The Pull of Destiny (70 page)

I bit my lip. I
could say what I wanted about Nate, but at least I knew where he stood as far
as mood swings were concerned. He went from civil to furious in less than 10
seconds. There was no in-between for him.
As for Mr. Astor
... It looked
like Luke had to use a temper meter if he wanted to figure out where he stood
with his dad, mood wise.

Gesturing
towards me, Mr. Astor rumbled, “Now where are your manners? You’re not going to
introduce me to your friend?”

He grinned
charmingly at me as, looking more confused than ever; Luke stared from me to
him. Finally, after a short brain lag, (not that I blamed him, Mr. Astor was
acting weird) he said, “You
know
her. Celsi Sawyer. My gala date.”

Recognition lit
up Mr. Astor's features as he nodded, rubbing his hands together.

“Ah, yes! Miss
Sawyer from East Harlem.” He shot me a (
genuine? Tres bizarre
) smile.
“How are you?”

“I’m good,
thanks, Mr. Astor,” I said politely. I didn’t want to be the one to rock the
boat. He was being nice for the time being, so I was all for prolonging that as
much as possible.

Mr. Astor
perched himself onto the nearest barstool. “So... you guys were making
cupcakes?” he asked, raising one eyebrow as he looked around the messy kitchen.

I looked at
Luke, expecting him to answer, but he was just staring at his dad with a
slightly unfocused look on his face. Like he was trying hard to figure out
whether the real Mr. Astor's mind had been replaced.
Guess it’s up to me to
make awkward small talk
.

Oh well, could
be worse. He could be on that ‘are you sure you’re not a billionaire in
disguise living in East Harlem to prove a point’ tip.

“Yes, we were
going to give them to your neighbors,” I replied.

“What happened?
They have a kid or something?” Mr. Astor asked, chuckling at his own wit.

Luke, help
me!

Taking a deep
breath, I forged on, hoping against hope that I wouldn’t trip up and give him
fodder to go on the attack. I guess all those years living under the same roof
as Nate has taught me to be extremely cautious. “No, we just wanted to be
neighborly. Luke said he barely knew them so we figured this would be a nice
way to reintroduce him.”

Snorting
condescendingly, Mr. Astor said, “What a quaint idea.” He picked up a napkin
and dabbed at a pool of batter on the table. “Too bad that the majority of the
cupcakes didn’t end up in the oven.”

I twisted my
hands together, my insides knotting nervously. “I’ll clean up, I promise.”

“Don’t worry
about it,” Mr. Astor said dismissively. “You just got carried away, is all. I
understand. I was once in love too.”

My forehead
creased as I gazed at him, puzzled.
What a strange thing for a married man
to say.

I was almost
positive that I heard Luke mumble, “Yeah, with yourself,” under his breath.

His dad quickly
shot him a quick, probing look as I tensed, expecting him to go off, but to my
relief, he decided not to comment.

Instead he
said, “Luke, do me a favor?”

“What?” Luke
asked, eying his dad warily.

“Hope and Faith
are still at the museum. Go pick them up, will ya?” Mr. Astor may have said he
wanted a favor, but Luke and I both knew it was a straight up demand. “Use my
car.”

He tossed his
car keys across the room and Luke caught them lazily. “Don’t they already have
a ride?”

“Their chauffer wasn’t
feeling too well so I let him go home for the day. I don’t want Faith catching
anything.”

Massaging his forehead,
Luke muttered, “How kind of you,” in the most sarcastic voice ever.

“So be a good boy and go
pick up your little sister.”

Luke shrugged, apparently
deciding not to argue with his dad, which was good enough for me. It worried me
when Luke got worked up. I always pictured that aneurysm, with all that
pressure on it...

“Fine.” He turned to me, a
resigned look in his deep green eyes. “Let’s go, CiCi,” he said softly,
slipping his warm hand into mine.

Mr. Astor cleared his
throat as I was picking up my purse from the floor. “Actually, why doesn’t
–CiCi- stay here?”

