The Exception (9 page)

Jillian

In my hand, I held the keys to my very own apartment. I’d never had my own place before. Even when I was in college, I lived with Grant.

“How about we do a little furniture shopping?” I smiled at Kristen.

“Sounds like fun. I love to shop for furniture.”

I hooked my arm in hers as we exited the realtor’s office and headed to the nearest furniture store.

“Hello.” A nice-looking young man smiled at us as we walked through the door.

“Hi.”

“Can I help you?”

“Actually, I’m going to be spending a lot of money in this store today to furnish my new apartment.”

“Excellent.” He grinned as he saw dollar signs and a nice commission check. “I’m Heath.” He politely stuck out his hand.

“I’m Jillian and this is my sister, Kristen.”

“Nice to meet you ladies. Where shall we start?”

Looking at my watch, I spoke, “It’s two o’clock. How about we start with a glass of wine? You do have wine, right?” I smiled.

“Of course. Red or white?”

“White will be fine. We’re going to look around.”

“Please do. I’ll go fetch some wine and I’ll come find you.”

“Thank you, Heath.”

He gave me a smile as he walked away. He was cute with his six-foot stature, short blonde spikey hair, and green eyes.

“So where do you want to start?” Kristen asked.

“Let’s start with the living room first,” I spoke as I headed over to some displays.

Heath walked over and handed each of us a glass of wine. “See anything that catches your eye?” he asked.

“Actually,” I smiled, “I think I may like that couch over there.” I pointed.

Walking over to where the dark gray leather reclining couch sat, I took a seat and instantly fell in love.

“Nice color,” Kristen spoke as she sat down next to me.

“Isn’t it? Patricia hates gray.” I smirked. “She says it’s the worst color in the world and is a reflection of the person who chooses to decorate in such a drab, boring color.”

“Then it’s the perfect color for your apartment.” She grabbed hold of my hand.

“May I make a suggestion?” Heath asked.

“Of course, Heath. Suggest away.” I smiled as I took a sip from my glass.

“Follow me.”

Kristen and I got up from the couch and followed him over to a display where a dark red chaise lounge sat.

“Oh. I love this,” I said as I ran my hand along the fabric.

“Isn’t it fabulous? Envision it next to the gray couch you were looking at. And right over here, we have this lovely red square cocktail ottoman you can use as a coffee table.”

“Perfect. Sold, Heath.” I grinned. “Now I need a TV. I’ll be hanging it on the wall.”

“Our TV selection is over this way.” He waved.

After picking out my living room furniture, dining table, and some lamps, Kristen and I headed over to the bedroom sets. There was one bed that caught my attention very quickly. It was an upholstered sleigh bed in a color called gunmetal. While Kristen was with Heath looking at another bedroom set, I made myself comfortable across the bed.

“Excellent choice,” Heath spoke as he walked over. “This is our new Bombay collection that just arrived a few days ago.”

Kristen lay down next to me and we both stared up at the ceiling.

“This would be the perfect bed to fuck in.” She smiled as she looked over at me.

Suddenly, visions of my and Drew’s night together filled my mind.

“It would be. Too bad it won’t be getting any kind of action.”

“Maybe not with two people, but maybe with one.” She laughed.

“True. Very true, dear sister.”

Heath cleared his throat to alert us he could hear our conversation. Getting up from the bed, I placed my hand on his chest.

“Don’t feel sorry for me, Heath. It’s my own choice.”

As I was paying for my new furniture, my phone rang. It was Kellan.

“Hey, I can’t wait to show you my new apartment.”

“I can’t come to New York this weekend, Jilly.”

“Why?” I whined.

“My mom is having surgery tomorrow and my dad is on a business trip over in London.”

“Is she okay?”

“She’s having her breast implants taken out. Both of them are leaking and they need to come out as soon as possible. So I have to take care of her until my dad can get back home.”

“Okay. Give your mom a huge hug and kiss from me and I hope she recovers quickly. Maybe you can come the following weekend.”

“I’m already planning on it. Love you, Bean.”

“Love you too, Kel. Talk to you later.”

****

Moving into my new apartment was the easiest job ever. The deliverymen set up all my furniture and it didn’t take me long to unpack the only two suitcases I brought with me. Looking around my space made me smile. This was mine. My very own apartment and a symbol of a new start in life for me. I felt independent and I felt strong. Two things that I had never felt before.

