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"To new beginnings, then," I said. "What exactly are you trying to put behind you?" I asked after she took her first sip.
She closed her eyes, opening them again after a few beats. "I thought this might come up."
"We don't have to talk about it. I just wondered.”
"Oh, I think we do," she replied. "Otherwise, it kind of feels like there's this big thing, you know? That makes things awkward now and again."
"Like when Travis put you on the spot?"
She shook her head. "I just wasn't expecting it, that was all." She looked at me speculatively.
"I’d love to know what you’ve been up. Want me to go first?" I offered.
"You've read my mind. Why are you back in Chicago?" she asked.
"Initially, I wanted to come back because I was in a long-distance relationship. Thought moving back would be the only way to give it a real try."
She grimaced. "And judging by the fact that you are now living with a roommate, it didn't work out."
"Turns out she still wanted to play the field. I found out the hard way. She was in bed with another guy."
She covered her mouth with her hand. "Sam, that's awful. I'm so sorry."
"It is what it is," I said, shrugging and taking another sip. "So, that's my story."
She played with the stem of her glass.
"Mine’s about betrayal too," she mumbled. "Except it wasn’t a romantic thing. My friend and business partner cheated me out of my own business."
"What?" I asked. "Wait, what is your business?"
"I'm a jewelry designer, even though I have no designs left to my name and no shop."
She rolled her shoulders, holding her chin high.
"You always said you wanted your own jewelry shop."
"Yes, I did."
I remembered that conversation after prom, when she said her mom got sick, so they had to move out of Chicago, relocate somewhere less expensive. She told me dreaming wasn't for people like her, that she had to put her head down and get to work, focus on getting through the day.
"I went to community college while I took care of Mom, and once she was back on her feet, I transferred to a jewlery design program."
“Smart. How is your mom?”
“Great. She’s retired in Florida.”
I nodded. “She always talked about moving back there. And Jamie?”
“Lives in Maine. She’s an accountant. I should've taken her up on her offer of doing my accounting.” She kept playing with the stem of her glass. "About five years ago, I finally started my jewelry business. I had an online shop, but it wasn't really working out, so I opened a small location with a moderate amount of inventory. It was great. For a while. Anyway, I met this woman, Sophia," she continued. "She was saying all the right things, even giving me ideas for expansion. She wanted to be my partner, and I didn't give it another thought. I was excited to build something together with her. She’d had successful companies of her own, and it just made sense. Fast-forward two years, and I found out she was using the company as her own personal ATM. There's nothing left,” she murmured.
"Fuck it. Let's go after her. Let's sue her," I said.
She smiled, but it was sad. "Oh, Sam, you're a doctor."
"Declan is a lawyer. He's a damn good one, and he's making it his priority to protect the family."
"I'm not family. I'm just a fool who didn't even think about hiring a second lawyer to look over the contracts. Sophia was in cahoots with our lawyer. She was very thorough and apparently had it all planned so I couldn’t go after her. Believe me, I tried. There's a clause saying we can’t sue each other."
