Across the Pond Ch. 02

"Yeah! Yeah, fuck, I got it."

She straightened calmly and flipped the knife into itself before sticking it in her back pocket. She then turned to me standing there passively while she finished her business. "Let's go babe, I need a drink."

All I could do was follow her back to her convertible, laying the bat in the backseat before fastening my seatbelt. "You're not afraid he'll call the authorities?" I asked, admittedly a bit too late.

"Nah," she responded nonchalantly as she adjusted her rearview mirror. "His father is running for governor, I don't think he'd want Daddy to know he fucked an underaged colored chick. Besides, I didn't do any permanent damage...bet his ass won't do it to another girl, though."

The sting behind her statement left me wondering if it was for her sister or for herself. "Remind me to never break your heart," I stated softly.

She glanced at me as she turned over the engine. "That's probably a smart idea." She shifted into first gear and sped off into the night.

***

IV: Vibin' Out with (((O)))

"I mean, how was I supposed to know the Rabbi was going to come into his office on a Saturday? Man, the look on his face when he caught us going at it on his desk...so that's the story of how I got banned from our Synagogue and why I don't feel I technically have to wait until Hanukkah to eat these."

I took a lingering sip of my Cava to keep myself from smiling. "I wish I could say I'm surprised to hear of your banishment from a place of worship, but..." I jested when I sat my glass down on the table.

"Jerk! Just for that, no more latkes for you," I secured another one off the communal plate before she pulled it away. After returning to her home she declared the act of vehicular destruction caused her immediate starvation and set about preparing a simple meal of potato pancakes. It was the best meal I'd ever had. "Hey, um. Sorry for getting you involved tonight. I'll take the heat if anything happens."

"It's perfectly fine. You didn't leave me much of a choice anyhow." I held my hand face up on the table in front of her. She stared at it for a good while before tentatively placing her hand in mine. I stroked her knuckles with my thumb to soothe her edginess. "Sydney, I want to... I think you are the most...and I'm aware because of the circumstances, you are to do as you wish, of course, but if you were so inclined...to...not, you would be most generous."

She drew both her lips into her mouth and bit down while she tried to figure out what the bloody hell I'd tried to tell her. "Oh, okay. I like you too, Max, and I'm not looking to date anyone else. I know it's a delicate situation with your divorce so let's just tuck the big-kid feelings away for now and see what happens, okay?"

I couldn't hold my smile back any longer and was rewarded with a gorgeous grin. "You're quite the interpreter."

"Yeah, I'm the Holland whisperer. There's one thing I want to try, though. If it's too much -- "

"Yes." I cut her off. "Whatever it is, I'll do for you."

She didn't let go of my hand but she did stand, pulling me up with her until we faced each other, her head craned back slightly to align with mine. "Kiss me?"

How I longed to feel her lips on mine. I raised my free hand to her cheek and it was as if her entire body stiffened. My fingers traveled the length of her face as I waited, and her eyes fluttered open and met mine, bright and curious. She placed a careful hand on my chest and lifted on her toes as I leaned down, lips hovering over hers teasingly, the warmth from her calling to me like a siren. I pressed my mouth to hers only for a moment, followed by another. And another. "You achingly...stunning...girl..." I whispered between kisses, and when Sydney smiled shyly and averted her gaze I felt I'd spend one hundred years recreating that look of hers.

"Oh!" The girlish exclamation popped our little bubble of intimacy. Looking over Sydney's head there stood a thin African-American girl in fitted jeans and an oversized Julliard sweatshirt, staring with us with wide grey eyes as she began stammering, "I'm sorry, I-I didn't know...I can just, j-just um..."

"Chill dude, it's okay. Carson, this is Max. Max, Carson." I pulled away, a bit embarrassed to be seen accosting her sister while she slept in the next room. Sydney turned and leaned her back against my chest, seemingly more comfortable after our kiss. I placed my hand around her stomach and she barely tensed. "You okay, kiddo?"

"Yeah. I think I'm still a little drunk though." Carson sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve. "Mom called, she wants me to come home. She said your condo is a den of iniquity and she doesn't want her last baby corrupted before I leave for Julliard next month. Something about having at least one daughter without a criminal record, I don't know."

"Ugh, that old woman. Okay, I'm coming." Sydney bemoaned. She attempted to move but I tightened my grip around her before she could pull away. "I'll take her home. That is, if it's alright with you, Carson."

