Smoke on the Water

Natasha woke up first out of the two of them in the extremely comfortable Four Season’s bed. She was blissfully enveloped in Brody’s arms which felt a little heavy as they cascaded over her small body. Natasha felt calm as she heard Brody breathe upon her neck. She was so content with Brody. She knew that he was the one for her. And what happened last night, proved it to enormous extents.

That was the first time Natasha and Brody ever had sex. Natasha often thought about her first time ever having sex. She always thought that after her first time, she’d be regretful to let someone in like that. But all those thoughts of doubt completely escaped her mind. Maybe it was the fact that for three years, Brody proved his love for her. No, he hadn’t yet produced a ring to her and kneeled down on one knee, but somehow, in the back of her mind, she knew that he would someday. And he knew that, too. Instead of feeling guilty or remorseful, Natasha felt happy; happier that she had been in a long time. She was happy that she allowed him to be a part of her, she was happy that he made her feel something the she hadn’t before, love She hadn’t felt that from another man ever before, except her father, of course.

And now, Natasha was a grown girl out of high school, ready to start college life with the one she loved. She was ready to move from the familiar ground of New York City to the bustling town of Philadelphia. She was ready to rent a small apartment near Temple University and work her butt off to get a degree for a decent job. Then she’d be able to make her own living and never mooch off her parents ever again. Her parents never minded, they have tons of money to spread around, but Natasha always felt the need to be independent. She didn’t have money just yet, so she knew that she would need financial help from them right now, but her main goal was for one day to be completely independent from them.

One day, she wished that she could come home from work, whatever job that may be, and to share it with a man she loves. She didn’t care if it was big or small, but just to have the love of her life in it, and for the love to be Brody. Sure, some may say that her thoughts were premature, but Natasha didn’t think so. Neither did Brody. They loved each other, and they made their love known. Their parents aren’t thrilled about their relationship; they weren’t from the start. But still, they made it. They pushed and persevered, and are still happily together after three long years. Three out of four years of high school and two sets of disapproving parents, but somehow they still made it.

Natasha took a deep breath in the warm room. She felt Brody move from her and rolled over carefully to face him. He always looked so cute when he slept. His dark hair was a perfect mess. His firm cheeks relaxed as they slept the tiredness off. His mouth was slightly curled up, as if he was sleeping with a perpetual smile on his face. Natasha thought he looked so peaceful while he slept. Like nothing could ever bother him.

“You know, it’s very hard to sleep when a beautiful lady is looking at you,” Brody said bringing Natasha’s mind from her thoughts. He looked down at her with those piercing blue eyes, a quality he received from his mother.

She resisted the urge to blush. “Good morning, baby,” she cooed to him. Natasha leaned over to kiss him. After she did, both pulled back with slight disgust on their faces.

“Morning breath,” Brody and Natasha said in unison, and then both laughed.

“Come on, babe,” Natasha started getting up from the bed. Her legs were a bit sore from the rounds they had last night but the memories of the pleasure made up for it, indefinitely. “We have to get going. I don’t know how much this room cost, but I’m sure you don’t want to pay for another night in here.”

Brody glanced at his Cartier wrist watch, an eighteenth birthday present from his parents. “It’s only six AM. Check out’s at twelve!”

“Well whatever,” Natasha called from the bathroom. “I don’t know about you, but I am starving.” She brushed her teeth and started the shower water before walking back into the bedroom to find her phone. The battery was almost dead, but enough to make it through breakfast and hopefully the drive home to her parent’s estate. There were nearly ten missed calls, most from her parents but she didn’t bother calling her. She thought it would be better to deal with them a little later.

“We should go to the restaurant down stairs in the Lobby. They say the Four Season’s Restaurant is one of the best in the world,” Natasha says to Brody who was still reluctant to get out of bed.

“Or,” Brody suggested an alternative. “We could have the butler bring up some room service so we can just stay in the suite.”

“A butler?” she asked skeptically with her hand on her hip. “We have a butler?”

“Twenty-four seven, baby,” Brody laughed as he finally got out of bed. “We’re in the Four Seasons!”

“As good as staying in this incredible suite sounds, I think I want to go down stairs and get some breakfast in a real restaurant.”

“Whatever you say, Love,” Brody said as he walked up to Natasha and kissed the nape of her neck. He preceded to plant small kisses on her cheek and then her neck, leaving little love bites claiming her, his own.

It was already nearly eleven o’clock after Natasha finished getting showered and dressed, and the two finally got to go downstairs for a wonderful breakfast prepared by some of the best chefs in New York City. After the breakfast was paid, Natasha and Brody walked back up to their room to collect the rest of their minimal belongings to check out of the room.

“Thank you so much, sir. I hope you had a wonderful stay at the Four Seasons,” the concierge lady said to Brody after she gave back his credit card.

“What your game plan now,” Brody asked Natasha.

“Well, my parents are expecting me back soon so I’m probably gonna go there now.”

“How are you going to get there?” Brody asked before walking out the lobby doors.

“Cab,” Natasha replied with a bit of sadness in her voice. “There’s no other way.”

Brody noticed her somber mood. “Nat, what’s wrong?” Brody was the only one that was allowed to call her Nat. That nickname was reserved from him and him only.

“Nothing, it’s just that I’m a bit worried about going home. Today, I have to tell my parents that I want to go to Temple University. They still think I’m going to Columbia.”

Brody put one of his arms around her and gave her a squeeze. “It’ll be fine. I promise. Just remember that I love you, and there’s nothing on this world that could ever change that.”

Natasha smiled at that. He was so good at making her feel better.

After they bid each other goodbye, she called herself a cab and got ready for the ride home.

