Serene (Shattered Book 3) Page 7

  “His what?” I asked, as shocked as ever.

  “We had the same reaction to the news,” Crystal said. “Jeffrey’s getting married. Can you believe that?”

  “Why is it so hard to believe that?” Ivy asked. She turned her head to me, probably not sure who to address her question to. She played her role perfectly well tonight. I wondered how long it would take everyone, including my sister, to realize that she couldn’t see them.

  “Jeffrey swore off marriage a long time ago,” I replied. “He once said that putting a ring on a girl’s finger would be the last thing he would do in his life.”

  “The wedding is in a month,” Crystal said. “Either his fiancé is pregnant, or your dearest friend has fallen hopelessly in love with her, which is hardly believable.” Then she turned to Ivy and said, “Come on, doll, I’ll introduce you to Liz and Cameron. Something’s telling me they are dying to know more about you.”

  As well as you are, I thought to myself.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll go with you,” I said quietly to Ivy.

  She visibly relaxed and nodded. I laced my fingers with hers and together we followed Crystal and Liam to where my friends were sitting.

  “Looks like your wedding news is not the biggest news of the night,” my sister said to Jeffrey and then nodded in my direction.

  I responded with a meaningful face that she ignored, as always.

  Jeff smiled knowingly and gave Ivy a head-to-toe look that I was glad she couldn’t see. Then he nodded approvingly and so did Kameron, who stood up to introduce himself.

  “Congratulations on the upcoming wedding,” Ivy said, obviously thinking it was Jeff approaching us.

  Kameron chuckled. “Um, thanks, but I don’t think my wife would have approved of my intentions to marry someone else.”

  Ivy’s posture tensed.

  “This is Kameron,” I said. “Kameron, this is Ivy.”

  “I didn’t expect Stanley to introduce us his girlfriend tonight, but I’m glad I haven’t missed this.”

  “Stanley and I are just friends,” Ivy said, with a tensed smile. No doubt, the only thing she wanted now was to run away. She moved her eyes as if looking anywhere but at my friends. Now that I knew how her ‘pretending thing’ worked, I noticed her every small trick.

  “Give them a break, guys,” Elizabeth said. She came closer and kissed me on both cheeks. “Congratulations, Stan. You did a great job with the clinic.”

  “Thanks. At least someone still remembers the real reason for this event.”

  Crystal shook her head and smiled, knowing that those words were addressed mostly to her.

  I turned to Jeff, “So when exactly is the big day? Are we invited to witness it?”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I never stopped watching Ivy. Her green eyes looked lost again. What was she thinking this time? I hoped her thoughts didn’t have anything to do with regrets. I didn’t want her to regret this night.

  Jeff said something about sending the invitations, I nodded absently, because my thoughts were still wrapped around Ivy. If she were a book, I would gladly read it devouring every page, every single line, regardless of what the words would be telling about. In moments like this, I wished I could turn the page and take away the sadness overshadowing her gentle features. Uh, if only I could do something to help her…

  I sighed and she immediately heard it. “Is everything okay?” She asked. “Did I do something wrong?”

  Unintentionally, I pulled her to my chest and kissed her hair. “No, you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just that… I suddenly realized I’d like to be in a different place now.”

  “Where exactly?”

  “Somewhere we wouldn’t need to pretend…”

  Crystal gave me a thoughtful look. Even though she couldn’t hear what Ivy and I were talking about, she somehow knew it was too sacred to share with anyone. The corners of her lips lifted in a silent understanding. She and I had been pretty close. She knew she could tell me anything, as well as I knew I could share my every secret with her and it will never be revealed to anyone else. Though some things – like what was going on between Ivy and me – I preferred to not share with anyone. Tonight was the second time we met, but I felt like I had known her for ages. I didn’t want to give what bound us any definitions, but I knew that something invisible but strong was pulling us to each other, and to be honest, I had no willpower to resist it. On the contrary – I wanted it to swallow me whole. How crazy was that? I had no answer to that question. All I knew was that two days with Ivy Ryan were more than enough to make me want to spend so much more time with her.

  We talked and laughed and I more than once caught myself drowning in her: in her beauty, in her voice in the way she reacted to my closeness. I bet, if everyone disappeared and she and I stayed alone in the room, I wouldn’t notice the difference. She would still be the only beautiful thing I wouldn’t be able to take my eyes off.

  The party dragged on. I kept looking at my watch, wondering if leaving before the guests did would be too rude. Ivy said she wanted to leave earlier, so I had no choice but to call Emery and accompany both of them to the door. I wanted to leave too. Not because I got tired of my guests asking questions about my work or my friends’ constant jokes about it; I couldn’t stop thinking about the look Ivy gave me before she left. Maybe she didn’t know it, but her eyes did have the power to say things. And they told me a lot. Maybe even more than I was ready to hear…

  None of my friends or even Crystal said anything about Ivy. When the guests started to leave and I went to my office to take a few things before going home, my sister knocked at the door and let herself in.

  “Hey, big boss. How are you? Did you enjoy the night?”

