Through heavy blinks, she tried to talk. The noise had seemed to invade her mouth too.
She formed the words carefully, hoping he could at least see them on her lips: “Stay alive. For me.”
And then, with his hands over her ears, she lost consciousness.
When she opened her eyes, Fallen still had her hands where Thomas’ ears had been just moments ago.
“No!” She sat up as lightning flashed again.
She was briefly blinded; the hotel room was so dark. Then a man clearing his throat scared the crap out of her. She screamed.
The light in the corner flicked on, and for a moment Fallen froze as she recognized Mr. Orbit. The realization that he’d been taking pictures of her while she slept made her want to vomit.
“That was some dream you had there, Fallen.” He closed what seemed to be a pocket watch and put his phone in his pocket before clapping slowly. “And this is how you treat my parents’ memorial hotel room?”
Fallen glanced down and was thrilled to see she was still fully dressed in her uniform. At least there was that.
She scooted off the bed and straightened the comforter. “I’m sorry, sir. I was all done with the rooms and…what time is it?” She had a moment of panic, thinking of Fenn. God, she was as unreliable as Nora. She needed to text him as soon as she could.
Mr. Orbit checked his expensive watch. “Midnight. I thought you might be here until morning.”
He folded his arms while she rushed around to gather her cleaning supplies.
“Wait—how’d you get in here?” Fallen asked, glancing over to where she’d bolted the door.
“How’d I get in here? Into a hotel room I own in the building I own? I have my ways; let’s just leave it at that. Gather your things. I’ll drive you home. Unless you’d like to stay?”
“Here?” She pointed to the bed she’d just been on.
“No. Not here. That would be disrespectful. There’s space in my room though.” He gave her a smile that said she might be the lady to make his coffee in the morning.
She shivered at the thought of his king-sized bed. No doubt he had king-sized plans. “I can walk. Thank you, though. Sorry about falling asleep.” She wheeled her cart out of 514.
He was close on her heels. “No problem. Like you said the first time, at least there were no guests involved. That would be awkward.”
“I bet,” she responded, but her mind stayed wrapped up in itself. She had Thomas’ last name. She needed not to lose it. He’d slipped it in with a joke, not even really aware he’d been telling her, it seemed.
Though her return to reality had found her again in an unpleasant situation with Mr. Orbit, all she could think of was the possibility in that nugget of information. Maybe she could find Thomas tomorrow. Or later today, technically. The day was young!
Mr. Orbit had continued following her closely. And talking. She had been ignoring him.
“…so you can take the day off Saturday, and I’ll pick you up around seven?” He held open the supply closet for her.
She pushed the car in. What was he talking about? Oh. That’s right. The charity ball. “Um…I really think the fanciest thing I own is this.” Fallen motioned to her uniform.
She thought about the gorgeous satin gown she’d worn with Thomas. And how careless she’d been with it in her dream. Getting it wet…that had been amazing. She jerked herself back to the present.
“That’s settled, then. I’ll come a little early with a dress, and you can finish up getting ready while I’m there.” Mr. Orbit smiled. He had his hand in his pocket.
She nodded silently. Agreeing was just easier. But she still insisted on walking home. It was freezing and dark, but she’d rather that than give him the opportunity to get her to do something else she didn’t want to do.
Fallen wrapped up and started home, texting Fenn that she was on the way. The streets were desolate. After she’d been walking for about ten minutes, she heard a motor’s purr in the distance. It crept closer until the vehicle was rolling along next to her. A furtive glance to her left told her all she needed to know. It was Orbit’s flashy Jaguar. She gave him a little wave and continued on.
He doggedly followed her all the way to her street before he gave a little honk and roared off.
Fenn met her at the door. She felt awful. The concern etched on his face reminded her of her own when she was worried about Nora.
“I’m so sorry to be late, but what are you up for? You have school today.” Fallen walked in and hung up her jacket as her brother locked the door behind her.
“I was worried about you. Was that your boss?” He motioned out the window at the now empty street.
“Yeah. I must be really tired. He found me asleep in one of the rooms. He’s not my favorite person, but he made sure I got home.” She offered her brother a hug, which he took.
“I’ve got great news,” he countered.
She now realized Fenn was basically humming with poorly contained excitement.
“What’s that?” She kicked off her horrible sneakers and headed into the kitchen.
“Well, the coach had great news for me.”
“What was it?”
“So, I guess someone has been watching me work out with the team and decided they wanted to sponsor me. Full-on anonymous donor, like, big league stuff. The coaches were impressed.”
Fenn’s grin was the most infectious thing, but still Fallen had to force hers to stay in place. She turned and reached into the cabinet for a water glass so she had a second to rearrange her face into joy instead of worry.
After setting her glass on the counter, she gave him another hug, patting his huge shoulders as well. “You must be thrilled.”
She smiled at him as she returned to her glass and began filling it up from the tap.
Orbit.
“So that’s a relief? Right?” Fenn waited for the response she had to manufacture.
“Absolutely. Congrats! It’s a huge help, because I want you to be able to do everything you’d like. You have to remember to keep your grades up, too, though.”
