Coming Home Again (A Coming Home Again Novel Book 1) (20 page)

After dressing in a cooler sundress, I
reemerged from the bathroom feeling a good bit refreshed. Expensive perfume
followed me around. I guess my sister had that indulgence right, because it did
make me feel somewhat better. I looked around the apartment in pure amazement
at how compact it was. The living room/kitchen wasn’t much bigger than my
bedroom back home. A beaded curtain served as the door to Julia’s bedroom
alcove, which was covered in clothing and accessories galore. The sitting area
was not much tidier. Water bottles and cigarette packs were scattered on every
table. I figured those were probably the two main staples in my sister’s diet.
I just couldn’t get over how bony she was. She used to be so healthy looking
with her long lean athletic build, but now she seemed frail in her rail-thin
body. Like, if I bumped into her, she might break.

I had to maneuver around piles of
magazines and the craziest-looking high-heeled shoes tossed all over the floor
to get to the couch. Then I had to move things over just so I could have a seat
on the bright violet-colored thing. The main colors in the room consisted of
dark fuchsias, deep purples, and vibrant teals. I know that sounds crazy, but
it worked. Minus the clutter, the apartment had an exotic appeal. Young and hip
was the vibe—just like Julia.

“There you are,” Julia said
surprisingly. She popped out from her bedroom wearing a short silk robe. “I
almost forgot you were here. It’s my turn to get freshened up.” Her speech was
slightly off, and I wondered what might have been her drug of choice at the
moment. I really didn’t want to deal with a drugged-up version of my sister for
the duration of my visit, but I guessed I wouldn’t be given the choice on the
matter.

 
Julia disappeared into the bathroom for what
felt like eternity. She stayed in there for two and a half hours. Seriously!
While she did who knows what, I looked through most of the magazines and even
tried on some of her crazy shoes. Shoes were the only part of my sister’s
wardrobe I could wear anymore. I checked out some of the clothes that covered
her entire bedroom floor. To my disbelief, they were all size zeroes. How on
earth could someone be a size zero? What was next? Size negatives. I was
actually
six
sizes bigger than her
and that blew my mind. There went borrowing something hip and cool to wear
right out the blame window. Talk about feeling self-conscious…

The emotionally and physically draining
day hit me after a while, so I shoved the pile of stuff off onto the floor so I
could stretch across my sister’s couch. I easily dozed off. Julia finally
emerged from the bathroom sometime later, waking me. The aromas of lavender and
chamomile from her bath swept throughout the living room. She was still in her
robe, but her hair and makeup were freshly done. I let out a long sigh of
frustration at the thought of how long it might take her to actually get
dressed.

“I’ll be right out.” She then
disappeared into the jungle of clothing for only thirty minutes. This surprised
me.

It baffled me that I had been in her
presence for about four hours, and the only words uttered were pretty much
“hey” and “I’ll be right out.” No real conversation had taken place. I worried
the entire week would consist of the same. Julia had become really wrapped into
her own life, and she definitely made it clear that I wouldn’t be getting in
the way of it during my visit. I figured I should just try to make the best of
it and not let everything bother me. I also kept reassuring myself that I would
never have to visit her again.

It was nearing eight o’clock when Julia
stood before me and twirled around to show me her next-to-nothing short, black
skirt with a sleeveless, white blouse that was backless. The outfit was
completed with lots of silver bangles and six-inch black stilettos. She looked
absolutely glamorous and she knew it. Her wavy, platinum blonde hair was swept
in a loose side ponytail that spilled over her right shoulder. I’m sure this
was intentional as to show off her bare back.

“What do you think?” She acted as
though she wanted my approval as she did her little prim show in front of me.

“I love those bracelets.” I eyed them
as I spoke. I really did.

“Thanks.” She looked a bit disappointed
at that being my only compliment. I had to put up with Jean’s whiny needs too
much. I refused to do it for Julia as well. I was sure she received plenty of
attention without needing any from me.

