Athena forced out a smile and nodded.
“Yes sir, Mr. Markovic,” she said before he led her into the Aquarium.
When she walked back out, she pulled her keys put of her purse and handed them to Evgeni who seemed a little confused.
“You didn’t valet?” he asked and she shook her head.
“I was not a guest,” she said as she led him to where she had parked. She looked at him in gratitude when he opened the car door for her and then climbed in. She fastened her seat belt as he walked around the front of the car to get into the driver’s seat.
“So, what’s the address?” he asked when he started the engine.
“19 Broad Street, Richmond,” she said as she leaned against the window, hiding yet another tear that was rolling down her cheek.
“I’ll get you home, Athena,” he said in a soft voice. She took a long deep breath and closed her eyes as she felt her cheeks sting.
*****
When they got to Athena’s building, Evgeni got out of the car and then walked over to her side to open the door for her. She had expected him to leave as soon as he dropped her off but he wouldn’t hear any of it.
“But you are here all alone,” he said.
“I’ve been alone for a long time, Evgeni,” she said trying to force out a smile. “I have learned to live with it.” He looked into her puffy eyes and shook his head.
“You don’t have to live with that,” he said in a soft voice. “No one has to ever live with that.”
She shook her head.
“If you knew half my life story, you would understand why I have to live with it,” she told him as she leaned against the open door. Evgeni took a step closer to her and put a hand on the open door to support his weight. He wanted to tell her that he was willing to listen to her life’s story but he knew that was not what she wanted to hear at that moment.
“Let me in Athena,” he said as he looked at her. “Let me take care of you.”
Athena looked into his eyes and shrugged. She wanted to be alone but having someone there who didn’t know her was probably just as good.
“Fine,” she said as he walked into her apartment. “Can I get you anything?” she asked as she kicked off her shoes.
“Actually, I am here for you,” he said as she looked at him.
“What are you talking about?” she asked as she took off her earrings.
“I was not the one lying down on asphalt with tears rolling down my cheeks,” he said matter of factly and then walked to the kitchen. “I will make you some tea or hot chocolate, whichever you prefer and you will get a nice soothing bath.” He looked around her kitchen and then sighed. “I am really trying to make sense of your kitchen right now but a little help would be great.”
Athena walked to where he was and opened an overhead cabinet.
“You don’t have to do this,” she said as she put two cups on the counter. “I’m fine.”
“At the risk of sounding like some weird sexual predator, I will make you show me to your room and I can run you the bath myself,” he said as he looked up at her.
“I’ll just have a shower. It’s more polite when you have a guest anyway,” she said before she began walking off. “Feel at home,” she called out from down the hall.
She took a long deep breath when she got to her room and began pulling the zipper on her dress down. She did not understand why she felt so comfortable around Evgeni even though she had known him for less than half an hour.
“Brilliant Athena,” she thought as she held her hair back and stepped into the bathroom. “The first man you bring home in two years is the one who found you crying in the parking lot.”
She turned on the water and put on a shower cap. She was starting to think that maybe Carla was right. That maybe she had actually shelved her life for too long. She did not know how long she had been in the bathroom by the time she finally turned off the water and got out of the bathroom. She then put on her bathrobe and then walked to the kitchen.
“That tea smells really good,” she said. Evgeni looked up from his cup and poured her a cup before he carried the two cups to the living room. She followed him to the living room and sat down as she adjusted her bathrobe.
“You have more tea than a Chinese herbalist,” he said as he handed her a cup and she laughed.
“Yeah, I’m not big on coffee. Green tea is kind of my thing,” she said in a whisper as she took the cup from him.
“Well, I tried making the flavor best suited for the mood and I thought that a lemon grass and mint was the best fit for the evening,” he said with a smile.
“Lemon grass and mint is my favorite,” she said as he sat down next to her. “Lucky guess?”
“Not really. My grandmother swore by the relaxing properties of lemon grass,” he said with a smile.
She smiled and took a sip of her tea.
“So, miss Athena,” he started as he looked at her. “Do you mind me asking what the whole breakdown in the parking lot was about?” he asked as he looked at her. She took a long deep breath and began circling her finger on the rim of her cup.
“I don’t think I am ready to talk about it yet,” she whispered.
“I don’t want to sound cliché but I believe a very wise person once said that a problem shared is a problem half solved,” he said. She looked up at him and forced out a smile.
“Let’s just say that long story short, I lost a whole lot in a very short time.”
“That’s a little vague even for someone you just met,” he said and she shrugged.
“It is not that I don’t want to talk about it,” she started. “It is just that I know when I start talking about it I may very well cry.”
“I have already seen you cry, Athena. So that won’t be any surprise,” he pointed out.
“Look Evgeni,” she started as she shifted her weight. “I really appreciate you driving me here but…I…I just can’t do this right now.”
*****
Evgeni and Athena spent the next two hours talking about everything and nothing in particular. She didn’t know why she found herself so relaxed around him. Maybe it was the fact that he reminded her of someone she once knew, someone she once loved…and maybe she still did.
