Wait For Me Book 1
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
WAIT FOR ME
First edition. February 16, 2021.
Copyright © 2021 Christina Kirsch.
Written by Christina Kirsch.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Prologue
JASON CHECKED HIS WATCH again and walked back into the private dining room to adjust the center piece for the 100th time. He shuffled back across the restaurant floor and peered out into the parking lot, looking for Olivia’s little Honda. His heart jumped again, and he twirled his mother’s old ring, focusing on his breath while he left the antique setting disappear and reappear around his finger - a flash of diamond - breathe in - sleek gold band - breathe out - breathe in - breathe out - she loves me - she loves me not -
A car door slammed, and he jumped to look out the window - but it was just another cook, leaving for the night. Olivia was late. He went back into the office. On top of the recycling was his acceptance letter to the Culinary Institute. Maybe if things had been different, he would have kept it, framed it or something, but this was yet another dream he would have to put on hold for a while. It was the right thing to do - his family needed him. Love is patient, isn’t that what it says in Corinthians? He hoped Olivia could be patient. He needed her to wait, like he was prepared to wait. But his heart needed a promise. He fumbled the ring back into its velvet box as the fire escape door clicked open.
For a second, Jason thought he must have forgotten to disable the alarm - the ringing in his ear was deafening. What was he thinking? Olivia pulled the door closed, against the wind, and her dark hair settled back down around her shoulders. Of course, she would look stunning for her going-away party. Suddenly the dim restaurant floor, with its grey carpet and dated, peeling wallpaper could have been Per Se or Bel Canto, she shone with so much elegance and confidence it seemed to cast shadows on the bare tables and chairs that separated them.
He steadied himself against an old wood paneled wall as Olivia hurried toward him, party dress fluttering around her knees. He could smell her perfume before she reached him, and he quickly hoped he’d done enough to cover the smell of a day’s work in the kitchen. What could someone like her see in him? He had only God to thank, he supposed.
Olivia nearly bowled him over when she grabbed him around the waist, but he caught her slight frame tightly and twisted his fingers into her sleek hair. Suddenly everything felt better. Whatever he had sacrificed, whatever troubles were to come, as long as he had her, it would all be worth it.
She looked up and took his stubbled face in her hands. “You look so tired, is everyone keeping up here?” She glanced around the abandoned dining room.
He had been tired for weeks. With his father in the hospital, the restaurant and downstairs bar and grill had fallen into chaos. “Yes, we’re doing fine here,” he lied.
Olivia looked back at him, concerned. She knew him too well. “And your Dad?”
Jason didn’t want to let go, to break this moment of magical relief that holding Olivia granted him, but thinking of what had to be done, he stroked her hair once, grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the closed room, usually reserved for small parties. “He’s recovering. We’re renovating his apartment to be handicap accessible - we’re almost ready to have him back home.” Of course, “we” meant Jason. With his brother long gone, Jason was the only family his old man had. His eyes strayed to the small upstairs bar. Now that a stroke had left his father unable to walk, Jason supposed he’d never again see him hauling crates of wine or dancing through the restaurant, refilling glasses and chatting to every patron like old friends.
Olivia brushed his cheek to get his attention. Sparks flew through his brain like he’d been electrocuted. “But what about the CIA? I thought he had hired someone to replace you. Can’t he find someone else?”
“We can’t afford it, Olivia. The renovations, the physical therapy, it was expensive, we can’t even keep the upstairs open anymore, and we don’t have time to train someone to run the bar and grill.” He cupped his other hand over hers. “And I’ve waited this long, I can wait for the Institute a little longer”
And for you, forever, he thought to himself.
“I suppose.” Olivia added her other hand atop his. “I just know how much getting accepted meant to you, and I hate the idea of going to New York without you”
He stepped backwards, pulling her directly in front of the closed party room. “I know, and that’s why I needed to see you tonight.” His vision went blurry, he’d been so preoccupied lately he hadn’t rehearsed what he would say. “I have to tell - ask - you something.”
He pulled open the private dining room doors and flipped on the light. Slowly he turned around, and kneeled down, pulling out his mother’s diamond ring.
Olivia hadn’t taken her eyes off him. She hadn’t noticed the room - she was staring at him in horror. “Olivia -” But she was already backing up, one hand clamped against her mouth. Her head started to shake, “It’s been a rough spring, you’re...you’re acting irrationally.”
Jason stood up and steadied his voice - she had to understand he wasn’t being impulsive, or erratic. “I’ve never seen things more clearly. I was planning on asking you before we went to New York, and now I want to promise you a future together, no matter what.”
He stepped towards her, holding out the delicate antique ring, hoping she’d see it. He wanted to explain what his mother’s ring meant - what Olivia meant to him.
Olivia turned sideways to lean against the edge of the bar. The bottom dropped out of his chest. The ringing started again. She wouldn’t wait.
“I’m still leaving- I can’t pass up the internship, and I’m going to transfer to Columbia.”
