Author's Note: Fresh off of finishing The Simple Life, I give you Glimpse, my latest Revenge story. The focus is on Nolan and Emily, but rather than the sullen, vengeful Emily we all love so much, I've toyed with the idea of what Emily might have been like if David Clarke had never been taken from her. In this story, she's had a happy childhood, she's vivacious and she might be more than Nolan can handle, but that doesn't mean he won't try! ;)
Squinting against the bright morning sun, Nolan Ross made his way up the paved walkway of the small house on the north shore. Compared to many of the newer homes in the area, his own included, the house was tiny. This was no modern mansion, the house was a step above being a cozy beach cottage, eternally charming with its porch swing and breezy bay doors.
Nolan knew that he had the right place, but it had been many years since he'd last been inside this house, even living as close as he did now. Looking at it, dwarfed by the Grayson monstrosity further up the shore, Nolan smiled; fond memories of this house and the man within were stirring, his pulse quickening with anticipation for the reunion.
It's been a long time, he thought as he swept the hair out of his eyes. He'd let it grow too long again.
It was interesting to Nolan how events in his life had seemed to come full circle; this was the house where he'd struck the deal that had completely changed the course of his future over a decade ago, and now? Now, it was anyone's guess what was in store for him with this visit to the home of David Clarke.
Nolan bound up the steps and came to the door, knocking a few times. No answer, but there was a car in the driveway and he could see that the lights were on in the kitchen.
His eyes took in the stacked boxes he could see through the windows as he circled the wraparound porch, heading toward the back.
He felt foolish, getting so excited to see the man, but how could he resist?
David Clarke had believed in his dream and had funded bringing it to life. The entire field of American technology had changed because of Nolan's ideas, but without David's investment they would never have been anything more than just scribbles in a notebook.
Nolan owed everything to the man.
They had not seen each other in several years. Outside of the odd e-mail here and there, they had rarely spoken. On hearing that David was finally settling in New York for the summer, and even more surprising, that he had chosen to come back to the Hamptons of all places, Nolan knew he owed the man the respect of a visit in person at the very least.
As he followed the porch and checked each window, he kicked himself, thinking how rude he was to drop in without bringing anything for the occasion. He should have brought a nice bottle of wine or a gift basket or, hell, even a six-pack of Coors would have been better than showing up empty-handed.
Well, nothing for it now, Nolan thought. But he'll never have to pay for drinks at the Stowaway.
"You dress a little bright for a cat burglar."
Startled, Nolan turned around and found himself face to face with a very pretty, very wet young woman. She stood before him, hands braced on narrow hips, still dripping from the ocean. Blonde hair was slicked back against her head and dark eyes were steady against his; she wore a plain navy swimsuit, a defiantly modest one-piece that left plenty to his imagination. However, when it came to women, Nolan didn't like to imagine - he wanted to see.
Despite the scowl on her face, she was still very pretty. He gave her what he thought to be his most charming smile and took a step toward her, offering his hand. "Hi, I'm Nolan. And you are-?"
The girl took a step back as he advanced, but her expression didn't betray any fear. "I'm calling the police unless you tell me what the hell you're doing, peeking in our windows."
His eyes widened. Was she actually accusing him…?
"I'm not a Peeping Tom or anything, I was just-"
"Jesus, Emily, give the poor guy a break! He was only looking for me – am I right?"
Nolan turned around to find David walking toward them. He felt his face split into a smile as the man came closer. "David! I heard the rumors so I came over, I'm glad some Hampton gossip turned out to be true for once."
David came forward and brought Nolan into a hard hug. He clapped the younger man on the back and then pulled away, resting his hands on Nolan's shoulders, his eyes searching the younger man's face. "Nolan Ross. My God, how long has it been?"
Nolan shrugged, still smiling. "A few years, at least."
David laughed and playfully punched Nolan's left arm. "A few years, my ass! It's been much longer than that, look at you - God, the last time I saw you, you were just a scrawny kid with a dream and look at you now."
Nolan laughed. "Yeah, now I'm a scrawny man with a company."
The older man shook his head, "Enjoy that metabolism while you can, soon as you hit forty everything you've ever eaten will come back to haunt you."
"Really? It's a good thing I drink so much, then."
Emily, watching the exchange, had had enough of the two of them acting as if she wasn't even there. "Excuse me!"
David turned to her and laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry. This is Nolan, a former client of mine, and Nolan, you've already met my guard dog."
Emily scowled at the both of them. "Whatever, I'm going to change."