“Are you ready?” She asked as she
headed to the door.

I was still sitting on the couch with
my crumpled sundress on and my hair a mess. “Ready for what?” I asked.

“For some fun.” That was all the info
she let me in on for the plans of the night.

“Well crap! I can’t go out looking like
this, Julia. I mean, really?” I motioned towards the length of my body,
disapprovingly.

“Look, little sis, I’ve got plans for
the evening, so get your butt in gear or stay here. It’s up to you.” Julia
stared at her clock on the wall. “I’ll give you fifteen minutes before I leave
you.” With her cell phone already plastered to her ear, she made her way to her
room.

What
the heck
?
I might as well live a little. I certainly didn’t want to spend my first New
York night alone in the cramped apartment while being smothered by overflowing
size zero clothes. My size six self was a bit overwhelmed by that fact.

I went to the bathroom and tried to pull
myself together,
once again
. I tried to copy the side ponytail look of
my sister’s, but just couldn’t seem to pull it off, so I let it hang loose in
its natural brown waves. I threw my well-worn jean jacket on with the white
sundress, after trying and failing to smooth out some of the wrinkles. I rolled
up the jacket sleeves before digging around in Julia’s jewelry collection. I
borrowed some chunky silver bracelets and hoop earrings to finish off my look.
Staring into the mirror, I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold a candle beside my
sister but relented that it was as good as it was going to get. Within my
allotted fifteen minutes, I grabbed a pair of Julia’s western-style boots and
headed out the door.

Julia hailed a cab like it was the
simplest task to do on earth. All she did was wave that prissy hand in the air
and the street was at her command. I had a feeling that would not be the effect
I would earn if I tried to mimic her. The girl seemed larger than life. I had
to shake my head at her abundant glamour. We began the night at a little
bistro, where I ordered a grilled chicken salad. I thought it would be best to
play it safe after my incident with the hot dog. Julia only ordered a glass of
wine.

“Aren’t you going to eat something?” I
asked the rail-thin Barbie doll. I felt awkward eating in front of her.

“Not tonight. I’m saving my calories
for beverages,” she said in a so matter-of-fact tone with a prissy wave of her
hand. Yes, I keep saying prissy, because that is the best way to describe her.
Really.

While I sat there, trying not to feel
self-conscious about eating, a
very
tall and very striking man walked in. He had to be closer to seven feet than
not. He was probably Julia’s age, but he was way too pretty to merely call him
a guy. I about choked on my lettuce when he strolled right up to our table.
Julia barely acknowledged the chiseled piece of art that was standing beside
her. I felt my skin flush all the way down to my toes. Why did God need to make
such a beauty as that? It only led to indecent thoughts. You know I’m telling
the truth, and the truth is always welcome, right?

Then he spoke one word, and I thought I
would completely melt on the soft velvetiness of it. “Thorton.” That was all he
said, and she still kept studying her wine as though she didn’t care to notice
him. But boy, oh boy, how could she not?

The world refers to her as Julia Rose.
They may not even know that Thorton is her last name. I was intrigued that this
guy knew.

“Stone,” she said eventually, causing
him to chuckle.

He offered his hand for me to shake,
but all I could do was just keep silently staring. “She doesn’t like to be
touched,” Julia blurted out, making me want to touch her with my fists.
So embarrassing
. He cut her an amused
look before placing his hand back to his side.

I rolled my eyes at him to relay my
aggravation with my sister. He seemed to get it, because he gave me an eye roll
and grin in return. This man had perfectly styled dark blond hair that fell
lusciously just below his ears. He looked like he just stepped out of a men’s
apparel ad. He was clean-shaven with a flawless complexion. A dark-blue
perfectly tailored suit shrouded his long, lean body and the color accentuated
his striking green eyes. They were such a vibrant hue that I seemed to not be able
to look away. Julia kicked me under the table to make me do just that. I cut my
eyes at her as I leaned down to rub my sore shin and heard him cover a laugh
with a cough. Great. He was
amused
…

“This is my sister, Savannah.” She
waved daintily in my direction and then she waved towards the gorgeous man.
“Greyson is a model, if you can’t tell.” And I could. Oh yeah. He was well put
together. It was obvious he was professionally styled.

