[Cordelia]
His hands cup my face tenderly as he bends forward and we come together in a crash of lips. I open to him and he moans as we deepen our kiss. He has missed me as much as I have missed him it seems because it doesn't take long for us to begin peeling our outer layers.
"Swim with me," he smiles as we stand in our underwear, waiting to see what the other one does. "The ocean is gentle today and we won't go deeper than we can stand."
"I don't know if that is a good idea," I look at the gentle waves rolling in. "I don't know how to swim, and the last time I entered the ocean I almost drowned."
His face colors with memory, growing red and angry. He wasn't there, but he heard about it later. It doesn't matter if, in the end, I was safe, just the thought of Jude trying, and failing, to teach me sours his expression.
I reach forward and kiss him. "You won't let me go, right."
A smile relaxes his face as he hears me
[Atlas]As we lay nude next to one another, wrapped up together in a couple of oversized blankets, we hid ourselves from the world and Cordelia shared all of her secrets. The lies she had told, the words she was too afraid to say.And of course, the person behind it all. Magnus. "Every time I tried to say something, a new threat would come through my phone," she explained as she continued her confession. "I have been trying to tell you for weeks, but even notes could be seen somehow. I'm still not sure how he is monitoring me. Maybe my phone, my clothes...I just knew we needed to get away from everything if I would have a chance to tell you."Her heartbeat underneath my hands is faster than a hummingbird's wings and I worry it will stop if she doesn't calm down. She's so frightened, she's been so frightened for so long, that even now as she tells me everything, she is trapped in fear. "I'm afraid I just killed our baby," she cries into my chest and I hold her close. "But I can't do t
[Cordelia]Once the sun set, the beach became too cold, so we made our way back up to the car, doing our best to remove as much sand from our bodies and clothing as we could before getting back into the car. It was a losing battle. "I think there is sand stuck to my scalp," I observe."Which one," Atlas smirks. "I'm pretty sure I have sand in all sorts of unmentionable places.""It was your idea," I smirk back. "Besides, I can assure you I have sand in more hidden places than you do," I grimace hoping that whatever hotel we stay at has a clean tub and one of those detachable showerheads."How does Napa sound," Atlas changes the subject as we put the top up on the car and bundle up against the cold."For what?""Our wedding of course," He then reveals his whole vision of tomorrow--we stop in San Francisco to get a wedding license at City Hall right before heading to Napa. We'll check in and wake up to the beautiful rolling hills of the California wine country as we prepare for our intim
[Cordelia]An oversized spotlight flashes on the two of us and Atlas moves to block my body, shielding me from the glare."Get a room, you two!" The booming voice demands of us before driving away slowly. Atlas helps me up and laughing we get into the car. "Do you think he was going to arrest us?" I look over his shoulder in the direction of where they vanished."Nah," Atlas says with certainty as he gives them a little wave. "They just wanted to flex a bit." Feeling like a couple of teenagers, we head north toward Napa. Attached to the vineyard is an elegant resort with a full spa and spacious suites tailored towards refined elegance. Atlas booked the entire resort. We don't need that much space, but he wanted the privacy. "This moment should just be for us and the people who love us the most," Atlas explained as he brought me inside. The staff welcomed us at the front door and within moments we were swept into our rooms. Exhausted after our long day, we kick off our shoes and pl
[Cordelia]As the sun sets a bit lower, she declares it's time to "get me ready for my big day," and we head back to my suite which has been transformed into a bridal studio including a full hair salon and makeup booth. "What is all this?!""My girl is getting married and you didn't think I'd bring a bit of LA up here to help you," she rolls her eyes. "I brought my usual photoshoot crew with me. Everyone wanted a little wine country vacation, she grins as she introduces the four ladies in charge of making the two of us look like movie stars. "Before they get started," Tilly pulls me in the opposite direction where she has a wall of mirrors arranged, "I need you to try something on." She opens up a garment bag and inside on a silk-wrapped hanger is the wedding dress I had tried on all those months ago, the one Atlas purchased for me the day that Angelica dragged me to the bridal salon when she was planning her wedding to Altlas. I had been pregnant then, so the dress fit a differen
[Atlas]Cordelia's screams shock me, sending my heart into a frantic rhythm as I think of a dozen possibilities. "Wait here," I tell our guest who just arrived. "Let us check on her." Looking at Clark, he nods and we both rush towards the suite to find Cordelia on her knees sobbing, a velvet box lying on the floor nearby along with a card stamped with Fisher Pharmacuticals' double fish insignia. "He sent her a present," Tilly reveals showing us the necklace and earrings Magnus sent, clear indications that he knows where we are and what we are doing. Kneeling beside my bride, I hold her tight, struggling to put her back together. "We won't let him take this day from us," I say as I rock her through her tears. "We won't let him break us." "Atlas, what if he...what if he..." she sobs around her words unable to say what we are both thinking. What if Magnus hurts our son? What if he kills him? What if he's already done so?What if he heard about our plan? "This is just the sick basta
[Cordelia]Atlas called my Dad. Of all the people I expected to see on my wedding day, he was not on the list. Stephen Greyson, the man who helped raise me but was never really my father. This man and his wife, Meghan, let me believe for 25 years that I was their daughter and that because I couldn't live up to their expectations of being just like my "sister" Angelica, never good enough. "Why are you here, Mr. Greyson," I cross my arms glaring at both Atlas and the man I once called father, equally upset with both of them. "You aren't welcome." He holds out his hands, in one of them is a velvet box not unlike the one that Magnus sent me. "Cordelia," his tone is sad. "Please, give me a chance to explain." Atlas leans in. "It's your call. If you want me to make him leave I will."I didn't think it was possible to love Atlas more than I already did. I was wrong. "I'll speak to him," I concede.Mr. Greyson's tight posture eased."But that doesn't mean you get to stay," I express with
[Cordelia]If this crazy world has taught me anything, I have learned that you should never throw love away. So few of us find family even when we are born into one. Stephen Greyson didn't need to come to Napa from LA to give me a necklace. He came because he cares. He could have said everything he just did over the telephone or via video conferencing, but he didn't. Vulnerable and brave, he came to me "Wait," I call after him and he stops, his back turned. "Can you help me put these on?" His expression is carefully blank as he asks, "Are you sure?"With a tiny smile, I nod and he lets himself relax. Coming over to me, he moves aside the veil and clasps the beautiful necklace around my neck while I adjust the earrings. Giving my shoulders a gentle squeeze he places a kiss on the back of my head like he always did when I was a little girl. My heart feels heavy as I watch him walk away again. "Hey, Dad?" He turns, "Yes Cordy?""Did mom come too?"He is very silent, his eyes shifting
[Cordelia]I close my eyes. This can't be real. It must just be the stress of the evening getting underneath my skin. Angelica was buried. Her body was brought out from beneath the rubble. I saw her body. She was dead when they pulled her out. Atlas was also dead and I saw his body too..."Are you okay," Dad asks and I blink my eyes open, smiling, pretending that I'm not secretly chilled to my core. "I'm fine," I lie as I scan the room briefly. After the stunt Atlas pulled, I understood that anything is possible and that things are often not what they seem on the surface. Angelica might be dead, or not. The one thing I know for certain is that she isn't really a ghost. Ghosts aren't real. Either she's here, my mind is playing tricks on me, or Magnus is trying to scare me. Either way, hallucination or party crasher, I know I'm not being haunted. But I can deal with this later. Right now, there is a nervous, handsome man waiting for me at the end of this very long aisle. He's waited