Tinsel

by Devney Perry

But I had been violated. That thief had put his hands on me. His lips.

  My hand went back up to my temple, rubbing the feeling of his lips away.

  The last man who’d kissed me in that spot had been Dakota. For three months I’d been able to feel his lips in that spot.

  The bastard thief had stolen that from me too.

  “All right, Ms. Kendrick.”

  “Sofia.” We’d been sitting together for nearly two hours. The officer had earned first-name privilege.

  “Sofia,” the officer corrected. “I’ve got everything I need to file a report.”

  He’d already told me the chance of getting anything back was slim to none. My handbag had likely already been pawned, my phone wiped and sold too.

  “Here’s my card.” Aubrey slid it over to the officer. “Since Sofia’s phone was stolen, you can call me directly.”

  “Okay.” He took it and tucked it into his uniform pocket.

  “So what’s next?” Aubrey asked. “How will you be investigating this? Do you expect to find the guy soon?”

  Apparently, Officer McClellan’s explanation had fallen on deaf ears with Aubrey. Or she just hadn’t liked his answer.

  Aubrey raised her eyebrow at the officer, and to my surprise he didn’t cower. Most people did. Instead, the corner of his mouth twitched.

  Not good.

  “Do you think this is funny?” The room temperature rose ten degrees as anger blasted from her body. “My sister was violated. He touched her. He stole from her. And you’re smiling?”

  “It’s not funny.” Officer McClellan kept his easy smile as he leaned his forearms on the table. “But your expectations are. Like I’ve told you, we’ll do everything we can to track this guy down. But Ms. Kendrick’s personal belongings will probably not be recovered. I’m just being real. Unless you’d rather I lied?”

  “Yes,” I spoke up before Aubrey could snap again. “Lie to me. Please.”

  “I’ll find the guy today.”

  “Okay, great. What else?”

  He grinned. “I’m sure your handbag is being treated with the utmost care. He probably took it to get cleaned.”

  “That’s nice of him.”

  “I think so too. And it was nice of him to donate the cash in your purse to charity.”

  “It sure was.” I smiled. “Thank you.”

  “I’m not trying to make light of this situation,” he said. “It happens too often and unfortunately we don’t have the man power to track down every petty thief. But I am really sorry this happened to you.”

  “It’s New York.”

  “Still doesn’t make it right,” he said.

  “No, it doesn’t. Do you need anything else from us, Officer McClellan?”

  “Landon,” he corrected me this time. “And no. You’re free to go. I have your number.”

  “Except she doesn’t have a phone,” Aubrey muttered, standing from her chair.

  I stood too and held out my hand. Landon shook it then smiled as he waved us to the door.

  “Are you going to be all right tonight?” He escorted us out of the office where we’d been sitting.

  Aubrey marched ahead, down the hallway and past desks occupied by other officers.

  “I think so. I just feel . . .” My shoulders shook with the shivers.

  “Creeped out.”

  “Yeah.” I nodded. “And dirty.”

  “Well, you don’t look dirty. You look beautiful.”

  “Oh, um, thanks.”

  Did he just hit on me? His compliment came out more like a statement than a pickup line, but I was too out of practice with flirting to know for certain.

  Landon was a good-looking man with dirty blond hair. He had a good-cop vibe going for him with a clean-shaven face, straight nose and crystal blue eyes. Add to that a muscular physique his uniform only accentuated, and he was prime precinct calendar material.

  He was completely my type, and a year ago, I would have shamelessly flirted for his phone number.

  But I wasn’t that woman anymore. Now I wasn’t sure who I was.

  An entrepreneur? A philanthropist? A socialite?

  There were hints of them all, and the mixture was unsettling. Nothing had been steady since Dakota had left three months ago.

  “I’m sorry. That was stupid.” Landon frowned at himself. “I shouldn’t have said that. Now I made it weird. I just . . . you don’t look dirty. I wanted you to know that. Still, it was out of line. I’m sorry.”