  “I surely did. You?”

  “The party was great, I’m sure everyone loved it. Except for one person…” She came to my desk and leaned against it, with her arms crossed over her chest. “How does she do this?”

  “Excuse me?” I asked, puzzled.

  “How does she do this non-blind thing? No one noticed that she couldn’t see them.”

  I stood up from my chair and smiled slightly. “But you did.”

  “I’m very observant, you know?”

  “I know. But I have no idea how to answer your question. Tonight was the second time Ivy and I met and there were just a few times when I saw the traces of blindness breaking through her perfectly planned ‘show’.”

  “She did a great job hiding her small imperfection. I’m impressed, really. Has she been blind from birth?”

  “No. Blindness came as an aftermath of a car accident.”

  “Poor girl… I can’t even begin to image what it’s like to be her. But you know what? It’s impossible not to admire the way she’s taking it, right? I mean, she looks, talks and acts as if nothing ever happened. And she wears heels! How is that even possible?”

  “The only thing I know is that it took her a lot of hard work to be who she is now.”

  Crystal nodded. “Figures.” She wrapped one arm around my waist and added, “You like her, don’t you? Don’t answer, I know you do. And I’m not talking about compassion. You didn’t see or hear anyone but her. In any other situation, I would be offended, but… I never saw you looking at any other girl the way you looked at her.”

  I smiled, remembering the moment I saw Ivy in my office earlier today. If I could turn back time and make it freeze in the moment, I would do just that.

  “She’s special,” I said quietly. “Everything about her is special. I guess this is what attracts me to her. She’s different and I like it. I’ve never met anyone like her. You can’t even imagine how much I wanted her to be here tonight. I don’t know why. I just knew that seeing her here would mean a lot to me. She made my night. No offense. I was glad to see you and the guys, but when I entered my waiting room and saw her there, I felt so happy. Do I sound weird? Do you think I’m losing my mind?”

  Crystal laughed and patted my back slightly. �
��You sure are. Just try to not think about her when performing another plastic surgery. Otherwise, everyone in the city will look like Ivy Ryan. And knowing your talents, copies will be very close to the original. By the way, Liam and I are going to stay in Washington for another week or so. Liz wants me to find new fabrics for her next collection and Liam can’t leave me here all alone. So I thought… How about sharing dinner with us one of these days? You can invite Ivy, if you want.”

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea. She doesn’t know me well enough to trust me with family dinners.”

  “If she didn’t trust you, she wouldn’t have shown up here tonight.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  The week dragged on: work, home, work, home and more work. A lot more work.

  By Friday, I felt like I hadn’t worked that much in like…never. Emery walked into my office with a cup of tea in her hands and wordlessly put it next to my laptop. My eyes hardly could see anything, considering I spent five hours staring at the screen, reading all the stories I could find about people recovering after losing their sight.

  “What are you doing?” She asked, curious.

  “Can you bring me Ivy’s medical history?” I asked in response.

  “What for?”

  “I need to know the details.”

  Emery took a seat facing me. “Even trying would be pointless.”

  “What do you mean?” I looked up and met her stare from across the desk.

  “She doesn’t want that story to be brought up again. None of the doctors we talked to found any physical reasons for her blindness. They kept saying that her vision would return, one day. But as you already know, the miracle never happened. She hid the files of her medical history, or maybe even burned them, I don’t know. She said she doesn’t need any more doctor appointments to hear the same things, over and over again.”

  “Oh… But do you think you could try finding those records for me? I would like to read them.”

  “Stanley…” She lowered her eyes to her hands. “I never told you anything about Ivy. But there’s one thing that you should probably know about her – she hates people nosing into her life. Even if she seems okay when talking about how she managed to step over her past, she hates getting back to it. Even if that is just a memory. Not to mention discussing her diagnosis.”

  I leaned against the back of my chair and crossed my arms. “I’m not going to ‘nose’ into her life. I want to help her. Or at least try helping her.”

  Emery shook her head and stood up from the chair, meaning this conversation was over.

  “Forget it, Stanley. She won’t let you.”

  “Can you tell me how to get in touch with her? I swear, I will not bring up the accident or its aftermath.”

  She hesitated for a moment, probably thinking of all the possible consequences of her small favor. Finally, she said, “Ivy’s gonna kill me.” Then she took out her phone and PMed me her sister’s phone number.

  “Thanks.”

  “Do not make me regret this,” she said with a warning.

  I smiled. “I’ll be a good boy, I promise.”

  I wasn’t going to give up on the idea of helping Ivy. I needed to know more about her case and I was fully intended to get the needed information, if not from Emery than from someone who definitely knew everything about it. Not that I was going to mention my plan to my secretary.

  There was another reason for my desire to see Ivy again. I can’t say it was totally innocent, but again – her sister didn’t need to know about it. A part of me was missing the girl I hardly knew anything about, and I needed to fix it. Right now.

  I waited for Emery to leave my office and dialed Ivy’s number. I didn’t expect her to pick up the phone right after the first beep.

  “Hello?” She said into the phone.

