One Chance by Best Victoria J

Author:Best, Victoria J.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-03-06T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

Henry

I woke to the sound of pounding on my apartment door. Nicolette lay against my chest, our legs tangled together under the small throw blanket we’d pulled over us after the second time we made love. She groaned as she opened her eyes, looking up at me.

“What’s that?” she asked, rubbing her face.

“That would be my mother,” I said unperturbed.

Nicolette was a different story. “What?!” She jumped up from the couch, taking the blanket with her, leaving me naked.

Her eyes traveled down my body, with appreciation but also agitation. “Henry, get up and put your clothes on.”

I chuckled at her urgency. “She doesn’t have a key. Relax. She can wait.”

Nicolette opened her mouth to answer me when my mother’s voice came from outside the door. “Henry, I know you’re in there. Don’t think that you can get out of this just because you won’t let me in. I’ll get the super.”

“Shit,” Nicolette hissed, scrambling for her clothes on the floor before disappearing into the bathroom down the hall.

My laugh followed her. I stood up slowly, stretching out the kinks from sleeping on the couch. In no rush, I gathered my clothes from the floor, pulling them on a piece at a time just to make my mother wait longer.

“Henry James Radcliffe-Rogers,” I heard her say in her sternest voice from outside the door.

I rolled my eyes. That hadn’t worked when I was a child and it wouldn’t work now.

“I’m coming, Mother. Simmer down. You wouldn’t want to make a scene in front of the neighbors.” I smirked even though she couldn’t see me.

When I finally opened the door a moment later, my mother was red-faced and fuming.

“What took you so long? You aren’t trying to get out of rehab, are you?” She strode into the room, wrinkling her nose. “You should really have my cleaning service come and take care of this mess.” She looked around in exasperation.

“It’s nice to see you, too, Mother,” I said, backing into the room as I closed the door behind her.

“Honestly, Henry, do you always have to act like I’m the bad guy?”

I didn’t answer her, figuring it was a rhetorical question. Nicolette stayed hidden in the bathroom and I wondered when she was going to reappear. I refused to leave without saying goodbye to her. My mother would just have to wait.

“You and Jackson went out last night.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yes, Mother. To his club. Is that not allowed?”

“Well, you’re the one who said you wanted to stop drinking,” she said, judgment in her eyes.

I walked into the kitchen, flipped on the coffee machine, and set a fresh mug underneath before pushing a single-use pod into it.

“Consider it one last hurrah,” I said flippantly as I prepared my coffee.

My mother huffed behind me. I knew she was waiting to kick my butt into gear, to hurry me along. But I refused to be hurried when she’d bullied me into this in the first place.

“Must you move so slow? I assume you’re packed and ready to leave?”

I looked back at her, my coffee cup blocking the smirk on my lips.

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