On 4/19 (On 4/19 and Beyond 4/20) (8 page)

Touching the robe again, he offered, “Take it home.”

“I can’t do that.” Though she wanted to.

“Sure you can. I’ll have them put it on my bill.”

“Can you do that?”

Reaching up, he touched her wet hair; it was naturally wavy. Up until that point, he’d only seen it straight. There were many things about Chelsea that he didn’t know, and he had a feeling finding out would be quite the adventure. He chuckled softly, mostly because she underestimated what was ahead of her. “I can do most anything. Now, you can too.”

She didn’t know how to respond to that, so she simply looked at him, wondering exactly what he meant.

Little did Chelsea know, John had things planned for her beyond her imagination. Life with him would be different than anything she’d ever known. He would make sure of it.

As John dressed for dinner, he could hardly get the fact that Chelsea skipped lunch off his mind. It was a silly thing certainly, but he couldn’t let it go. Several times he wondered why she simply didn’t order room service. He decided it was because she didn’t want to be presumptuous with his money. Going forward, he would always make sure to give her what she needed, even if she didn’t ask. Discovering her hesitance to ask for what she needed was one thing he would never underestimate again.

Meeting her in the living room, John was struck speechless. The dress she wore was stunning. It was a long black dress with a slit up the side. The neck was scooped, but not too low. It was when she giggled and turned around that he saw there was no back to the dress. Instead, he could see her tan line. Finally he stammered, “You look spectacular.”

Chelsea felt as much like a princess as when she first arrived. Earlier, after sharing a sandwich with John, something to tide them over until dinner, someone arrived from a store in the hotel carrying an armload of dresses and several pairs of shoes. He told her to pick out anything she liked, and this dress was by far her favorite. For the first time, she felt almost sophisticated and hoped he thought so too. This jaw dropping reaction was exactly what she was hoping for.

On the way to dinner, as they passed through the hotel, he led her through a doorway. It was not until after they entered that she realized they were in small jewelry store. The cases were brightly lit and hundreds of gems sparkled beneath the glass.

John felt her hesitation. Dragging her over to one of the cases, he insisted, “You can at least look.” As soon as he saw her in the dress, he knew she would have to have a necklace to accompany it. She wore small diamond stud earrings that her grandfather gave her. Wisely, he decided he would only fight one battle that evening and it would be for the necklace.

When he slid a diamond necklace around her neck and spun her around to close the clasp, she felt dizzy. No matter how she argued, he was insistent that she accept it.

“We have an entire year ahead of us. Are you really going to fight me every step of the way?”

Chelsea looked at the clerk, noticing he was puzzled by John’s comment. It embarrassed her a great deal. “I don’t mean to fight you. But you have to stop doing such extravagant things for me,” she whispered as quietly as she could and John still hear her.

He lowered his head and spoke softly in her ear, “Allow me to do this. Please, Chels.”

A shiver ran up her spine at the feel of his warm breath on her neck. Unable to say no, unable to say anything at all, she watched in astonishment as he so casually paid thousands of dollars for the necklace. For a minute, the room seemed to spin as she tried to calculate how much he had already spent on her: school, the car, clothes, and now this necklace. The term sugar daddy began to reverberate in her head. As he was finishing up, she reached for his arm and whispered, “Don’t.”

John turned to face her, and feeling very satisfied with his purchase, reached for the necklace to move it more properly into place. “Already done.” Seeing the look on her face, though, realizing she was truly upset, he took her face in his hands and for just a few seconds, simply looked into her big sad eyes. Finally, he admitted, “I feel alive again for the first time in a very long time.
You
make me feel this way. Do this for me.”

No longer aware of the store clerk watching them, Chelsea sighed in resignation. His words caused all her doubts to fade dimly into the background of her mind. He seemed so vulnerable that she would easily agree to most anything. Nodding, she whispered, “Thank you for the necklace. Thank you for everything.”

Leaning in closer, he kissed her on the forehead. “That’s my girl.”

