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She fell into a worried silence, and Neal sat there, wondering if he should say something comforting and perfunctory or just hold the silence until she broke it. Elena seemed to realize that Neal had no idea how he was supposed to react. She straightened in her seat.
“Sorry,” she said, trying to keep the embarrassment from her tone, “that was too much information.”
Neal smiled. “Don’t worry about it.”
“No, I shouldn’t have told you all that… I guess I just…” Elena stopped for a moment. “I try all the time to hold it together. To pretend like I’ve got everything under control. This is the first time I’ve admitted I don’t.”
“That’s OK to admit,” Neal encouraged, while at the same time thinking that this conversation was getting too deep for the casual night he had hoped to have with her.
“Is it?” Elena countered. “I could never say that to my parents… or my sister.”
“Why not?”
She shook her head. “Let’s just say… I don’t want to prove them right.”
“Well, look at the bright side –
“There’s a bright side?” Elena asked incredulously.
“Well, you’ve been forced to stand on your own two feet,” Neal said, groping for words that would make sense. “I’ve had my brother backing me my whole life and I’ve never had to practice independence.”
“Your brother?” Elena asked in confusion.
“Yeah,” Neal replied. “He was the host of the party we were just at, actually. George Hargrove.”
Elena looked at him in shock. Neal could tell that she hadn’t realized that he was the second Hargrove brother. He had been through this before. Women becoming suddenly enamored with him the moment they knew he came from a wealthy family. He wondered if he would get the same reaction from Elena.
“So you’re Neal –
“Hargrove,” Neal offered, “that’s right.”
Elena shook her head in an attempt to clear it, “I’m confused – why on earth would you move from one menial job to the next if you own a multi-billion dollar company. Isn’t that job enough?”
Neal waved his hand dismissively. “I don’t actually involve myself in the business. George handles it all.”
“… and your jobs?”
“Are just a way to pass time when I’m bored,” Neal explained. “I don’t need to work if I don’t want to.”
Elena raised her eyebrows in disbelief. She was trying to remain polite and non-judgmental, but his flippant attitude was starting to get to her. Neal on the other hand, was oblivious to Elena’s growing discomfort with his revelations.
“So basically,” Elena said in a measured tone, “your brother supports you financially?”
“Well, I have my inheritance… and my stipend,” Neal said honestly, “but regardless, George is always there to help if I need it. I’m kind of like the pet he never had.”
“Why on earth wouldn’t you help him with the company?”
Neal laughed at her question, “God, why would I? I have no head for business, and no interest, and anyway… that world is not for me. I love my brother, I respect his business savvy and his ambition – but I don’t want that life. I don’t want the stuffy parties, the pretentious people, the gaudy chandeliers or the tacky sculptures.”
Neal saw her face change immediately. All the softness vanished suddenly, and the warm brown of her eyes became solid steel. She stood, and Neal, reflexively, stood too. Elena found herself losing grip. All the disappointment she had suffered in the last few years seemed to meld together, flashing before her eyes.
She was bitter and hurt and that transformed itself into anger, an altogether easier emotion to channel. She channeled it towards Neal, who stood thoroughly confused about her sudden change.
“Whoa,” Neal said, wondering what he had said that had hit a nerve, “what’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong,” Elena said through gritted teeth, “is that you are a privileged brat, who has no idea what it means to survive on your own and you have absolutely no concept of hard and necessary work. You scrounge off your brother because he’s kind enough to let you and you probably waste your time and money on ridiculous things like expensive parties and shallow women to distract yourself from feeling like a failure.”
Neal stood there blinking at her for a moment, so taken back by her sudden onslaught. Elena stood her ground, refusing to take back what she had said, the sting of his words still burning in her ears.