  “Please, don’t be.”

  Landon had been a saint, patient and kind to me from the moment he’d been assigned my case. And now that I knew his compliment hadn’t been a come-on, it made me even more grateful that he’d been the officer to call my name in the waiting room.

  We caught up with Aubrey, who was standing by the doorway to the staircase leading us out of the building.

  “I’ll be in touch.” Landon pulled a business card and a pen from his shirt pocket. Then he put the card on the wall and jotted down a phone number. “Here’s my cell. If you need anything at all, someone to talk to, a coffee buddy, a cop who seems to piss off your sister, just give me a call.”

  “Thank you.” I smiled. “Have a good night.”

  “You too, Sofia.” With a wink, he turned and retreated down the hallway. He had that natural swagger that was hard not to watch. Even Aubrey couldn’t take her eyes off his firm behind as he sauntered away.

  “I don’t like him,” she huffed. “I think we should hire a private investigator.”

  I rolled my eyes and shuffled her out the door. Outside, Glen was standing stoically by the car. I’d told him he could leave when we’d arrived earlier, but I wasn’t surprised to see him still here.

  When he spotted us, he rushed forward. “How did it go?”

  “It’s done, and I’m ready to forget this ever happened.”

  “Can I take you home?”

  “Actually,” I looked to Aubrey, “would you mind some company tonight? I don’t want to go home.”

  On the way to the precinct, Glen had called my doorman and told him my things had been stolen, including my keys. They’d probably already recoded the access points to my penthouse, so there was no way that the thief would be able to get inside. Still, I was uneasy. Night had fallen since I’d gotten to the station, and I wouldn’t feel good going home until broad daylight.

  “You’re always welcome.” Aubrey put her arm around my shoulder. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

  I leaned into her side. “Me too.”

  “My car is down there.” She pointed to the far end of the parking lot.

  “Thank you, Glen. For everything.” He was getting a raise for being early to the studio instead of waiting that extra thirty minutes I’d requested. Though, no matter when he’d arrived, I think he would have found me in that same spot on the sidewalk.

  “My pleasure, Ms. Kendrick. I’ll be waiting for your call in the morning to take you home.”

  I waved my good-bye and followed Aubrey down the sidewalk. It took hardly any time at all for us to get to her penthouse, a place she’d decorated with a modern minimalist touch. It was about as opposite to my mother’s style as you could get and not nearly as homey as my own place.

  But it was bright. I needed bright.

  When we got inside, she busied herself with finding me some pajamas to wear while I went to the living room to call our parents from her phone.

  I’d called them on the drive to the precinct using Glen’s phone. My parents had been ready to drive into the city, but I’d assured them I was fine and urged them to save themselves a long trip. Aubrey had dropped everything and rushed to sit at my side.

  After reassuring Mom and Dad that I was fine, I made a quick call to Logan and told him the same. Then I closed my eyes, wishing Aubrey had bought a more comfortable couch, and waited for her to return.

  “I called for a massage therapist.” Aubrey sat next to me on the couch, handing over some clothes. “We could b
oth use a long massage before going to bed.”

  “I need to get a new phone.” I closed my eyes. “And cancel my credit cards.”

  “I already emailed Carrie. She’s taking care of your credit cards. A new phone will be couriered over in an hour.”

  “Sometimes being rich has its perks.” Though if I hadn’t been rich, would I have gotten mugged?

  “What can I do?” Aubrey asked, taking my hand.

  The sting in my nose, the one that had kept me company for hours, was sharper than ever. “I’m going to cry. And I need you to let me and not make me feel bad for it.”

  “Oh, Sofia, I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

  The dam broke loose. The tears I’d been holding back all evening, for months really, came forward.

  My sister pulled me into her side and let me cry them all onto her shoulder. And when I was finally able to pull myself together, when the emotion had been set free, I looked at her and confessed something I’d been hiding for months.

  “I miss him.”

  Collectively, Dakota and I had only been together for a couple weeks. But those weeks had meant more to me than any day in the months in between.

