Taking It All Read online

  Jade sat down at her computer and began work on her outline, coming up with a general idea of where she wanted the article to go. And as she looked over the blank areas labeled "early life," "career," and "family," she realized just how little she knew about Leon. Her time with him was something she knew she'd never forget, but it was only a few months – such a small sliver of a life.

  Eventually, it was time for her to get ready for her dinner. Jade showered and when she was done, a towel wrapped around her body, stared into her closet at something to wear.

  One nice thing in this whole closet, she thought, taking out a reasonably nice black cocktail dress that she'd treated herself to after getting her second book published. When she bought it, she imagined it being the first quality piece in the wardrobe that she'd eventually build with her writing earnings, a dress that she'd wear to cocktail parties in Williamsburg and the Upper West Side where she'd rub elbows with the elite of the New York literary scene as they fawned over this incredible new talent in their midst. However, so far, she'd only worn it out for a night of drinks alone at a bar she could barely afford.

  Might as well get some use out of this, pulling it out and holding it up to her body. Minutes later, she was dressed and ready to go. As Jade rode the subway to the Lower East Side, she felt that familiar creeping of anxiety in her stomach at the prospect of meeting Leon again. She was nervous before because she didn't know what to expect; now that she knew just who her client was, she was nervous for an entirely different reason.

  Once back onto the city streets, Jade took a deep breath as she approached the restaurant, which appeared to be a none-to-fancy southern food place. Looking in through the tall, glass windows, Jade suddenly felt a little overdressed.

  Too late to do anything about that, she thought, stepping in through the front doors.

  Sure enough, the restaurant was a down-home affair with unvarnished wood floors, rustic tables and chairs, and clientele feasting eagerly on plates piled high with fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and other heart-clogging foods. Over in a corner booth, she spotted Leon seated with a drink to his left and a laptop in front of him.

  "There she is," said Leon, standing up and giving Jade a quick hug.

  Jade looked over Leon, noting his outfit of black slacks, a light gray button-up, and sharp dress boots. He was dressed simply, but all of the items were of a quality that made it clear that they'd been designed for Leon's body alone. Jade gulped as she remembered just what this body looked like.

  "A ‘little black dress' kind of evening?" asked Leon, looking Jade over.

  Jade felt her face flush red.

  "I, um, wasn't sure what to wear."

  "You look great," he said. "Have a seat."

  Jade slid into the booth and took out her laptop just as Leon closed his. But before she could start, the waitress –a pretty blonde college-aged girl- approached the table.

  "Another mint julep, honey?" she asked Leon, a warm smile on her face that Jade sensed was charged with sexual interest.

  "Make it two," said Leon, flicking his eyes to Jade.

  The waitress glanced over at Jade and gave her the cutting sort of look that a girl gives to another that she views as competition.

  "Sure," she said, a smile returning to her face as she looked back over at Leon.

  "And two of the chicken specials," he said, handing the waitress the menus. "Mashed potatoes and slaw for both."

  "Comin' right up," said the waitress, giving Leon a wink before heading off.

  Jade couldn't help but feel more than a little jealous.

  "She was pretty ballsy," said Jade. "For all she knows I'm your date."

  "Huh?" asked Leon. "You mean her? Well, she is working for tips."

  Jade wondered if Leon was just being coy, or if he really wasn't aware that between his good looks and obvious wealth that he was easily in the top percent of men in this city.

  "I hope you don't mind me ordering for you," he said. "The chicken here is just amazing."

  "No problem at all," said Jade, still trying to find a balance between "client" and "old lover" for her interactions with Leon.

  "Anyway…" she said. "So, you've got a kid, huh?"

  "That's right," said Leon. "Oliver's five. Great kid; most important person in my life."

  "Along with Mrs. Sebastian, right?" asked Jade, getting to the question that she really wanted to know the answer to.

  Leon's expression turned grim.

  "Want to start there, huh?" he asked.

  A tinge of ice ran through Jade's stomach; she realized right then that there was more to the story than a happy marriage.

  "I mean, if you're OK with it," she asked.

  Leon sat back in his seat and drained the last third of his mint julep. And as he did, Jade pulled out her recorder, placed it on the table, and pressed "play."

  "Not much of a story," he said. "I met Abigail during my first couple of years at Sanderson, back when I was spending the first half of the day working at the office and the second half doing night classes for my MBA at Columbia. She just…came into my life out of nowhere, at a time when I wasn't looking for love in the slightest."

  Jade listened intently as Leon went through the story of his and Abigail's whirlwind courtship, how they fell in love nearly instantly, and within months had decided to get married.

  "And we figured that this was it, that we'd found each other and all that was left to do was get married and start a family. The wedding, well, it was a pretty simple affair. Both of us were so focused on work that we almost viewed it as something to get out of the way so we could get back to the office."

  "And Oliver?" asked Jade.

  Leon's expression darkened.

  "It was during the birth," he said. "Everything seemed normal at first, and then as I waited in the lobby, the mood of the doctors seemed to turn grim. Eventually, I realized that something was terribly wrong. I tried to rush into the room where Abigail was giving birth, but the doctors blocked my way. All that they would tell me is that something went wrong, and that she just wouldn't stop bleeding."

