Animalistic Galley Fin

by Lizzie Lynn Lee

  Unfortunately, his mom didn’t believe him when he told her Arielle was only a friend. Trent had never brought a girl home before, so Savannah knew something was up. Of course, Trent wasn’t planning on keeping things between him and Arielle friendly for long. Now that her boyfriend was out of the picture, he could try to convince her to go out with him.

  He was a patient man and he would wait as long as he had to.

  After Arielle was finished unpacking her purchases, Trent offered to take her out for dinner. They were both in the mood for Chinese food, so Trent took her to a hole-in-the wall restaurant down on Broadway that served really great Mandarin cuisine. The place was small, it only seated about ten people, but they made dishes so authentic it felt like you were in Beijing. Trent ordered Peking duck while Arielle picked beggar’s chicken. They dug in, eating with gusto and sharing their food. The duck was crisp but moist at the same time. The dipping sauce was incredible, complementing the salty, savory flavor of the duck. The chicken was flavorful, cooked in a sweet tangy sauce. Trent enjoyed watching Arielle eat, as she relished every scrumptious morsel of her food. He liked women with healthy appetites and appreciation for life.

  “I’m sorry, but I have to ask… you seem to have a strange relationship with your boss, Sabrina. Have you two known each other for a long time?”

  She nodded weakly. “Since kindergarten, actually. My dad and Sabrina’s dad, Mr. Hoffman, were Army buddies. After they got discharged from the service, they remained on good terms. And when my dad fell on hard times, Mr. Hoffman offered him a job at his firm. Hoffman even paid my tuition at an expensive private school so his daughter, Sabrina, had a friend. In a way, I was more like her caretaker.”

  “Oh? How so?”

  “Well, she liked ordering me around, making me her gopher. Sabrina’s mom died when she was three-years-old and Mr. Hoffman had spoiled her rotten. We used to call her Queenie because she always got what she wanted. I guess that never changed.”

  Trent raised his eyebrows. “Isn’t Mr. Hoffman the founder of the firm?”

  She nodded. “He retired about six months ago and Sabrina took over control. The other founder, Edward James, was a partner in name only. He didn’t make any decisions. He just expected his cut of the profits. Mr. Hoffman was the backbone of the company.”

  “You know, the other day when I read your card, it said that you have a JD. Why do you only work as a paralegal?”

  “Oh, I was an attorney before my demotion.”

  “Demotion?”

  Arielle put her fork down. “You see, when Sabrina took over the firm, she wanted to give me the boot but her father wouldn’t let her. So she concocted a scheme to get rid of all of the third year associates. We were all given a choice: leave or take a lesser position as a paralegal. She thought her tactic would drive me away, but I was stubborn. The pay is still the same, courtesy of Mr. Hoffman, so why should I leave? All of the other third years quit, except for me.”

  “Have you ever thought about quitting and going back to practicing law?”

  “Oh God, many times. But the timing just isn’t right yet. The job market is tough out there. With the economy like it is now, many newly-minted attorneys are often forced to take jobs that don’t even require a law degree. Most have a mountain of student debt. Besides, my firm offers great medical benefits that I desperately needed for my mom back then. When she was ill, she needed an allogeneic bone marrow transplant that would have cost around eight hundred grand. The insurance company and the firm picked up most of the tab. And she needed other expensive surgeries and palliative care that I wouldn’t have been able to afford had I not stayed on.”

  Trent whistled. “It seems like Mr. Hoffman is very generous.”

  “Yes, he’s a great person. He even paid my college tuition. He actually promised my dad he’d see me through my education and has kept his word all these years.”

  “Did you go to the same law school as Sabrina?”

  Arielle picked up her fork and took a bite of her chicken. “Yes. We both went to Columbia at first. Sabrina dropped after the second semester and transferred to Touro Law. As soon as I graduated, Mr. Hoffman gave me a job at the firm. Sabrina joined a year and a half later when she passed the bar.”

  “She transferred? Why?”

