by Tia Wylder
Hours later, when I woke up, it was dark outside. The weather looked frigid and blustery, and I shivered as I got to my feet and pulled a sweater on over my shirt. The lights of the city suddenly struck me as lonely – so many tiny yellow squares, each the window to a different story, a different life.
I’m getting maudlin, I thought as I stood there, feeling the chill air through the thick panes of glass. I frowned. It felt strange, to be lonely. I wondered if it was the time I’d spent with Adele, cooped up in the Hotel St. Charles.
Or maybe it was something more. I’d always cherished my alone time – I’d always loved it. But now that I was away from Adele, something didn’t feel right. With a wry smile on my face, I picked up my phone and dialed a familiar number. I knew then that I had to get to her, to be with her. No matter what.
--
An hour later, I stood in front of Adele’s door, freezing my ass off, with a steaming pizza box in my hands. The door swung open, and Adele stood there, blinking at me. She was wearing black yoga pants that hugged the slender curves of her thighs and a shirt that hung loosely off one shoulder. She smiled when she saw me.
“Hey,” she said in a raspy voice. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you back. I was sick – Lisa thinks it was because of all the water in Nassau.”
I held up the pizza. “Maybe I should’ve gotten chicken soup, then,” I said. “But this might do the trick.”
Adele looked at the box with clear hunger in her eyes. “Lisa hasn’t been letting me have anything but broth,” she said. “And that smells good enough to practically inhale.”
She stepped back, letting me into her apartment. I looked around as I followed her into the living room and set the pizza box down. The apartment wasn’t very spacious, but I got the sense that Adele and her roommate were happy there – it was filled with personal touches and an eclectic sense of décor that I hadn’t seen since college.
“Sorry, it’s a mess in here right now,” Adele said, wrinkling her nose as she flopped onto the couch and folded her legs underneath her body. “God, that smells so good.”
I opened the cardboard box and handed her a slice before helping myself. We chewed greasy pepperoni and cheese for a moment in silence, then I swallowed and cleared my throat.
“I want to thank you,” I said. “Because of what you did – well, because of what you captured on your phone – Franchot is going to prison for a long time. The authorities are still investigating, but they’re going to make an arrest really soon.”
Adele finished her slice and moved on to the crust, chewing thoughtfully. “Good,” she said. “I’m glad.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Me, too.”
At the sound of footsteps, I turned around and saw Adele’s roommate, Lisa.
“You shouldn’t be eating that,” Lisa said to Adele in a chastising tone. “It’s not going to help you get better.” Lisa’s gaze shifted to me, and she gave me a curious look.
Adele stuck her tongue out before grabbing another slice from the box. “No way,” she said. “I’m already feeling better. Three days of broth made me actually want to die.”
I snickered.
“I’ll give you a piece if you leave us alone,” Adele said. She raised an eyebrow at Lisa. “Deal?”
“Well,…okay,” Lisa said. She shrugged. “Not like I can leave my room, anyway. I still have ten pages of that stupid paper to write.”
“Sustenance is important,” Adele said in a mock-serious tone. She handed Lisa a piece of pizza. “Now, get back to work. Jack and I have some…things to discuss,” she added, glancing over at me and cocking her head to the side.
Lisa rolled her eyes, but turned and retreated down the hall to her room. As soon as we heard the door close, Adele bit her lip.
“I heard about the captain of the charter boat,” she said. “I kept calling and calling for days. He actually survived – his boat didn’t go down, he actually drifted to one of the smaller Bahamian islands.”
“Oh, thank god,” I said, closing my eyes. “That’s a relief.”
“You’re telling me,” Adele said quietly. “God, I was so worried about him. I felt so guilty.” She blushed. “I’m lucky the company doesn’t want to sue me.”
I snorted. I hadn’t even thought about that possibility, but now that Adele had mentioned it, I knew she was right.
“So, anyway, thanks for this,” Adele said as she reached for a third slice of pizza. “And sorry I’m totally pigging out…I was starving.”
“Well, it’s adequate payback for saving my development and tackling Franchot,” I said, smirking.
Adele rolled her eyes and groaned. “God, no,” she said. She frowned. “You know, I feel guilty.” She glanced down into her lap and stared at the slice of pizza in her hands. “I didn’t really want to help you at first. I was originally against you, you know.”
“I know,” I said quietly. “Trust me on that.”
Adele stared at me. Her green eyes had never seemed so large as they did at that moment.
This is it, I realized. This is it – I have to tell her now. I can’t wait any longer.
“I love you,” I said. The words tasted foreign in my mouth, but somehow just right. I knew as soon as I’d said them that they were true, that they always would be true.
Adele looked stunned.
