He walked to the front of the plane and sat down without looking back at me. I knew I hurt him, but at that moment I didn’t care. Anger fueled me. I didn’t know what to do. I’d have to cancel the show and my dream of showing a collection at Fashion Week. All that hard work was wasted. No one would ever take me seriously now.
Chapter Twelve
Will
Getting up, I walked towards the front of the plane and sat down, leaving Deborah hurt and seething with rage in her seat. This was why I didn’t have relationships. They were too complicated. My one night stands were much easier.
Thinking about the faceless women who had shared my bed, I felt a bit sad. Not that I regretted any of them, of course. I just didn’t want Deborah to become one of them. She meant more to me than I cared to admit and that worried me. I purposefully secluded myself not out of fear of danger, but out of fear of loss.
Twenty-Five Years Ago
The Canyon Cove Christmas Extravaganza ended with heavy red velvet curtains closing at the foot of the stage. The annual show billed itself as “spectacular” and never disappointed. Ending the show was a live nativity scene with live animals and the most brilliant star shining upon them that any eight-year-old had ever seen. Even me, and by then my parents had taken me into the city to see the show the past four years in a row.
“What did you think of the show, Will?” My dad asked as he did every year.
William Hargrove King, Jr., my father and namesake, wore a permanent smile. It wasn’t fake, he was always happy and did what he could to make others around him happy too. It was his idea to begin the annual trip into the city to see the Christmas Extravaganza, and he enjoyed it as much as I did.
“It was awesome Dad! Even better than last year!” I replied.
“I’m glad you had fun,” he said as he mussed my hair as the three of us walked up the aisle towards the lobby doors to exit.
I walked between my parents, both of them holding my hands. We were dressed up like most of the other people who watched the show. Dad was handsome with his brown and silver hair combed back, dressed in a black pin striped suit with red tie. Mom turned heads in a simple dress the same shade of red as the tie, her dark hair pinned back over her ear with a small barrette she always wore to keep her wavy brown hair out of her eyes.
Even then I felt comfortable wearing a suit. Dressed in a child’s version of my father’s suit, I looked like a miniature version of him. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I looked up to my father and wanted to be just like him.
As we bundled ourselves in our coats before stepping out into the cold, I looked at our reflection in the gold mirrored walls lining the entry. We were happy. We were a family. We were also the wealthiest people in town.
Exiting the warmth of the building, the cold air stung my lungs. Stewart, our driver left the limo running at the curb and cut a path through the crowd for us. He was lanky in his navy driver’s uniform and while I always thought he was old, I later learned what was old to a child differs greatly from reality.
Stewart’s dark blond hair fell into his eyes before he pushed it back and under his driver’s cap. Only in his late twenties, Stewart already lived many lives and had a history I would never fully know.
“Sir, I still think you need to hire security,” he said to my father as he guided us through the thick throng of people waiting outside the theater. “A man in your position—”
“In my position?” My father asked.
“Yes, your wealth—”
“Wealth means nothing. I wasn’t always rich. I grew up not far from here as you know. Before Hargrove’s became a household name, I knew what it was like to wonder where our next meal was coming from.” He looked around at the crowd. “Why would anyone hurt me?”
Stewart sighed. “The economy does strange things to people. You know I trust no one. And you hired me for protection.”
“For my wife and child, not myself. You know better than to bring this up in front of them,” my father said through clenched teeth.
Silenced, Stewart opened the car door for us. Dad looked around at the crowd again, then to us, his small family.
“I want to show you something. I haven’t mentioned this to you before because I didn’t want you to worry, but I know this is the right decision for our company,” my dad said as he looked into my mother’s light blue eyes. “Let’s go for a walk.”
“But sir—”
“No. This is between my family and I. We’re going alone. This is about the future. Like I said before, we’re safe. This is my old hang out. Do not follow us. I expect the car to be right where it is now.”