Three years ago, on my twenty-first birthday, I received a call from my grandmother’s lawyer, asking me to come to his office. I found it strange since my grandmother had passed away two years before. When I arrived at his office, he informed me that my grandmother had set up an account for me with the sum of four million dollars to be given to me on my twenty-first birthday with a letter she had written to me.

My dearest Jillian,

Happy birthday, my darling granddaughter. Now that you are coming into the age of adulthood, I am giving you something special for those rainy days. This is between me and you and your parents are never to know what I have given you. Use the money to do what you want in life. It’s yours and yours only. Travel. See the world and, whatever you do, do not marry Grant. I don’t like him, darling. I never have and, most importantly, do not trust him. He doesn’t make you happy and you deserve to be happy. I know you’ll make the right decision one day and this money will be there to help you. Take care, my love. I’ll love you forever.

Grandma

My grandmother and I were very close and I told her everything. She was never very fond of my mother and she’d tell my father every chance she got. She hadn’t spoken to my parents for a few years before she passed. I still didn’t know what the argument was about, but I suspected it had something to do with Kristen. I’d never forget after she passed away and we were all gathered at the table for the reading of the will. When it came to my father and mother, they were given nothing. My grandmother left her whole estate to my Uncle Leon with the strict instructions that all of her clothes and jewelry were to be donated to a women’s shelter and my mother was not to be given anything. My parents were outraged and my mom didn’t stop yelling for months over it. As for me, she had left me ten thousand dollars and a beautiful silver necklace with a diamond cross that I’d always admired.

After Kristen and Noah left, I grabbed the open bottle of wine from the counter and took it outside on the balcony where I sat my ass down in my new plush and comfortable lounge chair. Rick was right; sitting out here at night looking at the brightly lit city was amazing. I hadn’t thought about Drew all day until now. As I held my phone in my hand, I pulled up his number and stared at it. A part of me wanted to get in touch with him just to say hi. But the other part of me didn’t want to because I knew if I did, I would never stop thinking about him or that night we spent together. I just wanted to hear his voice. Maybe if I just heard it one last time, thoughts of him would leave my head. This was crazy. This wasn’t me. I didn’t think like this and I certainly didn’t just call up people to hear their voice. What the fuck was going on? Why for the love of God couldn’t I get him out of my head? I set my number to private and hit the call button under his number. My heart started pounding out of my chest. It was Saturday night so he probably wouldn’t answer. I would bet he was out with someone for the night. The hand that held the phone to my ear started to sweat.

“Drew Westbrook,” he answered.

SHIT!

“Hello?”

If I didn’t say something, he’d probably suspect it was me, so I cleared my throat and disguised my voice.

“I’m sorry. I have the wrong number.”

“No problem,” he spoke.

I quickly ended the call. Wow, what did I just do? Who does that? A small smile crossed my lips as I set my phone down. Hearing his voice again was exactly what I needed. I could hear a lot of noise in the background, almost as if he was at a restaurant. The thought of him with another woman literally knifed my heart.
Fuck!
I didn’t need this. This wasn’t how my life journey was supposed to go. I wasn’t supposed to be thinking about a man. I certainly had no problem forgetting about one in particular. Damn Drew Westbrook. I finished off the bottle of wine and climbed into my new comfy bed.

Drew

“Who was that?” Liam asked as he raised his brow at me.

“Just a wrong number.” I frowned as I looked at my phone and set it on the table. “It’s weird because it came up as a private number.”

Liam shrugged. “People do that all the time. No big deal.”

“Yeah, I guess.” I took a drink of my scotch.

“I’m sorry your Hawaii trip sucked.”

“It only sucked when Jess was around.” I cut into my steak.

“Yeah, well, she was a sucky person.” He smiled. “Now you’re back on the market. Any prospects yet?”

“Actually, I met a woman in Hawaii.”

“Damn, you work fast.” He winked.

“She sat next to me on the plane from Seattle to LAX, we had dinner at the airport together, and then I switched seats so I could sit next to her to Hawaii. Coincidentally, she ended up staying at the same hotel.”

Liam narrowed his eye at me. “You slept with her, didn’t you?”

“Yep. On my last night there after I broke up with Jess. It wasn’t planned. It just happened. I really like her a lot.”

“Okay. So where’s she from? Did you get her number?”

“Life is a little complicated for her right now.”