At dinner, John complimented her several times more, and each time, Chelsea felt the blood rush to her cheeks in embarrassment. The room was filled with beautiful women, many of whom watched John and her curiously, as if wondering if they were on a date or related. But what Chelsea quickly realized was that John seemed only to have eyes for her. Often, he gazed so deeply into her eyes, listening to each and every word she said, that she found herself struck silent at times. Many times, her heart fluttered merely at the sight of him sitting across from her. He had put on a dinner jacket, and she considered him the most handsome man in the world. But there was something distinctly different about him this night. She felt she encountered a softer side of him. It began while they sat together on the sofa sharing a turkey sandwich. While he’d always been kind and considerate toward her, there was something new. He seemed gentler somehow.

Dressed so formally and dining at such an upscale restaurant, she felt grown up for the first time. At the gallery opening, she felt like such a kid standing beside him, but this night, she felt almost as good as he promised she looked. Many times, she reached up and touched the diamonds encircling her neck. In all honestly, she was not exactly sure what the necklace looked like. She was so busy arguing with him that she never really saw which one he chose. Curiosity getting the better of her, she excused herself to the ladies’ room in order to see it. Standing in front of the mirror, she traced her fingers along the large diamonds. It was the most extravagant thing she’d ever seen close up, something she would have never worn had he not bought it for her; something she would never wear again once they parted. Standing there, staring at herself dressed up as some other woman entirely, a trace of sadness fell upon her. The feeling was a toss-up between being such a pretender and the idea of parting from him. Both seemed to be equally troubling. Shaking off the passing feeling, she trained her mind instead on what was near rather than what was far.

After their meal, John assured her they would only stop in to the cocktail party for a little while. Of course it was business, but she didn’t
mind. He had warned her it was a business trip, so such engagements were to be expected. While at the party, he got caught up in several conversations that caused her to excuse herself. Once, she went to the ladies room to get away from the dull topic; the next time, she went to the bar to get a glass of water. Seeing that John was still involved in what seemed to be a rather heated exchange, she went to the window to look out at the sparkling skyline. That was the best part of Vegas, as far as she was concerned. The view seemed to go on forever, and the lights along the way made it look like a long landing strip. There was a fountain nearby with dancing water. At the moment, that was what captured her immediate attention.

“When his time is up, I wouldn’t mind a go at you.”

As she turned to face him, the stranger reached out and touched her bare back. Stepping away from him, Chelsea said, “Excuse me?”

“How ‘bout this,” the man slurred, “whatever he’s paying you, I’ll double it.”

The very second the man approached Chelsea, John was out of his chair. As he crossed the room, he could see the blood drain from her face when the man reached for her and touched her exposed skin. Whatever he said, she was clearly upset by it. When she turned and moved quickly toward the elevator, rather than stopping and punching the man in the mouth, he instead chose to follow Chelsea. By the time he reached her, she had pushed the button and was waiting. Her head was bowed and her shoulders were drooping.

Walking up close behind her, he slid his hand around her waist, pulled her gently near, and whispered, “No matter what he said to you, don’t ever leave with your head hung in shame.” He could see she was about to cry, humiliation evident in her eyes. “Now lift your head and laugh as if I’ve said something amusing.” She complied, but it was hardly convincing.

When the elevator doors opened, he led her inside. Once they closed, John gathered her into his arms as she began to cry softly. He hardly needed to ask what the exchange was all about. Especially in Vegas, their age difference likely gave the wrong impression of who Chelsea was. Regretting that he allowed her to be in such a position,
to be hurt as she so obviously was, John was moved in a way that caught him totally off guard. In addition to the wave of strong emotion he was feeling at the sound of her cries, the feel of her in his arms caused an even stronger wave of something he could scarcely identify. It wasn’t physical desire but rather some inherent need to take her hurt away. At that, he gripped her even more tightly, his arms circled around her and his hands resting on her trembling ribcage. She felt very small and defenseless in his arms.

