I ended up back at Saks, an all time favorite of mine, though it was where I started. I perused again, this time trying to pay attention to anything I might have missed zooming through. Carelle was working at the store that day and she smiled me over for a chat.
It helps to be friendly and spend loads of money because you get to know the right people, and though I couldn’t begin to describe my own style, Carelle had somehow managed to grasp it and I trusted her. But what happened there that afternoon was sheer magic. We smiled and laughed and had a few jokes but then I told her with a pout face that I was back around because I still hadn’t found a dress to wear on my birthday. She knew Andy was going away, and since Carelle and I had grown quite close, she would also be attending my little birthday shindig as well.
She pursed her lips to one side and her eyes rolled up and to another as she gave it a quick thought. Just then out of nowhere a beam of light struck across her face as her mouth opened completely wide, her eyes just as so, with a big smile.
“Oh, my god,” she said, looking straight into my eyes, “we just had a new Chloe gown arrive!” She was talking in the most excited whisper. “It’s not supposed to debut til Saturday, I think we’re going to do it at nine thousand.” She kept her surprised look but changed to more serious and looked around. “I wonder if I could show it to you.”
Carelle had been with Saks for years but she was no top-dog, and there was definitely a certain protocol about things. The party itself was Saturday, my birthday, but if there was a gown that had come in that made her make that face, I just had to see it. I certainly couldn’t wait until then to find something.
“Give me just one moment,” she instructed me, almost slyly and disappeared to hopefully work some magic.
I looked around at gorgeous dresses for the second time that week, that just weren’t it. I couldn’t bear the thought of settling. Just then, Carelle appeared again walking almost briskly with her eyebrows raised.
She locked into my elbow with hers and told me, “come with me.” As we walked she let on. “Only because you’re one of our premiere clients and only because I swore on my life you wouldn’t breathe this out to a single soul, I have permission to show you the dress. If you decide to purchase it you will have to sign something saying you will not publicize the sale or something, and will have to keep it hidden until the debut date.”
“Wow,” I said and at that moment I was in the back room at Saks Fifth Avenue. She wasn’t even allowed to bring it out to a room for me. We walked back through the sea of garments all organized and hanging to an area where everything was covered individually.
She told me to wait where I was and was reading the tags adorning the mystery covers.
“This is it!” she said. “Well, Holly, I hope you like it,” and pulled away the cover revealing the most perfect birthday gown I could have imagined if I had tried to design it myself. It was flowing, dainty, feminine—it was my cake topper! The gown was made in France, all silk, a sleeveless halter v-neck with a pleated silhouette. Adorning it were tassels along the asymmetrical detail. The front was mostly pale pink atop, pretty blue below and then the sides faded to greens, where the entire back was mostly all pale pink, and with a soft rainbow effect created by the multicolored touches. Now I knew why Carelle had acted the way she did—the dress was made for me to wear!!
*****
That Saturday I woke to birds singing on a lovely sunny spring day to two very fine looking gentlemen on either side of my bed whispering softly, “oh, there she is…”
Andy was rubbing my back and caressing me and Cash was at my legs and feet stroking my smooth skin and softly soothing me.
“Mmmm,” was all I made out and soaked it all in enjoying every second. “I love you guys,” I murmured and we all chuckled. They knew I would be still as long as they continued, loving the petting.
“So, what do birthday princesses eat for breakfast?” Andy inquired.
“Mmmm… coffee,” I murmured, “and… French toast…” And after thinking, “with strawberries…” Cash was rubbing his hands now up my inner legs far up and Andy was stroking my head, playing with my hair and pulling it a little tightly. “Mmmm… I want you guys for breakfast!”
And we all laughed but the rubbing continued and they gave me what I wanted and more and more and more treating me like a real princess and all of us enjoying this last morning together in love. We had already remarked that while Andy was away that Cash and I would take it easy waiting for his return out of love. So on this warm, breezy, perfect sunny morning was where we let our deepest passions fly through kissing and treating each other completely, giving over and pouring out our love. They to me, me to them.
Somehow they managed to have the strength to carry on and actually make the breakfast, too, while I on the other hand was near immobile afterward. What a glorious birthday already. We had decided to have a walk in the park, just the three of us. When I came downstairs just in a little sleeveless Fendi printed floral dress with a flouncy dropped waist and ruffle skirt, pink and white, I expected we’d just be walking the block over but what was there awaiting me but a grand carriage fit with white horses.
“We thought you might like to take the long way,” was Cash’s remark as he led the way with his hands and helped me up to where Andy was sitting only to present me with an overflowing bouquet of white and pink roses.
“Happy birthday, baby,” he said and kissed me on the lips as I sat to receive them. I sat between my darlings and smiled from ear to ear as we enjoyed the ride just for fun.
Later on I waited until mother arrived for us all to drive to the dinner together to step out in my gown. I did so softly and shyly almost, wearing the most delicate shoes and light pink earrings.
