Chapter Nineteen #3
His words were swallowed by a moan when she wrapped her hand around his length and pumped once before shifting in his lap, lifting her hips, and guiding him to her entrance.
She used his shoulders as leverage and slowly slid onto him, exhaling and relaxing as he stretched her, filling her so fully and completely once again.
He was still almost too much for her to take, but the ache of him was just as delicious as it had been yesterday, and she savored it, folding forward and burying her face in his neck.
His chest rose in a sudden gasp beneath her, and a chuckle rumbled after.
“God,” Theo muttered, his voice cracking and strained as he buried his hands in her hair, his arms holding her steady at her back.
“Never in my wildest, wettest teenage dreams did I ever imagine I could have someone as beautiful and precious as you.”
When Audrey rocked her hips against his, he matched her cadence with his own, dragging his warm, plush lips everywhere he could reach while he held her tightly against his heart.
Neither of them managed to say anything else coherent for the rest of that shower.
But the chair held up splendidly.
Audrey smiled again now, and when she met Theo’s gaze, she knew he was thinking about the same thing. A single dimple was shadowed into his cheek, his crooked grin as soft as she’d ever seen it. She smoothed a hand over the front of his coat and tugged it straighter across his chest.
“And I’m going to tell you again, Theo: you look really, really handsome.”
“Thank you, sweetheart.” He pulled out a black KN95 mask from the box and stilled for a moment, turning it over in his hands and staring at his fingers entwined with the elastic.
“What is it?”
He shook his head. “Nothing.” With one graceful, practiced motion, he slid one strap over his ear and pulled the mask across his face, securing the other side so easily, he could probably do it in his sleep before they left home and headed uptown.
It was a long, quiet subway ride to Manhattan.
Audrey sat next to Theo, still clutching her half-eaten bagel and resting her head on his shoulder as he sketched the people around them in his little black leather notebook. But it wasn’t the drawings she was most interested in.
It was his hands.
He hadn’t seemed to notice how much the shaking in his right hand had diminished. It wasn’t entirely gone, not by any means; she still noted an odd tremor here, a strange twitch there. But the difference from yesterday was remarkable.
It was unmistakable.
After everything, Theo was so much steadier than he’d been before.
When he wrapped his left arm around her waist, she closed her eyes and let the gentle swaying of the train lull her into another light sleep.
He woke her with a kiss on the forehead when they got to their stop, and he led her up into the harried streets of Manhattan, winding through the crowds until they arrived at a massive skyscraper.
The doors were busy, constantly opening and closing to accommodate the hustle and bustle of all the professional-looking, buttoned-up office workers dodging in and out.
“HEY!”
Theo’s hand had just closed around the handle when they both turned toward the shout. Diego was sprinting toward them from down the street, his woolen coat and scarf flying in the wind. He skidded to a stop and bent, resting his hands on his knees while he panted.
“What—the fuck—are you doing?” he breathed, glaring up at Theo between gasps for air.
Theo raised an eyebrow. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m going inside to talk to my mother, like I texted you I was. What are you doing here?”
Diego straightened and grabbed his wrist. “Are you crazy?” He twisted slightly. “It’s Friday. Your uncle’s in there too.”
“Yeah. I figured as much. Seemed logical, given that he’s a partner.” Theo twisted out of his friend’s grasp.
“What are you going to do if you see him?” When he didn’t answer Diego’s question, the reporter looked over at Audrey and grimaced, smoothing a hand over his stubbled chin and shaking his head.
“Mother of God. Audrey, did this asshole finally tell you what happened yet or not?” He jerked his thumb back at Theo.
“Surely he’s not walking you in there blind? ”
“I know what I’m getting into.” She put her hand on Theo’s arm. “He’ll be fine.”
“If you say so…” Diego shook his head and ushered them toward the door, yanking it forward and holding it open.
“Let’s get on with it, then. I made up enough bullshit about a family emergency to get out of a meeting with my editor, so you’re dead wrong if you think I’m not coming with you as backup. ”
Theo’s eyes crinkled above his mask as he patted Diego on the shoulder. “Thanks, brother.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He waved them inside. “You owe me one.”
The entrance was impressive, with spit-shined marble flooring and chic, light-wood paneled walls sweeping up to tall ceilings dotted with mid-century modern globular light fixtures.
The woman staffing the front desk paid them no mind, and Theo led her to a hallway lined on both sides with elevators.
