Chapter 2: A New Beginning
Last night was the equivalent of a productive mess. After Torrie started packing Margret and Franklin came over to help. After a long night of packing till two in the morning. Two rounds of ordering pizza from the pizza shop down the street and four bottles of wine. Torrie had thirteen boxes and four suitcases all packed up for her move.
Torrie woke up to the sound of her raging alarm. The sun shining in her window caused a groan to escape her lips as she rolled out of bed. As she shuffles tiredly to her bathroom she jumps out of fear. Franklin is passed out on the floor half of him in the shower. Torrie holds in a laugh. She opens the medicine cabinet grabbing the bottle of Advil.
As she shakes the container and takes two pills out she hears the same groan escape Franklin's lips. "Want some?" Torrie asks as she looks down at the half-dead Franklin on the floor. He nods and she laughs looking at his zombified face. As she swallows her pills she looks down at her friend.
"How did you end up on the floor?" She asks and he looks around. "I think I was trying to take a shower?" He says in more of a question. Causing the two friends to break out laughing. Torrie helped Franklin up from the floor and they walked out of the bathroom. When they entered the living room Margaret was already in the kitchen making coffee. "How are you up and functioning," Franklin says crashing back down on the couch.
She laughs and looks up at the two who are barely awake with raging hangovers. "You both look awful." She says and Torrie rolls her eyes. Franklin groans. "Thank you for the compliment." He says. Margret laughs. "Alright Torrie, Go shower. Franklin help me make breakfast." She says and Franklin groans as Torrie heads off to the bathroom.
As soon as the warm water touches Torrie's skin she relaxes. And the stress and anxiety of the new journey ahead of her wash away with the shower. As every drop hits her skin an ounce of anxiety walks away. The longer she showers the better she feels. Before long she is out of the shower. The smell of an amazing breakfast hits her nose.
Torries wraps herself in a towel, Walking out to her room to get ready. As she enters the kitchen she looks at her friends and an overwhelming feeling happens. And water starts to pool in her eyes. As she watches the two of them work together as their own without her. She thought about how they would get along without her.
It wasn't until Margaret turned around and noticed her stand there until she stopped talking. "Torrie, you alright?" She says shaking the woman out of her thoughts. "Yeah, it's just that there are a lot of changes happening so quickly. I will be okay though is breakfast ready?" She asks and Margret nods reaching out a plate.
"You suck at surviving I feel bad for your future kids. But I managed to find some bacon and you had a couple of eggs." She says and Torrie looks over at the amazing smelling food. "Ugh what would I do without you." She says. And Franklin laughs. "You would starve." He says causing the women to laugh. As Torrie looks down at her food her mouth waters the smells making her stomach grumble. Nothing sounds better when you have a hangover than bacon.
As they all go and sit on the couch and enjoy their breakfast they joke and laugh at each other. as they sit around enjoying their breakfast it goes silent. "What are you thinking Torrie," Franklin asks looking over at his friend. She looks between her two friends and sighs holding back tears. "I'm just going to miss you guys." She says. And Franklin and Margret put their plates down scooting over closer to the woman.
"Torrie you couldn't get rid of us if you tried!" Franklin says making Torrie cry happy tears. "I love you guys," Torrie says and her friends squeeze her into a hug. "We love you! Now you are going to go to Chicago, You will do a kick-ass job and you are going to do amazing. And you will come back and be this amazing lawyer and get that promotion, and we will both be here supporting you the whole way!" Margaret says causing Torrie to squeeze them tighter. They stay there for a long time just stuck in a really tight hug.
"Alright, you guys need to leave before I change my mind," Torrie says wiggling out of her friend's grasp. Franklin and Margret look at her sadly. "Alright, there is only so long we can push this away," Margret says getting up to wash her dishes. "We will come back tomorrow and clean out your kitchen so nothing rots," Franklin says to Torrie who nods. "Oh god I would have come home a year later and my house would smell awful." She says and they all laugh.
"You would definitely die without us," Margret says as she and Franklin stand up and head to the door. Torrie joined them and headed over to the door with them. She looked at her two friends and started to tear up. "No don't cry you're going to make me cry!" Margret says pulling Torrie into a hug and squeezing her tight. Both of them starting to cry. "I'm going to miss you," Margret says. Making Torrie cry more. "I'm Going to miss you too!" She says. Franklin clears his throat. "Um hello, I'm here too!" He says in a joking tone causing them all to laugh.