  A silence hung over the table.

  "I'm…sorry," said Jade.

  "It…was a long time ago," said Leon. "And I try not to think about how Abigail died, but what she brought into this world as her last living act. Oliver's been, well, it's hard to explain how he's changed my life; as clichéd as it sounds, it's not something that you really understand until you have a child of your own."

  Then, as if sensing that the mood of the table needed to be lightened up a bit, a small smile crossed Leon's lips.

  "And speaking of which, what about your love life?" he asked. "I'm sure you've been fighting off the wannabe writers this city's packed with by the dozen."

  Jade let out a snort-laugh that she was powerless to stop.

  "Not so much," she said. "I've been barely keeping my head above water here in the city. Not much time for dating when you're scrambling to make deadlines."

  "That's a shame," he said. "I would've thought you've been snapped up the second you stepped off the plane."

  "Oh, really?" asked Jade.

  But then she shook her head, as if trying to snap out of the spell of Leon's charm.

  "OK, enough of this," she said with a smile. "I'm not the one being interviewed here."

  "Just want to know what you've been up to these last few years, is all," he said as the waitress returned and placed the fresh drinks in front of Jade and Leon.

  Jade leaned in, wrapped her lips around the straw, and took a drink. It was minty, fresh, and delicious.

  "See?" asked Leon. "Told you."

  "I'll never doubt you again," said Jade, flashing another smile and already feeling comfortable around Leon, just like old times.

  "That's the spirit," he said. "You keep talking like that and I just might hire you."

  "Please," said Jade. "There's a reason why people like me are writers; we're barely functional enough to hold down regular jo
bs."

  "Speaking of which," said Leon, "tell me about what your career's been like?"

  Jade nearly went into a spiel about her trials and tribulations during her time in New York trying to eke out a living as a writer in a city where it seemed as though every other person she met had the same goal. But she thought better of it.

  "Nice try," she said, "but you're not getting me distracted again that easily."

  "Such a taskmaster," he said.

  "You have no idea," Jade responded.

  "I think I have some idea," said Leon with a sly wink.

  "Um, so," said Jade, a little flustered, "tell me about your family. I think nearly ten years is enough time for me to finally find out about that little mystery. So, don't be shy – inquiring minds want to know."

  Leon took in a slow breath and rolled his shoulders; it was clear that this was a topic that he didn't particularly enjoy discussing.

  "I came from…less than ideal circumstances, as you know. My dad wasn't the best parent around, to put it lightly, and my mom did what she could, which was barely enough. And then there was Hunter…"

  Leon went on, finally telling Jade about the family life that he'd kept secret for so long. She listened as he told her about his abusive father, helpless mother, and the brother he'd taken it upon himself to look after.

  "Wow," said Jade. "I…had no idea that you were dealing with all that."

  "And that's why I didn't like to talk about it when you and I were together – it was just something I didn't like to burden other people with."

  "It wouldn't have been a burden," said Jade. "I could've been there for you."

  Leon shook his head.

  "No," he said. "It was my situation to deal with."

  "And what happened to them?"

  "As soon as I had money to spare I got them the hell out of that neighborhood, just like I told them I would. And they're doing well, as far as I can tell. My mom's working at a flower shop, and Hunter's about to start college."

  "Wow," said Jade. "You really came through for them."

  "It was the least I could do," he said. "And I never heard from my father again. It was like he dropped off the face of the earth."

  "That's got to be hard," said Jade. "Did you ever send anyone to look for him? Like a private investigator or something?"

  "I thought about it," said Leon, taking another sip of his drink. "But I figured that if he was willing to rob me, rob the family, and leave like that without saying a word, then I didn't really give a damn what happened to him. He wanted to leave without a trace, and I was fine with things staying that way."

  "So," said Jade. "You moved to the big city, made something of yourself, had a kid, and now you're, like, a master of the universe or something."

  Leon laughed.

  "Something like that."

  But before they could continue, the waitress returned and placed two large, metal trays on the table, each one loaded down with fried chicken with all the fixings.

  "Enjoy," she said with another wink directed at Leon that made Jade want to smack her silly.

  "Let's call the interview over for now," said Leon. "We've got more important matters to deal with at the moment."

  "It looks amazing," said Jade, her eyes on the pile of fried chicken in front of her.

  "How about tomorrow night?" asked Leon, holding a drumstick in front of his face. "You can come by my place and I can give you the attention you need."

  Jade gulped.

  "Huh?" she asked. "The what?"

  "For the article," he said. "We'll be a little less distracted there."

  "Oh," said Jade, feeling a little silly. "Sounds good."

  "Perfect," said Leon. "Now, let's dig in."

  Chapter Sixteen

  Leon sat in the study of his penthouse apartment, his eyes on the glittering evening skyline outside of his window. In his hand was a martini –two olives with a splash of vermouth- just how he liked it. Checking his watch, he saw that Jade was running a little behind for their interview.

  Damn, she looked good, thought Leon, his mind fully fixed on how that little black dress clung to the curves of Jade's body last night. Seeing that she's just as stunning as she was the last time I saw her was just as much of a shock as her being the person that's writing this damn article.

