Authors Note: Thanks to all those who commented on Chapter 1. And thanks for all of the constructive criticism. I noted that some readers were a bit concerned about a couple of things. First, the stereotypes...My apologies if I offended anyone. I need the stereotypes to create the imagery I want for the characters. That style will continue. So, if it's not your thing, you may not want to hang around.
One reader said I needed an editor very badly. I do quite a bit of technical writing in my job. My natural writing style may have spilled over into this genre. If this next chapter garners the same comments, I'll solicit the advice of an editor.
Next, the shifting POV...I don't think I shifted that much. But again, that's the style of the story, and that too will continue throughout.
As I stated at the beginning of Chapter 1, if you're looking for head-exploding sex 24/7, you won't find it here. Nor will you find BTB, revenge, reprisals, recriminations, and cucks. And most of all, you won't find instant gratification, and a quick plot followed by high intensity copulation. Look...I understand how those quick stories can help to fire off your endorphins. I enjoy them as well. But this story is going to move slow. My advice...Leave now if you have any hesitation.
But if you like music from my favorite crooner (which no one commented on, so I can only assume I have a younger audience reading this), if you like baseball, and if you like mom, apple pie, hot dogs, and ice cream, along with what I consider a human love story, then keep reading. Enjoy!
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In our last installment, we met Candice O'Keefe Faggioli, estranged wife of Nicholas Faggioli. We learned about Candice's childhood and her early college years, and her descent into the life of a sex worker. This was sparked by some unfortunate events in her adolescence. She was lured into that life by a slick wannabe mobster named Sonny "Cordo" Cordoleone. We also found out how Candice escaped from that life, running away to Westchester County, New York and New Amsterdam University (N.A.U.). Let us now explore her time at N.A.U. and how she met the love of her life, Nicholas or "Nicky," as she had come to call him.
Long before that terrible night at Jilly's, when she was forced to flee Chicago, Candice had very carefully planned her application and admission to N.A.U., a very prestigious 4-year university. She had the grades and the smarts. But at the time, it was only one of several schools to which she applied. The unexpected quick escape from Chicago forced her decision to go to N.A.U.
When she arrived at Newark Airport, Candice had a rough go of it for the first couple of weeks before she got herself settled into a dorm. Given her early departure from Chicago, she found herself in New York several weeks before the beginning of the fall semester. She was able to crash with a high school friend in New York City. All the while in New York, waiting for classes to start, and for a long time after that, she was fearful that her life in Chicago at the hands of Sonny Cordoleone would somehow catch up with her. She found herself constantly looking behind her wherever she went, wondering if Cordo or one of his minions might be following her. Some of that paranoia soon faded once she was comfortably ensconced at school and immersed in her classes up in Westchester County, New York.
Candice had decided that she had to make a few changes in her life. The frightful scene at Jilly's on that last night before she escaped, shocked her into the realization that if she didn't clean up her life real quick, she wouldn't have much of a life left to live. It was that jarring incident that snapped her back to reality. She knew that she had the intelligence to do well at school, and she could make a go of it if she changed.
At this point, with her work-study program, grants, and the money she was able to sock away from working at Jilly's, finances were not a problem, at least not for the foreseeable future. Since she had her Associate's degree, and N.A.U. transferred all of her credits, she knew she had to buckle down for just two more years and make it work. Once she received her Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry, she could pursue her dream job and then apply to graduate school. But that was a long way off.
She was also mature enough to realize that she needed some help emotionally with some of the drama from her childhood and adolescence. So Candice took advantage of the school's counseling program. She met with a therapist twice a week during that entire first semester. One of the things she learned was that she was a sex addict. In those days, that condition was not considered a recognized psychological disorder. But her therapist was very progressive, and used some unorthodox methods to help to cure her, or at least keep her addiction dormant. The good news is that she recognized that she needed help. That was the first step. And she was definitely making progress.
Her grades were outstanding. Her work-study program job in the chemistry lab as a Lab Assistant was working out fine. She and her therapist decided that she should refrain from dating, sex, and partying for the first semester. This was a struggle for her, since sex, in any form, helped to relieve Candice of some of her demons. But she went "cold turkey," and made it through the first semester with a perfect 4.0 average, despite the difficulty of some of the advanced science and chemistry classes on her schedule.