“Oh my lord!” Mom cried, and the boys gasped the same with wows, “you are a real princess,” she said and I almost thought she might cry for a second. I did a slight twirl and for the rest of the evening enjoyed being on top of my birthday world, my cake and the city, as feeling once again like the luckiest woman to walk the night.
*****
Days without Andrew went on for both of us with an air of dragging and we felt his absence, though tried not to show it and keep ourselves busy. Cash was out of town here and there himself, so I simply stayed on task. I took lots of bubble baths, went for massages twice and sometimes three times a week, I shopped and I read and I wrote. Days rounded, weeks passed and things felt a little different, more than I could pinpoint why, and I felt it veered from just Andy’s absence.
I was quietly enjoying a book and some iced tea out at the park by myself when Cash called me.
“Hey, I just got in, I thought you’d be home around this time of the month,” he said almost jokingly but sounded quite serious in undertone actually.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Holly, I… can you come home?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there in a few,” I said and we hung up. Something was wrong. I walked in the door and he was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Holly, listen, I didn’t want you to worry but…” I raised my eyes to question and sat across from him. “I got a call a week ago that Andy’s team hadn’t responded and disappeared. I didn’t want to worry you. They assured me that the divers were probably fine but protocol was to call it in. Today they’ve called me and it’s way worse. Their main ship was found abandoned and damaged, no sign of the divers and no radio call for 8 days now. The officer I spoke to said they won’t close the case but considering their location and nature of the dives they were doing they’ve all thrown in the towel.”
I stood up, “What!? Thrown in the towel?!”
“He said they wouldn’t stop looking but that from the way it seemed there was little to no hope.” I sat silent. It would do no good to be angry, I heard what words he was given. I stared of with a surge of desperation creep up and put my face in my hands and just cried.
“We just have to wait to hear,” he said, and hugged me.
Those days were long and there was something much bigger to pass the time about now. I didn’t take bubble baths. I didn’t get massages. Or shop. Or read. I just stared off and waited. Meanwhile there was a bigger worry brewing in the back of my mind, which with what was going on, I could only keep private. Mother would come over to comfort me and bring me food but with all the emotions and lack of definition to life, I felt helpless. I missed him. He was the sweetest man alive, he just couldn’t go like this. Andy wasn’t much of a fighter, he was strong and would surprise you, but… I just couldn’t accept that he was gone.
Cash was out of sorts, too and began to drink heavily to forget everything, and he didn’t know what to do. He kept saying he wanted to go find him, but knowing he didn’t have a clue where to look or how to do it better than who was already, he stayed with me.
The summer began to look hot out and I barely left the house, I just couldn’t bear to do anything. I often found myself just standing at the window and staring out. Life with only us two would not do. Half of my whole heart was in his hands.
Mother came one day and gently insisted I come with her out to have some lunch, just to get some fresh air. It had been four weeks since Andy’s crew had completely disappeared and still no one had heard a thing.
She managed to cheer me up with her perfect motherly way, convincing me to stay strong and not lose hope and think about what Andy would want me to do. I shed a tear but with a bittersweet half smile, and rose to put some real clothes on.
I put on a dress to perk me up and in the back of my mind was something I also wanted to speak with her about, personally. I knew just the one, the Alexander McQueen silk chiffon sweet pea gown I had been saving for something special and for the day and purposes it was perfect. We ate al fresco and I turned down wine.
“I’m surprised with everything going on that you, too haven’t been drinking more. I always do when I’m really stressed about something to take the edge off. Although Cash has taken things a bit far by the looks of his eyes, I understand why. How has he been?” Mother asked.
“Not so good,” I said, “but having me to take care of helps him hang in there… I haven’t wanted alcohol though, lately.”
We ordered and ate and I stared off a lot the way I had been. With thoughts of emptiness and Andy at sea.Praying. It was so good to be with mother, and really just being with her relaxed and energized me. I wanted to talk to her about what was on my mind so bad but I just couldn’t find the words. Something was missing, it wasn’t time yet.
We pulled up to the house and she offered to walk me up but I told her I’d be okay and how lovely the afternoon was and thanked her and hugged her. Before I went in to our place I happened to glance at my phone, which I realized had been off, when I saw 29 missed calls!
My heart was skipping beats and it was Cash calling. Shit. What happened? I started panting, and felt I just couldn’t take it, couldn’t take any news. He wouldn’t call me like that unless it was big news or he really needed me badly. I walked up to see if he was home before calling him and didn’t see him, so I went to call him on his cell when I thought I heard his voice outside. I went out the living room doors to the terrace and nearly had a heart attack. Andy!
Andy! I ran crying to Andy and Cash sitting on the terrace and they stood, I jumped to hug Andy and never let him go. I sobbed my eyes out and held him so tight. With my tear covered face buried in his chest I didn’t care where he had been I just didn’t want to ever let him go. I looked at Cash and he was wiping the tears running down his cheeks.
“We were going to die, Andy,” I spoke out crying, looking into his eyes, “we were going to die without you.”
He hugged me so tight and so gently saying, “I’m so sorry babe, I’m okay. I won’t leave you. I’m right here.” I held on to him tight and from the side looked at Cash and outstretched my arm for him to come and take my hand. He came near and I looked at both of them with crying tears.
