Page 83 of Terms Of Un-Endearment
Piper nods, but I’m not sure which of us she agrees with.
“So, what are your options, Arch?” Britta asks.
“Option one,” Frankie answers for me. “Fight our dad for this house, win, then sell the house and start Bombora.”
Piper tenses.
“Option two,” I pop in. “Go back to Aus and work for Dad.” I scratch the back of my neck. Honestly, though I know it feels spineless, that one makes the most sense. “I play out his plan until I come into the trust, then make Bombora happen.”
“Don’t make that an option, Archie,” Frankie pleads. “You won’t be happy.”
“With my trust fund, I can support both of us, Frankie. You won’t have to keep living in the middle of nowhere, working at a crap diner, and I’ll still get to pursue my own dream. I’ll just put it off for a few years.”
“I like working at a crap diner in the middle of nowhere.”
I shake my head. “For now. You won’t forever.”
Frankie shifts away from me. “I don’t need you playing Dad, Arch, telling me what I want.”
I pause long enough to take in what she’s said. “Right. Sorry. I reckon I don’t want you cheated out of what’s rightfully yours, even if it means sharing what’s mine.” I squeeze her hand to keep her from arguing further.
“And you gain control of your trust when you’re thirty?” Dex asks.
I nod.
He considers this, then quietly says, “It’s only two years. Once you have your own money, you come back here and do what you want with your life.”
I tip my head, Dex seeing the possibility makes it that much more real. Two years isn’t that long. But it's also forever.
“What are you doing, Dex?” Frankie throws up her hands. “We’re trying to keep Archie here; not find ways for him to do what Dad wants.”
Dex fidgets in his seat and looks at me. “I don’t want you to go, mate, but I get how important your relationship with your dad is. That’s on the line right now, but you’ll always have the people in this room by your side, no matter where you are. Like I said before, we want whatever it is you want.” He looks at Frankie. “It’s your life to choose, Archie.”
I scan the room. Everyone nods. Even Piper.
Frankie, though, shakes her head. “Dad won’t let you leave. You go back, you’ll be stuck there, working for him.”
I open my mouth to disagree, even though I reckon she’s more right than wrong, but Piper speaks first.
“Frankie’s right,” she says, softly. “You won’t be able to come back. You’ll have lost your chance to do what you really want.”
I turn from Frankie to Piper, and her mouth pulls into a sad side-smile. “I think I agree with Frankie, Arch. You need to fight him. If I convince Mom she should take a cash settlement, your chances will be better.”
My nickname on her lips makes me want to kiss her almost as much as I did a few minutes ago. Then I realize what she’s saying.
“No way.” Only a few hours ago, I would’ve been relieved to hear those words. Not anymore. Not when Piper’s dreams are imploding even faster than mine. “Dad won’t back down easily. It would be a long, drawn-out fight.”
Piper lifts her shoulders. “I don’t have a reason to stay in LA anymore. I can’t go back to Valente. I had job offers in New York. Maybe it’s not too late. I still have friends there, and I made good connections in school.”
“You have friends here!” Stella exclaims.
“What happened with Valente?” Frankie asks.
“They stole the designs from my portfolio to use in their Fall line,” Piper answers.
“That’s the problem we should really be trying to solve,” I say. “How do we stop Valente from stealing Piper’s work?” I look at my friends for answers, grateful to deflect the attention from me.
“Archie, they’ve already stolen my work,” Piper says, firmly. “There’s literally nothing I can do to get my designs back except move on and prove I don’t need Valente. Any plans for revenge will have to be long term, but we can do something about you and Malcolm right now.”
