Chapter 1 #2
I frowned, finding the entire conversation ridiculous.
“Unless you’re making it up and you really are the knocking police.
” I sighed. I shouldn’t have given him any pushback or tried to be funny.
It was wasted on him. Besides, I only had so many words in a day before I reached my limit, or so it felt these days.
“I’m here to see your grandmother because my aunt said to come down to this apartment.
How am I supposed to get in if I can’t knock? ”
He put his hands in his pockets. “Knock, knock.”
It took me a second longer than I liked to realize he was starting a joke. “Who’s there?”
He pulled a key out of his pocket. “Her grandson with a key. Come on, otherwise you would be out here for an hour. They might even come and arrest you by then. You know, the knocking police?”
I couldn’t resist the urge to smile, despite his shoes.
Wiggling the key, he said, “I’m Julian Lent. If I’m going to let you into my grandmother’s apartment because of your aunt—who I also don’t know—then I should at least know your name first, don’t you think?”
His shoes might say he didn’t want to talk to me, but his kind eyes seemed interested enough. Blue and striking . Still, I knew better. Guys like him might not mind acknowledging my existence in the summer, when no one was watching, but everything changed during the school year.
Still, I offered him my hand. “Alatheia Winder, but I doubt you would recognize my last name. I live upstairs with my aunt for now, Tricia Samuels, on the fifth floor.”
Some of his smile dimmed when I said her name, but he nodded.
“Sure, I know the Samuels family. My father has done some work with your uncle. Follow me.” Using his key, he opened the door then gestured me inside.
My aunt had been right about one thing—the red walls were striking.
I spun slowly, stunned by the sheer magnitude of red—it wasn’t some of the walls, every wall screamed crimson.
Everything in my life seemed to be beige. I spun again, taking it all in. Every space had a picture or painting featured, but nothing particularly matched the red or each other. The place said the decorators knew nothing about conformity or being boring.
When Julian spoke, I jerked in surprise. “She has her own tastes, and we don’t particularly like it when people judge her.”
For just a second, while experiencing the walls, I forgot he was there. I side-eyed him. “I think this place is awesome, so I don’t know why anyone would make fun of it. Besides, I’m in no position to make fun of anyone, trust me on that.”
At least not as long as I streamed my heart out and then remained silent in reality. When I went live, I could be as snarky as I wanted. My persona could be wicked sometimes, but she was allowed to be while I wasn’t.
If he intended to respond, I would never know, because his grandmother rushed out to greet us.
“Children!” Her high-pitched voice strained on the roughness of her throat, making me wonder if she was a smoker or had been.
“Granny …” Julian ducked his head to kiss her on the cheek. He then pointed at his ear, and she scowled for a second before she touched her own ear. The sound of a beep echoed softly in the room. “I came to check on you.”
She kissed his other cheek and shook her head.
“You mean to say you came home because you hate the Hamptons. It’s okay, darling, I always hated it there, too.
Still, don’t try to scam me. You told your father you were checking on me so you could get out of there, and now you’ve done it.
You can go on your way, just don’t get in trouble. ”
She turned away from him and held her arms out toward me. “I’m Dina, and you must be Alatheia. Your aunt has been talking about you a lot, but you probably knew that. I needed to put eyes on you, and I must say, my intuition is still spot on. Come, sit down. You’re going to be my companion.”
“Your companion?” Julian and I echoed her at the same time, just in very different tones. He might have been nice in the hallway, but he clearly didn’t like the idea of leaving me alone with his grandmother.
I blinked a couple of times, shocked beyond speech. What does she even mean?
She spun to glare at Julian. “Was I talking to you, darling? No, I wasn’t.
Go do whatever or whoever you came back to the city to do or see.
Or both.” She winked at him then added a shoo gesture.
“You’ve fulfilled your obligation. Now, leave this lovely woman and go.
We have a lot to do. Speaking of that, you need new clothes. There’s a hole in your shoe.”
She turned back to me and pointed at my foot, so I looked down.
Was it three years since I got these shoes?
