Chapter 4

"You got to be kidding me," Alain mumbled.

It was family dinner night and they were all gathered in the living room after a wonderful dinner of boiled potatoes and grilled chicken. Everyone had showed up like Lucille had demanded.

"She wants us to leave her alone for a little bit," Percy said as he sat down on the couch across from his brothers.

"We all know that's not possible," Matthew said. He was Mia's older brother and had become a part of the family rather quickly considering he and his sister had no living relatives of their own and he wasn't married.

"It's her life, guys. She can do as she wishes."

"Yes, but we're always going to be in the background watching out for her. It's inevitable."

"What's inevitable?" Britani asked as she held the hands of her three-year-old twin girls and led them into the room. When they saw Jason on the coach, they squealed and ran to him, crawling all over him and their uncles.

"Tophyr wants us to leave her alone as she finishes her degree," Alain said.

"Well, if that's what the girl wishes, let her have it," Lily replied to her brothers.

"We can't let her just do what she wants. It's the principle of the matter."

"Principle? There is no principle when it comes to a twenty-year-old girl. You weren't that protective of me and Britani."

"I wasn't like you, Lil," Britani said. "I was home on time. How many times did you skip curfew?"

"What I mean is we never got the third degree when we came home."

"You weren't the baby. Tophyr is and that means we have to do the best we can to watch out for her. She's never had a boyfriend so we have to be extra cautious," her brother said.

"So what are you going to do? Be on campus every day to make sure she doesn't run into any guys? That's absurd, Alain."

"What are you talking about?" Lucille asked as she, Jim, and Tophyr walked into the room. Everyone grew quiet and looked at each other. Tophyr knew exactly what was going on. She didn't say a word as she lowered her eyes. Her mother caught it. "Tophyr, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, Mom. It's nothing," she replied. "I'm going to Duke's. He's home now and I want to see him. I'll be back later."

"Tophyr!"

"Let her go, Mama," Percy said.

"So, let me get this straight? You want your brothers to back off so you can figure out what's going on between you and Mr. Stark?"

"Sounds crazy doesn't it, Duke?" Tophyr asked as she turned away from the window.

If there was anyone besides Percy who listened to her it was Duke. It wasn't his real name. His real name was Arthur Lively but they called him Duke because he was so very diplomatic. They had been friends since grade school and he had been the one who got Percy and Alex out of trouble when they were in high school. He was a year older than she was but that hadn't stopped them at all.

Duke went to the New York Art School and studied classical ballet. Even though everyone thought he was, Duke was not gay. He had a girlfriend he saw every other weekend who went to school in Virginia. She was cool with his friendship with Tophyr because the girls had known each other since they were kids.

"It sounds something but not crazy. Do you know how long it took me to ask Eliza out before I actually did? I knew there was something between us but I never took action on it. She finally asked me out and viola! Here we are. What's stopping you?"

"He lives an outward lifestyle. I saw him in the paper this morning with a girl hanging off his arm. I'm not like that."

"So you're going to let your prejudice of men with money cloud your vision?"

"It's not like that."

"Really? Because it sounds like it." When she didn't reply, Duke got off his bed and walked over to her. "Toph, you're a genius but you don't know how to talk to people by yourself. You're socially awkward and that's okay. Eventually, though, you got to take steps to get to know people."

"I don't want to get to know people. People just misjudge and then say stuff they don't mean. I don't want to be part of that."

"You are part of it, Toph, whether you like it or not. Do you know how many times your brothers and I squashed rumors of you in school? Too many times to count. And we'd still do it if we had to." She didn't say anything. "You didn't know any of that did

you?"

"No. not that it matters anyway. I never listened to rumors and I don't listen to them now."

"Tophyr, I'm not trying to upset you."

"I know."

"Okay. It's getting late."

"Yeah. I need to head home. Thanks, Duke." She hugged him tightly.

"Hey, how about we go out for sushi in a few days?" he asked as she stepped out in the hallway.

"Sounds good."

Tophyr headed down the hall to the elevator.

~~~~~~~~

Derek stood outside the nearest Starbucks with his soy grande caramel macchiato. He had narrowly escaped his brother's engagement party unscathed. After the scene that had happened at the bachelor's party, he was just happy to be left alone. The paparazzi had been stalking his family since they had returned to New York just waiting for one of them to screw up. Again.

The reason his family left was because his father had a drug habit and mistress all in one. His mother had done everything in her power to keep it away from her sons but it really didn't matter. Andrew had figured it out first and tried to keep it quiet but one night during one of their father's drugged out rages, he had hit Derek. That was when Andrew let the bomb drop. It had hurt their mother to no extent. That was when their father decided to move the family so their father could go to rehab.

It had been three years. Andrew was about to graduate law school and get married while Derek was a sophomore in physics. The five years between them hadn't stopped the brothers from being close while their parents acted like ignorant children.

Derek checked his watch for the third time. Aaron was supposed to pick him up thirty minutes ago. Leave it to him to be late. He looked down the sidewalk both ways. When there was no sign of Aaron, he resigned himself to hail a cab. Before he could move from the coffee shop to the edge of the sidewalk, he saw her.

Tophyr Hurst was walking towards him. He watched her gait and knew she walked like a confident woman but didn't act like one. She moved with grace only a dancer could show. That blond hair of hers was loose and flew back behind her as it

caught the wind. If he was just a little closer, he could probably tell her eyes were sparkling in the light. It was something about her eyes and their color that was breathtaking.

"Hey, Tophyr." She looked up when he called her name. The smile from her face fell. He wondered if she liked him at all. But at least she was alone and her brothers weren't around. To be sure, he looked around to make sure they weren't hiding somewhere.

"Hi, Derek." He looked back at her when she said his name. She was soft spoken, probably from years of not talking to others except her family. "What are you doing out here?"

He looked behind him. "I'm supposed to be meeting Aaron, but he's thirty minutes late so I guess I'll be hailing a cab. What about you?"

"I'm heading home after being at a friend's. He just got back in town from skiing in Vermont."

"That's cool. Vermont's lovely this time of year."

"I wouldn't know. I've never been."

"Maybe you'd like to go sometime."

Tophyr stopped fidgeting and looked at him, trying to decide if he was telling the truth or not. "Are you asking me out?"

He looked at her as if she had something he didn't know he said. "I think I am."

"Thank you but no."

He was astounded at her answer. Usually girls would give anything to go out with him. All except this girl.

"Good night." She walked past him without another word, leaving him to follow her with his eyes. She rounded a corner and was gone from his sight.

What was about that girl that made him think of nothing but her? Not sparing another thought, he hailed a cab and headed back to the Upper East Side.