AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Why?”
She’s back to picking at a string on the blanket. “You were always larger than life to me. You were strong and you knew exactly what you wanted.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“So, the Westfield family filled the void when Mike and Brandon left?”
“In a way. They tutored me in that way of life, I guess. Professor Westfield was always showing me how to navigate, how to network and open doors for my future. He took me under his wing from day one. And being a guest in their home just made it so things rubbed off on me. Suddenly I knew how to dress for every occasion, I was a pretty decent golfer, and even knew which wineglass to use for a full-bodied red as opposed to a white.” I look over to see her barely concealed look of horror. “I’m fully aware that I sound like an absolute dick right now.”
“Um, yeah.”
“But this is what it takes to be one of them, to get your foot in the door at one of those white shoe law firms and climb the ladder.”
“Corporate law?”
“I know it’s not what I envisioned for myself, but now I don’t know. I see Westfield and guys like him...They can teach and focus on the philanthropic side of criminal defense from the comfort of their homes on Lakeshore Drive, only because they made a killing early on in their careers.”
“Made a killing, huh?”
“Poor choice of words.”
“You want that life?” It doesn’t sound accusatory when she asks, but it feels that way.
“I don’t want to be poor, and I don’t feel like I should have to apologize for that.”
“No one’s asking you to.”
I rake my fingers through my hair. “I don’t know what I want.”
After a minute she asks, “How does Samantha factor into all this?”
My jaw clenches at the sound of her name, but if I want to know Charlotte’s truth, I need to be willing to share my own.
“She was pretty obvious about her feelings from the start, but I, uh, wasn’t ready for anything like that.” I face Charlotte. “I was straight with Samantha, told her I was still hung up on a girl from home.” She looks away, shaking her head. “Believe whatever you want, but I was a mess after I left you.” It hurts to read the mistrust in her expression. “Nothing happened with her for, I don’t know, two and a half years. We were just friends.”
Now I’m shaking my head in frustration, because that isn’t really the way it was, and I want to get it right this time. “No, we were never truly friends, it was more like I was playing a part. I didn’t use her or anything, but she was Westfield’s daughter. I had no choice but to be around her. My future depended on it.” I look to Charlotte. “Do you know how hard it is to say all of this to you?”
It’s a full ten seconds before she turns back to me. Her voice is gentle when she says, “Keep going. I need to know.”
I look down to my sneakers, torn between the right thing to do and what I want to do. I don’t want to stay and suffer through this conversation. I want to run, to jump into my truck, to speed away from all this. I can’t take her judgement, can’t bear to look weak in her eyes.
“I got really sick during my final year of undergrad. It was right after finals, a week before Christmas. I think my body just kind of gave out. A simple virus that would have put another person down for a day or two, it knocked me out of commission for close to a month. Looking back, I know the crazy workload I took on, and just all the stress and pressure of the last couple of years wore me down. I wound up in the hospital for nearly a week.”
“And I bet you never called your mother or Mike to help you.”
“I couldn’t. That would have been ridiculous to, what, call my mom and have her blow a thousand bucks on a plane ticket to come feed me chicken soup?”
She’s wide-eyed. “You were in the hospital.” Then Charlotte shakes her head. “But I’m not surprised. You were always stubborn, you never wanted anyone’s help.”
“Yeah, pride comes before the fall.”
“So, your very own personal Florence Nightingale swooped in when you were down and out?”
“It went something like that.”
“I guess I should be grateful you had someone.”
“It was the first time in my life when I felt alone, truly alone. And the entire family came through for me. Her mother had the spare room ready for me when I was discharged from the hospital, her father squared things away with my other professors when I missed the first few days of the spring semester, and Samantha...”