“How so?”

“She comes from a very controlling family and she left her fiancé at the altar on their wedding day to go on a journey of self-discovery. So I have no clue where she went when she left Hawaii.”

The waitress walked over and cleared our plates from the table.

“Can I get you anything else?”

“Another round of scotch for me and my friend.”

“Coming right up.” She winked at me.

“I think someone likes you.” Liam smirked.

I rolled my eyes. “I can’t even explain the connection I felt with Jillian. I don’t know, man. I’ve never felt like this before towards someone. It’s really bothering me.”

“Sounds to me like you’re in love. Maybe for the first real time in your life.” He smiled.

“I don’t know. But what I do know is that I want to see her again. I gave her my number before I left in case she ever needed anything.”

“Maybe that was her who called.”

“Nah. It didn’t sound like her at all. She’s never going to call and I just need to accept that. She’s doing her own thing and finding herself. I’m sure she hasn’t even given me another thought.”

“I’m sorry, man, but chin up. There’s plenty of other women in the world who would love to go out with you.”

“What if I would have said that to you about Avery?” I picked up my drink.

His narrowed eye continued to stare at me for a moment. “It’s that serious?”

“It is.”

****

Jillian

I awoke to my ringing phone, and when I looked at the clock, it was six thirty a.m.

“Noah, what’s wrong?” I asked.

“I brought Kristen to the ER a couple of hours ago. She had a fever of 104.9 and she was hallucinating.”

“I’m on my way. Which hospital are you at?”

“Mount Sinai. Text me when you get here and I’ll find you. I think they’re getting ready to take her up to a room.”

“Okay.”

I quickly jumped out of bed, threw on some clothes, and ran a brush through my hair. Grabbing my purse, I flew out the door and hailed a cab.

“Mount Sinai,” I told the cab driver as I climbed inside.

A nervous feeling ran deep inside me. I was scared for my sister and my nerves were getting the best of me.

“Can you please step on it!” I yelled.

“Lady, this is New York traffic. What do you want me to do?”

“I’m sorry. I just need to get to my sister.”

Finally, we made it to the hospital and the cab driver dropped me off in front of the ER. I handed him some money, and when I walked through the doors, I sent Noah a text message. After pacing around the lobby for what seemed like forever, the elevator doors opened and Noah stepped out.

“How is she?”

“She’s resting and they have her on some strong antibiotics. The doctor said she has a bacterial infection and he’s calling her oncologist.”

“She was fine yesterday,” I spoke.

“I know. It was shortly after we got home from your place that she said she was really tired and not feeling well.”

Hooking my arm around him, we took the elevator up to the third floor where her room was. When I walked in, she slowly opened her eyes and a small smile crossed her lips.

“How are you feeling?” I asked as I walked over and took hold of her hand.

“Like shit. But I’m glad you’re here.”

“There’s nowhere else I’d be.” I gently gave her hand a squeeze.

After talking with her for a few minutes, she started to close her eyes.

“You get some rest. I’m going to grab a coffee. Noah, why don’t you go home and get some sleep. You look tired and I’m here. She’s probably going to be out for a while.”

“I don’t want to leave her, Jill.”

“Then sleep in the chair for a bit. Okay?”

“Yeah. Maybe I will. Thanks.”

Walking down the hallway, I found a waiting room with a coffee machine. After inserting some money, I pushed the button and waited patiently for the cup to drop.

“Really?” I said out loud as no cup appeared.

I wasn’t in the mood for this shit, so I banged the machine.

“Consider yourself lucky. That machine has the worst coffee,” a nurse spoke as she walked up next to me. “You can grab some in the cafeteria. In fact, I’m heading down there now and I can show you the way.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry for banging on the machine.”

“Please, honey. Don’t apologize. Those machines deserve to be beat on every once in a while. I’m Andrea. I saw you and Noah walking into Kristen’s room. Are you a friend?”

“I’m Jillian and I’m her sister.”

“Nice to meet you, Jillian. Your sister is a wonderful girl.”

“You know her?” I asked as we stepped into the cafeteria.

“I’m usually her nurse when she comes in for her chemo treatments. Today was supposed to be my day off, but they had quite a few call ins and asked if I could help out. I never turn down overtime.” She smiled. “I’ve never seen you here with your sister. Are you from out of town?” she asked as she grabbed a bagel.

