Inky (24 page)

“That’s totally fine.” I smiled.

“God, thank you. What a relief to hear you say that…yeah, Anthony? Okay, size…I’m gonna say ten?” I nodded yes. Oh, he’s good.

“Black, cocktail, everything…what size shoe, Anika?”

“Eight.”

“Do you prefer a low heal or something that defies gravity?” He asked with a mischievous grin.

“Doesn’t matter as long as I don’t have to go jogging in it.”

“Bring a couple of options. I’ll send you a photo of her so you can get the skin tone as close as possible,” he whispered to me, “makeup?” I shook my head back and forth smiling, “Just go to Macy’s or something. I don’t care who the designer is, really. No, not through the business, through me. Yes. See you soon.”

“Are you wearing a tux?” I asked as he approached me. I made sure I was lying as seductively as possible.

“Smile, I have to send him your picture.” I did as he asked and listened to the phone whoosh the picture into the void. “Yes, I have to wear a tux.”

“Would it help to know I’m looking forward to seeing you in a tux? And would it also help that I’m looking forward to taking you out of said tux later?”

“The idea is growing on me.”

“If anything else is growing on you, I’d be happy to assist you with that too, if there’s time.” I laughed.

“You’re a little vixen, aren’t you?”

“Maybe a teensy bit.” I grinned.

“Follow me. I have a surprise for you and it isn’t sexual. Maybe a little anticipation would be good for us. We could get to know each other better or something like that. A little late in the game, I know.” He casually walked me toward the stairs to his bedroom.

“You’re so boring, geez.” I said sarcastically, eye rolling and all much to his amusement.

“Before I really freak you out, are you okay? I mean about this?” He lifted his exposed wrists to me.

“I really am.” I gave him a genuine smile.

He closed his eyes and stopped for a moment taking a deep breath and continuing. “I’m glad. So, glad. Come on.”

He led me up the stairs but continued to the back of the room. On the left was a door I’d previously thought was a closet. It turned out there were two doors; one was indeed a closet but the other was a stairway to another level.

“Wow, this place has all sorts of nooks and crannies.”

“Okay, now I want you to do your best to not freak out. If you feel like you need to freak out, that’s okay. But I think you’ll like this surprise. It’s not food by the way or coffee for that matter.”

“I’ll try to hide my disappointment.” He chuckled and continued up the stairs.

When he opened the door in front of me, it flooded with natural twilight, a square room with floor to ceiling windows on each side and another smaller deck that surrounded it. He walked across the wooden floor boards and opened two large glass doors that look to the sea. In the center of the room, taking pride of place stood a large wooden easel and what looked to be the contents of an art supply store. “Wow.”

“Wow good or wow bad?” I sunk down into a crouching position and looked around. It was my dream. Somehow Cole Carlyle had gotten inside my head. “Don’t answer that just yet. I had intended on keeping the telescope here and moving it onto the small deck when some celestial event was going on. I thought it would be a nice place to read or just be with the ocean, daydream, what have you. I wanted to gift you with paint and a new easel. I noticed the one you use at home looks like it might be on its last legs…no pun intended…it’s my way of thanking you for sharing your process with me. But as it stands, this room is unused. If you want to, you can paint here. It’s yours.”

Wow good.

I was freaking out a little bit. But this was a different kind of anxiety. This was butterflies in the stomach, not a reaction I was familiar with. I should have had stalker-alarm bells going off in my head but I didn’t. It was sweet. I also couldn’t believe he’d offered me my own little space in his home. Instead, I told him a story.

“So, a few years back, Aimes and Lisa were watching daytime TV and this talk show comes on. Eventually they called me in to watch this episode about a book called
The Gift of Fear
. All these people had bad things happen to them: one girl was being stalked, and the other one discovered a hidden camera in her home…things like that. They all got this feeling that something wasn’t right, hence, the gift of fear. My Spidey senses work overtime and you know what? This is not one of those times. So in answer to your question, wow good.”

He walked over and lifted me up and into his arms, “God, Anika. You are wonderful.”

“Back atcha.”

“Oh, you might not be saying that after tonight. I didn’t tell you everything yet. I thought I’d take a risk and soften the blow with your gift first.”

“Continue…” I raised my eyebrow, teasing him. What on earth could he possibly tell me that would change my mind?

