Chapter 36
Erica sat impatiently in her car near the hospital's loading dock, waiting for David. It was starting to snow, and she was anxious to get back to his cabin before the roads became coated with snow and ice. Sitting by herself, watching the snowflakes land on her windshield reminded her a little too much of the way the snowflakes had swirled around her that night when David carried her out of the prison Jonathan Kinder had made for her.
The ring of her cell phone distracted her momentarily from the bad memories. She glanced down at the phone and answered it. "Hey Reggie, whassup?" she asked lightly.
"Good job, E! Whazzup?" he said with a laugh.
"Not much. How are you doing? How was school?" she asked, praying he didn't want to come over to Opal's to see her.
"It's cool. I'm just hanging out with my friend Marcus, playing video games and shit. I mean stuff."
Erica smiled into the phone.
"Are you checking up on me?" she asked.
"Naw, I wouldn't do something like that. I mean, you're Erica Kane. You don't need a babysitter or nothing. I just wanted to say 'hey' and find out what time J and Lily are coming back," he said, somewhat embarrassed that she'd realized right away that he was, in fact, checking up on her.
"Oh, um, they should be home by 6pm on Sunday. I'll be home before then, of course," Erica said smoothly.
"Do you want me to come home early then, on Sunday to hang out with you?" he asked.
"No, oh Reggie, that's very sweet of you to offer, but that's okay. I'll probably spend most of the weekend working at the office, catching up on some things," she said.
"Okay. Well, if you change your mind, I can come home earlier," he offered.
"No, no, don't worry about me, Reggie," Erica said as she switched on the windshield wipers to clear the snow. "Listen, do me a favor Reggie."
"Anything."
"Stay off the roads," she said. "I'm leaving the studio now, and they're starting to get slick. We're supposed to get quite a bit of snow tonight, and I know Jack would feel much better if he knew you were indoors and safe and sound. I realize that's a lot to ask a teenage boy on a Friday night, but do this for me, okay?"
"Erica, you're killing me. There's this girl Marcus wants to meet up with tonight –"
"Reggie…" she said in a warning voice.
"Yeah, yeah, anything for you, E," he grumbled. "See ya later."
"Bye Reggie," she said as she hung up the phone, her stepmother duties complete. She was relieved that he wasn't planning to push her about the time she was spending away from the house.
David tapped on the passenger side window a few moments later and smiled at her as she unlocked the car door.
"What? No disguise?" she said sarcastically as he slid into the passenger seat.
He grinned. "Well, I thought about it, but I wanted to make sure you could recognize me. I must say, I find your need for intrigue quite amusing. Can I call you by your real name, or do we need code names?"
She blushed at the mention of code names, remembering a time long ago their romantic involvement had been a secret, when he'd called her his Principessa, and he'd been her Vittorio.
"We're just going back to your house. I don't think code names are necessary," she said quickly, eager to push aside past fond memories.
"Okay, but if you change your mind, I get to pick code names this time around," he said.
She raised an eyebrow as she steered the car away from the hospital. "What's wrong with the names I picked?"
"Well, nothing I guess, but if we were going to pick new code names, I think I'd need to be named after something better than a lowly gondolier," he said.
"I guess it's good then that we don't need code names," she said defensively. "I shudder to think what you'd choose to call me."
He laughed in response. "Come on, let's go home. I have big dinner plans."
She offered him a tentative smile as she drove away from the hospital. Neither of them noticed the car following them at a distance.