“It’s nice to meet you,” he said
towards me before directing his attention to my sister. “I’ll see you next
week, Julia. You ladies take it easy tonight.” He gently placed his hand on
Julia’s shoulder. “Call me, if you need me.” He then nodded his lovely head at
me and strolled over to a group near the back of the restaurant.

As I watched him walk away, I finally
found my tongue. “Great day in the morning. What was that and why don’t you
like
it?” I had to fan myself with my
napkin.
Wow
is all I can say. I
wanted to ask her if she was she absolutely crazy. He not only oozed cool
confidence, he was dripping with kindness. It shocked me that he wasn’t cocky
at all. Men that looked like that seem to think they had all the right in the
world to be so.

Julia rolled her eyes. “He’s just a
friend. I met him the first year I was here. We do photo shoots together
sometimes when they need couples in ads.”

“Well, that man sure is
purty
.” I wagged my eyebrows at Julia,
causing her to let out a sigh of exasperation.

“He’s not my type,” she snapped,
seeming to not want to continue the conversation. She started rummaging through
her purse as though she wanted to find another topic to entice me with, but I
wasn’t close to being done with the Greyson Stone topic. Oh no.

I had no plans on letting her off that
easy. I leaned close to her and whispered, “Is he gay?” That’s the only type I
could think of that wouldn’t be hers.

“No.” She glanced at him as he was
laughing about something his company had shared. “He’s too nice.”

Oh
. I forgot she didn’t
like nice either. Dirt bags were her type. It’s like Evan had set the standards
on how she thought men should treat her, which was morbidly low and cruel. Good
grief. My sister needed to open her eyes to the complete package that all the
other women in that restaurant had their eyes trained on. He had every female’s
attention in the place except for the one he seemed to have wanted—Julia.

I laughed at the absurdity of her
statement. “Heaven forbid you find one that treats you nice.” I looked over at
Greyson and he caught me. I smiled really big and waved. He returned the favor
with a more subtle wave of his own. He’s entire face lit up with life when he
smiled. Julia was missing out on such a nice view, and I was about to point
that out when she hissed at me.

Julia grabbed my hand and placed it
firmly on the table. “Don’t encourage him, Savannah.”

Well that’s exactly what I was trying
to do and had no plans of stopping until she dragged me out of the place. “Why
don’t you like him?”

“I do. He’s one of my closest friends.
But he won’t leave me alone about my…
lifestyle
.
We sort of aren’t talking right now.” Julia downed the rest of her wine and
beckoned the waiter for another. After he refilled it and she took another
hardy sip, she continued, “He’s the one that dumped me off at that
facility
last year.”

Oh, I had thought to myself. He was the
one who checked her into rehab, so I had guessed he was trying to fix her and
she didn’t have any desire to be fixed. How she was reacting towards him was
making much better sense. “Don’t you have to agree to those visits?” I asked as
I slid another curious glance towards Greyson. I was looking at him with a bit
more appreciation at that point.

“I don’t remember how that part
transpired. The next thing I knew, I had a contract with my signature on it
that stated I would visit a minimum of three weeks. The jerk somehow tricked me
into it, and I lost four modeling contracts in that timeframe.” She took
another generous gulp of her drink and shook her head in frustration. This man
had surely ruffled my sister’s feathers not in the slightest good way.

I had lost my appetite at the idea of
Julia being in such bad shape that she couldn’t remember periods of time. I
looked back over at Greyson, thankful she had someone in her world that
actually cared. I watched him as he kept glancing at my sister protectively.
Poor guy. There was no way my sister would ever give him the time of day. And
poor Julia, because it looked like she was missing out on something
exceptional.