Serene (Shattered Book 3) Page 6

  “Come with me, I wanna show you something.” I took her hand in mine and led her into my office. We came to one of the walls and I put her palm over a white wooden frame hanging on it.

  “What’s this?” She asked.

  “Your present. You gave it to me on Saturday night, remember?”

  “The sketch, right?”

  “Mm-hm.”

  She turned her head as if she wanted to look at me and put one palm on my cheek, just like she did the other night.

  “Your face muscles are tensed. You are nervous, aren’t you?”

  “You can’t even imagine.”

  She graced me with another beautiful smile. “It’s natural. Today is your big day. Is anyone from your family going to come to the party?”

  “Yep. My sister and her husband will be here, as well as my friends: Kameron with his wife Elizabeth and Jeff whom I’ve been friends since childhood. He resides in New York now, so we rarely see each other.”

  “What about your parents?”

  “Uh… I wish they could be here today, but my dad isn’t feeling well. He has been bedfast for almost fifteen months. It had been a hard time for all of us.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. Can he walk now?”

  “Yes, but only with a walking stick. A nurse comes to visit him twice a week. Together they do exercises to train his muscles. And if you believe my mom, he will start running marathons soon.”

  “He must be desperate to learn how to walk without a stick again.” I heard the notes of sadness in her voice. She, of all people, knew how hard it was to live with limited opportunities.

  “He’s trying his best to get rid of it as soon as possible.”

  “I can imagine…” She lowered her eyes for a moment; long black lashes fluttered like butterfly wings.

  “Can I ask you for a favor?” I said. “Will you stay by my side while I make a welcome speech?”

  “What?”

  “Out of two of us, I’m the one more scared about the party. But if you are nearby, I feel like I’m not alone in my fearful despair. I hate public speeches, you know?”

  She chuckled. “If I were you tonight, I would probably stay locked in this office until the party was over and everyone was gone.”

  I laughed. “Funny thing, it was the first thought to cross my mind this morning.”

  “Really?” She laughed too. “Who would have thought that you were a coward, Dr. Burke?”

  “I am not actually.”

  “This is exactly what I told my sister yesterday when she accused me of being a coward. Have you ever heard of cowards admitting they were cowards? Correct. Me neither. But since we are here, and it looks like we don’t have a choice but to jump off the cliff and straight into the crowd of your guests, let’s do this together.”

  I liked the way she said it. There was so much courage in her words. Google didn’t lie after all – girls who smell of linen – now I knew it was Ivy’s favorite smell - like pushing their endurance to the limits, they like challenges and setting new goals for themselves. Ivy was of them – a fighter to the bone who didn’t let life break her.

  “Thank you for being here tonight,” I said. “It means a lot more than you can imagine.”

  More blush appeared on her cheeks. Too bad she couldn’t see herself now. She looked breathtaking. It was like the stars themselves fell down from the sky to rest beneath her skin, making it glow from within.

  Her presence encouraged me like nothing else, making all of my fears fade in comparison to what she made me feel.

  “Wanna laugh?” I asked.

  She nodded with the corners of her lips lifting up a bit.

  “Last night was a nightmare for me. I didn’t get a wink of sleep. Even if I stayed up all night running around the city or exhausting myself in a gym, it would make no difference to the way I felt in the morning. By the time I needed to get up, my sheets were in a knot wrapped tight around my legs. But when I tried to break free from their death grip, I fell from the bed and hit my head. A headache only made everything worse.”

  As expected, the room filled with her soft laughter. “You are hopeless, Dr. Burke. How on earth have you managed to gain the reputation of one of the best plastic surgeons in the city?”

  “Have no idea.”

  “Wanna hear about my morning hell?”

  “Sure.”

  “It started with my sister beating a tattoo on the door of my apartment, even though I have a doorbell and she knows it.”

  “I thought you were staying at her place.”

  “I went back home last night. I hate waking up in a bed that is not my own. This is one of the reasons I hate staying at Emery’s. She wanted to make sure she had enough time to make me look presentable, so she thought that waking me up at seven in the morning, when we needed to come here by four in the afternoon, was a great idea. Needless to say, I didn’t share her enthusiasm.”

  I chuckled. “It’s so much like her to do that. I know I will never miss any of my appointments if Emery is here to make my schedule. She feels like she’s responsible for everything that is going around her, at work or not.”

  “Exactly. But you are lucky to not have her for a sister. She can be a real pain in the ass.”

  “Oh, actually I do have a pain-in-the-ass sister. And trust me, Emery is not the worst option.”

  We both giggled.

  “All right,” I looked at my watch. “I think it’s time to go. The guests are waiting.”

  Ivy ran one hand down her dress, as if smoothing the fabric.

  “You look amazing tonight,” I said, not even a bit exaggerating.

  For a few seconds, she looked taken aback, as if compliments were the last thing she expected to hear from me. It was a rare moment when the look in her eyes became lost and gave away the absence of vision. My heart hurt because of how much I wanted to do something, anything to help her get it back.

  I need to study her case, I thought to myself. Probably Emery can help me with it.

  “Do you know what is one thing I would kill for seeing now?” Ivy asked.

  “No.”

