Adrianna's Storm Page 2

Adrianna was the oldest of the girls, then there was Erin, Kira, Sheela, and Calli. The three older girls had brown hair like their father and the two youngest were blonde like their mother. They were really beautiful girls and their parents loved them to distraction.

  Although their parents were very busy in their respective responsibilities, their five daughters wanted for nothing and knew they were very loved. There was many a day when their father would come home from work, throw down his briefcase, and yell to the girls that he was going to beat them all to the pool, which was housed in their backyard. The girls would all run screaming to grab their suits, along with their mother, and they would all jump in together. Their mother would serve dinner around the pool and they would all play until it was time for the girls to go to bed.

  Sometimes on those evenings, Ari, being the oldest, would be held back by her parents and they would cuddle with her on a chaise. They would ask her questions about school, her friends, and talk about upcoming events in Ari's life. Her parents would do that with each of the girls as different times. They were a close family, a loving one, and Ari missed that most of all.

  It was their parents’ twentieth anniversary and they had decided to fly to Paris, her mother loved it there. It was where they had first met, only to discover they were both from joining counties in Ireland. The plane had never landed, their bodies lost at sea.

  The girls had gone to live with their maternal grandmother in Weatherby Glen, which was located in the center of Ireland in Offaly County. They loved their grandmother and visiting her was always a treat, but permanently living in Weatherby Glen was a big adjustment for them. Not only had they lost their parents, but they had lost their friends as well. That was a blow to Ari, as she was a teenager in the awkward stage of not being a child but not yet a woman either. Also, being the eldest, she felt she had to take on the caretaker role for her sisters and she tried hard to help her grandmother as much as she could.

  Living with Mamo had been an experience. Concepta Belenus O'Laughlin—Mamo to the girls—was a force to be reckoned with when it came to her family. Even though she could be fierce when she wanted to be, she was what some called a free spirit and she was known and loved by everyone in the glen. She dressed in flowing skirts and peasant blouses. She always had a kind word and was very patient with the girls. She had been their rock through the loss of their parents and then had raised them the way their parents had wanted them to be. All the girls had gone to college and gotten degrees in varying fields. Although all but one of the girls had moved away to pursue their careers, they were very close and routinely came back to the glen to visit.

  Their family had lived in the glen for centuries and was well-respected. Their grandmother had lived in and maintained the original family home; although it hadn't remained the quaint little cottage it was originally. Over the years, the generations of the Belenus families had added to it and now it looked like a castle. It had ten bedrooms, five full bathrooms with a half bath downstairs by the large kitchen and even a caretaker’s cottage in the back of the property. It was large, yet Mamo had made it feel inviting and warm.

  Ari snapped out of her reminiscing as the cab pulled up in front of her building. She grabbed her bag, paid the driver, and exited the cab. She looked up at the tall building and smiled, she was home. She had lived in her loft in the building for four years now and loved it. She had leased it when she went to work for Julie. Before that, she had lived in an efficiency in a four-story walk up and was barely living as she worked hard to get noticed in her field. It had taken longer than she had expected, but it was worth it.

  Julie was Ari's best friend, besides her sisters, and had mentored her to where she was now. Ari had been working in a small shop in Greenwich Village when Julie had come in to check out the talent. It seemed word was getting around that Ari had what it took and Julie had been intrigued. Julie was getting older and had no children as she had devoted her life to her job, so she had been looking for the right protégé to take her place one day. Even today, Julie was in no way ready to retire, but she was slowing down a bit. That was why she hadn't even given it a second thought when Madonna had called, to appoint Ari to take her place at the shows.

  Ari had been stunned that Julie had wanted her to go. She'd had a bad case of nerves all the way up until she had started to do the first model's hair, then old habit and instincts had kicked in. From what everyone was saying, if Ari kept up what she was doing, she was really going to take off and Julie would be proud. She was going to have offers rolling in and Julie had known that when she sent her. Right now Ari wanted nothing more than to settle into the bath and relax. She had to be at the next show at four-thirty tomorrow morning. She restocked her bag, set it by the door for in the morning, and then poured herself a glass of white wine while she reheated leftover lasagna from last night's dinner. She had ordered take out from one of her favorite restaurants, Gino's, and talked to Julie on Skype about things.

  "So, tell me, how is it going?" Julie had prompted her.

  Ari sighed. "Good, but god am I tired. I could work a whole two days in the shop and not be this tired." She rolled her shoulders as she talked.

  Julie laughed. "That's the stress, honey, you are just feeling the pressure. Trust me, next year you won't feel this way."

  "Next year?" Ari asked as she choked on her wine.

  Julie rolled her eyes. "Ari, you and I both know this is your break. You are going to skyrocket."

  "My big break was when you found me and took me under your wing. Honestly, thank you so much for entrusting me with this."

  "Who else, kiddo? I am so proud of you." There was some noise in the background. "Well, since it's nearing time for Madge to go out, I need to give her a touch up. Keep in touch with me and I will see you on the weekend."

  "Okay, have some fun while you're out there! See you soon." Ari clicked off the computer.

