A/N: I've had a bunch of people add me to their favorites and alerts list and I appreciate it, but I would despeartely appreciate it if you would also leave me a review to tell me exactly how you felt about the story and the writing because I really to enjoy constructive criticism. Thanx.
Chapter 5: If I Could Fall Into The Sky
By the time the plane landed in the New York City airport, Megan had given me her phone number and life story. I did appreciate having someone to talk to, but it would have been nice to have some time to think, which her nonstop conversing didn't allow.
Silvia lead me to the baggage claim, droning on about how much she was certain that I would love New York. I smiled and nodded, hoping that these simple gestures would satisfy her. She didn't seem notice that everything I did was a facade. Instead, she smiled at me, continuing with how much fun we would have together and how much I would be thankful that she took me to my real home. That part made me want to cry, but as she turned to smile at me, I managed to bite back the tears.
Once we had our luggage in tow, Silvia lead me to the front of the airport where she explained her boyfriend would be picking us up and taking up back to her condo. I wasn't exactly excited about meeting whatever man Silvia had found to fill that empty hole in her life, but she enthusiastically went on about how great he was and how he would do anything for her.
"Oh, there he is now!" she said, waving her left arm in the air to attract his atttention. I looked off in the direction that she was waving to find a man of at least forty years approaching us. He had a receding hair line that was now fading to gray although his original black hair was still visible. He had laugh lines on his face, and even though it was clear that he had been very muscular at some point in his life, it was also obvious that he had given up the gym for a while now. He wasn't necessarily fat, but he wasn't very fit either, and the chubbiness looked out of place on his large but not quite broad body.
"Silvia, baby, I've missed you," he said, wrapping Silvia into a tight embrace. His voice was husky from what sounded like years of smoking, and now that he was close, I could catch a whiff of what smelled like smoke mixed with whisky. 'Does she really trust him to drive us back,' I wondered to myself. As he pulled away from his girlfriend, I also noticed that it had been a while since he had shaved, and gray stubble was growing on his chin. His eyes were red and underscored with gray lines like he was hungover.
"Sonny, sweetie," Silvia said, redirecting her attention to me, "this is Jay, my boyfriend."
"Hello, Sonny," he said, taking my hand between his meaty, sweaty, palms.
"Hi," I mumbled, fighting the instinct to jerk my hand away from him. Instead, as unnoticeably as I could, I retrieved my hand once he let go and gently rupped them against my pants.
"Well," Silvia interrupted the strange stair that Jay had directed at me, "we should get going. I don't want Skylar to be home alone to long."
As Jay took our bags and led us out to his black Sedan, I began wondering just how many pets Silvia had. I loved animals, but the last thing I wanted was to be trapped with a bunch of animals that didn't love me. As my mind began to wander over what to expect, it also struggled to block out the picture of Jay and Silvia snuggling together. I was usually okay with some affection, but with the noises that they made, I wanted to rip my hair out. They didn't exactly make a cute couple with him being at least a decade older than her. (I didn't think he would exactly look cute with anyone, but that was beside the point.)
I managed to hold my breath and keep myself from going crazy as the ride reached a painfully slow end. Silvia paid the cab driver and Jay motioned for me to follow him into the condo. The first impression of the inside of the place was that even if it was small, it was cozy. I assumed that Jay lived with her, and I could see that along with the kitchen connected to the living room, there was also a small bathroom and two bedrooms. The living room and kitchen were pretty much the type that you would expect to see at anyonoe's house. There was a couch, a loveseat, a coffee table, a rug, a lamp, and in the kitchen, a fridge, a stove, some countertops, a microwave, and some cabinets.
"Welcome to our humble abode," Jay said, placing our suitcases by the door. Seconds later, Silvia hurried inside, flipping her hair back over her shoulder.
"Well, Sonny, we'll have to work out sleeping arrangements, but I'm sure you can just have the bedroom," Silvia said, smiling brightly at me. "SKYLAR!" she called, stepping inside and taking off her shoes. She turned her attention back to me and motioned for me to do the same. "It helps to keep the floors from getting too dirty," she explained with another over cheery smile.
I slipped out of my shoes to please her before taking another glance around. It wasn't exactly a place where you could get lost very easily. I kept that in mind in case Jay tried to use that as an excuse to peek at me in the bathroom. That creepy grin plastered on his face scaring the living daylights out of me.
"There you are!" Silvia shrieked. I turned to see what had caught her attention to find a boy who appeared to be about seven or eight years old with dark brown hair that fell around his face and light green eyes. He wore a too big t-shirt and a pair of worn out jeans, but he seemed perfectly content with his appearance. "Sonny," Silvia said, her gaze landing on me, "this is Skylar."
I looked the kid over again. He had freckles across his nose that were almost invisible, partly because of a bad sunburn, and partly because of the poor lighting. His face lit up when his eyes landed on me. "You're Sonny Monroe!" he nearly shouted.
"Skylar, what did I tell you?" Silvia asked, absentmindedly running a hand through the boy's untidy hair. A hand which her shook off seeming very annoyed. "She's your sister."
I found myself staring at Skylar again, this time trying to place the word brother with his picture. Of course, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't do it. He wasn't my brother because Silvia wasn't my mother. Instead, she was simply a woman whose rules I would have to follow if I ever wanted to get home. Still, the smile on his face as he continued to look me over forced a smile onto mine as well.
"Hi Skylar," I mumbled.