  “Your eyes. I would like to see them one day.”

  There was no irony in her words. She meant every single one of them.

  “At least now you know how I felt on Saturday night when you were wearing sunglasses.”

  Her thoughtful face lit up with a smile. “Payback is a bitch. I always knew it.”

  Laughing, I took her hand in mine again and said, “Are you ready to go?”

  “No, but what choice do I have?”

  And so, we walked to the door and then out of the safety of my office.

  A surge of anxiety ran through me at the voices coming from the hall. The guests were here; dozens of people who came to congratulate me on my success. I had been dreaming about this moment for so long. But all of a sudden I realized that the only thing that really mattered about this night was the girl by my side…

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Ivy

  I hated crowded places. Just stepping into the room full of strangers made my breathing rapid; my heart bounced loudly in my chest; blood pounded in my temples. To me, crowds were like beehives – each had a life of its own. Talks, looks, smiles. I could swear every fiber of me could feel the vibration of the air around me.

  I felt like I was about to faint, and if it weren’t for Stanley’s hand holding mine, I would probably never make it through the door that led to the hall where the guests had been waiting for his appearance.

  “Calm down,” he said into my ear. “You don’t want anyone to see your heels shaking, do you?”

  “You are kidding, right?” Though I did feel like every small part of me was shaking, I still preferred to think that it was internal, and no one could see it.

  His quiet laughter made me want to punch him.

  “Trust me, if it weren’t for your presence, I would most likely trip and die of mortification, even before the guests would realize it wa
s me spread on the carpet, face down.”

  “That would be a perfect beginning of your speech.”

  “No doubt. Now, let’s get to the scariest part.”

  He pushed me deeper into the crowd, and I didn’t have a chance to protest or tell him to leave me at the door, or run away before everyone realized that something was terribly wrong with me.

  When we stopped, Stanley wrapped one arm around my waist and pulled me closer. I could feel everyone’s surprised eyes watching us. Even though I wasn’t a mind reader, I knew their heads were very busy guessing about the level of relationship Stanley and I shared.

  “I hate public speeches,” he said into the microphone. The sound of his voice filled the room and the guests stopped talking. “But tonight, it doesn’t look like I have a choice but to swallow my fears and make everyone’s eyes focus on my black tie that, I guess, looks like I had been trying to tie it a hundred times, no less.”

  The crowd laughed.

  “Nevertheless, here I am, with a friend of mine standing by my side to make sure I don’t chicken out and run away to hide in my office.”

  More laughing followed.

  “I’m glad to see you all here today. It means the world to me to know that my closest friends, my family and colleagues came here to celebrate the opening of my clinic with me. Many of you know how much I wanted this night to happen...” He paused, and maybe I was imagining things, but I felt like his embrace around me tightened. He took a deep breath and continued, “I hope I will not disappoint you and my future clients. After all, everything I do, I do for the sake of beauty. So let’s raise our glasses to what makes you feel beautiful, whether it’s just a smile on your face or a good amount of Botox under your skin.”

  “Cheers!” Someone from the crowd said, then everyone repeated the word and I heard the sound of glasses clang together.

  “Now we can let out a breath and have fun,” Stanley said to me.

  I shook my head. “I will let out a breath when I go back home and take these shoes off. They are killing me.”

  “Before you take them off, how about a dance?”

  “I don’t dance.”

  “But I do.”

  And without saying another word, he took my hand in his, while his other hand rested on the small of my back.

  No, no, no… This isn’t happening…

  I didn’t remember the last time I danced, not to mention dancing with a partner. Well, actually I did, but it was so long ago, I forgot how to make the moves.

  The sounds of music spun around us, and I suddenly realized that I actually enjoyed dancing. I was surprised by how easy it was to dance again. With Stanley, I didn’t need to remember the moves, he set the pace, and I followed it.

  Gravity didn’t exist anymore. It was like music lifted me up and took me away from here and now, and to a place I never knew existed. There I felt so calm, peaceful even. And if it weren’t for the predatory fast beating of my heart, I would think I was in heaven. I could hear my heels click against the marble floor. In my mind, I prayed I wouldn’t step on Stanley’s foot. It would be so embarrassing, even though he knew who he was dancing with. But like always, I didn’t want my clumsiness to highlight the differences between us.

  True they say, it doesn’t matter if you are a good or a bad dancer. All that matters is who you are dancing with. And in my case, the partner was just perfect.

  We didn’t talk. We continued to dance to the rhythm of the music filling the room, each lost in their own thoughts.

  I used to love dancing like this, feeling the security of the moment, with the man I loved to the moon and back, holding me in his arms, saying how much he loved me. It felt so distant now, the memories were no longer painful; the things that used to remind me of the time when I was endlessly happy didn’t mean a thing anymore. Sometimes I asked myself if that was normal. Or maybe it was because my heart was so cold now, it couldn’t feel anything anymore.

  Then again, cold hearts don’t beat so fast at the touch of someone you barely know…

  I swallowed, feeling another wave of fear rolling down my spine. After the accident, I never let a man get too close to me. Needless to say, my love life was nonexistent. But I always knew when a man was interested in something more than just talking to me. I never responded to those invisible invitations. For the obvious reasons, I stopped trusting men a long time ago.