“I will. Now that you’re home and safe, I can stop freaking out and let this news sink in, you know?” Fenn drummed his fingers on the counter while wiggling his eyebrows.
“Yeah, well, let it sink into your dreams, ‘cause school starts in, like, six hours.” She held up her water glass in an impromptu toast. “To Fenn, the best, most talented baby brother in the world. I love you.”
“Love you too, sis.” He wrapped an arm around Fallen and pretended to give her a noogie. “Even if you are short.”
He tromped out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
She set down her glass and watched the little ripples of water inside, thinking of the waves earlier with Thomas.
Thomas McHugh. Maybe she could find him now—and he could help somehow. Otherwise Mr. Orbit was going to get a lot of what he wanted out of her because of the happiness her brother deserved.
Chapter 9
Four Million
Fallen sighed. The first Saturday she’d had off since she started at the hotel would be spent, at least in part, with her creepy boss’s boss’s boss. He was bringing her a dress and expected God knows what from her. But that was later. Later today, but still later.
Now, after having toast for breakfast and seeing Fenn off to do homework with a friend—a friend who was a girl!—she had some time just for her. She would spend it cyber-stalking Thomas.
Thomas McHugh.
She said his full name about a hundred times as she puttered around the house, getting her chores done before heading out to the library.
Having his last name was sure to be a help, right? And she’d guessed his age, maybe 26? Either way, she had a better starting point than she’d had before. She put her jacket on, locked the door behind her, and almost skipped her way to the public library.
The bank of computers was crowded when she rounded the corner, but she was able to snag one with a wonk
y mouse. Her hands shook as she punched in her library number.
She went to the search engine and typed in his name. Fallen held her breath.
Four million results in .06 seconds.
The first images that filed on to the screen were dignified older gentlemen. No one looked even remotely like her Thomas.
“It’s fine. I just have to narrow the search.” She tented her fingers and touched them to her nose. She typed in New York because that’s where she hoped he still was somewhere. It’d be a whole lot easier to find him if he was close to White Plains. Mr. Lad Orbit was certainly in her atmosphere.
Half a million. This was better, but still daunting. The last of the empty computers were now in use. Now they would start enforcing the thirty-minute time allotment.
She thought about more of the information she’d learned. Maybe she needed to add his brothers’ names too. She popped them in.
100,000.
Her stomach dropped as she clicked through the images. Not a single one was familiar—older men, some pictures of women. She clicked through some of the articles and listings. The information was useless.
Fallen meticulously checked each page, looking for a trace of Facebook or LinkedIn. Nothing.
On a lark, she typed Lad Orbit into the search bar in a new tab. His image was everywhere. Apparently his family had run hotels since the beginning of time, or close to it. He was divorced. No children. So he actually was single right now, like he’d said (a small comfort), according to a blog that kept tabs on millionaire bachelors.
Fallen closed his tab; she knew all she really cared to about Mr. Orbit already. She needed to use her time wisely.
She scrolled down to a page ten deep from her original Thomas McHugh search page, feeling her heart start to pound as a lady came to stand behind her chair. Soon she would have to log off and give up her space. But listed on an obscure site, she now saw something hopeful.
Tom McHugh, 31, had purchased a property right here in White Plains. She clicked on the link, though the lady behind her began clearing her throat. She jotted down the address on a piece of scrap paper with a tiny pencil from the jar between the computers.
She copy-and-pasted the information into Google maps and memorized her way there. It was just two blocks out of her way on the way home.
She logged off and had to ask the woman behind her to back up so she could scoot her chair away from the keyboard. Normally Fallen might feel a little guilty for overextending her computer time, but today she was too busy flying.
Her feet flew, and her hopes went even higher—soaring. Thomas. Just blocks from her home. It made sense. They had such a deep connection; of course he would be near her.
And he was new in town, which totally explained why they hadn’t seen each other out and about. Thomas. Today. Now.
She wanted to go home and dress up, put some makeup on, find a present to give him—but she didn’t have time.
Fallen walked at top speed to his neighborhood. It would be perfect—they would see each other, and there would be no impending doom ruining their time together. They could be here, together, awake and forever. God, she was in love with him. She knew it, and just as she arrived at her heart’s conclusion, she saw the little blue house in the midst of several home improvement projects. A small plank had been balanced to walk up to the closed front door where the steps were missing.
Fallen bit her lip and hazarded the climb, keeping the doorbell in her sights. Would he be home? She was crestfallen when she realized he might be out and about on a Saturday.
She turned and tried to see the driveway from the middle of the perilous plank, to gauge whether he was home, when she lost her balance.
Strong arms caught her as she shouted with the surprise of it. She looked up at him, tall, capable.
“Thomas.”
He was silhouetted in the sun, but she heard him say her name, and that was all that mattered. Her heart soared.
It was awkward getting her footing, and she blinked once, twice, and then a third time to get her eyes to focus with the noonday sun as his backdrop. When they cleared, her heart sank.
It wasn’t her guy.
“Thomas?” she asked.
“Friends call me Tom,” he said. “What can I do you for?” He nodded once she was squarely on her own two feet.