  “Call him,” Aubrey said gently.

  “I can’t. If I call him once, I won’t want to stop.”

  “Why would you have to stop?”

  I wiped my eyes dry. “Because it’ll never work. He says he can’t see us together. He can’t see a future. And I don’t think I can see one either.”

  “You might if you gave it a try.”

  “Maybe. But I’m scared this is all just me. I was going through a hard time, and I found a man to make it easier. I don’t trust my feelings for Dakota.”

  “Do you love him?” Aubrey asked.

  “Completely.” I love him. “But I thought that about Kevin and Bryson and Jay. How can I know this time it’s right?”

  “Dakota is different than any man you’ve ever brought home.”

  “He is different. He doesn’t want me for my money. He doesn’t want me for my last name. He doesn’t want me at all.”

  The Kendrick princess had finally been denied something. And unless I changed my ancestry, there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.

  Aubrey’s hand clasped mine harder just as the doorbell chimed.

  I started to rise from the couch, but she kept hold of my hand. “I wish there was something I could do.”

  “You’re doing it.” Heartbreak was easier to handle when you had a sister. And a friend.

  If that was the only lasting relationship to come from this year, then I was more than okay with the outcome.

  Aubrey and I got our massages then went to bed. Sleep didn’t come easy and I woke with a heavy heart. But finally admitting to another person how I felt about Dakota, how I worried about my own feelings, was healing in a way.

  Maybe it was the first step in letting him go.

  Still in my borrowed pajamas, I came out to the kitchen to find Aubrey all dressed and ready for work. I also found a surprise guest.

  Dad.

  I rushed right into his arms.

  “I’m glad you’re all right.” He held me tight. “We’re going to look at getting you some security. Both of you. You girls have always been so independent, but I don’t want to get another phone call like last night’s.”

  I nodded into his suit jacket. “That’s fine by me.”

  “As long as he or she stays out of my way, it’s fine with me too,” Aubrey declared before sipping from her cappuccino.

  “Do you have some clothes I can wear home?” The clothes I’d worn yesterday were being donated to charity immediately. Or burned.

  “Feel free to take anything you’d like from my closet.”

  “Well,” Dad straightened his necktie, “now that I’ve seen you are in one piece, I need to get to work.”

  I smiled, knowing some things about Dad would never change. He worked. Maybe it wasn’t as bad of a habit as I’d always thought. It didn’t bother me as much, especially since he’d been making more time for family, like coming to my studio’s opening. Or stopping by here when I knew it had probably meant reshuffling his day.

  “I’ll ride with you.” Aubrey downed the rest of her coffee.

  “Will you call your mother?” Dad asked.

  “I need to set up my new phone first, then she’ll be the first call.” I hadn’t had the energy to get it going last night.

  With a kiss good-bye from Dad and a hug from Aubrey, they left me alone in her penthouse. I took a long shower, scrubbing extra hard at the place where the mugger had kissed me. Then I got dressed in one of Aubrey’s yoga ensembles, choosing leggings and a light tank top for the day since there was no way I’d be going to the dance studio.

  But I didn’t really want to go home either. The irrational fear that the thief was inside my penthouse, waiting for me to come home, had been the reason I hadn’t slept.

  Glen would no doubt check the house for me. My doorman would too. Carrie was likely already inside, making me breakfast.

  But irrational fears were just that. So I sat at my sister’s kitchen island, procrastinating going home by setting up my new phone. The minute it was active, voicemails and texts and social media notifications flooded the screen. But before I could clear them away, it rang with an unfamiliar number.

  “Hello?”

  “Sofia?”

  I paused, trying to place the man’s voice but couldn’t. “Yes.”

  “This is Officer Landon McClellan.”

  “Oh. Hi.” That’s why he sounded familiar. “Did you find my purse?”

  He chuckled. “No. Sorry. I was calling to check in. You were pretty shaken up last night.”

