuss matters concerning Master Carmelo.”
I groaned, rolling my eyes.
“She asks about you though. She talks about you a lot actually.”
“She does?” My heart pounded in my chest. “Can I…Can I see her? Can I come by?”
“We’ve talked about this, Aimon. He’s not ready for you to do that, but I’ll ask again.”
“All I want is ten minutes. I just want to see that she’s okay for myself. I’ve done everything my grandfather has asked. I stayed away despite the fact that it enrages me to no end. I’ve obeyed. I want to see Fay. Tell him I want to see her.”
“I’ll let him know. I have to get back.”
“Thanks, Thomas.” I hung up, repeatedly tapping my knuckles on the desk. If Charles only knew how many times I’d driven by. How I’d almost repeatedly broken the rules and tried to sneak into his estate. What would he do, then? Would he make seeing Fay harder on me? Would he keep updates on her condition from me? The what-ifs were too great to risk. It didn’t mean that I wasn’t ready to explode because of them.
Fuck, I needed to leave. One more hour and I could go. What was one hour to the star salesman? My boss wouldn’t care if I took off early. And it’s not like I did it frequently. Hell, I hadn’t missed a single day since they hired me on. I covered for people at the last minute. They could afford one hour without me.
I picked up the landline, dialing the extension.
“Scott, here.”
“Scott, this is Aimon. I have something that came up. Do you mind if I take off a little early tonight?”
His laugh filled the receiver. “Go ahead. Drive safe.”
“Thanks.”
I hung up, grabbing the keys to my new car. As I left my office and walked through the showroom, everyone was too busy to notice me heading out. The lot was lit up brightly, and it was already getting dark out. I was starving, agitated, and I just wanted to go home. Home to the only place that felt real now. A home filled with pictures of George, his wife, and Fay. A place I never wanted to leave. It was all I had of her. Of him. Of family.
Climbing in my car, I made the drive. It didn’t take long, but it wasn’t easy with all the traffic either. By the time I was approaching the door, my delivery was pulling up. Chinese was my go-to. I paid and locked myself in, placing it on the coffee table.
When I collapsed onto the sofa, my thoughts always went to how Fay must have sat here too. Even away from each other, we weren’t technically apart. Her high school portrait was in front of me on the wall, next to the window. On the opposite side of the glass there was a family picture of all three of them. She was older in that one, and it was Christmas time. It couldn’t have been but a few years back. God, she was beautiful. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. I could eat and stare at these for the rest of my life. Or maybe being locked in a room with her for weeks brainwashed me. Maybe I had Stockholm Syndrome. If that was the case, I didn’t care. It didn’t change what I knew: I wanted her.
I ate in a daze, going back and forth between the pictures. When I got my fill, I headed for the boxes I’d uncovered in the closet. Album after album, I spent my time obsessing over the one person I couldn’t have. Over the man I truly didn’t know. George was himself, but so different in the role of an actual father. And he was a good one. I could tell by the joy on Fayette’s face in almost all of them. She adored him. Her eyes were so expressive. There was no hiding the love she had for him. The emotion was enough to have me trying to recall if she’d ever looked at me even close to the way she looked at him. Perhaps the roles were different, but had she held love like that for me? Even, remotely?
Ringing erased the plaguing questions. I leapt for my phone, my pulse increasing as Thomas’s name showed on the screen.
“Hello?”
“Have you been training too?”
“What? No. My phone was across the room. I didn’t want to miss your call. Did you talk to him? Did you ask him?”
“I did. He said he’ll get back to you.”
My head reared back. I wasn’t sure whether to lose it completely or see this as a good sign.
“Did he say when he would decide?”