  Arielle let out a weak laugh. “She couldn’t survive on her own. I’d been taking care of her since… forever. Campus life was different. So many temptations and insane amounts of work. She couldn’t handle the pressure. I think she hated me for abandoning her.”

  “Hmm. Can’t say I blame you.”

  “Mr. Hoffman paid a pretty penny for my tuition. I couldn’t disappoint him. But Sabrina liked parties and did outrageous things on a whim. I couldn’t keep bailing her out on assignments and everything else when I had my own studies to focus on. If I flunked out, I would have felt like a failure.”

  “Wise choice. If you don’t mind me asking, how did she end up stealing your boyfriend? You told me you and Chris had been together since high school. Did he go to Columbia with you and Sabrina?”

  She took a long pause before she answered. “Yes, the three of us were high school buddies. Sabrina was the popular… mean girl. Chris was the school jock and I was Sabrina’s lackey. By some strange coincidence, the three of us were accepted at Columbia. It was a big deal. Mr. Hoffman threw a big party for all three of us before we started school.” She sighed, taking a sip of her iced tea. “Chris and I had drifted apart in the past year. He’s ambitious and quite brilliant. But we both had a lot going on. Actually, about six months ago, we decided to break up. But then, my mom died and he wanted to reconcile because I needed support. I kind of suspect that he’d been cheating on me, but I never thought that person would be Sabrina. I feel so… stupid.”

  “Hey.” Trent grabbed her hand and comforted her. “You’re not stupid. Don’t blame yourself over what had happened. You couldn’t possibly know.”

  “I know that, but I can’t stop feeling that way.”

  “Is Sabrina a vindictive person?”

  “She’s selfish sometimes. And I think she’s jealous of me because Mr. Hoffman spent more time with me than his own daughter. When I was a little girl, I spent most of my time after school. at the office, helping out my dad with the cleaning. My favorite place was the firm’s law library. I like the smell of old books and the feel of those heavy tomes in my hands. I also thought Mr. Hoffman was very cool. He dressed nicely and got to meet important people and defend them.

  “Later in my high school years, I got to talk a lot with Mr. Hoffman, especially after I expressed my interest in studying law. And years later, when I passed the bar and joined the firm, Mr. Hoffman kind of made me his protégé. Sabrina absolutely hated that. She failed the bar once and Mr. Hoffman totally crushed her for that. He’s a perfectionist and can’t abide failure. I honestly think that Sabrina holds a grudge because of it. One time, she told me that it was my fault that she dropped of Colombia.”

  “Jesus. She’s a brat, isn’t she?”

  Arielle smiled. “I can’t really blame her for turning out like she did. She had no one to look up to when she was growing up. She was practically raised by nannies. She rarely saw her dad and her only friend was me, since I’m the only one who put up with her nonsense at school. I count myself lucky because I had two loving parents. We didn’t have much but we were happy.” She took another bite of her chicken. “How about you, Trent? You came from money and yet, you chose to go in to the military. You could have become anything you wanted, and yet you chose a life of service instead.”

  “Not really. On the contrary, my choices were limited when I was growing up. When I was six, I was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, so I spent most of my childhood in the hospital.”

  She looked surprised. “Osteosarcoma? Like bone cancer?”

  He nodded. “In my left leg. I was forced to learn to walk again when I was eleven. Then endless therapies, doctor vi
sits, and tests. It was exhausting. I was declared cancer free when I was thirteen. Doctors said it was a miracle that I was able to recover. Because of that I was behind academically, so my dad decided I didn’t need to follow the Alexander family tradition.”

  She tipped her head aside. “Which is?”

  “All the boys in our family went to Collegiate then Cornell. My grandpa, dad, uncles, my brothers, and nephews all followed the same path. Instead, my dad sent me to a Tendai monastery in Japan for convalescing. I learned meditation. One of the monks taught me martial arts. I was hooked. I learned karate in Tokyo to compensate for my weak physique. I ended up in a local high school there too. After graduation, I came back to the US and got into MMA. I even spent eight months in Israel studying Krav Maga. Mom wouldn’t let me compete professionally, so when I got back here again, I decided to join the military and got shipped to Iraq fresh out of training.”

