Chapter 14 #2
“I didn’t see her for almost two years. We lived in rooms across the hall from each other, shared an apartment together, but I didn’t lay eyes on her for almost twenty-four months.
She shut herself away and avoided all human contact for one hundred and one full weeks.
No one saw her face or heard her voice for seven hundred and nine days. It was miserable.”
My heart lurches at the sorrow in his clear green eyes. He’s telling the truth.
Two years? Was this during college? After college?
Was she avoiding the entire world while I was conquering it? Did she pull away because I was invested? What demons did she battle while I built my business from scratch?
“When? What years?”
He returns the bag of peas used on his chest to the freezer before stalking back to his side of the island.
“Right after she got her master’s. No one would hire her.
She was overqualified and undervalued with too much academic success and not enough workplace experience, so she shut herself away and focused on freelancing.
For a few days, I thought she was just working really hard, but then she just…
never took the towel out from under the door. ”
He wipes a tear from his lashes and shakes his head like a dog flipping water out of its fur. Water droplets from his hair sprinkle the counter. He curses, adjusts the frozen peas on his face, and pulls a paper towel off the roll.
“What about food? Supplies? Exercise? What if she gets sick?” I ask.
He answers as he wipes the counter with meticulous care.
“Delivery. She has mini appliances and everything she needs to survive in there. Sometimes she’d be so quiet for so long, I’d worry she was dead, but she’d always reply to my texts right before I knocked down her door, then she’d ghost me again.”
The weight of his words settles over me like six feet of dirt on a grave. He squats to wipe the floor. I aim my face toward the wall. Only a few feet separate me from Penelope, but she may as well be on Mars for how much emotional distance is between us.
“How did you get her back?” I grit through my sorrow.
I didn’t know her demons were so powerful, but I’m the only one to blame for my ignorance.
He rises and tosses the paper towel in the garbage. As he responds, I note the cleanliness of the entire apartment versus the glimpse of his room I caught while we battled in the hallway.
He isn’t a neat freak, but for Penelope, he ensures the shared living spaces are spotless.
“Slowly. I encouraged her to go out when I wasn’t home. I took the pressure off her and let her work through it herself. I was there for her when she was ready, not when I wanted or needed her. So if you aren’t in this for the long haul, then get the fuck out right now.”
The resolution in his eyes ends the last of my animosity toward him. I approve of his loyalty.
Penelope deserves all the friends and support in the world. He was there for her when I wasn’t. I’ll never be able to repay him for loving her like family.
“I’m not leaving,” I rumble.
“And if she doesn’t come out for days? Weeks? Months? Years?” he challenges.
I rip several paper towels off the roll and wipe the counter in front of me, but the popsicle left a sticky residue behind.
“I swore I’d always be by her side, no matter what.” I turn and dip the paper towel under the faucet before facing Penelope’s roommate and best friend. “If she needs a door between us, so be it. I’ll be here when she’s ready to come back to me.”
His unimpressed huff and once-over raise the hairs on my nape, but I don my cutthroat business persona and pull my emotions into the dampening chamber I retain for high-dollar negotiations as I wipe the counter.
When I move to the sink and clean the water I splashed everywhere when I washed my face, he sighs and says, “My name is Peter. You’re Sebastian.
Don’t expect a warm welcome from me unless Penelope forgives you.
My room is off limits. If I see you so much as brush against her door, I’m calling the police.
I had a fling with the local chief not long ago.
He’ll happily let you hang out in a cell for a few nights. ”
“He wouldn’t if I bribed him. I could throw around enough money to tempt a saint,” I say without looking up from my tasks.
Peter’s low chuckle lifts the hair on my nape.
“You know what’s more powerful than cash? Blackmail,” he says.
“What do you mean?”
“The chief is married to a judge’s daughter. She doesn’t know he likes men.”
A chuckle rumbles up from my depths. I shake my head and smirk.
“Good to see you can be fierce, Peter,” I say.
“I can be anything for Pen… except straight. I won’t be that for anyone,” he concedes.
Even though he doesn’t need it, I nod my approval and toss the paper towel in the garbage.
“Dinner’s on me. So is breakfast. I’ll—”
“Oh, hell no, jock. You will not weasel your way into acceptance by throwing around food or money. What did you do to hurt Penelope?”
I refill the glass with the pitcher from the fridge, being much more careful not to make a mess this time, and answer with honesty bordering on cruelty in a neutral tone.
“I took her to pick out wedding rings, but she was fine until I took an urgent call and stepped away. When I returned, she was pale and shaking. She refused the ring and told me she’d never marry me before she walked out and through the streets like a mindless robot.”
With a fierce scowl, Peter crosses his arms over his chest and gives me a disgusted once-over.
“I should kick you out for being such a dick, but I won’t make that decision for Penelope. Dig in for the long haul, then, Mr. Sterling, because you fucked up bad enough I wouldn’t be surprised if she calls the cops on you herself.”
He spins on his heel and somehow stomps into his room without making noise or vibrating the floor, proving again how devoted he is to Penelope’s comfort.
With bitterness on my tongue and fear tightening my chest, I pull out my phone and order enough food to stock the kitchen, a few organizational items for the apartment, and hygiene items for myself before sending a few texts and settling on the floor of the hallway.
A few hours later, the owner of the jewelry store emails me the security footage. Helpless rage consumes me.
Peter is right. I fucked up. I failed to protect her. Again.
It all makes sense. I know who bullied her in high school. The bitch made it clear as hell when she leaned over my sweet pea and smiled the fakest, cruelest smile I’ve ever seen.
I once considered Penelope’s brother my best friend. Now he’s my worst enemy.
It doesn’t matter if he knows his fiancée bullied his sister or not. The fact that he didn’t care enough to find out is enough for me to hate him.
After a few more minutes on my phone, I stretch out on my back and close my eyes, too heartsick and rage filled to care about my phone’s dying battery or my body’s discomfort.
I deserve every ounce of pain.
I’ll do anything for Penelope. Anything except leave. This is as much space as I can offer her.
I’ll be by her side whenever she decides to open the door. No matter how long she stays locked away, I’ll be right here waiting the moment she emerges.
I belong to Penelope Miles. She owns every cell in my body.
Whatever she needs, I’ll give it. She can have all of me.
Forever.