I looked up from brushing
flour off of my bag, my eyes widening at his suggestion.

“What? Why?” Luke asked,
his arms folded across his chest as he stared at his dad. “I can drop her off
home on my way...”

Pointing at me, Mr. Astor
said, “She has frosting and cupcake batter all over her! You’d actually let her
leave like this?” He let out a bark of laughter. “Obviously somebody isn’t a
true
romantic.”

“I can go clean up-,” I
started, eager to avert a fight between father and son. Luke’s eyes were
narrowed and from the way his head was cocked, I knew that he was getting close
to the edge.

“No, it’s okay!” Mr. Astor
gave me another cheery smile that I didn’t trust at all. “I’ll keep you company
while Luke’s gone. Then you can finish what I interrupted.”

Luke shot me a bewildered
look as he bit his lip, obviously wondering what his dad was up to. Hell, so
was I!
Why is he being so damn nice?
“Um...”

“The sooner you leave, the
quicker you get back,” Mr. Astor trilled (yes.
Trilled
).

I turned to Luke,
squeezing his hand. “It’s okay, go. I’ll stay till you get back.”

Luke gave me an ‘are you
crazy’ look as he leaned closer to me so that he could whisper. “You sure? I
don’t know about you, but he’s freaking me out. He’s being- civil!” He stared
darkly at his dad over my shoulder. “He’s up to something.”

“Maybe, but I get the
feeling that he won’t back down on this. If he wants me to stay, he’ll get me
to stay.”

“Whenever you two are done
whispering, there’s a five year old standing out in the cold who wants to come
home,” Mr. Astor said loudly.

Luke rolled his eyes to
the ceiling. “Jeeze, he’s annoying. Okay, I’ll go. If he starts something,
throw something at him and run.”

I grinned at the serious
look on his face. “Okay. Now go,” I told him, squeezing his hand again.

He leaned in and pecked me
on the lips
in front of his dad
and whispered, “Be right back.”

Luke stuffed his dad’s
keys in the back pocket of his jeans and walked out. There was the slam of the
penthouse’s front door, then an awkward silence.

This is just awful
.

Mr. Astor (
thankfully
)
broke the heavy silence. “So, you seem to be getting along with Luke very
well,” he commented, rubbing an apple till it shone. He took a bite out of it,
suddenly remembered his manners (
I guess
) and held the fruit bowl out to
me. “Fruit?”

I shook my head, careful
to keep the bland, polite smile plastered on my face. “No thanks.”

So let me get this
straight.
Mr. Astor had
made me stay behind so he could offer me fruit?

“What do you like about
Luke? In general.”

Um... I don’t think Mr.
Astor wants to hear about his son’s amazing kissing skills, Celsi.

“He has a very generous
spirit,” I said honestly. Over the past few months I had seen as Luke proved that.
It always left me in awe.

Mr. Astor snickered. “We
talking about the same Luke?” he asked, disbelief in his voice. That alone was
enough to get me on my high horse.

“I spend enough time with
Luke to see how special he is,” I answered haughtily, almost biting my tongue
as I realised what I had said and how it must have sounded to Luke’s dad.

Open mouth, insert
foot. You do it so well, Celsi.

Mr. Astor's piercing grey
eyes shot to me and I pressed myself against the counter. “Are you implying
that I don’t?” he asked, sounding rather dangerous. And then he spoiled the
whole effect by taking a huge bite out of his apple.

Wildly, I tried to right
my slip up. “No, I just meant-,” I started, scratching my nose nervously.

“Because you’re right.”
Mr. Astor shrugged, reminding me forcibly of Luke. “I don’t. But you know what?
Leopards don’t change their spots.” He waggled a finger at me like he was about
to teach me an important life lesson and it would be best for me to pay
attention. “Luke may have claimed to have had an epiphany when Shane passed,
but people like him always relapse. He hasn’t reverted to his old ways yet
because of the aneurysm, but once he gets better, rest assured that he’ll turn
into the old Luke.”

