HEALING THE SCARS

CHAPTER 37

DYLAN

I was in New York for a business meeting, planning to buy one of the skyscrapers here, but my mind kept drifting back to Penelope. Needing a break, I decided to grab coffee from a café a friend recommended. He said it was on the outskirts of town, offering the privacy I needed. When I got there, a waitress spilled my coffee, and though she apologized, something in me snapped. I demanded to see the manager, frustration bubbling up, not because of the spilled coffee, but because of everything else in my life weighing me down.

Then, she walked in—Penelope. For a moment, I thought I was dreaming, but no, she was real, standing right in front of me. I felt a flood of emotions, ones I didn't even know I still had. I wanted to hug her, kiss her, anything to bridge the distance between us. But I just stood there, overwhelmed and unsure of what to do.

Later, as I lay in bed, I couldn't stop thinking about her. The night I showed up at her place drunk replayed in my mind, the memory of us together, the way it felt so right and so wrong at the same time. It had been years since I felt whole, and somehow, being with her made everything else fade away. I knew I had messed up with Lindsey, but I ended things with her, trying to make amends with Joey. He forgave me, and I promised never to contact Lindsey again. Joey and Mabel had stuck by me when Penelope left, when I was at my worst, and I owed them that much.

Joey had suggested, during one of our drunken conversations, that I should get Penelope pregnant again. The idea was insane, yet it made sense in a twisted way. Maybe if she had another child with me, she'd finally see that we could be a family, that I could be the man she needed. But I knew Joey was mad at me for how I handled things with Penelope, especially when he saw the marks on her neck. He thought I hurt her, and nothing I said could convince him otherwise. He didn't understand how Penelope and I worked, how she liked it when I took control, but how could he? He only saw the worst in me, and I couldn't blame him for that.

I felt bad for Joey, knowing that Mabel had cheated on him. I didn't know how to tell him, didn't know how he'd handle that blow on top of everything else. Mabel and I had never gotten along, not since the day I first took Penelope away from the mall. We started off on the wrong foot, and it only got worse when Penelope got pregnant and I didn't want her to keep the baby. But I realized Mabel was a good person, not the gold digger I once thought she was. I wanted to apologize to her, to start over, but when I saw her with another man, I couldn't believe it. She left with him and didn't come back until the next morning.

After reaching the hotel, I went straight to the bathroom, needing a shower to clear my head. Once I was done, I called my lawyer and had him draft the contract. Two hours later, I had it in my hands. I rescheduled my business meeting and decided I needed to see Penelope first. I wanted to call her, to ask if she was okay, but I just stared at her number, unable to press dial. It was nearly midnight, and she was probably asleep. I called Joey instead, but he didn't want to talk, shouting at me to stop calling and that we'd speak in the morning. I ended up drinking a bottle of scotch, passing out on the couch, even though I knew I shouldn't. Alcohol dulled the emptiness, but it brought out a side of me I didn't like, a side I needed to control before it spiraled out of hand.

The next morning, I woke up with a pounding headache. I felt too lazy to move, my body aching from sleeping on the couch. I downed a strong cup of coffee, hoping to shake off the hangover. After throwing up the coffee and taking a cold shower, I felt slightly better. It was almost 10 a.m. when I decided to call Joey.

"Hey, Joey," I said when he picked up.

"Hey, man, what's up? Where are you?" he asked, sounding in a much better mood than last night.

"I'm still at the hotel, just woke up. Got the worst hangover and could use one of your remedies."

"Just drink two raw eggs, and you'll be fine," he laughed.

"Ugh, I forgot how disgusting your remedies are," I chuckled back.

"Fine, Mr. Know-It-All," he joked.

"Are you going to be there when I take the contract to Penelope?" I asked.

"Yeah, Mabel and I will be there. Why?"

"Nothing. I just thought maybe we could talk about last night. I don't want things to be awkward between us when we meet."

"We're cool, Dylan. No issues between us."

"Are you sure? You kind of went off on me last night. I'd appreciate a chance to explain myself, to straighten things out."

"Yeah, we'll have that talk. Just not now, or over the phone. Maybe when we get back home."

"Okay then," I said, feeling disappointed but knowing I had to respect his timing.

After hanging up with Joey, I decided to call Penelope. I needed to know when we could meet.

"Hello, Penelope?" I asked when she answered.

"What do you want, Dylan?" she replied, her tone cold and distant.

"Wow, not even a good morning for your husband?" I tried to keep the conversation light.

"You're not my husband. Stop saying that. Now, what do you want?" she snapped.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to know what time we'd be meeting."

"Come around 2 p.m. Mabel and Joey will be here by then. I don't want to do this without them present. I don't want to be around you alone. You're manipulative," she said, her voice hard.

Her words hit me harder than I expected. I felt my heart slow, a painful reminder of the distance between us. "Okay, Penelope. I heard you loud and clear."

But I wasn't going to do what she wanted. I couldn't just let her control everything. I had to do things my way. I called my driver and told him to pick me up at noon. I was going to arrive early, give myself a chance to talk to her alone, to try and fix what I'd broken.

This was my last shot. I had to make it count. After Penelope answered the phone with that cold tone, I couldn't just jump into business. Something in me needed to know how she was really doing. I hesitated for a moment before speaking, trying to keep my voice steady.

"Penelope, how are you doing?" I asked, hoping she'd give me something, anything, that could make this conversation feel less like a transaction.

There was a pause on the other end. I could hear her breathing, and for a second, I thought she might actually open up, but then she sighed, the sound sharp and dismissive.

"I don't want to talk about that, Dylan. What do you want?" she repeated, her tone colder than before.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, realizing that I wouldn't get through to her, not today. But there was someone else I could ask about, someone I knew I couldn't ignore any longer.

"How's Jason?" I asked, my voice softer now, almost pleading.

Penelope hesitated again, and I wondered if she would refuse to answer this time too. But then she spoke, her voice quieter, more vulnerable.

"He asked about you," she admitted, and I could hear the conflict in her voice. "He wanted to know when he'd see you again."

Her words hit me like a punch to the gut. My heart twisted painfully, and for a moment, I couldn't breathe. Jason, my son, was asking for me, and I had been too caught up in my own world to be there for him.

"I... I miss him, Penelope," I said, my voice breaking a little. "I want to see him."

She didn't respond immediately, and when she did, her tone was back to that cold, detached one. "We'll discuss that later, Dylan. Just come at 2 p.m. like I said. We'll deal with everything then."

I nodded, even though she couldn't see me. "Okay," I whispered, feeling a heaviness settle in my chest. "I'll be there."

But after we hung up, all I could think about was Jason. The way he had run to me, how his eyes lit up when I came home. And now, he was asking for me, and I wasn't there. I had failed him, just like I had failed Penelope. The realization made my heart ache in a way I hadn't felt in years. I needed to fix this, somehow. I needed to make things right, for Jason, Penelope, for myself.