When Evgeni left, she locked up and then laid down on the futon in her living room. She switched on the TV and flipped through the channels trying to find something to watch but at the back of her mind, she was thinking about Evan Ridley, the man who changed her life forever…
In 2012, Athena knew she had it all, everything she had ever wanted. She was the assistant vice president at Jameson and Klein, a public relations firm in New York and she was engaged to the love of her life, Evan.
Theirs had been a whirlwind romance, something to get Lifetime to make a movie about. They had met in a business convention in Miami, a convention that Athena almost missed. She had been handling a new client who had been key on having his business handled by the best of the best. Something about him not entrusting his millions to a ‘naïve intern’. She had been second guessing herself all the way to Miami and even when she got there, she was not sure she wanted to get out of her hotel room.
“I don’t get why I have to be the one to come all the way to Miami while we could have sent one of the junior associates,” she said as she straightened her hair. She was talking to her boss Harold Klein over the phone as she got ready for that evening.
“I know but we are talking a five million retainer here,” Harold said as she put her straightening iron down. “And don’t even get me started on the billing.”
Athena rolled her eyes and pulled on her black and white dress.
“But Mr. Klein…” she started but Harold wouldn’t hear of it,
“Athena, have you even stopped to think what a five million retainer would mean in terms of your bonus? Plus bagging this client would mean that you add a feather to your already much decorated cap.”
Athena sighed. She knew he was right. Jameson
and Klein had near tripled its business since she began handling their business personally. It was something about how she was able to talk to the clients that always sealed her deal.
“Alright, fine,” she said as she pulled up her zipper. “But this trip could have been avoided altogether.”
“I know but Mr. Lee Chang is going to be leaving for a business trip to the Middle East in a few days. We cannot risk him talking to another firm,” he said and Athena sighed again.
“Yes sir,” she said before she hung up. She put on her shoes and grabbed her bag before she made her way out. “I don’t believe I have to sit through a long boring two hour lecture that I don’t need just so I can get five minutes to talk to some arrogant businessman,” she thought as she rode in the elevator.
But what she did not know at the time was that she was walking right to her future. At first, when she met Evan, she thought that he was a little too nice for her taste but after a few months of correspondence, she knew that she couldn’t have been luckier to know him. By the end of the first year, Evan had proposed to her and she was only too happy to accept. The wedding had been set for June 6th 2013 and even though she had convinced herself that she was not the fairytale wedding kind of girl, she knew that she would never have another ‘big day’. She was hell bent on spending the rest of her life with Evan. She could almost picture what their future was going to be like. Their children, their house…everything. Life with Evan, as far as she could tell, was going to be perfect.
On Wednesday June 6th 2012, Athena was over the moon as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She was in a pale white, one shouldered wedding gown with a detailed bottom. Her dark brown curly hair had been straightened and pulled into a side bun and she had on plum lipstick that blended perfectly with her flawless brown skin tone. She was still looking into her reflection when her grandparents walked into the room.
“You are a beautiful sight for sore eyes, honey,” her grandfather said with a smile.
“Thanks grandpa,” Athena said.
“So lovely,” her grandmother, Yvette said as she hugged her from behind. “I might just cry.”
Athena smiled and shook her head.
“Please don’t because if you cry then I will start crying and I definitely don’t want to look puffy eyed in my wedding pictures,” she said in a soft voice and her grandmother rubbed her shoulders.
“Fine but before we leave we have something for you,” Yvette said pulling away from Athena before she walked up to where her husband was. Athena turned around and looked at her grandfather as he reached into his pocket to pull out a bracelet.
“Is that…” Athena started as she looked at the all too familiar bracelet in her grandfather’s hand.
“It is,” he said. “The silver and sapphire bracelet that has been passed down for generations.”
“I used to be so mad when she wouldn’t let me have it in my dress up games,” Athena said in a soft voice.
“Well, now it’s yours, honey,” her grandfather said as he fastened the bracelet around her wrist.
“It’s something old, it’s something borrowed and it is definitely something blue,” Yvette said with a smile. Athena threw her arms around her grandparents and closed her eyes.
“Your mother would have loved to be here with you, honey,” her grandfather said in a soft voice. “You know that, don’t you?”
Athena pulled away from him and nodded.
“I know,” she said as he dabbed her eyes trying hard not to cry. “I would have loved for her to be here with me too but I know that she is with me like she has always been.”
Yvette touched the side of her face and smiled.
“Of course she is,” she whispered.
“Now both of you get out of here before I ruin my damn makeup,” Athena said as she fanned her face.
Her grandmother smiled and nodded.
“Well, see you out there.”
“I can wait out here…in case you want to fan your face a little more,” her grandfather said.
Athena smiled at him.
“Don’t worry. I’ll only be a few minutes,” she said. “Besides, Evan’s not here yet.”
“Talk about being fashionably late,” Yvette pointed out before the two of them walked out.
Athena looked at her reflection again and smiled. She gently ran her fingers over the bracelet and felt a wave of emotion overwhelm her. All of a sudden, she felt like her mother was right there in the room with her. Her heart was racing as she blinked back her tears.
