Page 92 of Objection
“Laurel was the last woman in my bed.”
“Are you ready to be honest about it?” she urged me into answering.
“Yes, but I’m going to need a drink,” I sighed, giving her the smallest smile only because she was such a persistent pain in my ass over this.
“Good, so do I!”
We made our way into the living room, me joining her with a glass of whiskey for myself, and a bourbon for her.
“Ah, know me so well,” she teased, getting comfortable on the couch. “So, I’m ready for it. Hit me with the long-awaited tale of Laurel.”
“It’s not a happy story,” I warned.
“The best ones never are, dear.” She was an incredible friend, being here for me through this. Pushing me to open up about Laurel.
“I’ve never talked about Laurel, not since it all went down. I met Laurel when we were in junior high. She was this nerdy, beautiful, completely underrated girl who hid behind books and shy smiles. She was popular, though she didn’t know it.” I took a slow drink, letting the memories of the woman I had once loved creep into my mind and out into the world.
“Everyone liked her. I don’t think she had a single enemy in school. She was just completely unaware that she was popular. Her ignorance of such things made her all the more endearing.”
“If I’m being honest, Ren, she doesn’t sound like your type at all,” Sam teased, sipping her drink.
“Don’t interrupt. Anyway, we were good friends for few years, until high school,” I continued.
“And then yall fell in love and made cute babies, happily ever after,” she interrupted again, laughing.
“I will call Daniel and have him beat that ass for being rude if you don’t quiet down.” She hushed up, blushing. “Good. So, in high school we both ended up on the debate team. This beautiful, quiet girl who loved everyone was paired against me in our first mock debate in class. I was prepared, beyond prepared, but I wanted to go easy on her. Obviously, I mean she was this absolute sweetheart. But do you know what happened? She eviscerated me.”
Sam's laughter rang out into the room.
“Exactly. This little mouse of a girl completely beat my ass in the debate, and I swear, right then and there I knew that she was something special. It took me until the end of sophomore year to convince her to go out with me, but she finally did. I dressed to the nines, or as much as you can as a newly sixteen-year-old. I took her to a nice restaurant, quintessentially wine-ing and dining her in the typical teenage fashion.”
“Such a smooth talker.” Sam playfully batted at my shoulder.
“Yeah, it was something special alright. It was the kind of love story that they write books about. The ones that movies are made of. We dated and fell in love. We went to college together after we graduated. Everything was perfect. The stress of university definitely got the better of us on more than one occasion. I had my family breathing down my neck to be the best at everything. To start my path to being a judge, just like my grandfather had. I succumbed to that pressure more often than I would like to admit.”
“What do you mean?” she asked quietly.
“We fought. A lot. And almost all of it was my fault. The pressure of school and the pressure from my family made me absolutely crazy.
We fought often, and I would say things that were mean, hurtful,” I admitted, hanging my head in shame.
“Ren, that is normal. Every couple fight and they say things they don’t mean.” Sam’s reassurance was kind, but it was misplaced.
“But it’s not. You don’t get how bad it was. That is what ruined us,” I admitted. The pain in my chest was like a steel band, trying to keep everything inside rather than letting it spill out everywhere like the proverbial pandora’s box.
“What happened, Ren?” Sam asked, concern etched over her face.
“It was our junior year of college. I was so swamped with my classes, my fraternity, everything my family was demanding of me, and trying to find time to spend together was nearly impossible.” I took a deep breath, steadying myself for this part of the story, a part that I hadn’t spoke of in so long. “She called me out on my lack of time for her. She had every right to. My skills at prioritizing at that time were beyond subpar, but did I take her words in that way? Of course not. I was an egotistical, snobbish, piece of garbage who, instead, snapped at her. Sam, I called her every name in the book. I lashed out at her, like I wanted to end her. I said things… terrible, awful things. Things that a person can’t unsay.”
It was getting hard to speak past the tight lump in my throat. I took another swig of the strong alcohol, letting it burn down past that lump and give me the ability, and the courage, to continue speaking this dreadful truth.
“I told her that she was the worst thing to have ever happened to me. That all she did was bitch and moan and nag me for more, more, more. I told her that she didn’t have what it took to be with a high powered, successful man, like myself. That I was on the path to greatness and would not be slowed down by the likes of someone like her.” I sniffed, barely registering the tears that had begun to fall. My jaw was clenched as though my body were literally trying to stop myself from telling the rest of this tale.
“Jesus, Ren,” Sam sympathized.
“No, don’t give me sympathy. I don’t want it, nor do I deserve it. You wanted the truth, you wanted to know this story, so let me tell it,” I hashed out bitterly. She nodded, letting me continue.
“We fought like we never had before. It was like our debates from back in high school, but the stakes were so much higher than we could ever have known. She pushed back just as hard, demanding that I wake up and snap out of it. That I stop being nothing more than a marionette for the puppeteers of my family. That I should follow my own path and be happy, instead of whatever it was I was becoming. She was right. I was so caught up in the legacy of my grandfather that I had completely lost myself. She stormed out, right after I had told her that she was a waste of time and energy and that she would be better off never having been in my life to begin with.”