During the lull between the first and second semesters, she got a job waitressing until school opened back up in January. Temptation was great during that time. But with the help of her therapist, she managed to refrain from any short or long-term relationships with the guys who tried to pick her up at the restaurant. There were many opportunities for her to "scratch her itch." But she knew, just as alcoholics know, that one indiscretion, and she may very well lapse into a more serious problem. The semester break ended soon enough, and she began her second term.
It wasn't long after the beginning of that second semester that she found herself studying in the main library on campus. Her routine on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, her free nights when she had off from her work-study job, was to study at the library, away from the distractions in her dorm. The library had work-stations spread throughout all the floors where the stacks of books were kept. This was an ideal place for concentration, as very few of the students actually went up into the stacks to do their homework.
On a Tuesday in mid-January, Candice was seated at a work station in a corner of the third floor behind a stack of books. After focusing for quite some time on an Organic Chemistry problem, she looked up and stretched her arms to take a breather. That's when she spotted the most handsome guy she had ever seen in her life sitting in a workstation diagonally across from her. And yes, you guessed it. That guy happened to be Nicholas Faggioli. Though he was extraordinarily good-looking, he didn't have the animalistic sexual magnetism that Cordo exuded when he preyed upon her. Or perhaps it was just that Candice was able to stifle part of her sexual side based on her hours of therapy. However, Nicholas did radiate a quality she had never seen in any other man: a mixture of sensuality, masculinity, and purity. She was at a loss to describe it. But she felt it immediately upon first glancing at him. It definitely caused her hormones to stir and her emotions to swirl.
Nicholas sensed that someone was looking at him. He picked his head up out of his books, and their eyes connected. He felt as if someone had a set of paddles on his chest and they hit the switch. His heart actually jumped as they locked eyes for a second. Candice very quickly put her head back into her book, hoping to avert the overwhelming feeling of attraction she just experienced. Nicholas, being extraordinarily shy, also put his head back down. But he was so overwhelmed, he packed up and left quickly. When Candice looked up again, he was gone. One of Candice's lab partners was sitting in a workstation opposite the one Nicholas had been using. She went over and asked her if she knew the guy that had been sitting in the other work-station.
"Oh, you mean 'Saint Nicholas'?" Candice looked at the student quizzically. "His name is Nicholas Faggioli, a junior, and captain of the N.A.U. Varsity baseball team and their star catcher. They call him 'Saint Nicholas' because he's squeaky clean. He never dates, never drinks, never goes to parties or mixers. Essentially, he goes to class and plays baseball, and in the off-season, he's in the gym working out. Rumor has it, he wants to study for the priesthood after he graduates. But the guys all say he could very well be offered a contract to play professional baseball. They say he's that good. Oh, one other thing. If you think you might be able to lure him your way, you need to know that he hangs around with another nerdy guy also on the baseball team named Mickey Mackay. Basically, he's the same type of dude. Some say they're gay lovers and that's why they avoid everyone. Such a hot guy, right? What a waste! I'd jump on his bones in a heartbeat."
Candice was convinced by the connection she made with this guy that there was no way he was gay. She felt his overwhelming desire for her when their eyes met, and she knew. But it wasn't an overtly sexual desire that she sensed from him. It was more. It was much deeper.
During the two days that followed, Nicholas wasn't far from Candice's thoughts. He was the first person she thought of when she woke up in the morning, and the last one before she fell asleep. Candice was disappointed when she was at the library on the following Thursday and Saint Nicholas wasn't there. But, come the following week on Tuesday, there he was, seated at the same workstation as before. Actually, he was there well before she arrived.
When she came up to the third floor and approached her usual work-station, Nicholas began to fidget. He almost fell out of his chair as she walked past and smiled at him. He melted when he spotted Candice's blue eyes, her fair Irish face, and the gentle sway of her hips as she passed. Once she was settled at her work-station, after what seemed like an eternity, he finally worked up the nerve to approach her. Taking several tentative steps toward her, his palms covered in perspiration, he screwed up his courage, walked over and said, "Hi. I'm Nicholas."
Candice looked up. Experienced though she was, she was actually just as nervous as Nicholas. Inside she was melting. But she managed to reply, "Hey Nicky. I'm Candi."