“I should have gone with waterproof mascara,” she thought to herself as she fanned her face for the umpteenth time. She then sat down in front of the mirror and grabbed the makeup sponge. She dabbed little powder under her eyes and sighed.
“This is it,” she thought. “This is the day I become Mrs. Evan Ridley.”
She didn’t know how long she had been sitting there before she heard the door open. She looked up and saw Carla walking in.
“Hey, I was getting worried,” Athena said as she stood up. She turned around and looked at Carla who was frowning. “What is it? What’s going on?”
Carla walked towards her, a frown on her face. If she didn’t know any better, she could have sworn that there was something wrong. But at that moment, the worst thing she could think of was Evan being late. However, the hesitation in her voice said it all. There was something bigger on her mind. Something worse.
“Carla,” Athena said in a warning tone. “Please tell me what the hell is happening. Why am I still here? What the hell is taking so long?”
“Why don’t you sit down, Athena,” Carla started in a soft voice.
“Why are you telling me to sit down? What happened?” Athena was already hysterical. “Did one of the service providers mess up? Is it the reception flowers?” she asked as Carla put her hands on her friend’s shoulders.
“Sweetie, just listen to me,” Carla said trying as much as she could to calm her down.
“Why are you not telling me what happened?” Athena asked again. This time, she caught a glance of her grandparents standing outside her dressing room. Her grandmother had her head on her husband’s shoulder and from where she was, Athena could see that she was crying. And the tears she had were not tears of joy either. At that moment, panic went through her. This was not good.
“Is it Evan?” she finally asked as Carla looked into her eyes and when her friend didn’t answer she knew that whatever was making her grandmother cry had a lot to do with the fact that her groom was late. Her gaze shifted from her grandparents to Carla as she shook her head.
“Carla…you would tell me if it was something to do with Evan, right? Is he okay? Why won’t you answer me?” Athena asked as she felt her heart beating faster, harder.
“Athena…” Carla started before she pulled her friend into her arms. “Calm down, okay?”
“I can’t…no one is talking to me,” Athena wanted to pull away but Carla was holding her tightly. A tear rolled down Carla’s cheek.
“Athena, there was an accident,” Carla finally said and Athena stopped fighting. She was no longer trying to pull away. It was almost as if she knew what Carla was about to say. “The groom’s convoy…there was a head on collision on the highway. A drunk driver was…” Carla sighed. She didn’t want to overwhelm her with the details. Everything was already too much for her already. “There was a head on collision on the highway,” she said again.
“And Evan?” Athena asked. “What about Evan? What hospital is he in?”
“Athena,” Carla said as she pulled away. “They didn’t take him to the hospital.”
“So he is okay? Where is he?” Athena asked as she looked at Carla. “Tell me where he is and I will go right now!”
Carla held her shoulders again.
“Athena! You have to listen to me!” she said in a voice a little louder than she intended to. “The paramedics never took him to hospital because he…he didn’t make it.”
A
thena suddenly felt the color draining from her face. She shook her head as she looked into Carla’s eyes.
“No,” she said in a whisper.
“I’m so sorry sweetie…” Carla started but Athena shook her head again.
“No!” she cried out. ”I want to see him! I want to see him right now!”
Carla pulled her into her arms again and at that moment all the tears she had been holding back began rolling down her cheek.
“This cannot be happening,” she sobbed into Carla’s shoulder. “Not like this….not like this…”
“Look there is a back exit away from everyone,” Carla said as she ran her hand up and down Athena’s back. “Why don’t I take you to my place, huh? I can make you that southern fried chicken you love so much and later we can have ice cream, okay?”
Athena could not talk. She knew that greasy chicken and ice cream would not solve her problems or bring Evan back but at that moment, she just couldn’t imagine being there any longer. Being in the same place where she was supposed to pledge her life to Evan.
“But I got everything…the dress and the food and ….” Athena started saying when Carla pulled away.
“I’m your maid of honor. Let me handle that,” she said. “But right now all I want is to take you away from this place.”
Athena shook her head again.
“I want to see him,” she said in a whisper.
“Sweetie, I don’t think that’s a very good idea,” Carla said and Athena banged her fist against the mirror, so hard that it cracked.
“Carla! I want to see him,” she said again.
Carla looked at her friend’s grandparents who were nodding at her.
“Fine. I’ll take you,” she said in a soft voice.
Chapter 3
When Athena’s eyelids fluttered open the following morning, it was around six. She sighed when she realized that she was still lying on the couch. Her hand automatically went to her ring pendant. She closed her eyes and sighed loudly as her fingers ran over the surface of ring she had worn on her chain ever since the wedding.
“Another day, another struggle,” she thought as she pulled herself out of the couch. She walked to the bedroom and wondered whether to just get back in bed or go for a run. She was supposed to go and check in on the Aquarium, make sure her clean-up crew had done their work but she was not feeling up to it. And she knew for a fact that having pulled off the charity benefit, she could definitely get away with not being at the office that Saturday. She climbed into bed and pulled the covers before she reached for her TV remote. She had just switched on her TV when she heard her doorbell ring. She sighed loudly.
I'll Be There: BWWM Romance (Brothers From Money Book 5) Page 17