The younger girl's eyes shifted to her sister's, no doubt waiting for silent confirmation. When Sydney nodded she thanked me softly and went to retrieve her handbag. "You don't have to do this," my sweet girl said, offering me a way out.

"It's my pleasure. You should have a rest, you've had a particularly exerting evening." Sydney retrieved her keys from the dining table as well as the last latke off the plate before returning to my arms easily, as if she'd always meant to be there. "I mean it, little one. Sleep at least six hours and I'll consider adding another day to your schedule."

"That's extortion. I'll take it." She placed her keys in my hand and the pancake in my mouth. Once her sister reappeared I flashed her a wink and left.

After inputting her parent's address into the GPS on the dashboard Carson and I travelled most of the way in silence. I'm sure it was odd for her to ride with a stranger, especially in the wake of her situation. "Thanks for taking me home," she squeaked unexpectedly.

"No worries, your sister had a long evening," I regarded her out of the corner of my eye. She reminded me nothing of Sydney: I assumed she was adopted as well, but where her sister was curvaceous and lithe, comfortable in her own skin, Carson was tiny and jittery like a little bird. "She, ah, told me what happened. I'm sorry."

"That's okay." She paused and began bouncing her foot on the floor nervously. "Are you Syd's boyfriend?"

"I'm her..." Boss? Snogging partner? Covert stalker? "Friend. We're friends."

"Right." She snorted as disbelieving as I felt saying it. "You seem nice. Nicer than her last boyfriend, that's for sure."

"How do you mean?"

"Because he, you know." I drew my eyebrows together and glanced at her briefly before returning my attention to the road. "Oh. You don't know. Crap, this is why no one tells me anything, I'm so sucky at keeping secrets."

"What secret? Please, Carson. If there's something I need to know -- "

"He hit her," she blurted out. "Like, really beat her up. I came home from school and she was with Mom and Dad on the couch, her face was all messed up. I think something else happened too because they had to take her to the hospital and she stayed there for almost three months. She seemed okay when she came out but it was still scary. You're the only person I've seen her touch in a really long time, that's why I asked."

My hands tensed around the steering wheel tightly as I tried to swallow down the rage building in my body. "I'm sure that was quite frightening for you to see. Thank you for confiding in me." I jerked the car off the exit sharply and we said no more until I pulled into the circular driveway of her parent's stately home. She unbuckled her belt but I stopped her before she exited the car. Searching for a pen and a piece of paper I found them easily enough in Sydney's glove compartment, writing down both my private mobile and work numbers and giving both to Carson. "If you need anything, anything at all, this is how you can reach me. I know you have your sisters but sometimes it's easier to talk to someone you aren't related to. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, thanks. It just sucks having your heart broken." Her small hand securely squeezed the slip of paper. "Don't break Syd's, okay?"

I forced a smile onto my face. "I'll do my best. Be well."

"Thanks." She exited the car and closed the door, quickly bounding up the short steps to the front door and went inside. I sat idling, consuming thoughts threatening to tear out of my head. If I interpreted correctly what Carson had insinuated...I felt murderous. I wanted to find him and cause a lifetime of pain for every second he inflicted upon Sydney. I scrolled through my call list for the first person I thought of. "Maxie, I was just dialing your number. Some of Poppet's psychic abilities must have rubbed off on you."

I had no time for quips with Kenzie. "The security team you hired for Samantha while you were residing in New York. Would they have connections in Connecticut?"

"Ah, for the right price I'm sure they'd be willing to travel to do the job themselves. Is this about her?"

"Yes. No." I sighed, sinking into the leather seat that was soaked in Sydney's scent. Orange and ginger. Home. "I don't know. I'm probably being overly paranoid, but I'd feel better knowing she was looked after."

"No explanation necessary, I'll have them in New Haven today. Speaking of today, you need to come home. We have a Code Red."

I bolted up as swiftly as my panic elevated. "Samantha? Poppy?"

"No, no mate, they're fine." I exhaled, knowing his wife and daughter were safe. Code Red had been our signal that one of the three of us was going through something devastating or traumatic; it had started as a decade-long gag between Kenzie and Charlie over my tumultuous relationship with Simone and had only other been used when Kenzie fell into heroine addiction. If it wasn't with him, then... "It's Charlie. Clarissa had a car accident two nights ago and she didn't make it. I just left him."