  “And here I was thinking I’d really kept it together.”

  He laughed again. “How are you holding up?”

  “I’m all right. I was just building up the courage to go home,” I admitted. “I keep thinking I’m going to walk into my closet and find that creep loading up more handbags.”

  “I’d be happy to do a sweep for you if it would put your mind at ease.”

  “Really?” A police officer checking my penthouse would make me feel so much better. But I didn’t want to put him out.

  “No bother at all.”

  “Hi.” I waved to him as he stood next to my town car outside Aubrey’s building.

  “Morning.” He wasn’t in uniform but wearing a pair of jeans and a simple white button-down rolled up his forearms. In his hand was a baseball cap he’d clearly taken off when he’d seen me coming.

  I’d assumed he was at the precinct when he’d called me, which was why I’d suggested he meet me at Aubrey’s and ride along to my penthouse. “You’re not on duty today?”

  He shook his head. “Day off.”

  “Now I feel bad for asking you to come along.”

  “Buy me a coffee and we’ll call it square.”

  “I tried to get coffee yesterday, and that didn’t work out so well for me. I’m boycotting all coffee shops at the moment.”

  He chuckled. “Fair enough.”

  “But my assistant makes the best lattes in Manhattan. After you appease my crazy fears that a creep is lurking underneath my bed, she’ll make you whatever your heart desires.”

  “You got yourself a deal, Sofia.”

  I walked over to the car, and he opened my door for me before I could touch the handle. Then he climbed in behind me, buckling up as I greeted Glen and asked him to take me home.

  Twenty minutes later, we were parked outside my building. My phone was still blowing up with messages, but I put it on silent, blocking out all of it until this walk-through was over.

  “Thank you for doing this,” I told Landon.

  Landon nodded. “It’s no problem.”

  He got out first then held out his hand to help me out.

  “I’m going to be home the rest of the day,” I told Glen. “Tomorrow too.”

  “Very well, Ms. Kendrick.
Just call if you change your mind.”

  I wouldn’t. As soon as Landon checked every corner of my place, I’d be staying in the safety of my lonely home until I felt more like myself and ready to get back to work at the studio.

  I stepped out of the car, taking Landon’s hand. Then I led him to the door to my building. But before going inside, I glanced down the sidewalk.

  A man was walking the other way, a green backpack slung over his shoulder. He had the same stride as Dakota. The same black hair. I narrowed my eyes, studying him closer.

  “Coming?” Landon stole my attention.

  “Uh, yeah,” I told him but looked down the sidewalk again in time to see the man turn the corner of the block and disappear.

  My imagination was cruel. I wished it would stop conjuring the man I needed so desperately. The man I’d dreamed about last night. Everywhere I looked, I saw Dakota.

  But he wasn’t here.

  He’d gone back to his life without so much as a backward glance.

  I was lying on the couch in my living room when the front door opened. I didn’t get up. My eyes stayed glued to the baseball game on TV, not that I was really watching.

  “Dakota?” My uncle’s voice carried into the room. “Is that you?”

  “Yeah.”

  Xavier came into the room. “I, uh, thought you were in New York.”

  “Nope.” Not anymore.

  Not since I’d gotten there just in time to see Sofia with another man.

  I hadn’t worked at the bar last night, but I’d stopped by to pick up my paycheck. I was bullshitting with Thea when she got the call that Sofia had been mugged.

  The minute I heard, I bolted out the door, came home and tossed some clothes in a backpack. Then I hauled ass to the airport, buying the only ticket available to New York City.

  My flight had two different connections, putting me in after midnight. But my second flight was delayed, causing me to miss the third. After sleeping on an airport bench, I finally arrived in the city this morning.

  It seemed like a month ago, not less than a day.

  On the trip, I’d tried Sofia’s phone a thousand times only to get sent straight to voicemail each time. Even if she had answered, I still would have made the trip. Talking to her wasn’t enough. I had to see her. I had to know she was all right and hold her in my arms to feel that she was safe.