Torrie and Margret broke apart and Franklin wrapped Torrie in a hug. "You're going to do great!" He says to her. She lets more tears fall down her cheeks. "Don't start hooking up with Dean or David again just because I'm not there." She says causing him to laugh. "Of course not," Margret says. And as Franklin pulls away from Torrie and they wipe their tears away.
"Alright," Torrie says as she looks between her friends. "Alright," They both say giving off a sad smile. "I love you guys and I'm going to miss you both terribly." She says and they both wrap her up in one last hug. "We love you too," Franklin says. And Margret nods. They finally pull apart and sigh. Opening the door Margret and Franklin step out. "See you in a year!" Torrie says. They smile. "Call us whenever T.," Franklin says. "I will." She replies. And just like that, they walk away.
And as Torrie closes the door the reality of the day hits her like a truck. The weight on her shoulders comes back. And she starts to stress out. Two hours later she had gone to UPS and dropped off her boxes to be shipped to the post office in Chicago. It wasn't for sure where she would be living just yet.
She checked her email over and over again. Katherine was updating her constantly with ideas of what her job would be like. So for the last two hours, Torrie had gotten constant back and back emails. She finished packing her last suitcase as she completed getting ready. She sighed in the mirror not recognizing herself. Torrie isn't known for being nervous and shy. But for some reason she was nervous.
After a while, her phone vibrated and she looked down to see an unknown number. She picked it up immediately. "Hello?" She answers the phone. "Hello is this Ms. Torrie Matthews?" A male voice on the other line answers. "Yes, This is she, Is there something I can help you with?" She asks and the person on the other line clears her throat. I am here to escort you to the airport, Ma'am." The person on the line says and her heart drops. An overwhelming feeling of nervousness and anxiety waved over her.
Almost dropping her phone she answered. "Of course be right down." She says hanging up the phone and grabbing her bags. As she headed down and out the building she sees a black escalade waiting for her. A man appears and walks over to Torrie reaching to grab her bag. "Oh no, it's alright!" She says and the man looks at her. "Seriously that's alright." She says and the man backs up as Torrie grabs her bags and puts them in the trunk.
The drive to the airport was nice. The driver made a little bit of small talk but not a whole lot and it honestly helped the anxiety. When they arrived at the airport the driver helped Torrie take the bags out of the trunk and said their goodbyes. As she went to check-in she walked up to the man at the desk. "Hello! What can I help you with!" He says and Torrie opens the email. "I would like to check my bags in and check-in for my flight." She says and the man nods scanning the online ticket. "Alright, so a straight flight to Chicago Illinois for Torrie Anne Matthews? Does that sound right?" The man asks and she nods. As she sets everything up he starts taking the bags. "How much do you think all the bags are going to cost?" She asks and the guy looks at the ticket.
"It looks like the baggage is already all paid for." He says and Torrie looks at him. Waiting for him to say just kidding or to be joking. He hands her tickets and tells her to enjoy her flight. The airport wasn't as busy as she thought it was going to be. And as she was waiting for her flight. She realized the nervousness was being lifted off her shoulders.
It wasn't until she was fiddling with her plane ticket that she realized something and the nerves came back. Her ticket said she was sitting in first class. First-class. She mentally freaked out and at the same stressed out. She grabbed her phone and called Katherine. "Hello? Matthews this better be important you should be on a flight right now." She says and Torrie huffs. "They haven't boarded yet. Did you pay for my flight?" She asks and Katherine laughs. "I like you Matthews I do but not that much. Mr. Veneti paid for it." She said and Torrie nods to herself.
"Okay thank you. I will go now sorry." She says hanging up the phone quickly. She stared down at the ticket with the one thing going through her head at the moment. It wasn't long before the intercom announced that the flight to Chicago was now boarding for priority flyers and for first class. And Torrie gets up gathering her stuff and heading over to the gate.
As she waits in line to board she feels the nerves come back. They came back ever since she learned that Niall paid for her ticket. She was so stuck in her thoughts that she finally came back from her thoughts as she was walking up to the plane. When she was directed to her seat she sat down and felt comfortable. While waiting a long while for the plane to board she was eventually on her way in the sky.
The plane was quiet for the most part there was a kid who ran up and down the aisle. As well as a baby crying towards the end. But other than that the flight was smooth sailing and there was nothing wrong with it. But now she was walking to baggage claim.