Still sobbing, I said, “I’m pregnant.”
Both of their jaws dropped and I don’t remember the remarks of shock but with smiles and confirmations it quickly turned to sobbing laughter and we were all hugging. I cried through my tears how I’d known for a while, and couldn’t bear to think of it with him gone.
“It must’ve been that morning, my birthday,” I said. We were the happiest three we could be. We didn’t know who’s it was, we didn’t know if it would be a boy or a girl, but we knew—all of us now, that we were going to have a baby, a family. Being submerged in the most beautiful and sweet love in the world, all my worries about us having a child melted away as all the other worries did and I knew we were going to be just fine.
THE END
Another bonus story is on the next page.
Bonus Story 18 of 44
Egyptian Secrets
“So this place,” William began, “it actually exists? Or is it just a figment of your imagination like the last ancient town you had us searching for?”
Haji, an old man with wrinkled, tan skin and deep brown eyes that held both mystery and wisdom, cracked a smile. He no longer had any teeth and his lips were chapped from the harsh Egyptian sun. “It exists,” he said. “Hisyut exists. It is a magical place far off in the desert. The pharaohs from the past buried many treasures there because they knew the city would never be found.”
“So what makes you think we’ll find it if the pharaohs knew no one would?” William’s wife, Anna, asked. She stood beside her husband in a white, lace-trimmed gown and wide-brimmed hat. She was perfectly dressed for the Egyptian summer, light colors and light dress material. Or so she had been told. But Anna still felt incredibly hot and uncomfortable and didn’t know whether she should attribute it to the Egyptian weather or Haji’s stuffy apartment.
“You’re different,” Haji croaked out before he erupted into a fit of coughing.
William poured the old man a cup of water and sat beside him. “Have you ever seen Hisyut?”
Haji shook his head. “I have not. But my brother Jabir has. He even drew a map that I still have.”
Haji used his large stick to balance himself as he slowly lifted out of his chair and shuffled to the other side of the room. He removed a book from his large collection and opened it to the middle, removing an old, ripped sheet of parchment. “Come, look,” he said over his shoulder to William and Anna.
The crowded around Haji as he carefully unfolded the map. It was faded, hard to read, and written in Arabic. Luckily for William, Anna read and spoke perfect Arabic.
“What year did your brother visit Hisyut?” Anna asked. She squinted at the map, trying to make out the words as best as she could.
“Uh,” Haji said, “1296.”
Anna shook her head. “No, Haji. In the Gregorian calendar.”
“The what? I’m not sure. It was 1296. I remember because it is also the year he died.”
William froze. “He died? From what?”
Haji sighed. Grief masked his face. “They said a heart condition but my brother, Jabir, never had a heart condition. He was a strong man. When he came back from Hisyut, he was sick all of a sudden. He thought he was cursed.”
William didn’t believe in curses but he didn’t want to further upset his friend by saying as much. He believed Jabir probably died from exhaustion after being in the desert for so long. Without the proper medical care, Jabir’s heart most likely just stopped beating.
“This city is along the Nile?” Anna asked. She still studied the map and had taken it from Haji’s hands and held it carefully in her palms.
“Somewhat,” Haji replied. “You can stay along the Nile. It will be safer. But eventually you will have to travel away from it.”
The Nile River, longest river in the world, played such a crucial role in Egypt. It had been regarded as sacred by the pharaohs and made Egypt the country it was today.
Anna reached over and h
ugged Haji. “I’m sorry about your brother.”
Haji smiled sadly. “Thank you. I have faith that you two will find Hisyut. I don’t think you should remove anything you find. The curse is real and it doesn’t discriminate.”
“We’ll keep that in mind, Haji. Thanks. When do you think is the best time for us to leave?” William asked.
Haji walked to the window and opened it. He lived right above the bazaar and it was always quite noisy in his tiny apartment. But he refused to move anywhere else. He loved being right in the center of Cairo and its bustling action.
“I think you should set off on Friday, at sunset. Get all the supplies you need for at least five days until you get to the next town. You can restock there.”
William bowed slightly and Anna hugged Haji once again. “We’ll come see you before we leave. Thanks again, Haji.”
He walked the couple to the door and closed it behind them.
Anna and William went immediately to another good friend of theirs, Sir Charles Tracey. Charles was well-versed on all things maps and geography. With the condition of the map given to them by Haji, neither William nor Anna wanted to take any chances and hoped Charles could redraw the map.
They maneuvered their way through the crowded streets of Cairo, stopping every so often to dig through the carts of the various venders that lined the streets.
“For the pretty lady,” one vendor had said in broken English, holding up a necklace that he said was made of pure gold.
William rolled his eyes and led his wife away. If it was up to Anna, she would buy everything advertised to her. When they first arrived in Egypt six years ago, right after they married, Anna had nearly bankrupted them by buying piles of junk. Anna did manage to buy an artifact that had some monetary value and they were able to recoup.
Inextinguishable Love: Firefighter and Interracial Romance Page 56
