Beautiful

Chapter 22

Theo POV

I lied to her. For the first time, I lied to her.

We were having a great time at her place with her friends and family, when my phone buzzed. I checked it out and it was a text from an unknown number. It read:

Theodore, it's your mother. I heard you were back in town and wanted you to meet me in my suite at the Plaza Hotel. I'm in room 1864. I hope to see you by 2:30 a.m.

I had told her that it was Marc. I didn't know what else to say. I was in shock. That woman hadn't reached out to me in years, mostly because she knew that I didn't want to hear from her. I do not want to go see her but I feel like I must. She has ways of getting what she wants and, when she doesn't, she retaliates. I'm worried she'll go after Ronnie. She has to know about us, the rest of the world does.

Around two o'clock in the morning, Veronica is asleep on my chest. I gently place her in her bed, comfortably, before descending her grand, marble staircase. I quickly and quietly put my shoes and jacket on and wait for the elevator. I pray that the noise from the machine won't wake her. The ride down to the lobby is quick. I walk outside and light a cigarette while waiting for a cab. When I see an empty one, I flag it down and put out my cigarette. I direct the man to the Plaza and we take off.

The cab ride is slow and painful. Seconds seem to last hours. Minutes seem to last days. In only five minutes, we reach the hotel. I give the driver a hundred dollar bill and don't look back. I walk into the hotel and ride the elevator up to 1864. I'm nervous and itching for another cigarette. I wish Veronica was here. She makes everything better.

I reach the floor and navigate her room quickly. I give three, short knocks on her door. It opens after five beats, and there stands my mother. "Theodore. I wasn't sure you'd come," she says.

"Neither was I," I say as I walk in. "Bill put you up pretty nicely," I comment. Bill was yet another one of her boyfriends whose money she plans on draining.

"Please have a seat, darling," she says, disregarding my snarky remark.

I walk into the living room and sit in the middle of one of the couches. "Anything to drink sweetie?" She asks. A bourbon.

"No," I respond.

She returns a minute later, a cup of " tea" in hand, which smells strongly of Grey Goose vodka. "So how was your press tour?" She asks as she finally sits down in the chair opposite me.

"Good," I respond.

"I saw all of those ridiculous rumors about you and your co-star," she adds. What rumors?

"What rumors?" I ask.

"Just those ones about the two of you dating. I know that you and Layla are still going strong," she says.

"Mother, Layla and I are not together anymore. I broke up with her. The 'rumors' about Veronica and I are true," I respond. Her demeanor changes.

"Hm," she says.

"What," I say with attitude.

"Nothing, I just think you could be doing much better. Layla was good for you, this little tramp is nothing but a fake-ass, goodie two shoes," she says as she stirs her drink, "no one is that perfect all the time."

She's getting drunk. I know she is. I can smell the alcohol on her.

"We're done here," I say as I stand up to leave.

"No! Wait, Theodore, where are you going? You only just got here!" She says as I walk away.

I spin back around to face her. "Since you're clearly not sober I'll make this quick. You are in no position to tell me who I can and can not be with. You, of all people, should not be giving dating advice to anyone and if you ever talk about my girlfriend that way again I promise you I will never hear from me again," I say as I storm out.

"Theodore, wait," she says as she catches me at the elevator. "I don't understand why you are always so upset with me," she says. I explode.

"Are you kidding me? You left me with dad, who you knew was an alcoholic and beat the shit out of me every day," I say.

"I was so young, I thought that I would just screw you up by being there so I left," she tries.

"That is bullshit and you know it. You ran off with one of your boyfriends so that you could have a constant payday. I had to work two jobs on top of juggling high school to support both me and dad because God knows he wouldn't get off the couch long enough to keep an steady job," I add.

"How was I supposed to know that?" She asks.

"Don't act like you didn't know. You knew that, in the rare times you did come to see me, I wasn't home because I was always at work. You saw what dad would do. You saw how he'd waste any money we had on his next drink. You saw that, unless it was to take his anger out on me, he wouldn't get off the damn couch. You were right there!" I exclaim. "Of course you weren't, though. So how could you really know since you were never there," I finish.

A silence passes between us. "What is it about her?" She asks, finally breaking it.

I think for a minute. "She's the exact opposite of you," I say, and with that, the elevator doors close and I ride back to the lobby.

On the cab ride back to Ronnie's, my blood is boiling. She couldn't even stay sober for five fucking minutes to talk to me.

I finally reach Veronica's. I swiftly head back up the elevator and make my way to her room. I see she's still asleep so I climb in next to her. She moves a little and her eyes open slightly.

"Theo?" She asks quietly.

"Hey, I'm right here, baby," I say and she nods and snuggles into me. I can't help but smile. I knew that the second I got back to her, everything would be okay. Her hand starts feeling around the bed. I hold out mine and, when she finds it, she relaxes and holds my hand in hers. I smile down at her before I lean back and let my eyelids drift to a close.