“My parents will be there.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Did you say your parents?”

“I did, yes.”

I can do this. I can meet the parents. I think I’ll like his mom as long as she doesn’t think I’m trash but his dad, well, it might be my second physical altercation in a week.

“Cole, it might not be a big deal to you but I’m not from that world. I don’t know what to say or do, who’s who…I might be an embarrassment to you and I’m not saying that in a self-deprecating way either. It’s the truth. I think you know that.”

“That’s part of the reason I like you. You’re nothing like them. I can’t stand these things, but having you there with me will make it tolerable. One thing I can tell you is that my mother will love you just as much as I do. She hated Emma by the way. I can also tell you that she’ll be your ally. My father will barely glance at you, if he does approach us at all. We try to give each other a wide berth. The other thing you should know, you might get recognized from the exhibition; the man throwing the party, Olaf, he tried to outbid me for your painting of the seaside.”

“You’ve mentioned him before.”

“His father and mine always ran in the same circles. We’ve known each other since we were kids although he’s a bit older than I am. He’s a good guy, a friend. His parents died in a light plane crash when he was twenty. His dad was a good man, always good to me. A story for another time.”

Well, isn’t that interesting. I remembered the group of men looking at my painting. “As long as I don’t have to sing, I should be fine. I don’t have a problem with crowds or anything. My anxiety is song-specific.”

“I put that together already, Anika. You can tell me when you’re ready.”

He didn’t miss a thing.

“Hello?” A voice called out from downstairs.

“Up here, Anthony. Just wait in the bedroom. We’ll be right there.” Looking down at me, his face was just shadows in the quickly darkening room, “I’ll look forward to taking you home with me.” He began to lead me to the stairway back to his bedroom when he stopped and pulled me to him. He cupped my jaw in one hand, “Thank you, Anika.” He said softly. “Thank you for being exactly who I thought you were.” He brushed his lips against mine and gave me a soft, sweet kiss. “We’d better get ready. The car will be here…with my mother…at 9:30.”

“That’s probably something you should also have mentioned.”

We entered the room to see five large Macy’s bags and three garment bags lying across the bed. I was pretty sure my jaw dropped from the rest of my face.

“Thank you, Anthony. You’ll help Anika? Anthony used to be a personal assistant to a Hollywood Starlet so this is something he’s good at. I’ll leave you two alone and shower downstairs and get dressed. I’ll make a cocktail for us. Do you have a preference?”

“Ah, no. Maybe a sedative of some sort?” I joked. Well, half joked.

“I’ll just grab my things and see you down there.” He winked and I stood in the room, still in shock.

When we were alone, Anthony properly introduced himself. “Anthony Campos. It’s a pleasure, Anika. Would you prefer that or Ms. Redding?”

“Anika is fine.” Funny that I was known as Inky to anyone else in the world. Maybe this was a turning point for me.

I couldn’t be 100% sure but I was thinking that Anthony might be gay. Then he confirmed it by saying, “Oh, you are beautiful. He said you were beautiful but after that Hagatha Emma, I don’t know if Cole hot-cock Carlyle is a good judge.”

“Hot cock?”

“Oh, if only he would look my way. Sadly, straight as the pole my momma dances on.” The strength it took to hold back my laughter was worthy of a medal.

“I like you, Anthony.” I smiled, hoping I didn’t have to elaborate. I was nervous and might just say something completely inappropriate.

“Uh, Anthony?”

“Yes, doll?” He answered as he began sorting through bags.

“I’m having a hard time with my real life Pretty Woman experience right now. I get that Cole has money and his family has money but this…” I waved my hand over the stock pile of Macy’s swag, “is a little, uh, I kind of want to jump out that window.”

“Oh, don’t worry about any of that. Here’s how it works. I’m a haggler. I get the best deal I can. I wheel and deal, got the makeup for nothing and managed to get them to throw in a dress for free. The shoes were on sale too. But the thing is, this has never happened before and I mean, never. My job is normally very boring. The gossip I’ve heard about your Cole” he whispered, “before Hagatha, he’d been single for ages. His mom tried to fix him up but she told me he hated that so she stopped. So, you must be something pretty special. Even if it doesn’t work out, he’s a nice guy. Just have a good time and let him have this, yeah?”