When she reached baggage claim a man with a sign and her name on it caught her attention. She walked over to the man. The man was a little overweight with a nicely put together suit that made his pale skin and his white hair pop out. "Hello! I'm Torrie Matthews." She says sticking her hand out to the man. The man returns with a smile sticking his out as well.
"Why hello, Ms. Matthews I am John Bushorn your personal driver. And here comes James right now." He says turning his attention to another man. His amber skin, and dark brown short hair with dark brown eyes and stubble across his chin and jawline. His navy blue suit tied it in altogether. He walked up to Torrie. "You must be Ms. Matthews," He says and Torrie nods reaching out her hand. "Yes, and You are?" She asks and he gives her his hand. "James Karder, Nice to meet you, Ms. Matthews."
She smiles warmly at him and heads over to baggage claim. The two men wait behind her as she gets her bags. When all of her bags are collected she walks over to the men. Both James and John go to grab the bags but Torrie pulls them away. "I can do this on my own." She says. The two men look between each other. "Now lead me in the direction of the car." She says and looks at the two men.
They all start heading out to the car. The men keep looking between Torrie and where they are walking. "Bushorn Take some of her bags," James says looking at his phone. She stops John in his track and the man looks at James. "Ms. Matthews I don't have time to argue let my driver take your bags." He says and Torrie handed John two of her bags.
As they get to the car Torrie has no choice but to let John put her bags in the car. As Torrie and James get comfortable in the car James asks her questions. "So, How was your flight?" He asks and she looks over at him. "It was good really quiet for once." He looks over at her and nods. "That is good." He says and she nods.
As they start driving through Chicago Torrie can't help but look at the views she's never been to Chicago. To her, it sort of looked like New York but that was just to her. They started to drive to the outskirts of Chicago when Torrie's phone began to ring again. But she was in her own world until James took her out of it. "Are you going to answer?" He asks and she realizes her phone was ringing.
When she took her phone out her dad was flashing on the screen. She answered the phone. "Hey, Dad!" She says. "Hey T, Did you get to Chicago okay?" He asks. "Yeah, the flight was really nice and peaceful." She says. "That's great how is Chicago doing so far?" He asked and Torrie smiled as she looked out the window. "It's gorgeous already I landed a little while ago." She says and she hears her dad sigh.
"I get Haleigh was tough on you, you don't have to go to Taryn's Birthday if you cant." He says and Torrie's heart twists. "I am going to be there for Taryn's birthday Dad." She says and you could hear the slight pain in her voice. "I just have to take the week off that's all." She says and she can hear the smile he had on the phone. "Alright, I just don't want you to feel pressured to do it." He says and Torrie sighs.
"Dad you are family you would have pressured me to do it anyway." They both laugh. "All right T. I need to go but I love you I'll call you later!" He says causing Torrie to smile. "Alright Dad, I love you too bye." She says as she ends the call. She notices James watching her in the corner of her eye. "Do you need something Mr. Karder?" She asks "Close with your Dad?" He asks and she nods. "My mom left when I was young. So it's always been my sisters and I and him." She says and He nods. She looks out the window and the rest of the car ride is as silent as it could be.
When they started to slowdown Torrie looks out the window. They stopped in front of the gates. That opened up and we started driving through the driveway. The driveway was long and narrow. But the driveway was something out of a fairytale. The trees lined the driveway and fresh-cut grass with some flowers decorating the yard. Further along the driveway, Torrie saw the most beautiful lake. She hadn't even seen the house and she was already in love with it.
As she stared at the lake she turned to James. "Does this lake belong to the property?" She asks and James turns to look out the window at what she was looking at. "Yeah, The property is almost fifty acres long." He says and Torrie turns back to the window looking out into the lake.
The rest of the drive up the long driveway was quiet. No one wanted to say anything and Torrie was trying to understand if the silence was awkward or peaceful. So far for her, it was peaceful. As they pulled around the last curve of the driveway a gorgeous manor was in front of them. The house was grey and modern. With white and black accents. There were bushes in the front that were nicely trimmed.
As they pulled to a stop the front doors opened. There were two men standing on either side of the doors. A man walks out of the doors and stands there waiting. Another man comes up and opens the trunk of the car to get Torrie's bags. John comes around and opens the door for Torrie and she gets out.
