Wicked Little Sins (12 page)

              Quinn made her way through the small diner, a tray in hand. She loathed her job more than just about anything.

              “Hey Quinn,” Gia the other waitress on her shift said, passing by her. Gia and Quinn were about the same age. She wasn’t overly fond of Gia, but they would occasionally hang out together sometimes after work. Gia wasn’t very sure of herself, apparently suffering from low self-esteem.

              “Hey Gia,” Quinn said, making her way to the table of one more awaiting customer.

              “Are you ready to order?” she politely asked. The man looked to be in his late thirties, hair slicked back on his head, wearing a dark suit and dark sunglasses.

              “What would you recommend?” he asked in a hoarse voice, possibly the result of too much smoking.

              “I’d recommend nothing, but they tell me to say the potpie,” she said, smirking. He didn’t appear to be amused. When he closed the menu, she noticed a large ring bearing a black stone on his finger. He rapped his fingers on the table, a steady beat, as he looked at her with his piercing eyes. She wondered what the holdup was.

              “Do you…uh…need a minute?” she asked, hoping he would stop.

              “Well, I suppose I will have the potpie,” he finally said, handing back the menu. Quinn gave a nod, turned, and swiftly walked away. She’d forgotten to ask for his drink order, but she didn’t care. She rushed to the kitchen and dropped her order ticket on the counter, then headed to the bathroom.

              Charley pored over the paperwork. She’d been at it since six in the morning and it was nearly twelve hours later. She was trying to keep herself busy. Thinking about Adrian had slowed her productivity, and she had a lot of work to get done. She tapped the pen on her desk and let out a sigh.

              “Excuse me, Charley,” her assistant, Reeves, said, as he peeked in her office. He was the dream assistant willing to tackle whatever chore you put before him. He was a trendy kid who always wore suspenders under his vintage jackets and loved his shiny dress shoes. He was twenty-two and acted like a forty-year-old seasoned professional. Charley enjoyed Reeves very much; he was like another sibling to her.

              “What’s up?” she asked, pushing the stack of paper across her desk, pleased to have an interruption. Reeves pushed the office door open wide to reveal a massive bouquet of flowers. Charley gasped at the stunning arrangement of crisp whites and pale creams mixed with greenery. The bouquet was visually stunning with oriental lilies, white roses, chrysanthemums, viburnum, tree ferns, and Berzelius. Her mother would have been incredibly impressed.

              “Someone is trying hard to impress you, and they’re doing a good job at it. This had to cost a fortune,” Reeves said, admiring the arrangement. Charley smiled, her hand to her chest as she marveled at the amazing gift.

              “Who are they from? You didn’t tell me about any guys,” Reeves pushed. Charley and Reeves talked about nearly everything since they’d grown close. There were no romantic feelings between the two, but they had a mutual respect for the other. She was one of the most caring and sweet girls he’d ever met in New York. She had been there for him a lot and had given him a great job. Reeves found most girls to be difficult—he was more of a loner and a definite workaholic.

              Opening up the card, she lit up. Reeves waited for her to speak, finally grabbing the card from her.

              “I hope these made you smile. I will see you in two days. Adrian. He’d read out loud, looking at his gooey-eyed friend and boss.

              “Please tell me where this one came from,” Reeves inquired.

              “When I went home, we ran into each other at the airport. We ran into each other again at the flower shop. And before I left we went out on a date,” she said, briefly thinking back to their short time together.

              “Is he a good guy? What am I saying--the look on your face says it all,” he chuckled.              

“He’s pretty amazing,” Charley admitted. Reeves nodded, letting her ramble on about Adrian. She’d always felt sorry for herself and Reeves, both of them single and work obsessed. At least she went on a date occasionally. Reeves, on the other hand, stayed to himself. She thought Reeves didn’t like girls at all—at least he’d never talked about any. He was the only man in her life, besides those in her family that didn’t hit on her.

              “Well, I wish you a lot of luck then,” he said, setting the flowers on the table in the center of her office. He couldn’t imagine a better pick. This man was pulling out all the stops, he thought.

