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If she was smart, she’d ask him to leave. Tell him the conversation was over and show him the door. But she was getting tired of always trying to do what was right. Always trying to pay penance for the way she’d lived her life as a teen. Instead of sticking with the character she’d created for herself, she said, “I’m sorry if my actually trying to find some enjoyment in having sex with you and your one boring position makes me a whore.”
Chris bent forward until his nose was millimeters away from hers. “You know what? My career is important. I’m a corporate attorney, for fuck’s sake. I can’t take you to meet clients, or to company functions like this. You’re an embarrassment, and I wouldn’t be caught dead with you on my arm.” His tone was low, threatening, but she wasn’t scared.
Fury is what she felt.
“So why the hell are you here?” she asked, throwing her hands up and taking three steps back. “Why would you claim we haven’t broken up if I’m such an embarrassment? If I’m such a whore. If you can’t stand to be seen with me.”
“Because I have no choice.” He spun and paced away from her, dropping to sit on her couch.
“No choice? This conversation is getting really tired, Chris. You have three seconds to explain yourself before I kick you out. Which is three seconds more than you deserve, considering the way you just spoke to me.”
He sagged like a balloon that just had its air let out. All the anger and ugliness he’d carried into her house disappeared and what remained was a defeated man. “They passed me by,” he said, in a voice so low she had to move closer to hear more. “Your uncle passed me by again for junior partner.”
A sheen of tears glistened in his eyes.
Mark never really discussed business with her. He kept his opinions about Chris’s work performance to himself. He was big on separating business from personal and thought running into Toni at firm functions and client wine-and-dines was enough line crossing. They didn’t need to talk about it afterward. She appreciated the distance, never wanting her relationship with Mark to cause Chris issues at the office.
As far Toni knew, her uncle never had any gripes about Chris’s work performance. But would he have mentioned if he did? Probably not. Though he let it be known he didn’t think Chris was the right man for Toni. Maybe that had something to do with poor performance at work and he’d never wanted to voice the concern.
With a sigh, she relaxed her posture and tried to be sympathetic to Chris’s troubles. “I’m sorry about that, Chris.” And she was. She understood spewing vile words under immense pressure. Words that would be regretted when the dust settled. But no amount of job strain gave him a pass for calling her a whore. Still, she’d try to deescalate the argument.
“I know you’ve been working yourself to the bone to make junior partner. And I can’t imagine how disappointed you feel, but if you came here hoping I’d have some insight into Uncle Mark’s thinking, you wasted your time. We don’t talk about work, especially your part in the firm. You know that.”
“Do you have any idea the pressure I’m under to make partner?”
Toni frowned and lowered herself to the couch next to him. “No, Chris. I honestly don’t. You’ve never really discussed it with me.”
“My father is displeased. He’s threatening to cut me off.” Chris dropped his head to his hands. “Everything’s a mess.”
None of this really made sense to her, but then she’d been on her own for a while. Independent and taking care of herself for years. “Chris, regardless of whether or not you made partner, you have a good career. You make good money. What does it matter if your father cuts you off at this point? You’ll survive just fine.”
Chris’s father was a jackass on a good day. He had money coming out his ears. Old money and plenty of status and prestige. He was a retired attorney himself and had worked on multiple newsworthy cases that rocketed his career to the big leagues.
“You just don’t understand.” Chris straightened. “It’s not about money. It’s about connections, status, power.”
He was right. She just didn’t get it.
“Well, Chris. I really am sorry things didn’t work out this time around, but that doesn’t mean you’ll never make partner. And I think you know we aren’t right for each other.”
“It doesn’t matter if we aren’t right for each other. We are going to be together.” There was a hardness to his voice that hadn’t been there moments ago, and the tinge of desperation was back.
“What?” She shook her head and screwed up her face. It was like he’d lost his sense in the past week.