He couldn’t accept it. He wanted to tell her he would wait, as long as it took, if she’d only promise them a future. But he saw it as clearly as the final moves in a game of chess. Olivia, meeting a law student, or some rich, would-be entrepreneur at Columbia. Olivia, in a Manhattan apartment with her high-powered city friends. There was never going to be a place for him in her life. He would never be enough for her. He felt like he was being suffocated.
“I can’t, I’m sorry.” It was barely a whisper towards her own feet.
And before his head had begun to clear she was walking towards the fire exit. He didn’t even watch her walk out the door.
Chapter 1
Eight Years Later
OLIVIA WOKE IN A GORGEOUS Soho boutique hotel, but she could barely open her eyes. She immediately started to cough and reached for her phone on the nightstand. Even with the text as large as possible she could just make it out - Nate hadn’t responded to any of her texts. One of the benefits of dating her supervisor was how easy it made addressing issues at work, the casual insights she gleaned into the development firm. Her stomach churned at the thought of calling Nate on his work phone - he must still be in Shanghai.
Sometimes she felt guilty about the relationship, and about what people must think of her meteoric rise in the international firm. But she reminded herself, it was HER that had carefully documented and taken care of all those mistakes, missed phone calls, and fines from the city- that the Connecticut office had missed- when she was only an intern. It was HER that took over a senior level position in a regional office when other people her age were only then graduating undergrad. That had nothing to do with Nate, and this next step to the Shanghai office had nothing to do with their relationship, either. She had to salvage this opportunity. Olivia let a fit of coughing pass before she hit dial on Nate’s Chinese number.
“Wei?” Nate answered in perfectly accented Mandarin.
“Nate, it’s Olivia, I’ve been trying to text...”
“I hear you’ve been out of the office, is everything all right? Today is the last big meeting before we ship you all over here”
Olivia stifled more coughing. “I can’t make it in - I’m still sick. The meds didn’t seem to work, I might have to go back to the hospital...”
“Look, I hate to say this Liv, but we can’t send you to the Mainland sick - you’ll never pass the doctor visit for the visa, and we need you working.” He sounded more annoyed than concerned. “Just get better, and we’ll take it from there. Sorry I have to go; I’ll call you when I get back.”
And with that, he hung up. Olivia let her phone clatter onto the nightstand, and hid her head in her arm, willing herself not to cry. She knew what this meant. She wasn’t going to corporate, maybe not ever. This was her one big shot to ingratiate herself to the Chinese office, to be the one account executive they wanted auditing their US and Canadian projects. That’s what she was good at, and no other junior employee had been studying Mandarin. She couldn’t believe her luck. Of course, this was when she’d catch a mysterious New York illness. The walk-in clinics had sent her away with pink eye drops, and the hospital had given her penicillin, but none of it had worked. She had given up her Brooklyn apartment in anticipation of this 6-month trip, her things were in storage, and everything else was tightly packed away in her three massive suitcases. Everything was hazy. Not just that she could barely see out of her swollen eyes, but her whole future, even the next week. The company had paid for the hotel stay; she couldn’t afford even another night out of pocket. She needed help, she needed someone to tell her what to do. She rolled over and groped for her phone once more. She knew who she needed to talk to.
“Hello?” Her Nan’s sweet voice croaked. “Who is it?”
Olivia hesitated. She had called her Nan less and less over the years, and guilt washed over her. “Hey, Nan, it’s Olivia.” Another fit of coughing.
“Olivia, darling, are you ok?” Nan had always been so caring. More like a mother than her own mother, and soon Olivia was coughing and crying, spilling out everything to her Nan, who listened patiently.
“Olivia, you need to come home.” She said plainly. “Go see your parents, and we’ll get you to a doctor over here, sweetheart. Ask your father to buy a train ticket and just come home. We will take care of you.” Nan was the only person who could have convinced Olivia going back to that small, claustrophobic town was a good idea. She wanted to protest, but her Nan’s soothing, confident voice was already washing away her anxiety, already making her feel like things were going to be alright.
“Ok, Nan, I’ll leave tomorrow, I love you”
Olivia couldn’t believe she was doing it, but what choice did she have?
OLIVIA’S PHONE WOKE her the next day- she had slept long and hard. She pried open the less swollen eye and tried to blink away the milky haze, but try as she might, nothing came into view. Her adrenaline surged as she devolved into another bout of coughing, this time deep and rattling in her chest.
Good thing her father had booked a private car, and everything was packed and ready to go. She called down to the front desk - she was going to need a lot of assistance.
Chapter 2
JASON TOSSED ANOTHER notice from the city into the pile of working papers and rubbed his face hard. It was early and his father probably wasn’t even awake yet. This was turning into a routine. He’d wake up, dress for work and spend the early hours at his father’s post in the upstairs office, fretting over kitchen orders, unpaid invoices, margins and the general fate of his family’s establishment. The bar and grill was in trouble, but his dad wouldn’t talk about it, he’d just assure Jason that they’d get through another slow season, just like they always had.