Christ. Clarissa was Charlie's girlfriend for the last eight years. I couldn't imagine how devastated he was. "How is he?"

"As expected. Listen, he's in the thick of it and the only thing that seems to be soothing him is Duke Ellington and several bottles of gin. I hate to tear you away from your bird, but -- "

"I'll catch the next flight. See you when I land." I hung up and immediately rang my assistant to have him arrange my departure. Admittedly McKenzie tends to be more empathetic than I, but if Charlie was drowning his sorrows with alcohol Kenzie couldn't be the one to be there for him. I was up to the plate and as much as I didn't want to leave, I had to. They were my family, and family came first. After gaining confirmation for my flight I sent Sydney a brief message informing her I had an emergency and would have her Porsche returned in the morning, and with a heavy heart I made my way to the hangar to travel back across the pond.

***

V: Look After You.

One twelve-hour flight and two-hour drive later I found myself on Charlie's doorstep, unlocking his home with my personal set of keys and making my way inside. He lived in his childhood home in West Yorkshire, where the three of us were raised mere acres from each other and eventually attended university as well, inherited when his parents passed away a decade ago. Everything was relatively quiet until I heard a loud banging and obscenities coming from the one of the floors above. I dropped my shoulder bag in the foyer and climbed the two flights, additional noise alerting me that he was in his library. When I reached the opened French doors I found him swaying in front of one of the wall-to-wall bookshelves, pulling volumes and tossing them behind him. "No sense. This makes no sense...this doesn't even go in this section!" he chastised himself loudly.

I entered the space just as he was about to throw another book and grabbed him from behind, startling him from his compulsion. "What the...Maxwell?! What are you doing, let me go! I have to finish!"

He struggled as much as a drunken man was able but I kept my hold, and when he slipped on the pages of a discarded novel I guided him to the floor easily, never letting him go. It was a full few minutes before he spoke again. "We had a row. I said awful things and she left in tears. She wanted me to organize, and I always put it off...I kept putting it off, Maxie, and now she's..."

The tortured cry that tore through his body made my own eyes water for him. He turned into my chest and sobbed so hard my shirt was soaked with his despair, it didn't matter. I stroked his back and he let it out in his own time. I didn't rush him. He grieved, and I held him through the night as he did.

VI: Ain't No Sunshine

I wasn't certain when I woke up, I only knew it was on the floor of the library and I was alone. Shaking off the sleep I went downstairs to find Charlie who I eventually located in the kitchen sipping on a cup of something. "Ratio of tea to gin?" I rasped out in my exhaustion.

He pushed his glasses further up his nose but avoided my eyes. "Please don't mention gin unless you'd like me to vomit all over the linoleum. You didn't need to come back."

"Of course I did." He nodded slightly and turned from me, busying himself in the sink. "What needs to be done?"

He shrugged, the simple gesture so foreign coming from him. "Nothing. I'm arranging the burial since she has...had, no family. It's taken care of." He ran the water absentmindedly over his fingers before adding "The next time you speak with Sydney please tell her I appreciate her flower arrangement."

Flower arrangement? "Sorry?"

"The lilies," he pointed to the simple bouquet sitting alone on the dining table. "Kenzie told me...well, not much. Seems I'm out of the loop these days. But whomever she is she wrote a lovely note."

I walked over to the worn and battered wood table that had originally lived in our shared house at Leeds, memories of drunken nights and heartfelt talks flooding my head as I plucked the silver notecard from the side of the vase.

Charlie,

I want to express my deepest condolences for your loss, Maxwell told me what a lovely person Clarissa was. I know we're strangers but sometimes those are the best people to talk to, so my number is below if you ever need to talk or vent or cry to someone at three in the morning. Take care of yourself.

Sydney James

To say I was touched by her outreach was an understatement, especially that she'd extended the same generous hand as I had to her sister. I folded and replaced the note before returning to Charlie staring out of the circular window above his sink. I placed my hand on his shoulder and he didn't so much as stir. "Charles. Tell me what I can do."

"Leave." He softened his tone before continuing, "I appreciate you coming, I truly do. You and McKenzie are the best brothers I could...but I want to be alone. Go back to the States, I'll ring you in a few days."