Natasha didn’t realize how tired she was until she quickly fell asleep in the cab and the cab driver had to wake her up to get past the Hutchinson Estate gate security. Natasha pulled out the key card issued to her by her parents to the driver and he then scanned it against the device. A couple seconds later, the iron-gate fence opened and the cab made its way through the long driveway.

It wasn’t long before the estate became visible. No matter how many times Natasha drove through the driveway, the beauty of the estate always took her breath away. The 16th century styled windows, the light brick outside of the house, and the columns near the front. The house could’ve easily been mistaken for a royal residence with its enormous size and stature. The estate was built on one hundred ten acres of pure nothingness. There were no noisy neighbors, no annoying police sirens that were so accustomed in the city. In fact, you couldn’t hear New York City at all. That is one of the biggest reasons why Natasha insisted on boarding school in NYC. The city life was for her.

Natasha quickly paid the cab fare and gave the cab driver directions on how to get back on the main road. After the dues have been paid, Natasha walked up to the front door and opened it with her house key. She walked in to the enormous house, and put her handbag on a nearby table, ready for the grilling she was sure to receive.

“Meredith,” Natasha heard her father say from the living room. “Natasha’s home.”

It wasn’t long before Meredith rushed out of the kitchen and gave her daughter a cold look.

“Where have you been, Natasha?” her mother asked coolly as she took a seat next to her husband, James, on the couch.

“After graduation, Amy, Jack and Brody, we all decided to go out and celebrate. And besides, you weren’t expecting me back ‘till this morning anyway,” Natasha calmly explained.

James looked disapprovingly at his only daughter. “And you didn’t feel the need to call and tell us where you were last night? I called the school; they had no records of you checking into dorm last night. For all we knew, you could’ve been raped or murdered.”

Natasha rolled her eyes at this. Her father, James Hutchinson, was one of the most renowned lawyers in New York City. Straight out of Columbia University, he joined a major law firm and built himself up in that company. When the owner died in 1994, James took over the entire law firm and expanded as much as he could. He didn’t want to stop until all the courts, celebrities and news anchors in the country knew his name.

Now, his law firm is one of the biggest in the country. He’s tried more cases that he could probably count. He’s dealt with lots of high profile cases including the 2005 Michael Jackson, Anna Nicole Smith, and most recently, the 2012 Conrad Murray case involving the manslaughter of Michael Jackson. He’s dealt with many cases including murder, rape, suicide…. It’s his profession which always makes him worry for his daughter Natasha. Natasha is his baby girl. And James had seen some of the worst possible things that humans can do to other humans, and he never wanted that to happen to Natasha. This is why he always felt overprotective of her.

“Dad, I’m almost nineteen years old. Legally, I’m an adult and I feel that I should be able to make my own decisions. And if I choose to not come home at night, then I feel that I’ll be safe and responsible enough to do it.”

Meredith had coldness in her eyes and continued after her husband. “Legally, you may be an adult, but while you are in my house, you are still my child. When you are at Columbia University, graduating with a degree under your belt, then you may make your own decisions.”

Natasha froze at the words, ‘Columbia University’. Now’s as good a time as any, she thought.

“Well that’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” Natasha proceeded to sit down on the couch across from the parents. “I’m not going to Columbia.”

Everyone went still for a moment. Natasha could’ve sworn that even the maids in the kitchen stopped their work to hear their reactions.

“What did you just say?” Meredith asked again. Perhaps she didn’t hear her right.

“I’m not going to Columbia University. I never wanted and I never will.” Natasha took another deep breath to compose herself. “I want to go to Temple University in Philadelphia. They have an incredible Forensic Science unit…”

Natasha got cut off by James. “What does Forensic Science have to do with anything?” he boomed at her. Natasha could tell he was becoming exceedingly angry at her.

“I want to study Forensic Science. I want to major in Forensic Science and criminal psychology,” she said calmly and carefully as if her voice was just treading water. “I read about it online, took a couple courses in high school and I know that I can get a really good job with a degree from Temple. That way, I can be with Brody…”

“So that is what this is all about? Your stupid boyfriend?” Meredith screamed at her daughter. “You’d be willing to sacrifice everything that you have worked for some sleazy boyfriend who’ll forget about you in two months time?”

Natasha’s anger inside her was quickly coming to a boil.

“That’s not true,” she said through clenched teeth. “He loves me. I know he does. And I love him, too.”

Meredith scoffed, “Oh please. His parent’s aren’t even rich! His father’s a hotel manager!”

“Wealth doesn’t matter to me. I love him. More than you could ever know. That is why I am going to Temple, so I can study something I love while being with the man that I love.”

Meredith’s anger reached the boiling point and before she could think, she reached over and slapped her daughter in the face causing tears on the brim of her eyes.

“Now listen here, Natasha. You are going to Columbia and there are no two ways about it,” Meredith shouted as her voice bounced off the colossal walls.

James nodded in agreement behind his wife. “We did not waste a quarter of a million dollars on the best education possible for you to go to some mediocre college with your dipshit of a boyfriend!” James screamed at Natasha.

A few moments of silence passed between the three before Meredith started talking again. “Natasha, I will ask you one more time: where are you going for college? And Natasha, you better think about your answer before you regret it.”

Natasha looked at her mom, then her dad. She thought about what they had said. They ultimately wanted her away from Brody. That she understood. But then, she looked at how happy Brody had made her, and she thought about the many times that he had made her smile.

She tried to think about what Columbia University offered her but was quickly disgusted. She didn’t want to study Business Law like both her parents did. She wanted to do something she loved, and that was Forensic Science.

But before Natasha said anything that she’d regret, she stood up, grabbed her handbag and keys to her BMW and walked out the house.