  Rising from his desk, he shook his head at the absurdity of it all.

  Of all the people who could be penning this thing, it has to be the one girl that broke my heart, he thought. The universe has a sick, sick sense of humor.

  But he knew there was nothing to do but stay professional and get this all taken care of as fast as possible. Once Jade had her material, she could be back out of his life and Leon could be free to devote all of his attention on his work once again.

  As he considered the matter, however, Leon couldn't help but wonder if that was really what he wanted. Did he really want to toss the woman he'd once loved out of his life, just like that, after she happened to make her way back into it?

  I suppose that's really not my call to make, thought Leon. After all, as far as she's concerned, I was the one who ruined everything. God, I can't believe I'm repaying things in my life from nearly a decade ago. So much for leaving everything in the past.

  He couldn't help it; Jade being back in his life brought back in a torrent of memories that he'd thought long-buried. Leon thought about their little adventures out into the woods, that night they skinny dipped and kissed for the first time, the way her body looked the night that they made love and she gave him her virginity.

  Fuck, thought Leon, realizing that he was getting a little hard thinking about it. This is so stupid; I'm like a horny kid again.

  A low chime sounded through the apartment; someone was in the lobby.

  About time, he thought, killing his drink and heading to the front door. As Leon strolled through the apartment, he couldn't help but notice how quiet it was without Oliver running around. Leon had sent him off to a friend's for the evening, thinking that he might distract Leon and Jade from the necessary work.

  He opened the door to find Jade standing in the hallway. Leon nearly doubled back as he looked her over. She wasn't wearing anything extraordinary –just a simple white button-up and a pair of well-fitting blue jeans- but something about the way her body looked in those clothes caused him to need a minute to compose himself.

  "Hey," said Jade. "Good to see- holy shit!"

  Jade pushed past Leon and stepped into the apartment, making a beeline for the floor-to-ceiling windows and pressing her hands against the glass.

  "Careful not to smudge the…ah, never mind," said Leon.

  "This is where you live?" asked Jade. "This is incredible!"

  "Thanks," said Leon, walking over to where Jade stood and taking a place next to her.

  He looked out over the city and the glittering skyline, the streets hundreds of feet below a cross-cross of slowly moving traffic. From his apartment, he could see all the way into Queens and Brooklyn and several more miles into Long Island.

  "How can you live in a place like this and not be gawking out of the window all day?" asked Jade. "I mean, I can pretty much see where I live from here."

  "Well, you live here for a few months and it just becomes part of the background."

  Jade turned around and looked over the apartment.

  "Damn," she said. "This is like a house; my apartment is like a matchbook compared to this."

  "You're still coming up in the world," said Leon.

  "Yeah, but I'd have to outsell JK Rowling and Stephen King to even think about a place like this."

  Leon chuckled.

  "It's not too late to get into the finance game," he said.

  A small smile crossed Jade's lips in a manner that made Leon's heart flutter just a bit.

  "Nah," she said. "Being a writer's one of those things where you don't really have a say in the matter of whether you want to do it or not. If I got a job in finance they'd fire me as soon a
s they found I was using downtime to write stories."

  "I can understand that," said Leon, stepping away from the window and walking over to the bar. "We're driven by deep-seated urges that we don't really understand."

  "Oh, you think so?" asked Jade, raising an eyebrow. "And what sort of ‘urges' are you driven by, Mr. Sebastian?"

  Leon chuckled and prepared a pair of gin and tonics.

  "Hard to say; maybe just the urge to be independent, to not have to depend on anyone but me."

  "I'd say you're doing a hell of a job of it so far," said Jade, her eyes still tracking around the apartment.

  Leon walked to her side and handed her a drink.

  "Thanks," she said, taking it and sipping. "So – we should probably get to it."

  Leon gestured to the dining room table. Jade followed him over and took out from her bag a notepad, a pen, and her recorder.

  "So," said Leon, "what's your angle with this piece?"

  "My what?"

  "You know – your angle," said Leon. "I've read enough New Yorker articles to know that they're not in the business of writing glowing hagiographies; there's got to be some little barb in it about the evils of capitalism or the decadence of wealth or something like that."

  "So cynical," said Jade, raising an eyebrow.

  "You don't get to where I am by being the trusting sort," said Leon.

  "Well, to be honest, I hadn't thought about that. I suppose that I was just planning to get the details down and, um, painting the rest of the picture later."

  "Can I make a suggestion?"

  "Sure," said Jade.

  "And I suppose it's a good place to start," said Leon. "Did you happen to hear about what happened to that gang I worked with back in the day?"

  "Vaguely," she said.

  "Well, the day before I was set to come to New York and start my new life, Anton, the guy who I worked under, offered me the opportunity to do one last job. And I figured ‘why the hell not,' I mean, I was going to be leaving soon, it was easy money, and then I'd be done with the game forever. However, I got a call from Mr. Delahunt, my future mentor and the man who'd offered me the job, and he told me that he wanted me in New York ASAP to get started with everything. He said the ticket had been bought, and he wanted to see me in a day. And I did it."