Leon's Way Read Online Free

cleaned everything up. The room is as tidy as it was before his breakdown hours ago. A blanket covers the broken window, and I’m sure he’s already called the installers.
    In the kitchen, fresh coffee steams from the coffeemaker. A plate covered with cling wrap waits on the table. It has my name on it.
    “ I’m sorry ,” the note begins.
    “ I’m sorry I took advantage of you, Arriane. ” I blink over treacherous, stupid tears, because the words hurt and I’m the one who should apologize. I took advantage of him—his desperation. I start reading again.
    “I’m sorry I took advantage of you, Arriane. It will never happen again.”
    I finish the breakfast spread he’s made for me. Pour coffee into a mug. My heart’s still alive when I walk down the stairs and into the bar with my cup in hand. I don’t consider the damage the New Year’s crowd did to my decorations. Spilled beer and half-dried cocktails glue me to the floor, trying to keep me from his office. My shoes stick and rip free from the floor, alerting Leon of my proximity. I lose courage. I want to go home and postpone this.
    “Arriane?” Leon’s voice sieves out so softly. Like we’re different now.
    I inhale. Riip to the office slowly. Hurry with the last steps before I can change my mind. Then, I peek in through the half-open door.
    “You called?” I say, swallowing. I haven’t showered yet and smell of us. I have the early shift at work today, and I forgot to tie my hair back into a ponytail. Lord knows where the hairband is—I don’t. Slowly, I edge my face behind the thick sheet of my hair. His scent on me teases, causing a jab to my heart. Woodsy cologne, sex, and wrongness.
    Crystalline blues float from the documents organized in front of him and still on me. I can’t meet them, so I concentrate on the light stubble caressing his jaw and cheekbones. Faintly, I think of how I’ve never touched that stubble. It wasn’t there last night. I’d cup his cheek, make it prick the palm of my hand.
    “Yes, can you do some shopping for me?” he murmurs in the quiet voice that instills every employee’s respect.
    I let out a breath and sink into a chair on the opposite side.
    “Sure, what do you need?”
    “I’d like you to put together a gift. Here, grab a notepad. This might take most of your day.”
    I accept what he gives me. Pull a lock of hair into my mouth and pinch it with my lips folded over my teeth. Leon’s gaze sinks from my eyes to my lips.
    “Can I ask who it’s for?” I whisper.
    “You can. When I lost my mind last night, robbing Pandora of her freedom to keep her from Dominic—” Leon narrows his eyes in a squint, considering how to finish. He already boasts a fighter’s posture, but he sits up straighter anyway.
    “Well,” he sighs, “I need to make amends for what I did. Apologize. I want the gift to reflect the sincerity of my regret. Money isn’t an issue as you put this together, Arriane, and I’ll be addressing it to both of them.”
    “Who?”
    “Pandora and Dominic.”

I stare at myself in my bathroom mirror. Instinctively, I’ve known for thirty days, and yet my eyes haven’t lost their disbelief.
    I don’t take up loans. I’m not in debt. I’m twenty-three years old and not a college dropout—I move forward slowly, steadily with classes. At the moment, I wish I’d done it faster. Because now, there’s this.
    My curveball.
    A bubble of unwarranted bliss grows in my throat. In the mirror, it sparkles in my irises too. Common sense arrests my smile, though. This is crazy. Madness. I never thought I’d end up this way. I haven’t told my mother, whom I’m close with and see every couple of weeks over in my hometown of Talco. I definitely haven’t informed my twin brother, Chahel—I’m better off waiting until the last minute.
    The last minute.
    I’m not thinking about the last minute. Surely, once the last minute comes, I’ll be less scared.
    The mirror reflects my naked form. Still