“I know, you don’t believe me,” I said. “We almost died, and we spent half of the time bickering when we weren’t afraid of dying. But I do love you, Adele. I’ve never met a woman like you before. You’re smart and driven and capable…and god, you make so many stupid decisions sometimes! But I’m the same way, Adele. I’ve done the exact same things before in life. We get along because we’re so similar. And that’s why we fight, too, I think.”
Adele swallowed hard. She blinked at me. “Jack, I—“
I held up a hand to silence her. “Don’t say it,” I said. “Don’t say it back if it’s not true, and even then. I want you to think about what you want. But I’m willing to do whatever I can to make you happy. Hell, I’m changing my company so that every development is going to be as environmentally sustainable as possible, and I swear you can hold me to that.”
Adele’s eyes got bigger with every passing second.
“And I donated two million dollars to a wildlife fund that helps displaced natural species in the Bahamas,” I said. “In your name.”
Adele’s eyes were brimming with tears. “You mean it,” she said softly. “You…you really do love me, then.”
“Yes,” I said, suddenly worried that my own voice would break with emotion. “I love you. And I think I always have.”
The force of Adele throwing herself into my arms very nearly knocked me backward. She pressed her lips to mine and kissed me passionately, wrapping her arms around my neck and pulling me close. I could feel her heart frantically pounding in her chest, and the strange fragility of the sound made me love her even more. Adele moaned softly as I put my hands on the small of her back and pulled her onto my lap. There was nothing more natural than holding her body in my arms, and I knew then that I could never let her go, that I wanted to hold onto Adele forever.
When Adele pulled away, she rested her forehead against mine.
“I love you, too,” she said softly. Then she winked. “Pizza breath and all.”
Chapter Seventeen
Adele
“I can’t believe it!” Lisa pulled away and looked out the window. “It’s finally happening!”
“I can,” I said, rolling my eyes. “It feels like it’s been years, doesn’t it?”
Lisa nodded. “Yes,” she replied. “It really does.”
I crossed the room and took a flute of champagne from a table set up in the corner. Lager College was hosting a pre-graduation party for all of their doctoral students, and Lisa and I had decided to come after some convincing from our colleagues, Andrew and Sally.
I glanced down at my watch. It was only three-thirty, and I knew the party was expect
ed to go on until the late evening. I didn’t want to abandon my friends, but I missed Jack terribly. He’d been away on business for the last two months, and he’d been so busy that we’d barely spoken. At first, I’d worried that long distance would ruin our relationship. But now, if anything, I realized that the distance between Jack and me had just made us stronger than ever before. It had been six months since that disaster in Nassau, and Boston was in the midst of a perfect, summery bloom.
“Hey,” Lisa said, tapping me on the shoulder. “Wake up, sleeping beauty. Come over here.”
I followed Lisa over to a crowd of doctoral students, all excitedly chattering about their post-graduation plans. When the conversation turned to me, I shrugged.
“I honestly don’t know yet,” I said, shaking my head and taking a sip of champagne.
Andrew narrowed his eyes. “How can you possibly be serious,” he said. “You took down one of the world’s biggest villains, and you don’t even know what you’re going to do next?”
I flushed slightly and laughed. “That might be true,” I said. “But I think I just want to take some time off and look for a good job, or maybe a postdoc.”
“You should look into Oxford or Cambridge,” Andrew said. “I know they’re taking two or three environmental science postdocs.” He puffed out his chest and gave me an arrogant look. “You’d be good enough to get in.”
“That’s all the way across the ocean,” I said, shaking my head. “I don’t think I want to go that far away.”
Andrew narrowed his eyes. “Adele, don’t be ridiculous,” he said. “What, are you telling me you’re going to stay in Boston forever?”
Jack’s gorgeous face popped into my head and I shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Whatever happened to all of that ambition?” Sally asked. She frowned. “You were like, so set on changing the world.”
“I put Louis Franchot in federal prison,” I said with a smirk as I finished the last of my champagne. “I hardly think that gives you room to call me unambitious.”
Andrew and Lisa laughed, but Sally just looked put off.
“I just don’t know how you can't possibly have plans,” she said, tossing her head. “It’s so irresponsible. That’s not like you, Adele.”
Lisa rolled her eyes. “Come on,” she said. “Come get a drink with me.” Lisa linked her arm through mine, and we walked over to the windows and looked down at the city streets below.
“Sorry about her,” Lisa said. “I think she’s just jealous. You’ve done more at twenty-four than most of us will do in a lifetime.”
I flushed. “I don’t think it’s that,” I said slowly.
Lisa frowned. “Oh yeah? Then what?”
“It has to be Jack,” I said. “Sally probably thinks I’m…oh, I don’t know, some kind of traitor just because I’m dating him.”
“Well, fuck her,” Lisa said amiably. “You’re happy, and you deserve it.”
