The Other Side Of Midnight

“Rocco.” I touch the cool skin of his face softly. “I have to go.”

“I know.” He rises from the bed and pulls me up. Then he sits as silent as a statue and watches me get dressed in the dim, bluish light. When I am ready, he presses a bottle into my palm.

“For Sam,” he says quietly.

I look down at the bottle. It is the tablets I took last night. “Thanks.”

He nods in acknowledgement, and escorts me to the elevator.

“There is a car waiting outside for you. Go safely.”

The doors open and I walk in. He stands watching me. There is a strange expression on his face. One of great longing. For some weird reason, it feels like the last time. Like it will never be like this again. Before the doors can close I dash out of the elevator and throw my arms around him. I lift my face to his and he crushes my mouth with his. The kiss is hard, demanding and hungry. It is as if we have not spent all night together, but we are lovers meeting after many years apart yearning for each other.

“I don’t want to leave,” I whisper, as he trails kisses down my neck.

“It’s okay, Autumn. Go and be happy. We will meet again on the mountain.”

He steps back and I turn away and walk into the elevator again. “Bye,” I whisper as the doors shut.

He doesn’t say anything, just looks at me as if it is the last time we will ever be together again. I stare at my own reflection in the shiny doors. I look different. My lips are swollen and there is some knowledge in my eyes that was never there before.

The doors swish open and I walk out into the foyer. The night security guard nods politely at me. I walk through the front door and Rocco’s Rolls is waiting for me. The driver is standing next to an open door. I’m about to slide in when something makes my skin tingle. I look up and I see Rocco standing on the balcony. It is too dark to see him clearly, but I can make out his shape leaning down as if he is desperate to catch a last glimpse of me.

I lift my hand and wave at him. He waves back. Then I climb into the car and the chauffeur closes the door. I stare out of the window at the still darkened streets. New York never sleeps it seems. There are people around going about their business.

I cannot help feeling as if I left something behind in Rocco’s flat. It feels like it might have been my heart.

Chapter 45

Autumn

When I get back to our suite, Sam is lying diagonally across her bed. I drop two tablets into a glass and pour some water over them. The tablets immediately begin to dissolve into a light brown liquid. Then I climb onto her bed.

“Oh shit! My head is splitting,” Sam groans without opening her eyes.

“I’ve got something that will help.”

She opens one eye and looks suspiciously at the glass in my hand. “What the hell is that?”

“It’s fantastic for hangovers. I promise.”

“You know I won’t even take Tylenol. No chemicals or drugs. I’ve drank lots of water. I’ll be fine in a couple of hours.”

“It’s pure herbs, Sam. Take it, please,” I insist.

“No.”

“This is ridiculous. You’re just suffering for no reason. Do you think the champagne you were drinking last night was pure grapes? There were chemicals, probably toxic, in there too.”

“Stop being logical so early in the morning,” she grumbles, getting onto her elbows.

“Come on, babe. They’re just herbs. I promise you will feel wonderful afterwards. I did when I took them.”

“You drank it?”

“Yup, last night and trust me, you will feel amazing when you wake up.”

“I can’t sleep too long. We have a full day.”

“I’ll wake you up in an hour,” I promise.

She takes the glass from my hand and downs it. “That didn’t taste too bad actually.”

I watch as she gently falls back on the bed and sleeps. Taking the empty glass out of her slumbering fingers I put it on the bedside cabinet. Then I lay next to her and think of Rocco. He should have been a fantastic secret that I held to my chest. Something so wonderful, so fairytale like, that I have to pinch myself to see if I am in a dream, but all I can think of is that there is something very terrible he needs to tell me. Something so terrible that I will have to walk away from him forever.

I try to think of all the terrible things he could tell me. Then I think of his sister and a shudder goes through me. She has done nothing bad to me, but I know instinctively that she is dangerous. Across my closed eyelids, I see the young girl with the leather anklet. There was something very pathetic about her.