Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
“Look, Lucas,” Simone says as she pushes off the couch and comes to stand in front of me. “The past three and a half years going to school have been miserable for me. I’ve hated it. It wasn’t what I wanted. Can you imagine day in and day out being forced to do something you hated?”
I don’t answer her because I’d have to agree with her, so instead I maintain a stony silence.
“Lucas,” Simone says. “I need to be my own self. I’ve got to discover the real Simone Fournier and live my life the way I want to.”
Fuck, that gets me too. Max, Malik, and I are all pursuing careers we are over the moon for. While Malik was an amazing hockey player in his own right and probably would have been professional league material, he chose to serve in the Marine Corps, as we all have dual citizenship since our mother is American. But he loves what he does so much that he’s a career marine.
“Simone,” I say as I put my hands on her shoulders. “Yes, you should be able to pursue your dreams and not have to settle for the dreams of others. But you know you went about this the wrong way, right? You should have told Mom and Dad all of this, and you should have done it ages ago.”
“You don’t think I don’t know that?” she asks, tears welling up in her eyes. “The last thing in the world I’d ever want to do is to disappoint them. Especially Dad.”
That’s the God’s honest truth. Simone as the baby of the family was doted on by both of our parents, but she was always a daddy’s girl through and through.
“Okay,” I say as I drop my hands from her shoulders and point at the couch. She sits and looks up at me with her hands folded in her lap. “You have three things to figure out. One, how you’re going to tell them. Two, how you’re going to make it right with them. Three, what you are going to do with your life.”
She nods with earnest eyes and then punches me in the gut when she hesitantly asks in a quavering voice, “Will you help me, Lucas? Will you help me figure out this clusterfuck so I can lead the life I’m meant to?”
I blow out a huge gust of air because she’s not completely deflated my indignation over her stupidity. “Yeah, sure. But we need to figure out one and two, like, right now. You’ve got to call Mom and Dad and tell them what’s happening, and it has to be done now. You can stay here for a bit until we figure out three.”
Simone flies off the couch and slams into me. My arms go around her and I squeeze.
“Thank you, Lucas. I love you so much.”
I squeeze her again. “Love you too.”
After a moment, I release her and pull out my phone with a sigh. As I prepare to call Stephanie, I mutter to Simone, “Take your bags into my room, then come back to the kitchen. We’ll sit down and just get it all figured out.”
“Okay,” she says, all perky and bouncy now that I’m not kicking her out.
“And stay out of Van’s way,” I call to her as she rolls her bags down the hall. “He’s grumpy.”
She doesn’t respond and I dial Stephanie. She answers on the second ring, and even though she knows it’s me calling, she still has a formal greeting. “Hello?”
“Hey,” I say as I look at my watch briefly. “Look…something’s come up. Simone’s decided she’s not going back to school and she showed up on my doorstep about fifteen minutes ago. I’ve got to stay here and handle some things with her, so I’m not going to be able to make it over tonight.”
She’s silent for a moment before she says, “Not a problem at all. I could actually use a good night’s sleep, and you, sir, take up my sleep time.”
It’s a funny and lighthearted comeback, but I don’t hear it in her voice. I actually don’t hear anything in her voice that would say she’s pissed, sad, happy, angry, or indifferent, and that doesn’t set well with me.
“I’ve got a game tomorrow night,” I say hesitantly. “I wouldn’t be able to come over to your place until pretty late.”
What I’d really love is to invite her to the game and then have her come home with me, but this is Stephanie I’m dealing with. That would be way too much like a date, or it would acknowledge that the relationship is something other than just casual, which we both fucking know it is.
“Actually,” she says quietly, and I note without any real disappointment in her voice, “I’ve got an interview for a job over in Greensboro after work. By the time I get back, I’m going to be whipped.”