Page 107 of Not the Plan

“Me either. I’ll get in touch with the Office of Legislative Counsel.”

“Wait—did you notice the time it was filed? Weren’t you on the plane then?”

She took a second look. It was the Friday they’d left for Atlanta, an hour after they’d taken off.

“Oh,” she said.

“Listen, this may not be the best time, but I have back-to-back meetings the rest of the day.”

“What is it?”No discussions abouthim,RJ.

“Is it possible thathewas set up somehow?”

She gave the idea a few seconds, but her pride was still too bruised to consider it.

“There could have been a backup at Legislative Counsel,” she said. “He could have dropped it off right after we all signed it, and they just didn’t get to it until after we’d left.” She leaned back in her seat, crossing her free arm over her chest.

“That’s a long back up, Isadora. And time stamp aside, he wants to start over here, right? He’s working toward something permanent. Why would he let himself look like an idiot? Or worse, underhanded? He sent us all an email detailing what had changed. And what didn’t. He explicitly said this statute was not affected.”

RJ had a point. Why would he be so meticulous in his email and then change something?

“Maybe he has something permanent and we just don’t know it yet,” she said. “Perhaps Julian found the right carrot to dangle.”

RJ sighed. “That is also a possibility. But does it fit in with what you know about him?”

“RJ, stop! Whose side are you on?” Her nose prickled.

“Yours, babe. You know that. It’s been forever since I saw you as happy.”

“Lemme call Legislative Counsel.”

“You know it’s okay, babe,” he said.

“What’s okay?”

“That you let him into your life. You didn’t make a mistake.”

Her office got blurry.

“Do we have to do this now, RJ?”

“I have the feeling we’re gonna have to do this all the time,” he said. “Don’t you see what’s happening here? This is beyond Karim. This goes back to your mom. Everything she’s put you through has led to this. She’s made it so you can’t believe that anyone can have pure motives when it comes to you. You’re accustomed to there always being something behind everything, something you have to watch out for. And with her, you’re right. But it’s not like that with normal, healthy people. That expectation of ulterior motives has destroyed a great relationship because of what might be a simple mistake.”

She rolled her eyes, sniffing back a tear.

“You don’t think so?” he asked.

“If I address that right now, I’ll break down,” she whispered.

“Okay,” RJ said. “But back to Karim. Maybe I’m completely wrong, but I don’t think he betrayed you. I think something else is going on. Either way, you did nothing wrong by letting him into your life.”

“RJ. Julian Brown knows I have a bird tattooed on myass.Amendment notwithstanding, that is reason enough not to have let Karim into my life,” Isadora said flatly.

RJ grunted. “Finally, you admit it’s on your ass, not yourupperhip.I guess now’s not the time to gloat. I am going to say it again, though. You made the right choice by letting him in. You even told me he was helping you see things differently with your mom. Think about how important that is.”

She rested her elbows on her desk, rubbing her temple with her free hand. RJ wasn’t wrong, she just wasn’t in a place to admit it. She sighed.

“Okay, babe, I’m getting all heavy and we both have work to do,” RJ said. “I’ll let you go. But seriously. You made the right choice by letting him in. Love you.”

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