I was shaking my head
before he even finished his sentence, my hoop earrings almost giving me
whiplash. “I don’t think so,” I argued. “He really
is
making an effort
to change his life for the better.”

Mr. Astor shrugged again,
giving me an inscrutable look. “At least
you
believe in him,” he said cryptically.
Taking another bite out of the poor apple, he chewed thoughtfully before asking
me, “So tell me, what’s the deal with you two?” I guess the blank look I gave
him was telling, because he elaborated. “You an item, or what?”

Nodding proudly (and a bit
timidly, because I had no way of knowing how Mr. Astor was going to react) I
said, “Yes.”

“Good for you.” He grinned
cheerfully at me, appearing to be quite pleased at the fact that Luke and I
were dating. Hesitantly, I smiled back.
The man is full of surprises
.
“You see it lasting?”

“Well, I don’t like to
think that far ahead,” I replied carefully. Of course I hoped that what Luke
and I had would last forever, even though I knew that was just wishful
thinking.
Nothing, but nothing lasts forever.
Still, I could only
hope...

“See? Even you have your
doubts,” Mr. Astor pointed out shrewdly. “Think about it. Why you?”
And we
were back to basics
. Of all the girls Luke could date, he chooses the one
from the projects? Why would he?”

Despite the negativity of
what he was saying, Mr. Astor didn’t look like he was angry or bent out of
shape about Luke and I being together. He just sounded curious, like he really
wanted to know how it came to be.

“Because he’s not closed
minded,” was my response.

“Maybe he’s not. But think
about it.” Mr. Astor stood up and walked to the sink to toss the apple core
down the disposal. “He’s been trying to piss me off for years.” He opened the
tap to wash his hands, looking at me over his shoulder. “That’s his game plan,
annoying me into paying attention to him. And now he’s come across you.
Beautiful, yes. But you’re poor, my dear.” Oh, like that’s news to me? “Luke’s
my only son. What would annoy me more than having my heir ‘hook up’ with a girl
who brings nothing to the table?” He paused for effect. “Nothing.”

I tugged on my ponytail
exasperatedly. “Mr. Astor, I may bring nothing to the table, but I have respect
for Luke and what he’s doing to turn his life around. And I care for him.” I
stared incredulously at him. “Can’t you see that?”

“I’m not saying you’re
wrong for caring for my son, I’m just saying you’ll probably regret it. Luke is
flighty. One moment you’re in, the next- kaput.” He stroked his tie, a
self-assured air surrounding him. “I’m just warning you. Quit while you’re ahead.”

I could barely believe my
ears.
Is he saying what I think he is?

“You want me to dump him?”

Laughing, Mr. Astor said,
“Don’t say it like that!  I didn’t say kill him!”

He laughed at his dull
joke as I stared at him.

“I can’t do that, Mr.
Astor,” I exclaimed. “I’m pretty much all he has, friend wise.”

“Yeah, I heard about
that.” He shook his finger at me in an admonishing manner. “You see? You’re
making him choose between you and his friends. That’s not nice.”

My cheeks flushed at the
accusation. “I didn’t make him choose,” I said, my voice sounding heated to my
own ears. “He chose to do what he thought was right!”

“Only because everything
else he tried didn’t work,” Mr. Astor replied calmly. I was beginning to
realise that the man had an answer for everything, no matter if it meant that
he had to contradict himself. “But do you think Luke needs a girlfriend to get
through this illness of his, or friends?”

I looked at him and
shrugged wearily.
This back and forth is tiring me out!
“I don’t know,
Mr. Astor. He needs what he needs.”

“Do you know what
you
need?”
he said, coming at me with another tangent.

“What?”

“You need to name your
price, Miss Sawyer.” A stern look on his face, Mr. Astor started pacing a few
feet in front of me. “This has gone on for long enough. I like you but in the
long run, you’re not right for my son.”

My mouth literally dropped
open as I listened to his self-righteous spiel. “Are you trying to buy me off?”