  While she ate, she flicked through the television channels to watch the reports on Fashion week. She was mentioned on two of the shows she watched. As she smiled, her cell phone began to ping and as she checked it, she found that all of her sisters were congratulating her for being mentioned on television. Evidently, even the youngest, Calli, and Mamo Coni had seen it on the news over in the glen. Calli was finishing up school in Dublin but often went home to stay with Mamo. Ari smiled as she read through all the well wishes and sent thank yous back as she finished her dinner. Now for that bath, she thought, grabbed her wine glass, and headed for the bathroom.

  Chapter Two

  Fashion week had finished and Ari was back in the routine of the salon. She was booked up for the next two months in advance, thanks to the publicity with more coming in every day. She had the receptionist make sure to mark off the first two weeks in May as Ari was expected home to celebrate Calli's twenty-first birthday. It was a big celebration in their family and she hadn't seen them since Christmas.

  She worked steady days and tried to get as much sleep as she could. She was spending longer and longer hours at the salon due to all the requests for appointments. One night, she and Julie went out to dinner at Gino's. Julie liked to go there as well, but she liked to ogle the hot Italian waiters, Ari thought they were cute, too, but Julie drooled. Ari laughed as they ordered and Julie watched their favorite waiter, Paolo, walk away.

  "Man, that boy has a tight ass," Julie said as she took a sip of her wine.

  Ari just shook her head. Julie was never going to change. "So what's up? You said you needed to talk to me."

  Julie set her glass down and looked over at her. "Yeah, I do. Look, you are killing yourself at the salon and I appreciate the business you are bringing in, but I saw that you changed your holiday from two weeks to one."

  "I had to, there are too many new clients trying to get in and I don't want to lose the business," Ari told her.

  "Well then, just so you know, I had her change it back and add a week. I will not hear of you not taking a break," Julie told her as she held up
her hand to stop Ari from interrupting. "You have been killing yourself for months and you need this break. It will do you good, plus the clients will be scrambling for you when you get back. They will think you have gone to Europe to do some bigwig and it will lend you more notoriety."

  Ari sat back stunned. "Are you sure? I don't want to lose what I have going right now."

  Julie nodded. "I am positive. I just want you to remember to pamper yourself while you are pampering others." She turned her head to glance at another waiter walking by. When she turned back to Ari, she had a sadness in her eyes that Ari hadn't seen before. "Don't let this take over your life completely. Always have some time for you. Who knows? Maybe you'll meet a guy."

  Ari barked out a laugh. "Yeah right, meet a guy. I don't have time for a man in my life."

  "See? Exactly what I am talking about. Make time," Julie lectured.

  "Well, I will agree that I need a break." Ari seriously thought about what Julie said and the look she had seen in her eyes. She knew Julie was trying to tell her not to be like her. She sighed. "Okay, Julie, I'll do it your way. I will take the time off and let the wind blow where it will."

  Julie smiled and toasted her with her glass. "Good job. I love that saying, you must too since you say it a lot."

  Ari frowned. "What saying?"

  "You know, 'let the wind blow where it will', you say it," Julie told her.

  "Really? I do? I never noticed."

  Julie laughed it off as their dinner arrived and while they ate, they talked about the salon. Julie talked about her expansion plans; she wanted to put in another salon in New Orleans. She told Ari she was going down to look while Ari would be in Ireland. They discussed the different areas there and what was up next for Ari. At the end of the evening, Julie made Ari promise to keep to the schedule and take the allotted time off. Ari agreed, although reluctantly. She knew what Julie had said was true and it seemed the time between seeing her family was getting longer. The two women said good night outside the restaurant as they lived in opposite directions. Ari had decided to walk the four blocks from her loft to the restaurant so she turned and began to walk back as Julie hailed a cab.

  As Ari walked, she thought about her sisters. Being the oldest of the five, she'd been a substitute mother for them after their parents had died. She had made it her responsibility to make sure they stayed out of trouble and remembered their parents. She would tuck them into bed along with their grandmother and then when she would leave, she would tell the girls stories of their parents or they would all remember different things they had all done together. Her sisters had been her world and then she had to go off to college. That was a very difficult time for her and her sisters. She had tried to come home every weekend and had been there for all of the holidays, she had also kept in touch with them by calling every night and telling them their good night stories over the speakerphone.

  For a while, their grandmother allowed Ari to call and come home all the time. Then one day before she went back to school after the summer break, to begin her junior year, her grandmother had taken her aside.

  "A leanbh, child, it's time for you to fly. You need to know that I am here for the girls and you have to let some of this, here at home, go. You deserve to have a life of your own, A leanbh," her grandmother said gently.

  "What are you talking about, Mamo? I have a life. I'm doing well in school but I also need to be there for the girls," Ari had told her.

  "I know you are doing well in school, I see the reports. I'm just saying that you spend all your free time here with the girls or on the phone. It is okay for you to go out with friends, meet a boy."

  Ari hesitated. Now she understood what her grandmother was saying. She began to tear up. "I just don't want them to forget, or think I have abandoned them."