              “Thanks, Reeves. I’ll see you tomorrow night for drinks?” she asked him. They had their routine night at the bar next to work. They’d sip on martinis and vent about life, mostly about work.

              “I think I need a rain check,” he said. “By the way, your little brother called for you a couple times. I knew you were busy so I told him you’d call back.”

              Charley nodded, shooting an evil glare at the pile of papers on her desk. Busy didn’t even cover what she’d be to get caught up with all this paperwork. She stared at her calendar, trying to figure out how she could manage to take a couple days off. She wanted to spend all the time she could with Adrian when he was in town.

              Adrian waited patiently at the prison, sitting in the cheap plastic chair. His father, Sam, dressed in a bright orange prison garb, legs in shackles, walked slowly toward him. Sam was mid-forties, a man of great wealth and power, and was of Irish and Spanish descent. Prison was the last place he would have ever imagined himself to be.

              “Glad you could make it,” he said in his thick brogue. He was proud of his heritage but not so much of his accent. His wife had always compared his accent to that of Ricky Ricardo.

              “Of course, I figured I’d come once more before I went out of town again,” Adrian said, staring at his dad on the other side of the glass. He held the phone tightly in his grip. His father looked a lot calmer than he had on other visits.

              “Where are you heading?” Sam asked, concerned he wasn’t keeping up on the family business.

              “Oh, just to see a friend,” he said. He hoped he wouldn’t offer to put in his two cents worth like he usually did.

              “And is this a female?” Sam asked. He knew his son. He had a way of letting the wrong things get in the way of work.

              “Yeah, it is. So I talked to the lawyers. They are going to try their best to push up your hearing. They’ve got something up their sleeves, but, of course, they never let us know,” Adrian explained. His family had used the same defense team all his life—two Jewish lawyers who could make the vilest man look innocent

              “Yeah, nothing you need to worry about. I just want you to keep up your end of the deal. Make sure you do what I asked of you. And keep an eye on your mother,” Sam ordered.

              Adrian nodded his head, knowing what that meant.

              “I’m serious, Adrian. This is not the time to go falling in love. You see where that got me.” He was growing angrier by the second. His son was free to pursue what he wanted while he sat behind bars.

              “You’re innocent, Dad. They can’t put a man like you behind bars for something you didn’t do,” he insisted.

              Sam leaned back in his chair, the phone cord barely stretching so far and slowly nodded his head. He knew there were a lot of dirty people out there who wanted to take what he had worked so hard to build. He wasn’t the monster they were making him out to be.

              “You just be careful and keep me updated,” he told his son, hanging the phone up. He gave him one more glance before he was escorted away.

              Ned stared at his son, at a loss for words.

              “Dad,” Ethan said, trying for the millionth time to get him to understand. He’d been explaining his theory to his dad for an hour now, and Ned was like a brick wall. He didn’t want to discuss it—none of it.

              “Ethan, you must stop this gibberish. They know what they’re doing. Leave it to the police,” he said once more.

              “The man in prison, if he’s innocent, why can’t we say anything?” Ethan asked.

              “That’s the man. They know what they’re doing,” he insisted. He wasn’t about to confess to his son that he knew the wrong guy was in prison. He just hoped the trial would be enough to keep him in there, and then this whole nightmare would be over.

              “Dad...” Ethan tried again, only to be shushed by his father.

              “Let’s get you back to school. You still going on that hike?” he asked his son, nearly pushing him out the door.

              “Yeah,” was all Ethan could say.

              Ned knew there’d been something awful going on. He was certain someone had been making his wife’s life a living hell for quite some time before her death. He feared his wife had been killed for knowing too much, and he wanted to stay as far away from it as he could. That’s where he wanted his kid as well.

              Charley slipped into her SUV to go pick Adrian up at the airport. She didn’t have time to change into something more stunning. She stared down at her blue jeans, tight black shirt, and brown suede boots. She also wore her big gray sweater that was so comfortable. She looked nothing like she had on her first date with Adrian, but when she’d gotten dressed this morning, comfort was first and foremost in her mind. She pulled down her sunglasses and studied her necklace in the rear-view mirror.