David rolled his eyes as Emily stomped past them and went into the house. "Ignore the scowl, she's jet-lagged on top of her usual school stress - makes her mean as all hell. Ten more minutes of that attitude and I'm sending her back to the city so I can enjoy the beach alone. Come on in, when did you get to town?"
Nolan followed David inside the house, his eyes fixed on the long pair of legs that had just disappeared up the stairs. "When did I-? I live here now. Most of the time, anyway."
David moved into the kitchen and took two beers from the fridge, popping the caps and handed a bottle to Nolan. "Living the dream, huh? Sports cars, mansions and a different supermodel every night."
Nolan gave David a half-hearted smile as he took a seat on one of the barstools. If only he knew. "Oh, I have some stories." He cleared his throat, hurriedly changing the subject. "So, what're you doing back in the Hamptons?"
David took a quick swig of his beer. "Well, you remember I used to rent this house when Emily was younger and now that she's graduated I think she deserves the downtime."
"Emily? The girl on the porch?"
David gestured to the stairs, "Yes, the charming young lady who threatened you with the police. Emily is my daughter, you remember Amanda? She just goes by her middle name nowadays."
Taking a sip of beer, Nolan tried to think back to the last time he'd been at this house – it was there, buried under hundreds of cyber codes and competitor profiles and the personal backgrounds of his every employee: the small memory of a thin, smiley girl with bright pink nail polish.
With effort, the memory unfolded in his mind, opening like the chapters of a book. Nolan had been here, over a decade past, and at the time found himself surrounded by ten loud, giggling girls while David had looked on, laughing at his torture.
"Little Amanda, I remember her." Nolan smiled, thinking back. "She gave me a cupcake at her birthday party when you were here for the last time. And she's graduated college now?" There was a mutual amount of surprise and despair in the realization.
Christ, I'm getting old, Nolan thought. He usually didn't think anything of his age, but here was the evidence that the world was spinning on and he was aging right along with everyone else.
David cleared his throat. "Yes, just last week. Double major in psychology and literature, graduated top of her class – that's a recipe for a vacation if I've ever heard one."
"I'm inclined to agree." Quiet as a cat, Emily had descended from the upstairs washroom and moved to approach the stranger her father seemed to know so well.
She had put on a pair of jeans and a plain red t-shirt, her hair was still damp but air-drying into a halo of fluffy blonde waves. Nolan thought she was prettier now that she wasn't glaring at him.
David set down his bottle, "Emily, there you are! Get over here and apologize to Nolan Ross. The man deserves a nicer hello than what you gave him on the porch."
Ignoring her father's censure, Emily turned her dark eyes on him and moved to sit on the barstool to this left. "Nolan Ross. That name is familiar."
"Do you own a smart phone?" Nolan asked.
Emily shrugged, "Of course."
"Chances are my company made it and I came up with most of the apps on it."
If she was impressed to know that it was the Nolan Ross in her kitchen, Emily didn't show it. She only smiled at him, "Thanks for the unlimited texting."
The women that Nolan had come across in the Hamptons who learned who he was, or really, what he was worth, were usually given to immediate flirting and fawning; this Emily's easy acceptance was actually a nice change.
Nolan smiled back to her, "I…you're welcome."
David cleared his throat, "I gave Nolan the funding for his start-up company - today Nolcorp is a global leader in telecom."
Emily glanced to her father and then back to Nolan. "Wow, congratulations – sounds like your baby's growing fast."
Nolan shook his head, "I got lucky, that's all."
"Ignore his modesty, Emily, Nolan here didn't sleep for years - he was working round the clock to get Nolcorp where it is today." David was proud of the younger man, and he wouldn't let him hide from his own accomplishments.
"I hear that you're no stranger to all-nighters yourself." Nolan said to Emily, meaning her double-major.
Looking up, they all noticed that a UPS van had just pulled up out front of the house and a moment later there was a knock on the front door. David set down his bottle and moved to answer the delivery man.
Emily sighed lightly and smiled. "Well, hopefully those days are behind me. I plan to enjoy myself this summer – lots of swimming, sleeping in, parties-"
"No boys!" David called back to them as he went to answer the door.
"Wouldn't dream of it, dad." She called back to the man.
Emily turned her eyes back to Nolan, a sudden spark of something wicked in her gaze. Her voice dropped so that David could not hear her. These words were for Nolan. "I dated boys in college. School's out. This is the summer of men."
Nolan swallowed, wondering what trouble he had just gotten himself into with this visit.