I replaced my empty champagne flute with a filled one and took a small sip, thinking about Lisa’s words. She was right – I was happy. The past six months that I’d spent with Jack had been some of the happiest of my life. At first, I’d felt so guilty about dating a billionaire real estate developer, almost like it was against my own personal ethics. But after a while, I’d realized the truth: that I couldn’t live without Jack in my life, and there had to be a way to make compromises. After all he’d done for me, I figured the least I could do was be a supportive girlfriend.
“I just can’t wait to be done with this,” I said, biting my lip. “It feels a little ridiculous, you know. Most people have been working for years at our age. And we’ve just been studying and writing papers.”
Lisa snorted. “Don’t put yourself down like that,” she said. A dreamy expression came into her eyes. “Adele, have you seriously not thought about what to do after we leave Lager?”
“I have,” I admitted. “The truth is, I’ve been looking at jobs and postdocs for months. There was something promising, with a software development company…but it’s in the middle of Illinois.” I wrinkled my nose. “And I don’t want to move so far away from Boston.”
Lisa put her hand on my arm. “I know you don’t want to leave Jack,” she said. “But you have to think about what’s best for you and your career.”
“Boston isn’t a small city,” I said. “And I’m sure I can find something here.”
Lisa gave me a long, hard look. “I’m sure you’re probably right,” she said. “Either way, you know I’m proud of you.”
After the reception, Lisa and I went back to our apartment and started packing. She’d found work with a firm in New York as their environmental researcher, and although it didn’t start for a few months, I knew that she, too, was anxious to move on from school.
I didn’t have a clue what I was going to do about my living situation. I’d thought about moving in with Jack, but I hadn’t wanted to mention it. And now that he’d been away for so long, I especially didn’t want to bring it up while there was still so much distance between us. But I knew that in the end, I’d figure something out, no matter what.
The next day, Lisa and I donned our gowns, six-sided velvet tam hats, and black heels. We looked at our reflections in the mirror and laughed.
“Why do they make us wear such stupid hats,” Lisa moaned, covering her face with both hands. “If anyone tries taking a picture of me, I’ll actually kill them.”
I giggled. “I have no idea,” I said, plucking at the stiff, faux-satin material of my gown. “And this is hideous. Can you believe it was over three hundred dollars?”
Lisa groaned. “I know,” she said. “I could’ve bought a killer pair of shoes and a dress that doesn’t suck for that much.”
We both laughed for a moment, then we fell silent.
“You know,” I said slowly. “It was worth it. We only graduate once, you know.” I looked at Lisa’s reflection, and suddenly, I felt tears well in my eyes. I couldn’t believe that my life as I knew it was coming to an end. It felt so weird to think about Lisa, my best friend, living hundreds of miles away from me. A bittersweet emotion swelled in my chest as I thought about what my own future would hold. I was looking forward to whatever happened with Jack, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t occasionally miss the late night pizzas and study sessions with Lisa.
“Come on,” I said finally, clearing my throat so Lisa wouldn’t hear the emotion in my voice. “We’ll be late if we don’t leave now.”
I’d thought that graduation would be emotional and charged, but in reality, it was kind of boring. Lisa and I sat patiently while Lager College listed off their giant roster of undergrads and masters. By the time they got to the doctoral graduates, my ass was numb from the hard plastic seat under me.
“Adele Parker!”
At the sound of my name, I stood up, and suddenly, I felt it. The excitement. The joy, the pride, the hard labor that I’d put into getting this degree. I had to force my legs to move forward to the podium where I shook hands with the dean and collected the wrapped-up piece of paper that was supposed to simulate my degree.
That was when I heard the yells and cheers from the crowd, seated below. I turned and looked out at all of the people with a smile frozen on my face.
Then I saw him.
Jack was standing up at the front of the crowd, with two fingers in his mouth. When he saw me, he grinned and gave a loud wolf-whistle that filled the entire auditorium.
I gasped and broke into a run, darting off the stage and down into the crowd. I ran toward Jack and threw my arms around his neck, pulling him close as our lips met. The tears that had been building in my eyes finally spilled down my cheeks, and I began to sob as Jack held me close.
“I can’t believe it!” I said through my tears. “Jack, you’re here! You made it back!”
Jack grinned. He leaned down to kiss me again. “Of course I did, baby,” he said. “There’s no way I’d miss this.”
My heart melted, and I sighed
happily as I nestled into his chest.
“Let’s go celebrate,” Jack said. He slipped his hand into mine. “I made reservations.”
I bit my lip. “Okay,” I said. “That would be great – let me just find Lisa, she and I were going to get food afterward.”
Jack shook his head. “No need,” he said. “I got a table for four.”
“Four?” I cocked my head to the side. “Who else is coming?”
