Second Hearts (The Wishes Series) (36 page)

I clambered into the back seat of our waiting car, giving the unsuspecting driver such a fright that the newspaper he was reading flew in three different directions.

“Drive, please,” I ordered.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Adam, Miss Charli?”

“Look… Randy,” I said, squinting to read his name badge, “I’ve had a really rough morning and I’m sure you’re sick of sitting here waiting for us to finish breakfast. Am I right?”

Poor Randy didn’t know whether to answer me or not. “Where would you like to go?”

“Home, please.”

“As you wish.”

As I wish
, I repeated in my head. If things had panned out as I’d hoped when I cashed in wishes for a life in New York with Adam, things would’ve been much simpler.

***

I expected Adam to be brutally furious with me when he arrived home. I’d never actually seen him brutally furious, but ditching him at the café
was
pretty poor form. He walked in the door and hung his coat. I stood in the kitchen, trying to gauge his mood as he walked over to me.

“You left before your tea arrived,” he said, handing me a takeaway cup that was amazingly still warm.

“Thank you.”

“I figure it was the least I could do. Annihilating the prima donnas of Manhattan is probably thirsty work.” Adam leaned his back against the kitchen counter and folded his arms. “I wasn’t expecting you to make such light work of her, Charlotte.”

“What were you expecting me to do, exactly? Beg for mercy? Cry a little?”

He knew better than that, which is exactly why he hadn’t told me the real reason for our excursion until we got there.

“I didn’t expect to get caught up in one of your games,” he chided. I took the lid off my tea and poured it down the sink. It was all I could do to stop myself throwing it at him. “Why didn’t you tell me you had that kind of leverage over Tilly?”

“I didn’t even know who she was until
she arrived. I wouldn’t have even mentioned seeing her with Ryan but – “

“But what?”

Cutting me off was unnecessary. It was an annoying ploy designed to make me feel childish.

I took a step toward him but Adam’s pose didn’t waver. He remained leaning against the counter with his arms tightly folded.

“Bitchiness begets bitchiness,” I said spitefully. “It’s an art I’ve had to master to survive here.”

He shook his head, riled by me. It was the first time I’d ever seen such an angry expression on his perfect face. “No one twisted your arm and forced you into the bathroom with a bottle of wine, Charli. You wouldn’t have to be on the defence all the time if you’d just….”

I took it upon myself to finish his sentence. “Conform? Behave myself?”

“Something like that.” His answer was barely more than a mumble.

Something inside me gave way. I couldn’t stave off the hurt and frustration any longer. I picked up the wet dishcloth off the sink and socked it at him. It splattered against his shirt, leaving a big wet patch before falling to the floor.

“You have no idea what I’ve been through in the last few months!” The words raged out of me. I flung open the cupboard closest to me, grabbed a roll of paper towel and threw that at him too. “Toeing the line was never an option, Adam. I’ve never been given the chance.”

If I’d been Whitney Vaughn’s doppelganger, I still wouldn’t have been accepted by his spiteful mother and awful friends. They all loathed me. I stared at him for a long time, trying to figure out what would change between us when he found that out.

“I know this hasn’t been an easy transition for you, Charli,” he said, dabbing the front of his shirt with the paper towel. “I see that.”

“Do you see your so-called friends tearing me down at every opportunity?” I asked dully.

“They’ve tried hard to include you.”

His obliviousness made me want to throw up. “Keep telling yourself that, Adam.”

“Is there more to it?”

I didn’t hesitate; blurting out every misdeed his friends had subjected me to. By the time I was done, Adam knew exactly how the purple circle really felt about me.

He frowned. “Why haven’t you told me any of this before now?”

Frustrated tears welled in my eyes and I looked to the ceiling, trying desperately hard to stop them brimming over. “Because I love you.”

“So you lied to me?”

“You don’t know the half of it,” I sniffed.

“Tell me
all
of it.”

I quickly realised I couldn’t do it. Finding out how awful his mother was would solve nothing. I compromised with myself, deciding to give him only snippets of the bigger picture. He didn’t need to know how malicious and cruel she was. He only needed to know that she wanted me gone. “You mother hates me.”

Adam groaned, locking his hands behind his head as if his brain ached. “Don’t you think you’re blowing things a little out of proportion?”

In the steadiest voice I could muster, I told him about the conversation I’d overheard in the bathroom at Nellie’s on the day I went to lunch with the queen.

“You’re spending a lot of time in bathrooms lately,” he noted humourlessly.

“Nothing Tilly Roberge planned to write about me would have been new, Adam. Fiona’s been spreading the word for weeks.”

He frowned. “She was very concerned for you when she thought you were going to end up in that blog.”

I shook my head sadly. “You’re an idiot. An absolute, dead-set idiot.”

Adam seized my face in his hands and tilted my head, forcing me to look at him. “Stop crying and calm down.”

It was a stupid thing to say. I wasn’t capable of calming down. I dug the heels of my palms into his chest, pushed him away and let loose. “Don’t you see? Fiona was trying to save her own skin! Tilly’s mother didn’t see me doing anything wrong. She walked in on your mother screaming at me, roaring about how much she despises me. That’s what was going to end up in the stupid blog.”

Adam stared at me for a long moment, processing my words. “Why protect her then?” he asked, still perfectly calmly. “Why bother silencing Tilly?”

I huffed out a sharp breath. “I guess I just couldn’t pass up an opportunity to destroy her. She deserved to be shut down.”

He shook his head. “I don’t know what you want me to do about this.”

“All you have to do is tell me that you believe me.”

Adam took a few steps forward and kissed my forehead. But he said nothing. And it crushed me.

I had to get out of the apartment. I wanted to be where there was no noise, no trouble and no Adam.