When the stainless-steel doors of one opened, he pulled her in and punched the button for the forty-seventh floor.
The higher they went, the more his hand shook.
“Hey,” she whispered, tightening her fingers between his. “It’ll be okay.”
Theo closed his eyes and bent to press his forehead against hers.
“Thank you for coming with me,” he whispered.
“Me too, Ted?”
When he slowly turned to scowl at Diego, he shook his head and sighed.
“Yeah. You too, D. You’re a good friend.”
“That’s all I needed to hear.”
The elevator dinged and the doors swept open to reveal a sweeping walnut-fronted desk, its top formed out of blue-tinged curving glass with sans-serif stainless steel letters spelling out REDMOND, REDMOND & ASSOCIATES. As soon as the woman seated there spotted them, her eyes went wide.
“Teddy?!” she gasped, clamping both hands over her mouth as she stood. “Oh—oh my god, Teddy.” Tears lined her eyes. “Is that you?”
“Hi, Maureen.” He stepped up to her with a wave. “It’s Theo these days. Is my mom busy?”
Maureen stared at him, speechless. She was a middle-aged woman with gray threaded through mousy brown hair and fine wrinkles just beginning to line her kind, round face.
“I—I, uh—sh-she—” She glanced down at the phone, and when she reached for it, Theo put his hand over hers and gently set the handset back down onto the receiver.
“I’d rather surprise her. Don’t ping her, please.”
Maureen swallowed and nodded sharply, still trying—and failing—to blink tears away. “She canceled all her meetings today. She’s just been in her office with Nancy all morning. Looked upset when she came in, hasn’t come out, and hasn’t talked to anyone else.”
“Is my uncle around?”
“Yes.” Maureen eyed the hall to her left warily. “He’s here today.”
“Is he in there with her too?”
“No. No, she’s—”
“Good.” Theo leaned an elbow casually on the counter and drew in a deep breath, both of his eyes hardening as he nodded at Diego.
He hadn’t arranged his hair over his right eye like he used to, and his scar was barely visible through the thick, dark waves tumbling down his forehead and along his cheeks. “Don’t let him anywhere near me.”
“Yessir.” Diego cracked his knuckles before leaning back on the desk with crossed arms, staring darkly down the hallway to the right.
Maureen stood and reached over the desk to rest a hand on Theo’s arm. “Ted—Theo. You look…you look so much better than the last time I saw you.”
The mask partially raised over his cheeks.
But his eyes were sad.
“I’m sure I do, though I’m sorry, I don’t remember you visiting me, Maureen.”
“Oh.” Her face fell. “Right. Of course. You wouldn’t.” She patted his arm and sat heavily in her rolling chair, resting her head in her hand. “You know where your mom’s office is. Go on in.”
“Thank you.” Theo’s eyes crinkled at her, and he held out his hand to Audrey.
Together, they walked down the hallway opposite from where Diego stood guard, passing walls lined with offices.
Some doors were open, revealing people tapping away at computers in shared spaces.
Some were private, and a few very lawyerly looking professionals in suits or skirts did double takes.
One even stood up sharply and stared open-mouthed as they passed.
Theo ignored them all and headed straight for the office at the very end of the hall. A single, imposing door was cracked, and he rested a hand on the handle, holding it steady as they peered cautiously inside.
From what little Audrey could see, the corner office was huge and flooded with light, the early afternoon sunshine pouring inside through floor-to-ceiling windows.
Eleanor leaned against the front of a massive, solid oak desk, somehow looking even tinier than she had yesterday, despite both the height of her heels and her flawless wardrobe.
Her gray hair was perfectly coiffed with not a strand out of place.
Her makeup was impeccable, her nails pristine.
Not a wrinkle in sight on her dark gray pantsuit, and yet…
And yet she looked sick.
She was pale, and her cheeks were tinged with green. She was talking to a much taller woman about her age who was just as chic, but much edgier, her silver hair styled in a severe, asymmetrical bob.
Their voices filtered through the crack in the door.
“I don’t know what to do, Nance.”
“You can’t do anything else. He’s said no. You need to respect that.”
“He’s my only son.”
“He’s grieving.” Nancy took Eleanor’s hands. “His whole life changed. I’m sure he just needs time.”
“What if I’ve lost him forever?” Eleanor held a trembling hand to her mouth, closing her eyes as if she were trying to stave off tears. “I deserve to lose him. I understand completely why he hates me so much. I’m a terrible mother. I—”