"Please do." A final squeeze on his shoulder and I reluctantly let him be. I retrieved my bag still by the front door and as I made my way my car I sent Sydney a text message. Leaving Charlie's, saw the flowers. You're amazing.

I'd barely settled in the driver's seat when she sent her rapid reply, accompanied with a picture of her winking exaggeratedly at the camera. Duh babe, I'm fabulous. I chuckled lightly before turning the engine, deciding to make a quick stop at Boodles jewellery store before heading for home.

***

VII: Able to See Me.

"So now that we have a few minutes to chat, how are the states Maxie? Getting into a bit of trouble, are you?"

"You're confusing me with yourself as trouble has always been your forte." Kenzie's jovial laugh came through the speaker. I'd spent three days in London before flying back to Connecticut but the only time I saw him was when we went to Clarissa's funeral. Charlie told us not to bother coming, so of course we did. He wouldn't say it out loud but by the way he squeezed both our hands as they were lowering her body to the ground I knew he appreciated not having to do it alone. I couldn't deny it was nice to talk about something pleasant after it was all said and done. "Connecticut is fine, and since I know you want to know, Sydney is fine as well. I'll be seeing her when she comes in for her shift."

He gasped dramatically. "You admit it, you're actually having an affair. Though I don't know it technically counts as one if you're already divorcing the wicked bitch of the east here."

"I wouldn't classify it as an affair, I've barely snogged the girl."

"All in due time. What's she like?"

"She is the most...and I actually have fun with her, but she's smart. The girl is a bloody genius with the mouth of a sailor, she's a complete contradiction but when she looks at me...and God, her smile...sorry. I'm rambling."

Kenzie was quiet, and I checked to make sure we hadn't been disconnected. "Maxwell, it sounds as if you're in love with this girl."

I drummed my fingers on top of the desk, trying to think of the best way to phrase how I felt without divulging too much. "She is a far cry from anyone I've ever met. It feels as if I have been subconsciously searching for her my entire life and I want to be around her as much as possible, that's all."

He laughed loudly. "Well well, look who located their balls! I was beginning to wonder if you were on the path to monkhood. Are you going to give her your precious virginity as well?"

"Sod off you twit. Where is Samantha? I desire to have a mature conversation with an adult, I'd even prefer my princess Poppy-Jacqueline over you."

"Poppet is putting Petite-Poppet to bed and I will not be pushed to the side, though she will be thoroughly tickled her prediction came true." I adored the gentleness in his voice when speaking of his wife and daughter. "Now, details. You snogged her, and I demand to know exactly where you did so."

Anthony entered the office and I was never more grateful for an interruption. "I have to go. Kiss my girls for me and keep me informed on Charlie."

"Fine, but this conversation isn't over. Love you, bastard."

"Love you also, wanker." I ended the call and tucked the phone in my pocket, turning my attention to my general manager. I'd come straight to Antonio's from my flight to check on things and see my stunning girl in the process. "Everything alright downstairs?" I asked.

Anthony nodded, taking a seat in the chair directly across from me. "Everything's fine, Stacy and Colin are all set up."

My eyes tightened in confusion. "I thought Mr. Patrick was on shift with Miss James this evening."

"He was, but she wasn't feeling well. Is that okay? I know you said no more shift switching but she almost never calls out."

I stood and began undoing the knot in my tie, suddenly feeling the air being squeezed forcefully out of my lungs. "It's fine. I believe you have everything under control, so if you don't need my assistance I'll take my leave. Ring if you need anything." Another nod from him and I rushed out the door, worry heightening at the thought of Sydney being hurt. I made my way through the sea of employees on the floor, crossing into the kitchen and rushing to my vehicle. I could have been subtler I suppose, but my mind was racing and there was only one person who could calm me.

I made my way to our building as quickly as traffic laws allowed, parking my rental in the empty space next to Sydney's Porsche. Taking two steps at a time I unlocked the common door with my keys and made my way down our hallway until I approached her door, knocking with an urgency I'd never felt before. A bit of shuffling, two clicks of a lock and the door swung open. Sydney was outfitted in a pair of black baggy sweatpants and a snug-fitting shirt of the same color, her hair haphazardly swept up on her head and the most glorious bared face I'd ever seen in my lifetime. "You're here," she whispered.