July 13, 2001
I pretend to be asleep when we reach home after a veeerrry long trip so dad would carry me into the house. It makes me feel so much like a princess.
Nick opened his fourth can of beer as he leaned back on the wooden deckchair. He had leisurely been drinking alone for a few hours already but he had long since known that he had the stomach for alcohol. He wasn’t a drinker though. He hated being drunk. It had happened once when Matt, Lance and Kane forced bottles on him until he could no longer distinguish which was air and which was floor. He did it because he wanted to know how much he could take but he never liked it. And he hated the hangover even more. Since then, he had never failed to count the number of glasses he had consumed and said no whenever he started to feel any side effect of alcohol.
To hell if people think he was a sissy. Or a wimp. Or a wussy, weakling, coward. Whatever.
He took a sip from the can then stared into the night. Their unit was not too high up but the view from his home’s terrace was still breathtaking. The city lights were ablaze at this hour and combined with sounds that were more audible down here, the experience felt more surreal compared to the view from the penthouse.
A sigh escaped from deep in his throat.
He turned his head toward the general direction of the Leisure District. He wanted to go. He really did. But Rachelle had asked for time and by all means, he would give it. She hadn’t asked for space but Nick knew she would have a more difficult time sorting out her feelings if she kept seeing him. So he did his best to stay away. He had asked Lance to give her his birthday gift: a silver necklace with two pendants—a heart and a key. He remembered her fascination with key accessories; and during one of those instances when she had dragged him to go shopping, he noticed her eyeing that particular necklace. He knew she didn’t have it yet because if she did, he would have known.
He seemed to know everything about her.
Nick also knew she would like it and had things been normal, she would have hugged him in delight, surprised at how he could remember such a trivial thing as a necklace.
He heard the sliding doors being opened so he turned to see who it was. Hubert Cleveland sauntered toward the other deckchair, then plopped himself down; setting a fresh bucket of ice, two glasses, and a bottle of red wine on the small table between them.
His father was a huge man, tall and a bit overweight but still handsome, nonetheless. Nick got his dark blond hair, rugged features and large build from Hubert yet people always thought that the younger man seemed to radiate more power and confidence than his old man. When asked, Julia Cleveland would always say that it must be because her son learned independence at quite a young age. In all truth, Nick thought that that impression stemmed from the fact that his father smiled more often than him.
The wine bottle opened with a pop, and he watched silently as his father poured the rich, burgundy liquid into each of the goblets. Hubert handed him one, took the other, then stretched his long legs out on the chaise.
They drank in silence, and Nick felt strange at the idea that he rather enjoyed his father’s company.
He thought he wanted to be alone.
Seconds turned to minutes and still, no conversation had begun between the two of them. Nick rather liked it but he wondered what his father was thinking. He wasn’t one to open up to anyone and he felt a pang of guilt as he looked at his father quietly drinking his wine. Could it be that he wanted his son to tell him what was bothering him?
He sighed, trying to figure out how to make small talk.
His father beat him to it.
“Your mother had a boyfriend when we first met,” Hubert blurted out.
Nick didn’t know much about his parents’ love story and it rendered him momentarily disoriented to hear it now. It made him curious though so he turned to face his father, letting the older man know he was listening.
“She had just finished college and I was a simple office worker who dreamed of having his own business. She was my sister’s friend and we got introduced during their grad party.” Hubert started shaking his head. “I didn’t think she was the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. Rather, I saw her as ‘just one of the girls out there’.” The memories were making his dad smile and Nick felt himself smiling as well. “She was talkative and very much a worrier. Sometimes, it made me wonder how her boyfriend could last more than ten minutes with her.”
Nick’s smile grew; he knew his mother liked to talk about anything that came to mind—especially if it was just the two of you.
“Nothing special happened between us for months. She sometimes comes to visit Ellen, and other times, we end up having a chat. We were friends. But then one day, everything changed.” Hubert blinked then looked at Nick as if seeing his son for the first time that evening. “You know how you thought it’s going to be just another normal day and then suddenly, you see someone and everything has changed?”
Nick remembered that day in middle school when they were dissecting a common house lizard. He nodded in understanding and he saw his father smile.
“Julia was in the park, playing with kids, and it made me want to kneel in front of her and ask her to be the mother of my children,” Hubert said with a soft chuckle. “It was the silliest thought I’ve ever had and I was thankful I never actually did it.”
“So what happened?” Nick asked curiously when Hubert kept quiet.
A grave expression fell on Hubert’s face. “I found out she got a marriage proposal.”
Nick never knew about that and he was suddenly wary and alert. It made him fear that his father may have done something stupid before; and he wondered how things were resolved.
“I couldn’t exactly say that it broke my heart. But,” he paused to gather his thoughts. “I felt a deep kind of regret that left me feeling numb for a long time.”
“How did the two of you end up together?” Nick urged when the silence felt unbearable.
