Page 37 of The Mountain Man's Virgin
What the hell was going on here? Was Martin afraid to say something? Or, was there really nothing unsavory going on? The only person who had let anything slip was Lenny. He was my best shot at getting the real story.
I grabbed two more glasses of scotch and wove my way through the crowd of men, intent on finding Lenny and getting what I needed. I had imagined naked women, orgies, all sorts of weird sex acts, but so far all I had seen were the who’s who of Seattle mingling and drinking expensive booze.
“Lenny,” I said, handing him the rocks glass. “Cheers,” I held up my glass.
Lenny smiled and me and clinked his crystal glass to mine.
“Thank you for your invite, but I don’t think that this is the organization for me.” I took a sip of my scotch and watched as Lenny’s eyes went wide.
“No, Mick, you have to stay.”
“Nah., I think I’m good,” I said, setting my glass down at the bar. “I have more money than everyone in this room combined. I don’t need another networking group.”
Lenny glanced over to Roger, then put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me in tightly, “Come with me,” he whispered in my ear.
Chapter 25 – Lucy
When Lawrence drove past the exit to the university, I looked over at him, confused, “Where are we going?”
All I wanted to do was close my dorm room curtains and crawl under my duvet for a few days. I used to like staying at Lawrence’s house, waking up to the smell of coffee wafting through the mansion at exactly 6:45 am every day; the beauty of a well-paid staff. The morning cook, Karen, made me the best the best poached eggs, and since her daughter was a track athlete, we had great conversations too.
The shower at Lawrence’s house was nicer than any hotel I had ever stayed in, complete with steam options, a rain head, and about 20 additional shower heads recessed in the marble walls. I lingered in his shower in the mornings, delighted that I didn’t have to walk down the dingy dorm hallway in my flip flops carrying my shower caddy.
I thought back to the first time that I stayed over at Lawrence’s house. It was like I had stepped into another world. I thought it was odd that his parents weren’t home, but as it turns out they were away more than they were home and I still hadn’t met them. Alanna thought that this was odd, but at the time, I thought that she was just being an over-protective big sister who didn’t understand Lawrence’s life.
“I thought that you would want to relax in luxury after your little cabin ordeal,” he said, without taking his eyes off the road.
“Actually, could you take me to the hospital?”
He snapped to face me, “I thought the medic said that you were ok.”
“I am okay. I’d like to visit Alanna.”
Lawrence sighed and paused for a moment, “Sure, Luce,” he said, and signaled to exit the highway.
When we pulled into the parking lot, Lawrence shut off the car and stretched back in his seat.
“You can just drop me off. I’ll catch the bus after my visit,” I said to him.
“Nah, babe. I’ll just wait here until you’re done,” he said, scrolling through his phone.
“But I don’t know how long I’ll be,” I protested. I didn’t want to rush my visit with Alanna. Besides, I really just wanted to go back to the dorm and be by myself. I really had to think about my next move. Breaking off the engagement with Lawrence was going to be social suicide, and after what I had witnessed today, I worried that Lawrence might be a very vindictive man. He was clearly a liar. Should I rock the boat, or just try to keep the peace until Alanna’s treatment is done?
Could I really be entertaining the idea of staying with him? Could growing up poor have clouded my judgment? It’s true that Lawrence was considered the best catch at the University, he was good-looking, had a rock-hard Brad Pitt circa Thelma and Louise-era body, and he was rich.
“Just go see Alanna, come back, and I’ll take you home,” Lawrence said, turning up the music.
I didn’t have the energy to argue with him, so I slid out of the car. As I was about to shut the door, Lawrence grabbed my hand. My heart jumped when I thought that he was pulling me toward him for a kiss, but he simply said, “Twenty minutes Luce. Twenty.”
What a fucking asshole. “Twenty,” I murmured and slammed the door.
As I trudged through the city’s drizzle to the hospital, my mind raced. If I only had myself to think about, I would have broken it off with Lawrence the moment I realized that I was in love with Mick. Love. How does love happen in such a short time? But I needed to think of Alanna. Could I put up with a cold, unloving relationship with Lawrence if it meant that my sister would have the care that she needed? If I ran away to the mountains with Mick who would take care of her? How would we afford her prescriptions?
I rounded the corner into my sister’s room and Alanna’s blue eyes sparkled in their hollow sockets as they met mine. I rushed to her and pulled her emaciated body to mine. I felt the tears well up in my eyes. I knew that if I married Lawrence, I would be able to afford world-class care for her. I held her tightly, hoping that she wouldn’t feel the trembling of my body as I tried to hold in my tears. Her backbone a serrated bread knife under my hands.
She pulled back and held me by my biceps, “What’s wrong?”
I couldn’t hold it in any longer and my tears broke free. It was the ugly kind of crying where you stop breathing and can’t get any words out.