Inexplicably, the laundrette was where I ended up – with Adam in tow, because lugging a bag of laundry three blocks was beyond me.

We sat side by side on the row of plastic chairs, mindlessly watching our clothes slosh around in the machine while we waited.

“I want you to know that I didn’t mean what I said,” Adam murmured, entranced by the spinning clothes in front of us. “I would never want you to conform. It would be like ripping the wings off a butterfly.”

It was a sweet thing to say, but still implied I’d done something wrong.

“It’s unfair that I love you the way I do,” I said bleakly. “My second heart will be black by the time I’m through with it.”

Adam turned to look at me, silently quizzing me with his eyes.

I sighed, unwilling to explain. “Never mind.” The machine stopped spinning. I grabbed a trolley and began pulling the clothes out.

“Please tell me,” he urged.

I stuffed the wet clothes into the dryer and slammed the door. “No. You’ll have to figure it out.”

He pulled out a handful of coins and pumped them into the machine. “And if I can’t?”

I shrugged, highlighting my indifference. “Then I guess you’ll never know.”

He turned to me, drawing me in close. “I love you, Charli,” he said, leaning his forehead against mine. “And if I’ve let you forget that today, I will tell you a hundred times more.”

30. Effort

The rest of the weekend passed without incident, and Monday morning rolled around quickly. Nothing had been resolved, but it was easier to make believe everything was fine when it was just the two of us.

“Charli, what do you have planned today?” asked Adam, rushing around the bedroom searching for something to wear.

I stayed in bed. I had nowhere to rush to. “Promise not to judge me?”

He stopped searching and turned to face me. “Of course. What do you have planned?”

“I’m going to have my nails done with Seraphina,” I replied in a tiny voice.

“You’re kidding me. How did that come about?”

I wasn’t entirely sure. She’d completely blindsided me with a phone call the day before, suggesting that we get to know each other better. “Before I knew what was happening, I was agreeing to a play date.”

“Sera’s a sweet girl, Charli. You’ll be fine.”

I had to concede that Seraphina had never been particularly hostile toward me. “Time will tell, I guess,” I replied. “What do you have planned?”

“Well, for starters, I need to find a shirt.”

I pointed to the laundry basket. “Then what?”

“Research and study,” he replied, dragging a T-shirt over his head.

“You’re such a boring man,” I teased, dragging out the words. Without warning, Adam pulled the warm covers off me, grabbed my ankles and dragged me down the bed. “I’m sorry.” He murmured the words against my bare stomach, sending a hot rush right through me. “I’ll try harder not to be, starting now.”

***

I wasn’t exactly a nail salon virgin, but I’d never had my nails done in a salon that served complimentary champagne at the door. Sera arrived late, leaving me to fend off the overzealous technician by myself. His name was Zahn, and he scared the living daylights out of me. The tight-fitting black turtleneck, black skinny jeans and diamante studded belt was a very brave look, considering he was about fifty pounds overweight.

“Come! Sit! Sit, darling!” he commanded, jiggling toward me as I walked in. I didn’t have a chance to protest. He grabbed my hand and led me to the nearest chair. “What is it you want from Zahn?” he purred, examining my hands under the bright desk lamp.

“A manicure?” I actually sounded unsure.

“What do you do with these hands, darling?” he asked, stroking my palms like he was petting a cat. “Cart bricks?”

As luck would have it, that was the moment Seraphina showed up. Zahn momentarily forgot about me, dropping my hands and running to take Sera’s coat. “Hello Zahn,” she greeted, air kissing both of his cheeks.

“Seraphina, ballerina,” he cooed, giggling like a little girl.

Sera wriggled free of him, made her way down to me and sat down on the chair beside me. “Hi Charli. How are you?”

“A little frightened,” I whispered, making her chuckle.

There was no escaping Zahn. Considering the over-the-top greeting Sera received, I thought he’d ditch me in favour of her. But he didn’t. A girl called Jojo with spiky pink hair, two studs in her eyebrow and pink Beats headphones covering her ears sat down and went to work on her.

“I’m really glad you decided to come,” said Sera. “I wanted to be sure you were okay after that horrible episode with Tilly. She does a lot of damage.”

I didn’t look at her as she spoke. “Thanks, but I wouldn’t say she’s the worst I’ve had to deal with since I’ve been here.”

“Fitting in hasn’t been easy for you,” she agreed.

“Nope. You’re a tough crowd.”

Zahn giggled, a girly shrill that reminded me of Fabergé. I realised I probably shouldn’t have been talking so freely in front of him.

Jojo couldn’t have heard a word. We could hear the loud music thumping through the big headphones she was wearing.

“I know it’s no excuse but, well, you took us by surprise. One minute Adam was with Whitney and the next he was married to you.”

“Scan-da-lous,” interjected Zahn. I wiggled my fingers to get his mind back on task.

“It seemed so out of character for Adam, which can only mean one thing,” she mused.

“What, darling? What does it mean?” Zahn asked the question as if hearing the answer meant the difference between life and death.

“He loves her, Zahn.”

“The feeling is mutual,” I said, ignoring Zahn’s coo of approval. “I love him.”

We were quiet for a while, but the silence wasn’t awkward. I felt no need to impress Sera. I’d already made the decision that she’d have to take me at face value. It was a stance I probably should’ve adopted the second I arrived in New York.

“Why did you get married? How can you be sure he’s the one?” Sera didn’t sound cynical, just curious. “What if you break up?”

I shrugged. “It won’t matter. He’ll still be the one.”

My words stunned her into silence. Even Zahn was quiet.

I drew in a long breath, debating whether or not I should elaborate. I decided to throw it all out there and let her decide if I was crazy or not. “I’ll tell you the whole story if you want to hear it.”