Did she give up?
Is she just going through the motions now?
What the hell did Isabella say to her?
My mother gave up.Not because she wasn’t loved by my father… at least I don’t think, because I was too young to know anything about love back then.
Isabella gave up too after we shipped her off to New York.She went into the depths of addiction, and I don’t know how she clawed her way back out again, because I was fighting my own demons by then and couldn’t spare a thought for the woman who precipitated it all.
We’re at a restaurant at the top of one of the tallest buildings in LA, with views of the whole of the city, the mountains, and the ocean.Everything inside is sparkling—the golden accents, the crystal glasses, and chandeliers, even the white tablecloths.Everything outside is sparkling too—the lights, the waves on the ocean, even the peaks of the mountains have lights on them.But Gianna— my Goldie—who should be sparkling the most is just sitting opposite me like a mound of darkness.
It’s not what she’s saying.She’s speaking to me normally.It’s how she’s speaking.And I have to initiate all the conversations.She’s offering nothing.Closing off to me.Disappearing right before my eyes.I can’t think of a worse thing that can happen.And I’ve seen plenty of bad things happen.
“Would you like some more wine?”I ask, picking up the bottle from the table to pour her some, even though her glass is still full.She shakes her head.
“Champagne then?”I ask.“Or something else?”
She smiles faintly, for the first time in ages it feels like.“What are you trying to do?Get me drunk?”
I smile too.“I don’t know, maybe.”
“No, I don’t want any champagne or something else either.”
She goes quiet, and her smile fades too.I could continue offering her drinks, go for vodka next, keep the little spark of the magic of her smile going, but it seems to have gone out.
“Your sister asked me if I was with you against my will,” she says quietly, playing with the edge of her napkin.“She said that biker club could rescue me if that’s the case.That I just had to say the word.”
I feel like all the oxygen just got sucked out of the room and I don’t even know why.Bella’s betrayal?Fear of what Goldie’s answer was?
I scoff to check if I can actually still breathe.“Figures she’d still think the worst of me even after everything I did for her.And what did you tell her?”
She meets my eyes.“I told her I was fine.That I didn’t need to be rescued from you.”
Even my annoyance at my sister gets blown away by those words.The honesty in them.
“You really think so?”
She smiles again, a little less faintly than before.Then she nods.
I feel like I’d just been given a present.Something I always wanted.We’re still far from her forgiving me.But I think we took the first step there.
“Would you like some cake?”I ask, chuckling.It feels like we should celebrate, and she’d already turned down champagne.Although I have half a mind to order some anyway.
She shakes her head, the smile not fading from her lips.
“What I want is to go somewhere nice,” she says.“Take me to the beach.A beautiful one.I want to walk in the ocean.”
I can’t stand up fast enough.Or lead her out fast enough, stopping just long enough to tell Caputo to settle the bill, give me the car keys and go on home, because I won’t need him for the rest of the night.He hands over the keys reluctantly, but doesn’t say anything.
This is the first time she’s asked me for something that doesn’t involve seeing her family.And if the green dress meant she was turning the page, this could very well be closing the book on all that happened to bring us here.
“Didn’t think you’d be this excited to go to the beach in the middle of the night,” she says as we’re riding the elevator down from the restaurant.
“Are you kidding?I love the beach,” I say, looking deep enough into her eyes to let her know it’s her I love even more.She doesn’t avert her eyes.“And I know all the best spots.”
She smiles again, brighter this time.“Show me one of them then.”
And that’s the second time she’s asked for something other than her old life back.Once more and three times is the charm.