“I pretended that nothing has changed. But then there was a party and I got drunk. Without thinking clearly, I called her and told her what I felt.” The older man smiled bitterly. “Then feeling ashamed of myself, I avoided her. And that was the biggest mistake of my life.”
There was a painful note in his father’s voice and Nick held his tongue from probing. Hubert obviously needed to tell his story his way.
“I think it was a year before I saw Julia again. She was twenty-seven and had never been more beautiful. I approached her and attempted small talk. She listened to me talk about the weather for quite some time and before I knew it, she was already crying. It baffled me and I asked her what’s wrong. I got a slap instead.
“And then she told me angrily, ‘You avoided me for a year and all you wanted to tell me was about Heartlake weather? I rejected the proposal, you idiot! I tried to tell you I’ve fallen in love with you too but you’re so selfish, you won’t talk to me!’ I remembered all three sentences because,” a teary smile started to form on Hubert’s lips, “those were the sweetest words I’ve ever heard in my entire life.”
“You think being called an idiot was sweet?” Nick asked his father incredulously. His eyes belied his question though, and his father saw that his son understood.
“You can always avoid getting hurt, Nick. I knew how easy it is. But I find that it’s simpler to let her give you an answer first before making a decision. It’s not because she might love you too but because it’s selfish not to think about what she feels. You’re not the only one who’s going to be hurt.”
For a moment, Nick wondered if his father was still talking about himself or if he was already giving his son an advice. He decided to take it as one.
“I’ll remember that.”
Hubert nodded then lifted himself off the chair. He ruffled his son’s hair the way he often did when Nick was a kid then ambled back into their living room.
As he recalled the story he just heard, Nick realized that his father just might have told him that because Hubert knew that his son needed to hear it.
He leaned back on the chaise with a smile on his face.
*****
Rachelle went downstairs early the next morning, still feeling happy and sad at the same time. Her birthday had been wonderful but Nick’s absence was enough to dampen her mood. She didn’t want to lose her best friend that way and she lay awake the previous night trying to figure out what to do. She got his gift from Lance and was surprised to see the necklace she told herself she’d buy when she finally got around to it.
She sighed.
Nick had always been someone who gave her what she wanted.
The moment her feet landed on the stairs’ last step, she knew something was different. She couldn’t exactly point out what but as she continued her way to the living room, her heart began to beat faster and her feet began to hurry.
She stopped by the threshold and froze.
“I guess I’m a day late but I know you’ll always forgive me,” Ian Harlow greeted with a smile.
Her father was seated on the sofa; his dark brown hair still ruffled from travel yet his dark, almost black eyes were alert, with no hint of exhaustion. Concern flashed in those eyes when he first saw his daughter. However, it disappeared almost instantly, making Rachelle wonder if she had imagined it.
When she still did not move from where she was standing, Ian gave her his usual chortle and opened his arms, asking his daughter to give him a hug. It brought Rachelle out of her surprised daze and she ran, almost toppling over the sofa by sheer force of her excitement.
Her father hugged her almost as tight as she did and stayed that way for a while. When Ian pushed back he gave her a soft kiss on the forehead then smiled lovingly into her eyes.
“How’s my little princess?”
It was the question her father always asked when he knew something wrong came up while he was gone. It was his question when she came home trying to hold back her tears after she got herself scratched on the knees after falling off her bike. It was his question when she went home one day with a below average score because she fell asleep during the quiz. It was his question when he arrived to take her home the day she got harassed.
She never told him why she cried that time and as she looked at her father now, she knew that he had already connected the recent events to that day.
A sudden burst of emotion threatened to spill out of her eyes and she went back into the comfort of her father’s shoulders. He allowed her to cry her heart out as he gently patted her back.
“It’s alright, princess. Daddy’s here,” Ian softly whispered.
Her father’s soothing words only made her cry even more. Her tears were filled with a repetition of I’m sorry, thank you, and I love you,and she knew that her father had heard all of them. She also knew that Ian responded with It’s alright, don’t worry, and I love you too in every stroke of his hand on her back.
Rachelle thought that she no longer had tears to shed for what had happened but her father’s presence had brought all the wounds out in the open, in hopes to make her father heal them.
And heal them, he did.
He kept saying gentle, comforting words until her sobs began to subside.
When her shoulders were no longer shaking violently and her hiccups no longer came too close from each other, she pulled back and told her father with a watery smile, “I’m just so happy you’re back.”
Ian held her face in both of his hands as he wiped the tears that remained at the corners of her eyes. He gave her a grin and asked her cheerfully, “That felt good, didn’t it?”
She must have taken her positive outlook from her father because she didn’t need more than a few seconds before she was nodding and grinning back at him.
“Let me keep that smile on your pretty face,” Ian announced as he stood up and lifted a box wrapped in red dry waxed paper and ribbons. He brought it to her and said, “Happy birthday, princess.”
“Thanks, dad,” she replied then gave him a kiss on the cheek.
She was about to rip the wrapper off the box when Matt’s surprised call brought both her and Ian’s heads up.