No pressure or anything.

I didn’t respond.

“Okay, for your coloring, I decided on this dress. Beautiful isn’t it? Now, there’s a boring black thing and a wispy pastel number but this one” he unzipped the garment bag and yes, it was looking very nice, “is perfect for formal cocktail meet the parents…what do you think?”

On closer inspection, it was lovely. A rich sapphire blue, off the shoulder number. He opened a box with matching shoes – not too high either but gorgeous. “Beautiful.” I breathed.

“Great! We better get you ready for the ball then, Cinderella. So, here are some under-things. Don’t worry about showing some skin around me. When I worked for Miss Thing, I saw every perfect puckering pink part that girl had. Burned into my brain forever unfortunately. I’ll get everything ready for you. Don’t wash your hair; it’ll be easier to style if you don’t.”

“Oh, I do a mean chignon, Anthony.” I walked toward the bathroom.

“Me too. Let me dress you up. It’s your big night after all. I insist.”

I was having quite a few big night events in my life as of late. At quarter past nine, I was perfectly primped and coiffed. There wasn’t a hair out of place. Anthony had tidied up the room from its Macy’s explosion and I was ready to make an entrance.

“Anthony?”

“You okay?” he asked concerned.

“I feel like I’m about to walk into the lion’s den. Can you give me some inside information, on the down low?”

“First off, you look fantastic, don’t worry about that. You’re wearing designer everything. Cole has your jewelry downstairs. Second, Mr. Carlyle senior is an asshole. He’s very intimidating. Hold your ground and you’ll be fine but be yourself. He’ll try to find your weakness and bring you down. Be nice but not fake with him or he’ll smell it on you. Mrs. Carlyle is a gem. She married into money; she’s not born from it so she’s down to earth but knows how to play the game. My tip? Be a united front.”

“Thank you. For everything.” I was glad Anthony told me straight. I appreciated knowing a little about what I was getting myself into.

“Are you kidding? This was fun.”

I could hear voices as I made my way downstairs. I knew I looked good but I was a bundle of nerves.

“There she is, mom. Anika Redding, this is my mother, Patricia Carlyle.” His smile was so warm when he took me in, his eyes looking over Anthony’s handiwork. He sidled up next to me and laced his fingers through mine. “You look beautiful, Anika.”

“Thank you,” I said quietly so only he could hear. His mom was getting her purse from a table so I took that moment to say, “For everything. It’s too much, Cole.”

“Nothing will ever be too much for you.” He replied just as his mom returned.

“It’s a pleasure, Ms. Redding.” She reached into her handbag and took out a small pouch. “Here. My husband gave me these earrings on his last mining blah, blah, blah. Cole asked if he could borrow them, you can keep them. Perfect for that dress. Anthony sent him a picture, he sent me a picture…I brought the crown jewels.”

“Oh, I couldn’t.” I said nervously.

“You can and you will,” she enthused. “They might as well be put to good use.”

“I. I don’t mean to be ungrateful, but what if I lose them or something? I’m sorry. I’m a little out of my league here on the etiquette of accepting jewelry, real jewelry from your boyfriend’s mother.” I was trying to be funny and hoping that would come across. Mrs. Carlyle literally burst out laughing.

“Where did you find this one, Cole?” Oh no. Her trash radar must be going berserk. Much to my surprise, she pulled me into a hug. “Oh, you are a breath of fresh air, Anika. I don’t care about the earrings. They’re yours to keep. Blue looks terrible on me. I like her, Cole. Do you like her?”

He had a huge smile on his face. He took his hands out of his pockets and pointed at himself, “boyfriend.”

“Well, that answers that question. So, let’s go make nice-nice with the plastic-fantastic. Your father is having dinner with the mayor but he’ll be there eventually. We better go. The sooner we arrive, the sooner we leave.”

Mrs. Carlyle was a whirlwind. Commanding and, from what I could tell, just wonderful. We followed behind her, Cole’s hand guiding me as I put the back on the last earring. “So, I can introduce you as my girlfriend then?”

“After that, you can introduce as your dirty little secret, I don’t care. This is all just…wonderful. Does your mom really like me?”

“She’s been hearing about you for a few months now. She likes you, can’t you tell?”

“I don’t know, is she always so…what’s the word I’m looking for?”