I was starving and they did look good, so I grabbed one as well.

“I lived in Seattle and I just moved to New York last week.”

“Welcome to New York.” She smiled. “Would you like to join me?”

“Sure.” I paid for my coffee and bagel and the two of us took a seat at a small table by the window.

There was something about Andrea that made me feel very comfortable. I couldn’t exactly put my finger on it, but she was one of those people that you could just instantly connect with.

“Did you move here with someone?” she asked.

“No. I moved here alone. My life is a little complicated at the moment.”

Why did I just tell her that?

“Isn’t everyone’s life a little complicated from time to time?” she smiled.

“Yeah. Maybe.”

After talking for a while and finishing our bagel and coffee, we headed back up to the third floor. When I walked into Kristen’s room, she was awake.

“Hey, you. Where were you?”

“I was in the cafeteria having breakfast with your nurse, Andrea.”

“I’m glad you met her. I knew you’d like her.”

Just as Noah woke up, Kristen’s doctor walked in.

“So, missy. It looks like you have a bacterial infection, eh?”

“That’s what they tell me, Dr. Jenkins.”

“Your immune system is down from the chemo and radiation. I know you have an appointment on Monday for another scan, but since you’re here, we might as well do it now. Are you okay with that?”

“Do I have a choice?” Kristen smirked.

“No. Not really. I’ll go order it and someone will be here soon to take you down.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll talk to you later.”

After he walked out of the room, Andrea walked in with a warm blanket and draped it over Kristen.

“There you go, honey. We need to keep you nice and warm.”

“Thanks, Andrea. By the way, how’s your son and girlfriend doing?”

“Oh, good news. He finally dumped her. Hearing him say that was music to my ears.” She winked before leaving the room.

“Sounds like everyone is getting dumped these days.” I laughed.

“She couldn’t stand that woman. On my chemo days, she’d tell me how much of a bitch she was and that her son could do so much better. She couldn’t understand what he saw in her besides her big fake tits.” She laughed. “Her words, not mine.”

It wasn’t too long before the transporter walked into the room and took Kristen for her scan. Noah went with her and I stayed back in the room and waited for them. Pulling out my phone, I decided to give Kellan a call to tell him about Kristen and to ask how his mom was doing. But before I could dial him, like an idiot, I opened up my photos and stared at the selfie Drew and I took after we swam with the dolphins. My heart started to ache and I hated the sadness that overtook me every time I looked at that damn picture.

“You okay, honey?” Andrea asked as she walked into the room.

Closing out of the picture, I looked up at her, and instead of saying a simple yes, words just came falling out of my mouth.

“I don’t know. I met this guy when I was on a trip and I can’t stop thinking about him. It’s like he’s in my head twenty-four hours a day.”

“Where’s he from?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t ask and I didn’t want to know because I’m not in the dating zone, so to speak. I’m rediscovering myself and there’s no room in my life for a man right now.”

“May I ask why you’re rediscovering yourself?”

“Long story. My parents are very rich and influential. They molded me into someone I’m not nor do I want to be. I ran away.” I looked down. “And I’m never going back.”

“Kristen never mentioned that about her parents.”

“That’s because Kristen and I only share the same father. A father who paid her mother off never to tell anyone who her father is. He’s never acknowledged her and he’s never met her.”

“Oh.”

“I’ve only known that I had a sister for a couple of years and that’s only because she found me.”

Andrea walked over and sat on the edge of the bed next to me.

“What have you found out so far about yourself?” she asked as she placed her hand on mine.

“That I love being on my own but also that I have this need to feel safe. The guy I was talking about earlier made me feel that way. Even though I’d only known him for a few days, it felt like I’d known him for years. He made me feel secure, even though I had always thought I felt it. But apparently, I didn’t.”

“Sounds like you’re in love with this man.” She smiled.

“How could I be? I barely know him.”

“Doesn’t matter, honey. You don’t have to know him to feel it. It’s instant chemistry, divine intervention, soul mates. Whatever you want to call it, it’s just there. My thought on the whole thing is if you’re meant to be together, you will be. Maybe not now, or next year, but some time in this life.” She winked. “I have to go check on my patients. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Thanks, Andrea.”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart.”

I stayed with Kristen the rest of the day until she kicked me out and ordered me to go home.

“I’ll be back tomorrow.” I kissed her forehead.

“Looking forward to it.” She smiled.