“Dad?!”
Ian beamed then stood up and gave his son a mock salute. Matt laughed and rushed over to give his father a bear hug.
“When did you arrive? This is for Christmas, right? You should have called so I could’ve picked you up at the airport,” Matt asked Ian enthusiastically.
Vivian must have heard the commotion happening in the living room as Rachelle saw her dark blond curls appear in the entry. Her mother answered Matt’s question.
“He arrived before dawn. I opened the door just as he was about to wake us all up with the doorbell. Your crazy father didn’t even bother to call any of us,” she ended with a bit of irritation.
Ian chuckled and came over to hug his wife. “You’re still angry about that? You know I hate being a burden,” he said as he tickled his wife into smiling.
Both of their children snorted in disgust in what their parents assumed to be a sweet moment.
“Uggh!”
“Ewww!”
“Get a room!” Matt gritted out.
Vivian slapped Ian’s arms out of her waist, gave him a look then asked Rachelle in a loud voice, “Why don’t you open your dad’s gift now, honey?”
That brought Rachelle’s attention back to the box on her lap and with everybody’s nod, began to remove the red wrapper.
“I assume that’s not a set of keys for a new car,” Matt deduced. “If it is, I’ll raise hell. See if I don’t.”
“Hmph,” Rachelle huffed as she tore off the last bits of paper. “You just hate the fact that you got a secondhand car instead of brand new.”
“Psh.” Matt turned towards his father. “Don’t listen to her dad. I love the Honda.”
Both of his parents just looked at him with disbelieving smiles. They all recalled how Matt sulked when he got his dad’s Honda as a twentieth birthday gift.
Rachelle had finished opening the gift, and a box of books appeared in front of them. She frowned in confusion.
“But dad, I already have Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ Chicago Stars series.”
Ian gave her a knowing smile. “I doubt any of them were signed.”
Rachelle’s eyes widened like saucers as she looked at the front pages of each of the new volumes. All seven books were signed.
“Aaahhhh! OMG!!!” She set the box aside and ran towards her father. “That’s the best gift ever!” She shrieked as she forcefully wrapped her arms around her father. “You’re the best dad, I swear!” She pulled back and jumped around in excitement, as she looked through the signed pages again.
“Romance, euck,” Matt said with a shiver.
Rachelle merely sent him an annoyed glance.
“It’s good you like them,” Ian averred as he laid one arm on Vivian’s shoulders and placed the other in his left pants pocket. “I had to fall in line among a set of young and middle-aged women just to get her signature.” An embarrassed frown crossed his face. “I don’t think I can show myself up in Chicago anytime soon.”
Rachelle could just picture her father in the middle of a room full of women who were fans of romantic fiction. Even she could feel herself going red with imagined embarrassment. The looks they must have given her father was hilarious. Her mom and Matt could probably imagine it as well as they tried to keep themselves from laughing—and failed.
“Oh, go ahead and laugh,” Ian declared sarcastically.
It only made them laugh harder. Soon, Ian had joined in the laughter and was narrating the entire experience.
Vivian interrupted the tale by ushering all of them to the dining table for breakfast.
“You still have school, I’ll have you know,” she reminded her children.
“Shoot,” Rachelle muttered as she saw the time. Six thirty. Plenty of time to go to school but not too much time to waste.
“Let’s continue the chat later, then. Be home by dinner,” Ian told his children over breakfast.
They both nodded as the phone began to ring. Rachelle volunteered to answer it and was surprised that it was for her.
“Betty! Hi!” she greeted.
“You seem to be in a good mood,” Bettina assumed over the phone.
“Yup! Dad just got back for Christmas. Is anything up?”
“Well,” her agent began in a solemn voice. A shiver ran through Rachelle’s spine. This wasn’t bad news, was it? “Let’s just say that I didn’t want to ruin your mood so I called to tell you,” Betty paused to add suspense, “that I’ve got a project for you!”
“What?” Rachelle exclaimed.
“Now, now. It’s nothing big but it’s a start,” Bettina explained. “A group of students from the Heartlake School of Fashion needed a model for their designs which will be featured in a small-time web magazine. They chose you.”
Rachelle was silently amazed for a few seconds before she whispered through the receiver. “Oh my god.”
She heard Betttina chuckling on the other end of the line. “I know.”
“Thanks, Betty. You’re an angel!” Rachelle told her agent in a still dazed voice.
“You’re always welcome, darling. I’ll see you tomorrow at the agency. Bye.”
“Bye.”
A grin slowly crept over her face. Everything, it seemed, was slowly falling back into place. And she couldn’t be more excited.
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Err, guys. I don't know if you've noticed, or even remember, but I changed Matt's age here. I mentioned in a previous chapter that he's nineteen when Rach was still eighteen. I have a huge feeling I miscalculated their birthdays and ages so I decided to make Matt a twenty year-old. Thanks much!
If you started reading this story after April 4, 2012, you probably won't see any difference as I've already changed it by then. =)