  “Wait – your mom didn’t want you to compete in martial arts professionally, but she was okay with you joining the military and getting shipped to a war zone?”

  “Initially she didn’t want me to join, but my dad put his foot down. She couldn’t coddle me forever. Sooner or later I had to learn to be self-reliant, right?”

  “So true. And you actually went to school in Japan? That’s fascinating. How was it?”

  “I liked it, but the women were crazy. They followed me around and shouted, ‘Kyaaa!’ each time I made eye contact. Every morning when I changed into my indoor shoes, I found notes in them asking for a meeting on the rooftop. Mostly confessions.” He shrugged.

  “Confessions?”

  “Well, when a kid in Japan likes you, she gives you a note asking for a private meeting, usually on the school rooftop or in the back of the school. And when you show up, she confesses that she likes you and asks you to be her boyfriend.”

  “Is that so? That’s so adorable. So there’s no casual high school hookups like here?”

  “I don’t know now, but it wasn’t like that in my time. Seriously, the girls drove me nuts. Other than that, the food was great. People are friendly and polite. It’s a nice place.”

  “I’m not surprised that you had a lot of female fans. I bet you dated a lot of girls in the past.”

  “No, not really. I only like a particular type of woman.”

  “Oh? And what is your type?”

  “You,” he said, deadpan, thinking there was no use in beating around the bush.

  She clearly hadn’t expected that answer. A smile blossomed at the corner of her lips. Her face blushed into an adorable shade of pink. “I’m flattered, but listen, Trent, I’m not ready—”

  “I understand,” he cut her off. “It’s too soon and you’ve just come out of a bad relationship. I’m a patient man, Arielle. I’ll wait until you’re ready.”

  She bit her lower lip, blushing. “You’re very kind.”

  “Kind?” Trent laughed, shaking his head. “No, babe. I’m a guy with an ulterior motive. If I were kind, I would have helped you without expecting something in return. But I do. And that hardly qualifies me as a nice guy.” He folded his napkin. “Ready to check out the apartment?”

  “Umm, yes.”

