A Childhood Promise

Bright Lights

Ace looked out the window of the private plane he was on. He was alone going to New York. He wanted to ask Christina and Carlisle to join him, but he held back. He also thought of flying commercial with them, but that would have sent the same message. A message he shouldn't even be thinking about. He wanted to spend some time with them, be with them, but he can't. He shouldn't.

He sat quietly thinking of two women and two kids. A woman and child to come that he can call his own. They are to be his family, his life. He loves them dearly, but still he thinks of another woman and child. A woman and child that he can't even have any claim on, yet they consume his thoughts more and more. It was very troubling for him. How would he go about it all? Can he really just leave her alone?

His phone buzzed and vibrated on the table next to him. He checked it and there was a message. It was from Diane.

Hey, babe. I made an appointment for you with Christina. Tell her I just love her work and we're going with her. Talk about the tux. Get fitted. Good luck on the restaurant prospect. Call me when you land. Love you.

Diane. She has got to be one of the sweetest, loving and understanding women he has ever been with. It was only with her that he somehow felt comfortable and felt something close to what he ever felt for Christina. There he was again. He thought he was done with that since he had found Diane. She's gorgeous and brilliant. They're getting married and will be having a kid, yet he's comparing his feelings for her to the ones he's had for Christina. How long ago was that? Why does it keep pulling him back?

He called Diane the very moment the plane landed. He asked her for the details of the appointment and promised that he would go to it, no matter how much he wouldn't want to. Diane must have thought it was simply because it was boring wedding details, but he just doesn't know what to do come face to face with Christina again. She asked him to stay away, at least on a personal level. But he doesn't trust himself around her. He doesn't know if he really can keep things just professional between them.

He made his way to his hotel to get settled down. His parents told him he could stay at either of their places, whether the lofty penthouse, the townhouse, or the vacation house in the Hamptons. He insisted on staying at a hotel. He preferred it that way. He's never spent a night at his parents'. He just wasn't comfortable going about their house on his own, even if they were there.

If his grandfather hadn't left the Giovinazzo manor to him, and had not his parents moved out long before, he would have moved out himself. He wouldn't have minded having his mother around, but growing up with his over bearing and controlling father, he just wouldn't be able to deal with it. That's why he never protested even a little when his grandparents took him with them to Italy. Even as a kid, he never got a long with his dad. He barely had a memory with him that was easy and completely happy. It was either polite, civil, or uneventful. He regrets having that kind of relationship with his father, especially since he grew up mostly with his grandparents. When he was in Italy, it was only his mother and sibling who visited most of the time. He would always say he has businesses to attend to. He never really had to for them. That's what he resented him for the most. It would have been okay, if it's just with him, but it goes the same for all his siblings. He promised himself that he would never be like that. No matter how work goes for him, he will always make time for his family.

He decided to take a walk around the city before heading to the restaurant site. He needed to get some air and his thoughts together. He revelled at the fast-paced way of living in New York. It's a welcome change to the laid back life in Los Angeles. He enjoys taking part of it or simply watching it go about in front of him from time to time. The bustling city makes his spirit come to life. It was like seeing life in the kitchen on a much larger scale. People shuffling around each other trying to get their own things done, some coming together to make something bigger, and some seeming lost in their own world. Lately, he felt that was him. Lost in his own world as his kitchen shuffles to work around him. Ever since Christina came back, he felt lost. He felt lost in the life that he has built. The life he was ready to settle down on.