  But tonight… Tonight I felt like I never trusted anyone as much as I trusted the man I was dancing with now. He made me feel secure. And for someone like me, it was almost like falling in love, only with no actual love involved.

  “A penny for your thoughts,” Stanley said into my ear. The way his breathing feathered my ear did weird things to my belly. It was like butterflies that had been asleep for years, woke up again. Which wasn’t possible, or was it?

  “I’m trying to understand whether or not I like this whole dancing thing.”

  “And?”

  I thought for a moment. “I think it’s the most exciting thing I have done in two years.”

  I could hear a smile in his next words, “I’m glad I’ve managed to become a reason for your excitement. Wanna know what I’ve been thinking this whole time while dancing with you?”

  “Dying to.”

  “I don’t think I have ever been allowed to touch anything more beautiful than you are.”

  Heat ran up to my cheeks.

  It was not like I stopped receiving compliments right after my vision was gone. But until tonight, I never felt like I wanted to hear more of them. When, on the other hand, panic from within hit the roof. As stoic as I was, at times annoyingly self-assured as my sister loved calling me, I forgot how to feel certain things. I crossed them out of my life and swore to never let them under my skin again.

  Obviously, my inner battles didn’t mean a damn thing when it came to resisting Dr. Stanley Burke. He did have a key to the door that I was sure was long locked and forgotten.

  Tonight that door came crashing down, as if it had been made of glass that shattered into tiny pieces and left me naked to everyone’s eyes. In any other situation, I would feel uncomfortable, and probably dying to wrap myself up in a blanket and cover whatever I preferred to keep unrevealed. Weird thing, I didn’t need a blanket now. As a matter of fact, I more than anything wanted all of my secrets to be unwrapped…

  ***

  Stanley

  Blush seared through her cheeks, reminding of a blooming spring flower, so rare, it could only be found somewhere in the mountains, where it stays hidden from everyone’s eyes for the biggest part of the year, and only once in a while graces the world with its tender beauty.

  I would give away a lot just to make time freeze, to enjoy what we were sharing now at least a little longer than one song. It was hard to find the right words to describe it, but I knew that something was happening between us. Even if neither of us was ready to face or admit it.

  The dance was almost over, and I already missed the feeling of holding her in my arms. I knew I wasn’t being completely honest with her when I said I needed her to stay by my side because I was too afraid to take the floor. There were pure selfish reasons to keep her close. I had no idea how to explain what was happening with me, but I couldn’t help it, and what was even weirder - I loved it more than I could have imagined.

  When the song was over, I let her go, but stayed close. I knew she needed it, and it was totally understandable. I hated when someone took me out of my comfort zone, but in Ivy’s case, coming to the party was not just stepping out of her comfort zone. It was almost like climbing the Eiffel Tower in less ten seconds. One second you can feel the ground beneath your feet, then ten seconds later, you are at the very top of the tower, where everything you believe in feels somehow new and a bit surreal. I didn’t know what it was like for her to be here tonight, but one thing I knew for sure – her presence made my night and all I wanted was to make it last forever.

  When I heard my sister calling my nam
e, I suddenly regretted inviting her to the party. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted her to be here and I was glad to see her again. But something was telling me she wouldn’t let my dance with Ivy go just like that.

  I moved closer to Ivy and once again wrapped one arm around her, feeling like I needed to protect her from Crystal’s piercing eyes, that if possessed the power of fire, would have burned a hole on Ivy’s back.

  “I thought you said you’ve been missing us,” she said, giving my hand that was wrapped around Ivy’s waist a meaningful look. “But now I can see that our presence here was not needed at all.”

  I rolled my eyes and kissed her on both cheeks. “You know it’s not true. I couldn’t wait to see you guys, as well as your growing belly.” I touched it carefully through the fabric of her caramel dress. “I still can’t believe I’m gonna be an uncle.”

  She smiled. “Me neither.”

  Then I turned to Ivy, who looked a bit lost and I suddenly got worried.

  Hope Crystal doesn’t say anything that will make her regret coming to the party. Keep it neutral, sis. Please be a good girl.

  “This is Ivy Ryan,” I said. “She’s Emery’s sister.” Not that my words lessened my sister’s unhidden curiosity or explained why I couldn’t keep my hands away from Ivy.

  “Nice to meet you. I’m Crystal, Stanley’s sister. And this is Liam, my husband.”

  Keep it that way, sis. Polite and well mannered. Those are your second and third names, right?

  “The pleasure is all mine.” Ivy smiled, switching her eyes between where Crystal and Liam were standing. If I didn’t know better, I would never believe she was blind.

  My sister spoke again, “So, how long have you two been… dancing?”

  Screw good manners. Better be your usual wise-ass self, right?

  Ivy’s eyebrows rose in a silent “Excuse me?” question.

  “Forget it,” I said, tightening my embrace around her. To change the subject, I looked around the room and asked, “Where are Kameron and Elizabeth?”

  “Over there,” Liam said, pointing to one of the tables. “Talking to Jeff. He just hit us with the news of his upcoming wedding.”