"Ah, Ms. Matthews welcome to Chicago!" The man says and Torrie recognizes him from the photo. His smile is warm with a hint of coldness. Torrie returns the smile. "Thank you, Mr. Veneti, It good to meet you." She says sticking out her hand. He lends his hand out to her and smiles. "Please Leonardo is best Mr. Veneti is my son now." He laughs slightly. He nods to the man with Torrie's bags and the man heads inside. And leads Torrie inside James not too far behind them.
"Katherine told me you were her best Patent Attorney." He says as he guides Torrie through the giant entrance hall. The house was just as gorgeous on the outside as it was on the inside. The house's main theme was grey elegance with a slight hint of modernism. It made Torrie feel like she didn't belong here and that it was too nice for her. "That's very kind of her to say," Torrie says back to Leonardo. "She did tell me to send her apologies that she couldn't do it herself." She says and Leonardo turns to her. "It really is no worry, We are happy to have you here." He says with a firm look.
As they enter what looks like the livingroom Torrie can't help but notice the large group of men in the living room. As they walked passed they all watched Torrie walk by. For some reason, Torrie felt the overwhelming feeling of wanting to crawl into a corner. The feeling of fear also came up. Further down the way, Leonardo leads Torrie into a room. It looked like his office and he sat down. Motioning for Torrie to sit down as well.
His office was different than the rest of the house. It was white with gold accents. It was still modern and elegant but the color scheme is different. "Now, Ms. Matthews I will let you know that this job will be anything but ordinary." He says and she nods. She already figured by the fact that she was sitting in a manor. "Good, So you will be staying in the Manor until we can get you situated with somewhere to stay." He says and Torrie nods her head in agreement.
"Now, Ms. Matthews I trust Katherine that you are right for this job. Can I trust you with it?" He asks and Torrie nods. "Yes. I will work as hard as possible for this career." She says and Leonardo nods clasping his hands together. "Great! Alright, so I will give you a tour of the house introduce you to everyone here, and then show you the guest room and your office!" He says standing up and Torrie follows behind him. They walk through the Livingroom but this time the men aren't there. As they pass the livingroom and head into what sounds like the kitchen as there are pots and pans clinking and clashing together.
As they enter the room there is a gorgeous woman in the middle of the kitchen with a red dress and an apron on. "Amore mio, questo e l'avvocato" (My love this is the attorney) He says to the woman in the most gorgeous fluent Italian ever. The woman jumps and turns around looking at Torrie and smiling. "Oh my god Hello! It's nice to meet you!" She says wrapping Torrie into a hug. Torrie hugs her back smiling. "It's nice to meet you too Mrs. Veneti." She says and as she does the woman shakes her head. "Please dear call me Angelica." She says with a smile.
"Dinner should be ready soon you guys go and finish your tour." She says shooing the two out of the kitchen with a smile. Leonardo laughs. "How long have you guys been together." She asks the older man. "We have been together for thirty-five years." He says and Torrie watches the way that he talks about her. His are sparkling at the way of just thinking about her. "She was there for me at my lowest and still found a way to love me. "To me, she was my angel from heaven. And it's just a coincidence her name is Angelica." He says with a laugh.
Causing Torrie to smile to herself. "Do all of your kids speak Italian as well?" She asks and Leonardo turns to her. "Angelica never used to I taught her, But yes all of the kids speak Italian." He says and Torrie nods. As they get back to the entryway at the same time there was a woman and a younger girl in the entryway. "Nonno!" The younger girl says running up to Leonardo and he reaches his arms out and picks up the young girl. "Hello, Gabrielle." He says with a smile before turning to the woman. "Ah, Veronica it's good to see you." He says and Veronica smiles walking up to hug the man. "Hey, Papa." She says with a smile turning to Torrie.
"Oh, You are the Attorney right?" She asks walking up to Torrie. "Yes, Torrie Matthews." She says and Veronica wraps her up in a hug. "Welcome. Hopefully, Papa here isn't giving you too much trouble." She says Torrie and Leonardo slightly laugh. Veronica walks out with the little girl into the rest of the manor. "So your three kids, How old are they?" She asks as they start their climb up the stairs. "They are a set of Triplets, Niall is the oldest, Dante is the middle, and Veronica is the youngest. They are all twenty-six." He says and Torrie smiles at the way he talks about them.