He wasn’t so sure. Jason stood up to stretch, and walked out into the dark, abandoned dining room. It had set unused for years, but they had no capital to turn it into anything but the world’s most dismal storage space. Downstairs, at the bar he heard a door open - maybe his father coming in early to do exactly what Jason had been up to, or maybe a cook in early to make himself breakfast. Jason was lenient with the staff. It was hard finding help in the small town - the larger, nearby college town had cooler, fancier places to work. Places that could afford to pay quite a bit more than his failing family bar and grill. He didn’t begrudge a few free meals. It seemed the whole town was struggling.
He knew he should be grateful. His father’s stroke had left him much slower than before, unable to use his left side, but by God’s grace, in only a few years he’d relearned to walk. They’d installed a chair lift on the stairs from the second floor to the big, third floor apartment where they lived. It hadn’t been cheap, but it had meant they could still live above the restaurant - his father’s pride and joy - and every day his father would shuffle to the office, then at night down to the bar and gab with the regulars and introduce himself to diners like he didn’t have a care in the word. The thought of his father’s awkward but enthusiastic gesturing, as he told another tall tale to a guest made him smile. He said a short prayer of thanks. The office phone rang.
In a few strides, Jason was back in the office, and picked up the old receiver. “Hello, Brighton Bar and Grille, Manager speaking.”
“Jason?” The voice was familiar. “Jason, it’s Seth.”
Of course it was. Jason stiffened. What did his brother want now? More money from Dad? He hadn’t seen Seth in almost a decade. After he followed that girl out of town, he had made it clear where his loyalties were. Hadn’t come to help after his father’s stroke, hadn’t cared one bit about the restaurant. He had left it all to Jason.
“I’m glad I caught you, how are things?” Seth’s voice was low and hoarse. Not the charismatic, salesman tone he usually affected when he was about to slip into an insincere apology... or to ask for something.
“Look Seth, what do you want?” The words came out harsh and pointed before Jason could stop himself.
His brother paused at Jason’s curtness, but continued carefully. “I was talking to Dad this morning. He said you were in the office.” Seth had dodged the question in classic style and had probably been scamming more money from their father while Jason had been down here, trying to save the family business. Still, Jason had never heard his brother sound so...tired. A sharp cry echoed on the other end, then a short, muffled conversation.
“Sorry, it’s just Jess, she’s having a hard time.”
Jess, his daughter. Jason had almost forgotten he had a niece. How old would she be now? Five? Six? Jason had only seen pictures second hand from his Dad. A bright eyed, cherubic baby with his father’s bright blue eyes. Another family member stolen away from them. Jason’s resolve hardened again. If Seth didn’t even have the decency to let his father meet his granddaughter - Jason owed him nothing. “So where are you then, Philly?”
“Outside Philadelphia, Jess and I moved a few months ago. Jason, I talked to Dad and I know the place needs some help, and Jess...” Seth trailed off and Jason didn’t know what to say. Was Seth just calling for sympathy? He hardly knew anything of what his brother had been up to for the last ten years. Just that he had run away with - what was her name? Carly? Cristine?
“How’s Carol?” Jason finally interrupted the silence.
“Crystal. We’ve been separated for a while, she’s paying child support for Jess, but Jason, I got laid off and I thought we could come help at the bar for a bit, while I find something else. I know Dad would love to see Jessie.”
There it was. Seth finally needed help and that’s why he’s gotten in touch. Of course. Jason gripped the receiver hard and gritted his teeth. Seth had taken the death of their mother harder than he had as a child. He had been older than Jason, 8 or 9 at the time. Still, that didn’t give him an excuse to treat his family this way. Through the phone, Jason heard a soft, child's cry start up in earnest. He thought of himself at that age.
“Ok, so you’re coming to Brighton?” Jason’s voice softened. He pictured what his niece must look like now. His father’s sky-blue eyes filled with tears. Too young to understand why her mother wasn’t tucking her in every night. Forgiveness, Jason. He thought to himself. It’s what his dad would want. His dad would want the family together, even if it was just for a while, even if his brother didn’t really care about them.
“We're coming in on the train, we’ll be at the station at 2:21 pm.” He could tell there was relief in his brother’s voice.
“Fine. I’ll be there. I suppose that’s why you called.” And before his anger could flare back up in full force, he dropped the handset back onto its cradle.
BY THE TIME THE TRAIN pulled into the Brighton station, Olivia could hardly breathe. She stumbled out of the private car and felt her way towards a crew member’s voice. “Watch your step! Luggage to the right! Ma’am, can I help you down the stairs?”
Olivia had been holding in another fit of deep coughing, but as soon as her feet hit the platform concrete, she let loose into her sequined mask, coughing so forcefully she thought she might vomit. Thank God for this stupid mask, she thought. Nate had handed it to her the night he told her XinJun Development Group was sending her to China. “For the pollution,” he had laughed, watching her model the ridiculous, sparkly face covering. “That or take up smoking - you’ll want to breathe through a filter,” Nate had joked. Now she was grateful there was something making her less of a walking bioweapon. Her parents should be here somewhere, but she was basically blind. She fumbled in her pocket for her phone, when she felt it vibrate.
Wait For Me Book 1: A Second Chance Christian Romance Page 1