My Uncle Shane never offered to buy me new shoes, since we’d just got new ones a few months earlier.
They might be as wealthy as the rest of the family, but he didn’t like giving anything to me.
I remembered how his favorite nickname for me was Charity Case.
The court paperwork claimed I would be provided a new pair of shoes a year, but once I outgrew my last pair, a neighbor finally gave me my current Converse out of pity.
For some reason, that endeared them to me, and I didn’t want to give them up, despite their hole.
Somehow, she seemed to realize that from my expression, because she met my gaze and nodded. “You’ll keep your shoes then, but get some new clothes. By this autumn, you’ll be ready to start Pullman with everyone else.”
I swallowed then found my voice again. “I’m not going to Pullman. My grades last year weren’t great.” I wasn’t prepared to discuss what had happened. Maybe not ever. “I’m going to Motifs.”
She shook her head. “You’ll be attending Pullman.” She met her grandson’s gaze over my shoulder. I had no idea what they were communicating based on her expression, but I would bet money he wanted her to stop being nice to me.
Since there wasn’t any way she could change facts, and I wasn’t welcome at Pullman, I decided not to bother arguing with her any further. Besides, if she made her grandson worry about it, that would be funny.
But as to the other part … “Thank you for the offer, but I have a credit card. I can buy clothes anytime.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, one brow arched.
“But I bet it burns you to use it. Every time you think about using it, you probably feel like throwing up because somewhere, someone is keeping an accounting of you. They’ll know every penny you spent, they’ll keep their tally, and in the end, they will throw it in your face.
I would also bet every bite of food causes similar guilt trips, too. ”
How does she know? I stared at her, unable to even try to formulate verbal words. Luckily, Julian answered her. “You’re acting like you’ve had that experience yourself before, Granny.”
Her shrug probably seemed careless to him, but I recognized the automatic defensiveness in it—something I knew well from experience.
She explained, “I have. Before I met … Never mind. Regardless of the reason, there was a time when I lived off someone else’s good graces, which can be a hell unto itself if the person who is responsible for you makes you feel like a burden.
” She sighed. “From now on, you’ll work for me.
I have work for you, so you’ll be my companion.
That’s what old women have: companions.”
I still wasn’t sure how to respond. Companion? I thought I would be running errands. She turned and exited the room, Julian fast on her heels.
“Why do you need a companion, Granny? Are you not feeling well? We could take care of things for you. I mean … I’m sure that?—”
I chased after them, torn between being fascinated by the bizarre situation and horrified.
“I’m not feeling sick; I’m fine. I have decided that I like Alatheia, so I want her around as my companion for the next three months.
It’s really not any of your business. If you aren’t going to go do whatever it is you really came to Manhattan for, Julian, then you can take this young lady to dinner.
On me.” She kissed him on the cheek. “Tell your brothers I love them, and if you speak to the rest of the family, I love them, too.”
She turned toward me. “I’ll see you tomorrow, nine in the morning. I have such a special project, and I look forward to your help.”
“Well, if I can be of assistance ….” As I spoke the words, I realized I meant them. She might be strange, but it had been a long time since someone wanted me around, and I liked the idea of having something important to do.
“You can.” She waved. “Out, you two.”
Julian walked past me. “Sure, I’ll take her to dinner.”
I followed after him, and he closed the front door with a click behind us.
I stared at him. I didn’t want his expensive shoes to feel like they owed me dinner, so I said, “You don’t have to take me to dinner, and you don’t have to worry.
I’m not going to take advantage of your Granny.
I’ll do whatever she wants me to do then I’ll leave, okay? ”
Walking past him felt strangely familiar, even though I’d spent five years running from people.
Most didn’t look long enough to really see me—and that worked in my favor.
The moment someone truly saw me, I feared it would break whatever pieces I had left.
If they see through me, I can’t pretend anymore.
Julian cleared his throat. “I would like to take you to dinner,” he said, his tone overly formal.
My lips thinned as I realized his likely motivation. He probably just wanted to make sure I was safe for his Granny—who clearly adored him and whom he clearly loved—despite her insistence that she was fine.