Back in their suite, Chelsea told John what the man said.

“Chels, there are sharks in this world, people who will eat you alive if you allow them. What you should have done was tossed your water in his face or slapped him. I would have been right there to knock him out. Instead, you took what he said to heart and you let him run you off.” His hope over the next year was to help her find her backbone. In no way did he want to strip her of her tenderness, but he could hardly stand the thought of her out in the business world with guys like that pushing her around. As easily as she was shaken that night, she would have to develop thicker skin if she were going to last.

“Was what he said so off base?” That was what she really felt. Since hearing the term
sugar daddy
, she could hardly help but feel a bit dirty. Certainly they were not sleeping together, but just the fact that he was buying her thousands of dollars’ worth of clothes, a car, and paying for school proved she was a kept woman. And then there was the necklace. Reaching up, she fumbled with the clasp, trying to remove it.

“He called you a prostitute.” He spun her around and unhooked the clasp for her. “You’re anything but.” Turning her back to face him, he asked, “Have we…?” He lifted his eyebrows, indicating she knew what he was asking.

“No.”

“Are we?”

“No.”

“Okay. This is no different than if you were my sister or niece. I enjoy your company. You fill a void in my life that I never even knew I had. You are open and honest with me. Chels, I truly don’t want a relationship, but I do need companionship. You’ve shown me that. And
because you do mean so much to me, I’d like to help you get a good start in life. Is there anything wrong with that?”

“No, I suppose not.” His words ricocheted around in her head.
She filled a void in his life
;
she meant so much to him
. Finally, what she was feeling made a little more sense. He was feeling something unusual between them as well. With their age difference, it would never likely become anything romantic, but at least he felt that same connectedness.

John had to momentarily look away. Her innocent eyes and the lack of confidence in her answer melted him and frustrated him at the same time. With a heavy sigh, he looked back at her. “Stand up for yourself. You’ve done nothing wrong. Don’t be a guppy.”

Laughing at him, she nodded, understanding his meaning. She had cried for only a moment in the elevator, and because of that, she felt embarrassed. “I’m sorry I let him get to me that way. I think I’d been over analyzing this thing even before him.”

“There you go apologizing again. It’s okay that you felt what you felt. Just don’t allow people like him to see it. When someone attacks you in some way, get away by yourself to process it if you need to, but don’t run from them.”

“I wish I would have handled it differently.” He must really see her as weak. Of course he did; she was weak. At the slightest insult, she ran away crying. In the future, she decided, she would make sure John didn’t see that side of her. With all that she had gone through over the past few years, there was a deep, abiding strength in her. That was what she wanted him to know of her.

“Hopefully, there won’t be a next time like that, but confrontation will come. When it does, you stand firm.”

Since they were too late for the show John planned for them to see, they decided instead to stay in the room and watch TV. A little after ten, Chelsea went to bed, leaving him in the living room alone. Opening his laptop, he began to scan through the real estate listings in Beverly Hills, close to where he lived. The thought of her being closer to him settled his mind somewhat. The level of vulnerability he found in her that night
troubled him. For as long as she was in his life, he would do everything in his power to keep her safe and comfortable. A complex with security was what he had in mind. And besides her safety, he didn’t like the thought of picking her up at an apartment she shared with three other girls for the next year, so he’d been thinking about finding her a place of her own most of the day.

When she walked back out into the living room, he lowered the top of his computer, certain she would have a meltdown if she knew what he was considering. The way she nearly yanked the necklace off of her neck when they arrived back to their suite was likely a strong indicator of the fight he was in for in trying to talk her into a condo.

Watching her walk toward him, he could do nothing but smile at her. She was wearing grey athletic shorts and a UCLA t-shirt, looking more like a high school girl than a college girl. Surprising him, she came to sit close beside him. When she settled in, she tucked one leg beneath her and rested her chin on her other knee. He noticed she had removed her makeup and was certain she was even prettier without it.