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“Agree.”
“Agree.”
“Disagree.” My eyes narrow at the man staring cold eyes at Will.
“Asshole,” I hear Diana mumble under her breath, and under any other circumstances I would giggle.
“Disagree.” My heart plummets as it’s now 3-2.
“Disagree.”
No. No. No.
Dr. Marks is the final person to vote and he narrows his eyes at Will. “Dr. Montgomery, I urge you to take the next two years and make something of them. Do not waste them thinking of the past. Write a book, write three books. Start an organization. Counsel troubled youths. You are still a doctor whether you can legally practice or not.” He nods and shoots him a small smile. “Agree. Dr. Montgomery, we’ll see you in two years.” He slams his gavel against the table and I feel the air leave my lungs almost immediately.
IT’S BEEN TWO DAYS SINCEthe verdict, and Will hasn’t left his townhouse once. Not only has he not left the house, but he hasn’t left his office which means I’ve barely seen him. I’ve gone to bed alone and woken up alone, and I wonder if he’s even come to bed at all which feels all too familiar. I’m trying to give him space, but I’m wondering if he needs me more than this space.
Will hasn’t eaten much over the past few days. He’s been surviving off bourbon and the toast I’ve been shoving down his throat in the morning, but tonight I’m making him dinner. As I do I feel my phone vibrate.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Charley, it’s Drew.”
I pull my phone away from my ear and frown slightly as I’m not really in the mood to talk to anyone. “Oh… hey.”
“I hope you don’t mind, Lauren gave me your number.”
Oh right.“Not a problem, what’s up?”
“Well, my brother isn’t answering his phone and J.R. told me what happened. I was just checking in on him.”
“Oh.” I put a hand over my eyes, knowing that there was no way Will would want to talk to Drew when he was barely speaking tome. “He’s just taking it one day at a time. I think he’s in a bit of shock still. The whole situation kind of sucks.”
“But he got you in the end, and that’s what he wanted, right? So, he can’t be too upset?”
Tears spring to my eyes hearing what I hoped to be Will’s reaction. Instead, he’d been pushing me away and asking for space. “Right of course, but I understand…it was his livelihood.”
“Can I talk to him?” he asks.
“He’s…sleeping, I think? I can have him call you back?”
There’s silence on the other end followed by, “Don’t let him push you away, Charley. He pushed all of us away years ago. I should have pushed back. He needed someone to do that and now it’s too late. But you…he’s crazy about you. He needs you, Charley.”
“I need him too,” I whisper into the phone, the emotions taking all of the conviction out of my voice.
“Well, be there for him…even when he says not to.”
I hang up the phone and move towards his office. I open the door to find him asleep on the couch, a drink sitting on his glass coffee table the color of amber, collecting condensation from the ice.I wonder what he’s drinking today.I turn on the light, illuminating the once dark room. “Will,” I say softly.
“Hmmm,” he says before he turns away from me.
“Will, we need to talk,” I tell him as I sit on the couch next to him. I put a hand on his shoulder and rub it gently. “Please.”
He turns to look at me, his eyes squinting as the light of the room meets them. “What is it, Charlotte?”
I shake my head, never having heard him take that tone with me. “Your brother called.”
He groans, “I don’t want to talk to Drew.”