  Her grandmother wrapped her arms around her and pulled Ari into her embrace. "A leanbh, we will both make sure they never forget. You have to remember that your parents wanted you to grow and blossom, make a life for yourself. It's okay to do that. I am here for the girls. Go, live. Don't just exist to keep them alive. They wouldn't want that."

  Ari had cried for the first time since her parents had died. She wept in her grandmother's arms for a long time and then she promised her that she would try.

  As Ari turned down her block, she smiled thinking of the fun she had had in those last few years of school. She still went home for every holiday and called the girls at least once a week, but she did follow her grandmother's advice and went out with friends. She had graduated and come home to be with the girls for the summer.

  Erin was already in college; Kira was beginning in the fall. Sheela and Calli were in high school. They all spent that summer together in the glen with their grandmother. It had been the best summer Ari could remember in a long time.

  Ari had majored in business administration in college but after spending the summer with her sisters, doing their hair and nails, she found that she loved it. She talked it over with her grandmother and enrolled in Beauty School in Gallway, Ireland, which wasn't as far from home as it was when she went to Dublin for College. Instead of working for a shop at home or opening her own, she wanted to make a name for herself as a hairstylist. The best place to do that was New York City, in the United States.

  Their parents had had money when they died, that added along with their life insurance policies, and the girls had a sizeable inheritance. It had been divided and placed into separate trust accounts for each girl with their grandmother as the trustee. Ari had the money, so she made the decision and moved to New York. From there she met Julie and now she had finally done what she went there to do.

  She still missed her sisters. They all still talked on the phone, sometimes together in a conference call or separate. All of the girls, except for Calli, had graduated and moved to the United States. Calli was the youngest and still in school. She seemed content to stay in Ireland and had voiced that she wanted to live in the glen for the time being.

  Erin had become a marine biologist and lived in Florida. She had actually just landed her dream job working for SeaWorld. Her sisters teased her all the time about working for Shamu, but she loved it and was happy. She was acknowledged as one of the leading biologists and was always being recruited by different labs. However, she always refused, saying her joy came from actually working with the animals and being outdoors.

  Kira was a geologist and worked as a visiting professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. She traveled all over the world, going on digs and doing studies, sometimes for the University or for companies that she contracted out to. She had even published several books on the subject and known the world over.

  Sheela was what they called 'the crazy one'. She was twenty-three now and had graduated college a year ago. Even though she had a degree in chemistry, she had met a boy who had shown her a different world. He had been in Ireland shooting a movie and was one of the assistants to the lead stuntman. Sheela had become obsessed with the profession. Now, she was currently working in Wimington, North Carolina, which was fast becoming known as 'Little Hollywood', on a movie set with several well-known actors.

  She was brought out of her thoughts by a sound behind her. She heard heavy footsteps behind her and began to get nervous. She reminded herself mentally there were millions of people in the city who had places to go as well. She kept her head down and continued to her building, which was just up ahead. When she heard more noises from behind her, she glanced back and saw no one. She frowned, there had been someone behind her, she was sure of it. She shrugged and went into her building, nodding at the night doorman.

  Ari let herself into her loft and kicked off her shoes. She sat down on her couch and stared off into space. Julie had told her she needed to meet a man. That was a laugh. It wasn't as if she hadn't dated in the last few years, she had even had a steady boyfriend for a while. Eric had been an up and coming lawyer based in Manhattan. They had met in a coffee shop, the barista had mixed up
their orders and they had ended up drinking it together.

  They had been a happy couple for a while and had even talked about moving in together at one time. Ari had realized as they were looking for a place that Eric had been changing for a while. He had begun to be more controlling, trying to influence what she wore and how she did her hair. He had even gone so far as to tell her to leave Julie's, that she should be preparing to be a housewife and mother.

  It all came to a head when they were looking at a condo and Eric had told her he was upset that she was going home for Christmas instead of going to his family estate to meet his parents. It hit Ari square in the chest that day and she had walked out of the condo, leaving Eric behind. He had called and left messages. It was over and he finally got the picture. She was never going to let anyone dictate her life to her.

  No, finding love just didn't seem to be in the cards for her. She just wanted to have her family, her friends and have her career do well. She also had her kindle, which kept her warm at night. She loved to read. Mostly she read erotic romance; she had recently been intrigued with the ménage books she had gotten by Jana Leigh. Ari had just finished a series of hers called Denver Pack. When she had read that series, she could picture herself with two men doing wicked things.

  Ari shook her head. Now was not the time to think about men and what could be. She needed to be focused, she had a couple of months to get through, and then she could relax when she went home. She already couldn't wait to spend some downtime with her sisters and grandmother.

  Chapter Three

  The months flew by for Ari as she worked hard and built her clientele. The next thing she knew, she was being pushed out of the salon by Julie and April, the receptionist. April had packed Ari's stuff while she was in the bathroom and they were both hustling her to the curb, literally. She laughed as April hailed a cab and Julie stuck an envelope in her hand.