              “I really need a new wardrobe,” she muttered to herself. She looked at her hair styled in a bun. “A new hairstyle would be nice too,” she sighed.

              Adrian pulled his small suitcase from the conveyor, smiling to himself as he casually made his way through the airport. He remembered how he’d decided to purposely get in her way, and how he’d been drawn to the tall blonde, pecking away at her phone, almost immediately. She had no idea, but it had turned out just the way he’d wanted it to.

              Adrian checked his own phone. He’d been waiting to hear something—anything—about his dad’s upcoming trial. He really hoped things would stay quiet on the Ohio front for the three days he planned to be with Charley. He was filled with nervous excitement in anticipation of seeing Charley.

              “Excuse me, do you have change?” a girl a little younger than he asked. She pushed her hair off her shoulders and gave him a smile.

              “Uh, let me see, usually I just carry credit cards,” he said, setting his suitcase down, hoping this small act of kindness wouldn’t delay him too long. He didn’t want to miss Charley.

              “Where you coming from?” she asked as he fumbled in his pants pockets. He was beginning to think this brunette was flirting, rather than in need.

              “From Ohio.  Here you go,” he said, handing over about two dollars in quarters. She offered him a dollar, and he just waved his hand in refusal, interested in looking for Charley.

              “Ohio? Really? I had a couple friends from there. I’m from Arizona,” she said, not taking the hint. Adrian sighed, nodding his head in agitation.              

“Never been there. Well, I’ll see you,” he said, yanking the handle on his suitcase.

              “Well, thanks,” she said, as he tried pulling his handle. He cursed knowing it had failed him.

              “Are you here for work?” she asked, taking hold of the bottom of his suitcase. Adrian held his breath as the handle finally released. She smiled, pleased she could help him, and stood back up.

              “I’m here to see my girlfriend,” he said.

              “Oh, I see. I would have pegged you for a bachelor,” she said, holding on.

              “Looks can be deceiving. You have a nice day,” he said, hurrying off. He made his way just in time to see Charley coming through the doors. He watched as she scanned the crowd of travelers looking for him. He thought how cute she looked as she nervously darted her gaze back and forth.

              Stepping back behind a potted plant, he dialed Charley’s cell phone.

              “Am I late? Did I miss you?” she asked, in a panic.

              He smiled into the phone hating to torture the girl, but he couldn’t help it. She made him giddy, and it was so easy to laugh when he was around her.

              “My flight’s been delayed. Some asshole on the plane decided to make a bomb out of soda bottles and firecrackers,” he said, biting his lip, trying his hardest not to laugh.

              “Are you joking me? I am so sorry,” she gasped.

              “He is demanding tickets to an Elton John concert or something like that--not sure. I’m hiding in the bathroom,” he said, carefully moving through the crowd of people. He kept his eye on her, even more amused as he watched her expression.

              “Well, I will wait right here for you. I’m looking at the flights; I don’t see anything,” she said.

              Adrian made his way closer, little by little until he was right behind her. Totally unaware, he reached out and poked her shoulder.

              “I sure am scared,” he said into the phone, keeping his eyes on her. Charley screamed out loud, as she laid eyes on him.

              “I can’t believe you!” she said, covering her mouth. She pushed him away, laughing hysterically at his prank.

              He couldn’t help but laugh, either, as she doubled over in another fit of laughter. He was enjoying every minute of it; anything that could light up her face like that was worth it to him.

              “I’m sorry. I promise there was no crazed Elton John fan trying to sabotage my flight. It’s good to see you,” he said, pulling her in for a hug.

              “Good to see you again,” she said, finally calming down and resting her head on his shoulder.

              “So this is New York?” he asked, holding onto her. He loved how long the hug lasted. She must have missed him as much as he’d missed her.

              “This is New York. Do you have all your things?” she asked, looking at his tiny suitcase.

              “When I move in, I promise I’ll bring more,” he said, kissing her cheek.

              Charley smiled at his comment, letting him take her hand as they made their way out.