  “Let me pay the tab first.”

  ~~~

  Having Trent open up to her like that, well, Arielle felt like she was seeing him for the first time. It was kind of surreal having a guy like him interested in someone like her. Not that she had terribly low self-esteem. When she was in her late teens, she possessed considerable beauty. People said she looked like the younger version of Betty Page, with her naturally raven hair and pale skin. But as stress infused her daily routine, she’d let herself go. Maintaining beauty was hard work she didn’t have time for.

  Arielle was deeply aware that in the past couple of years that she and Chris had drifted apart, and her ex was sometimes embarrassed by her appearance. Chris maintained his boyish good looks by going to the gym three times a week and Arielle didn’t have time for that. Chris came from an upper-middle class family, which meant he had no student debt whatsoever and parents that still offered him monetary support when he needed it. He had an easy life. While she, on the other hand, had a crazy workload and spent nights taking care of her ill mother. Now that her mother had passed away, she still couldn’t sneak in some me-time to take care of herself. She packed on sixty pounds since she graduated from high school, but she really didn’t care. She still had her money troubles to worry about, and the myriad of other problems that followed.

  That was why Trent’s confession caught her off guard.

  She wondered what he saw in her? Trent was drop-dead gorgeous. If he had been a sickly kid with osteosarcoma, you couldn’t tell by looking at him now. He was about six-foot-four with broad shoulders, high pectorals, big biceps, and a narrow waist. His skin was dark, a trademark of an outdoorsman, but his eyes were a vivid green. They looked like sparkling emeralds. Everywhere he went, he turned heads. When he saved her. At the party. While they dined in the restaurant. Women couldn’t help but do a double take when they saw him. A few men, too. But strangely, he wasn’t flirty at all. His gaze didn’t stray. The unwelcome attention was unheeded.

  After dinner, Trent drove them to Greenwich Village in lower Manhattan to see his new apartment. The charming neighborhood was dominated by brownstones and delightful little shops. The sidewalks overflowed with pedestrians and people who lounged and enjoyed a drink in the bistro-styled cafes.

  The place he mentioned turned out to be a whole five-story building with an empty ground floor storefront that was sandwiched between a sushi restaurant and a hair salon. The building belonged to friends of the family. When the tenant’s lease was up, the family had decided not to extend it and offered it to Trent for a steal.

  “Are you planning to open a business here?” Arielle asked as Trent gave her a tour of the place.

  “Yes. A gym and a rehab clinic for the vets. We’ll be living in the apartment on the fifth floor. But the gym will operate as a non-profit organization. Quinn wanted me to run a charitable foundation so we could do some good with the family money, and this is a cause I’m passionate about.”

  “Quinn?”

  “My oldest brother. He’s running the family business.”

  “I think I’ve heard your brother’s name in the news. Something about New York’s most eligible bachelors. Well, your mom talked me about him too. I can’t believe you’re related to him.”

  “It isn’t always easy being related to him. He’s a perfectionist and a slave driver to boot. But he was nice enough to fund this entire operation.”

  “I assume you chose a gym and rehab center because of your experience in the military?”

  He agreed. “I want to help my fellow vets who aren’t getting enough help from their local VA. Besides the gym on the first floor, there will be a resident doctor and a couple of physical therapists on the second floor. The third floor will be used as a meditation center for those who suffer from PTSD. When I was recovering from the osteosarcoma, meditation helped me find my bearings and focus on overcoming pain without drugs.”

  “Ah, I see. A holistic approach, in addition to modern medicine. That sounds promising.”

  “It worked well for me in the past, so I thought it might help those who had exhausted the usual route of healing. The people I have recruited to work here are my fellow veterans whom I served with in the military. They are all excited to be on board with this project. Let me show you our apartment on the fifth floor.”

  Arielle chuckled. “Our apartment?”

  “Don’t tell me you’d rather live with my mom?”

  “Show me the apartment, big guy.”

  The building was equipped with a newly-installed elevator and clearly had gone through extensive remodeling. The apartment boasted four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a spacious kitchen and living space. The rooftop had also undergone some renovations. What used to be a storage place f
or tenants had become an urban garden. The potted trees and plants were still in the process of being planted, but Arielle could see it would be a magnificent place to retreat once it was finished. She could picture barbeques and parties there in the future when everything was finished. Suddenly, she didn’t feel quite so bleak and hopeless anymore. Perhaps there was a silver lining to her string of bad luck. She got to meet Trent and his wonderful family. And she would get to live in a new apartment in a beautiful neighborhood. She had to let go of the past and embrace the future. Hope blossomed within her.

  “Of course, the apartment needs furniture. I was hoping you could help with the shopping,” said Trent. “It’d be nice if this place had a feminine touch.”

  “I’d love to. I love decorating. I used to help my dad paint the office and rearrange desks and stuff. When he was still alive, he’d paint our apartment at least twice a year. He always said he never liked the color he chose. Mom and I thought he just like painting the walls.”

  “Then I trust the project is in good hands.” Trent winked. “Which room would you like to claim?”

  She thought for a minute. “The one next to the kitchen, if you don’t mind? It has a small bathroom that I like.”

  “You don’t want the one that has the big windows?”

  “The master bedroom?” She shook her head. “Shouldn’t you be taking that one? I’m happy with just a small room. It’s the same size as my room in my old apartment. Plus, I don’t have a lot of stuff.” She blinked. Jesus, she didn’t have any possessions except the clothes she was wearing on the day of the fire. If Trent’s mom hadn’t taken her shopping, she wouldn’t have anything to wear at all. She was downsizing on a whole new level.

  Trent ran his hand over his short cropped hair. He leaned against the windowsill in the spacious living room. “I got used to sleeping in tents, barracks and other strange places, so it doesn’t matter to me. I’d like you to have the best seat in the house.”