  God, her voice… It did weird things to me. Radiant as a sunset, I could listen to it all day long.

  “Hey,” I said, not sure how to start this conversation. I suddenly felt like I forgot all the words that I was going to say.

  “Stanley?”

  I was surprised to know that she recognized me after one short word.

  “Yes, it’s me…”

  “How did you get my number?”

  “Does it matter?”

  She paused for a moment. “No…”

  I looked down at my watch, wondering what she could be doing right now.

  “Have you had supper yet?” I asked into the handset. I was starving and the demanding sound my stomach made at the mention of food confirmed it.

  “I didn’t have time to think about food. I’ve been busy working.”

  “On what?”

  “A company I used to work for sometimes asks for my help. I can’t create any designs for them anymore, but I can always help with great ideas.”

  “So what did you come up with this time?”

  I suddenly wanted to know everything about her day, starting with the way she loved her coffee to what she was wearing when going to bed. I was particularly curious about that last part.

  “That’s the problem… No ideas came to my head.”

  I smiled. “I can’t believe you are telling me you lack imagination.”

  “Neither can I,” she said, a bit disappointed. “It never happened to me before. But I’ll come up with something later. I’m sure of it. Better tell me - how was your week?”

  “Eventful.”

  “I can imagine. I bet you have your schedule full for the next five years or so.”

  “Emery’s taking care of it. But even without checking on my schedule, I know there’s no more work for today. So… How about sharing supper with me?”

  No response followed.

  “Ivy?”

  “Yes. I’m here. I just… Don’t know what to say.”

  “Say ‘yes’.” And just like the night I invited her to the party I was ready to beg her to say ‘yes’.

  She laughed. “Okay… Yes… Why not?”

  I felt like I was on top of the world. Why was everything about her affecting me so much? When was the last time I got so much pleasure from a simple conversation with a girl?

  “What’s your address? I’ll pick you up in an hour.”

  She dictated me her address and my eyes went wide, staring at the piece of paper in my hand. “We are neighbors, you know?”

  “What do you mean? I know everyone living in my apartment building and I’m sure you are not one of them.”

  “I mean I live just a few buildings away from you. How is that possible we never met before?”

  “It’s probably because we live in Washington and people here rarely pay attention to those passing by. Besides, I’m a homebody. I rarely leave my lair.”

  “Well, at least now I know where you live and I can make you leave it more often.”

  “Chances are high you will fail.”

  “But tonight it wasn’t hard to make you have supper with me.”

  “I’m starving, and my fridge is empty, so I’m kind of hopeless.”

  “Which means you agreed to go out with me out of despair… Great.”

  She giggled. “I bet it’s not what you are used to. Girls must be bombarding your phone with explicit invitations.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  “Emery told me a few things about you… Dr. Burke.”

  “Oh, no… How could she? Now I’m gonna die of embarrassment.”

  “Don’t worry, it was just one story actually.”

  “But it made you believe I’m a pig with a capital ‘P’. Emery must have chosen the worst story to share with you. What kind of a friend is she?”

  “Enough talking. Better hurry to find me some food before I die of starvation and you lose your only chance to make me change my opinion about you.”

  “I thought Monday night’s party did it for me... Apparently, I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. I’m on my way,” I said before I ended the call.

  It’d been four days si
nce the last time I saw Ivy, and I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Here and there, I saw something that reminded me of her. And every time I walked into my waiting room and my eyes stopped at the name next to my office door, I couldn’t but recall the moment I saw her reading it. My breathing still caught at the memory of that scene. I was attracted to her with a tantalizing trance that took me high without an effort. When with her, everything seemed to fade compared to what I saw in her. At times I wondered if that meant something so much more than I was ready for. I didn’t let that thought too deep under my skin. For here and now, all I wanted was to enjoy my time with her.

  About forty minutes later, I parked my car in the garage of my apartment building, intending to walk all the way to where Ivy lived. There was a small restaurant right around the corner, so I thought I would take her there. But she had a better idea…

  “Will spaghetti and mushroom sauce do?” She asked in a text message.

  “Sounds delicious!” Did she know that I loved Italian cuisine?

  I got the answer to my question when I came to the door of her apartment and saw a delivery guy leaving bags near it. He was about to ring the doorbell, when I stopped him.

  “Wait!” I said. “How much do we owe you?”

  “You live here?” He pointed to Ivy’s door.

  I nodded in response.

  The guy checked the order and gave me the sum. I paid for the food and sent him away.

  Taking a deep breath, I pushed the doorbell button. I felt even more nervous than before Monday’s party, which was weird, because well, it wasn’t a date, and even if it felt a lot date-like, I had never been nervous before dates.

  Man up, dude! You are not fifteen, for God’s sake.

  Ivy opened the door and frowned.

  “Stanley? I thought it was the delivery guy.”

  “How do you know it’s me?”

  “Your cologne.” She smiled.

  “Right.”

  “And you brought my order.”

  I looked at the bags in my hands. “I guess I’m working double shift tonight: as a guest and as a delivery guy.”