June 1900
"Miss Amelia, there are two young women here to see you," the maid said, knocking on her door.
"Show them to the sitting room," said Amelia, wiping the tears off her cheeks. "I'll be right down."
Amelia walked over to her vanity and sat down, looking at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying. She put some powder on to try and cover up any evidence of crying.
Lately she'd taken to crying all the time. She missed Spot terribly, and she kept replaying their last interaction over and over in her mind. The look of longing in his eyes when he asked her to come away with him. The look of hurt when she kept refusing. The anger in his eyes when Glenn came in.
Amelia walked downstairs into the parlor. Baby and Penny were in the sitting room.
"Hi girls," Amelia said, sadly.
"Hey," said Baby, standing up to give her a hug. "We haven't seen you around lately. We wanted to come up and make sure everything was okay."
"You read the papers," said Amelia, sitting in a chair across from the sofa Penny and Baby were on.
"Yeah," said Penny.
"Then you know why," said Amelia. "I can't come see you guys anymore. It wouldn't be appropriate for a Vanderbilt's wife to always be seen hanging around…" She couldn't finish the sentence.
"That was a fast engagement," said Penny. "You only met him, what, a couple weeks ago?"
Amelia shrugged. "Papa didn't want to lose the money he put in reserving the church for the date we'd set when I was going to marry Rock."
"Why are you doin' this, Amelia?" Baby asked.
"I don't have a choice," said Amelia.
"Yes you do," said Baby. "You could walk out that door with us right now. Just walk away."
"They'll bring me back," said Amelia.
"Not if they can't find you," said Baby. "You could hide out in Brooklyn. Queens. Harlem. We have friends all over the place. We could make sure they'd never find you. Spot would take you back in an instant if you just came with us."
Amelia felt her chest tighten at the mention of Brooklyn. She closed her eyes, willing herself not to tear up. "How is he?" Amelia asked softly.
"Not good," said Baby. "You really did a number on him."
Amelia crumbled into sobs. "I miss him so much."
Penny moved and put her arm around Amelia. "I know you do. Come with us."
"I can't." She shook her head.
Baby and Penny shared a look. "Amelia, do you remember all those hours we spent trying to convince Maggie to go back to Skittery?"
"That was different."
"How?"
"Maggie had a choice. I don't."
"Yes you do!"
Amelia sighed. "Fine. Then call me a phony, call me a fraud. I'm choosing the easy way out. The way where I don't get disowned by my family and I'm not living in poverty."
"I don't have a choice," said Amelia.
"Yes you do," said Baby. "You could walk out that door with us right now. Just walk away."
"They'll bring me back," said Amelia.
"Not if they can't find you," said Baby. "You could hide out in Brooklyn. Queens. Harlem. We have friends all over the place. We could make sure they'd never find you. Spot would take you back in an instant if you just came with us."
Amelia bit her lip, knowing this was the moment of decision. It was now or never. When it came down to it, it really was a no brainer. Her parents weren't home. If they slipped out of the parlor, no one would be the wiser.
"Let's go." Amelia stood up and led the girls out of the parlor, into the foyer, and out the door. They hopped on the first trolley down town.
Spot was sitting inside Tibby's when they got off the trolley. He saw her through the window and immediately raced outside. Amelia had barely halved the distance between the trolley stop and the restaurant when Spot caught up to her, holding her tightly in his arms.
"I knew you'd come back. I knew you'd choose me."
"Don't get the wrong idea, I'm only here because you kiss better than him."
"I'm not gonna argue with that." He tilted her chin to look up at him and leaned in to kiss her.
Amelia's eyes opened. She looked around. She wasn't standing in front of Tibby's; she was in her bed. The light outside was purple with the first signs of dawn.
Why did she have to wake up? Why couldn't she have stayed in that dream forever? In the dream it felt so right. She hadn't been scared in the dream – she had known once she was with Spot, he was going to stay with her forever and never leave her. He would've taken care of her, while at the same time pushing her to be more than she was.
The tears came again. She sobbed into her pillow until the sun shone through her curtains and the birds began to sing.
"Spot, she still loves you," said Baby.
Spot shrugged, taking a drag off his cigarette. "Doesn't matter anymore, does it?" He stared out over the East River at Manhattan.
"Go talk to her," she said.
"I've tried," said Spot. "She's made up her mind. Amelia Wakefield is going to do what she wants to do, which is all she's ever done."