“What did you say when you caught me?”
“I said, ‘Watch out, you’re fallin’.’” He scratched his shoulder. “I have that plank off balance a bit. Are you here to sell something?”
He was older than her Thomas—blondish hair with gray at the sides.
“I’m looking for Thomas McHugh. And I really need to see him.” She shaded her eyes with her hand and squinted around him.
“Well, I’m the only Tom McHugh I know, but if you need something, I’m here to help.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets. He seemed like a nice guy. Tom had cornflower blue eyes with crow’s feet that crinkled as he smiled.
“I’m sorry I disturbed you.” She backed away, reeling at the cruelty of a Thomas McHugh who wasn’t her heart’s desire.
“Well, that’s okay. You should drop by when the reno’s done.” He pointed at the front of his little blue house.
“Good luck.” Fallen turned and walked as quickly away from the imposter as she could.
She wanted to fall into a pile of sobs and stomping, but she couldn’t be that girl in public. Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes as she walked, the wind painting them up like winged liner at the corners.
She’d wanted it to be him so badly. Believed it would be him. And now that it wasn’t, reality just sucked a lot.
Except for Fenn, she reminded herself after a moment. He was her family, and that was important. Her brother was important.
She made it to her house and opened the door. After discarding her cold-weather clothes, she wound her scarf back into the basket by the front door where she kept it.
The depression of it all was a weight. She didn’t realize how high her hopes had risen in such a small window of time. It was a long crash down. After trudging upstairs, she lay facedown on her bed. Then she stared at her wall. After running through the whole scenario with fake Thomas again, scouring for any possible meaning in any of it, she closed her eyes.
Hours later, she woke to find herself covered with the afghan from downstairs. Before she could even work out who had treated her so sweetly, she sat up, her hand hitting a crinkly note by her head.
F-
Didn’t want to wake you. Spending the night at Bill’s.
-F
At least her brother wouldn’t have to see her get dressed for Orbit. She didn’t want to start crying again and instead went to the bathroom to run a brush punishingly through her long hair.
She’d wanted to find Thomas, kiss the living hell out of him, and drag him to her house. Then when Orbit drove up they’d put on an endless game of tonsil hockey right in front of him. Instead she put on eyeliner and a ton of red lipstick to discourage kissing.
She was alone in her awake world. On her own. Getting in too deep with her boss and his freaky fetish issues.
She wrapped her hair into a bun on top of her head, remembering that Orbit liked it down, and cemented it in place with hairspray and a ton of bobby pins.
The doorbell sounded.
Fallen stomped in place a little, daring herself to ignore him. She had a job she could do. She didn’t need to be this guy’s plaything. Shame tortured her as she thought of the pictures on his phone.
It was too much. He was too much. It was time to quit. She looked at herself in the mirror and felt the day’s anger and frustration surge through her. Invigorated, she went downstairs to confront Orbit. She didn’t need Thomas to fight this battle for her. She would just tell him outright that what he was doing was sexual harassment, and if he withdrew his financial sponsorship of Fenn, well, she would…sue.
That sounded good.
Fallen pushed her shoulders back an
d opened her door.
Orbit looked expensive in a black-on-black suit and tie. Even his watch was black, not a hint of color to it. All the darkness really made his eyes pop. He looked younger than usual.
He held a bouquet of red flowers and a garment bag.
“Why, Fallen, I prefer your hair down.” His smile slipped a bit.
“I know.” She waved him inside. After she closed the door, she leaned against it, preparing to make her speech.
“Where’s your brother,” he asked suddenly. “I was hoping to get to meet him.”
Fallen felt her head shaking a vehement no. “He’s at a friend’s,” she said.
“Too bad. Perhaps he’ll be around later when we return. Or even in the morning…” he added slyly.
“No!” Fallen worked to keep her voice even. She wanted Orbit’s sleaze nowhere near her brother. “He’s spending the night. Won’t be back—” She stopped herself abruptly and took a deep breath. “Listen, I’ll keep this brief. You know I’m not interested in dating. And I’m not going to let you take any more pictures of me. This ends tonight.”
Orbit’s smile stayed plastered on, but his eyes squinted. “Is that all?”
She had to say the next bit, even though it made her the most nervous. “I’d like to remain at the hotel, doing my job, and have you continue to sponsor Fenn. Or else.”
She didn’t elaborate. Her tongue felt thick. Her words were demanding. She tried to think about telling Thomas what she’d done. He’d be proud of her, she hoped.
“Is that so?” Mr. Orbit set the flowers on the old coffee table and draped the dress over the back of the couch.
She hummed her acknowledgement and wrapped her hand around the doorknob, ready to show him out.
“Well, Ms. Billow, I’ll have you know that I already have papers drawn up to sue you for blackmail. You stole my phone and had Desta take compromising photos of you, trying to create a smear campaign against the hotel owner. It really was a dishonest thing for you to do. I also have time-stamped still shots from the security cameras, showing us leaving a hotel room together after spending hours in it.”
He had his phone out in a flash and readied the camera before moving in next to her. “Smile, or your brother will have drugs planted in his football locker—ending what could be a lucrative career.”