Poetic Letters

Lover

Lover

Roseanne

I pull my Bugatti into a parking space outside the old apartment building and blow out a breath. This neighborhood is a far cry from mine, but I'm definitely no stranger here, considering my housekeeper, Malee, forgets her heart medication at least once a week. With my mother living in Prague indefinitely and my father practically sleeping at the office, I'm the only one home on a consistent basis, so I'm required to fetch it for her.

Well, not required exactly.

There might be a slight chance the kooky maid has grown on me.

Not that I'll ever admit it out loud.

I was on my way to the beach when Malee called me, bemoaning her forgetfulness, and I made a quick turn, speeding to Queens, where Malee has lived for decades in her small two-bedroom. I'm going to grab the medication, drop it off at my family's townhouse on the Upper West Side and attempt to reach the beach by sundown.

Adjusting the strap of my bikini top, I climb out of the car and lock it behind me with a beep. I use the set of keys Malee gave me long ago to enter the rusted metal door of the building and climb the filthy staircase to the second floor. We pay Malee a small fortune to clean the house and feed us, enough to live in much nicer digs, but she refuses, claiming she doesn't need anything fancy to be happy.

I can't help but think she's on to something, since my parents have a billion dollars and I've never met two more miserable people.

As for me...I don't exactly know if I'm happy.

I know I should be. Right? I have everything a girl could want. I'm going to Princeton in the fall. Just like my father, mother and various grandparents. I'm driving a car that isn't even for sale yet in the United States. My future is secure.

I'm sure this impulse to run screaming in the opposite direction will pass.

There is also the teeny tiny issue of me being blackmailed by my father's business partner. Yeah. We can't forget about that.

As if I could. Part of the reason I'm escaping to the beach today is so I won't stare at my cell phone terrified, waiting for it to ring. Terrified to hear that snide voice that has been haunting my nightmares for a month, ever since Jaehyun started calling.

Making demands.

Determined to forget about the fact that my family's future might be in jeopardy-unless I comply with Jaehyun's demands-I shake out the correct key to Malee's apartment door, insert it into the lock and turn. I'm so accustomed to entering Malee's place and going straight for the row of pill bottles on her kitchen windowsill, I almost don't notice the woman sitting in the leather easy chair by the window.

When I do notice her, my heart careens into my lungs and I stumble sideways into the wall, gasping for breath. "Oh my God," I wheeze. "Who are you?"

Her face is shrouded in shadows until she leans her-and I mean freaking amazing-body forward and her dark-brown eyes cut through the mid-afternoon haze. Jesus, is that... Athena? God of War? They could actually be twins. Although this woman is definitely the bad twin. The tattoos adorning her arms are a collection of skulls, death and mayhem.

"You first," she rasps, her long fingers flexing where they rest on her knees.

I eyeball the door, judging I can escape in two, three seconds tops. "Um...I-I forgot the question," I stammer.