"Wow, you all must be close." She says and Leonardo turns to her. "It is all Angelica, Without her, we would all be lost." He says as they walk down the hall. "She told me that my life would be complete with kids, I didn't believe her at first but the day they were born I was the happiest." He says and he stops at a door. "This is our Guest suite. Everything you would need and want is inside as well as your belongings." He says and continues to walk further down the hall. At the end of the hall was a set of large wooden doors. He opens the doors to one huge room split into three rooms. On the left and the right were two offices and in the middle was a big table with chairs.
"This will be your office." He says pointing to the right side of the room. Torrie walks in and looks around. The office looks amazing, It was elegant and warm. She could already see her staying in it for hours at a time and be okay with it. He looks at Torrie and clears his throat. "Niall's office is right across from yours. And mine is downstairs. If you need anything that Niall cant get you don't be afraid to come to me and ask." He says and Torrie smiles warmly at him. "Thank you I will!" She says and he nods. "Do you perhaps know where Mr. Veneti is?" She asks and Leonardo thinks about it and turns to her. "I think he was out with someone but he could just be at home. He should be back for dinner." He says and Torrie nods. "Thank you again." She says warmly and Leonardo nods. "Of course!" He says before he heads out.
The rest of the night until dinner Torrie settled in. She got out of her formal suit and changed into a more comfortable dress. She was sitting at her desk replying to emails when she heard a shout from downstairs. "Dinner!" The shout says and Torrie got up heading downstairs. As she entered the kitchen she noticed it wasn't hard to spot the Veneti's. Their gorgeous Jet black hair stood out. Angelica's golden brown hair complimented the family. Angelica and Veronica had gorgeous emerald green eyes. Leonardo had ocean blue ones. They stood out in a good way against the rest of them.
When she got to the kitchen Angelica saw Torrie. "Torrie, Come grab a plate and follow me." She says as she watches Torrie. Torrie grabs a plate and grabs some delicious smelling food onto her plate and follows after Angelica. She leads Torrie outside to the patio. The cool autumn air touches her skin as she gets outside. There was a table of eight on the patio. Leonardo, Angelica, Veronica, Gabrielle, and James were the only ones she recognized at first. Then there was another man who stood up when Torrie came to the table.
"Hey! You must be Torrie! Sorry, I was out on work business when you arrived, Nice to meet you I'm Dante." He says and Torrie smiles letting him pull her into a hug. Her mind was noticing how they really liked to hug. She goes and sits next to James. Who just smiles up to her. "What?" She asks and he looks at her. "Nothing. I can't be nice?" He asks and she rolls her eyes and laughs.
As the dinner continues Angelica asks a question. "Where is Niall he never usually is late." She says and Torrie looks around. "He mentioned something about Chantelle," Dante says, and Angelica groans. "I don't see what he sees in that girl." She says and Veronica laughs. "Mom. We can't control Niall's love life." She says and a voice interrupted them. "What about my love life?" A man says and makes everyone jump.
Torrie looks over at the door and sees the last Veneti. He notices her and walks towards her. She stands up. "You must be the attorney." He says reaching his arm out. "Torrie Matthews it's good to meet you." She says shaking his hand. As soon as their hands touched an electric feeling shot through Torrie's whole body making her shiver. She looked down at their hands and back up at Niall. When His ocean eyes remade contact with her hazel ones she realized that he felt the same thing. They both let go awkwardly looking away as they do.
Torrie goes back to her seat and takes a large sip of her wine. James looks at her and shakes his head looking away. The family starts to talk to each other in Italian making Torrie slightly awkward. James looks at her acknowledging her awkwardness. "Feeling awkward are we?" he asks and she looks at him. "Is it that obvious?" She says and he smiles a bit. "Maybe a little." He says. Causing Torrie to hide her face in her hands.
"Don't worry they are a really nice family." He says and Torrie looks around at the family that is laughing with each other. Torrie smiles and looks at James. "I take it you are close to them?" She asks and James looks at the family. "Yeah, Me and Niall grew up together. We've been best friends for years now." He says and Torrie looks at him watching the cheesy grin on his face grow.
Torrie looks at her wine glass and then looks up. She acknowledges the ocean blue eyes starring at her. She feels her breath hitch and the lump in her throat grow. She couldn't help but feel the nerves growing. His stare was intent and she couldn't help but feel nervous. The feeling she hated the most and the feeling that made her feel weak. She took a sip of her wine to distract her from what she was feeling. But she couldn't shake the feeling of his eyes burning into her.
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