Page 66 of Tomorrow Belongs to Us
In those dark days I leant on Mr. Turner, I grasped and grabbed and held tightly onto his wise words and his care and concern for me. I believed that I was worthy, that I deserved to be loved.
Now the man is back, and he says he wants a second chance with me. He seems to think my actions the other day prove that that’s what I want, too. What I wanted was closure, but giving a guy head is a strange way to go about getting closure.
We both want something, even despite the complications in his life and mine. I need to be more careful because he has a past, and responsibility, and I will always be second in place.
“Can we go someplace else to talk?” he asks.
“I—” Before I can finish my sentence I hear Arla’s squeal.
“I knew I should have come out straightaway, but I got talking to someone from the gym,” she wails, looking from me to Lance, then back at me again. “What are you doing?”
“Talking,” I answer.
“Hello, Arla.”
Her gaze slowly returns to Lance. “Hey.”
I wasn’t prepared for her iciness. This evening she’s been subtly dismissive of Lance where in the beginning, she was my biggest champion of getting together with him.
“I see you two really are inseparable.” He’s trying to make conversation, trying to be friendly but Arla is as hard as glass.
“I’m her friend, and friends always look out for each other.” She hooks her arm in mine. “C’mon, let’s getouttahere. I’ll call a cab.”
“Then let’s wait here for it,” I say, trying to figure out what’s happened to her.
“No, let’s wait over there.” She points to the parking lot. She’s acting weird. I shrug at Lance. There’s no way we’re going to be able to talk now. “I’d better go.”
“You’d better.”
Chapter 25
MEGAN
“How about we go together?” Preston asks.
I find it harder than ever to tolerate him. The company has its annual party for its employees next week. It's a black-tie affair. A dinner and dance event with everything laid on by the company. It is here that awards will be given for outstanding contribution. It's a feel-good evening to remind us how lucky we are to work here.
I don’t want to go, but I can'tnotgo, even though I'm more disillusioned with the company than ever. To not go now would mean I'm sulking. Preston is super smarmy and super smug, and he mistakenly thinks we can go together, the way we always have in the past.
Not 'together' as in being a couple, but we've ended up sitting together. Maybe this is another thing that makes him believe I am interested in him. I’m not.
“I'm not sure I'm going,” I say because I really don't want to go.
“You're still not over it, Summers?” he asks. “You're taking it very badly. Can't you at least be happy for me?”
“This isn't about you.” It's not just my work life, that's in turmoil. My personal life is all over the place. And Lance entering it has just confused and complicated everything. “I’m happy for you, Preston. I really am.” Though to hear me say it without a smile, I’m sure even he can tell I'm not.
“We can have fun,” Preston insists. “I remember that time we had fun, hidden in the shadows, away from the dance floor.”
That kiss was such a bad mistake. He'd been trying to make moves on me for a long time and I'd managed to keep him successfully at bay. But I made a mistake and opened up to him that night. I was feeling down because I'd recently split up with Mack, a guy I really liked. Things were still raw after the breakup and though the split had been mutual, the hurt still lingered. Preston was a good listener and as the party continued into the early hours of the morning, and we talked and watched the revelers dancing away, it just happened. I only kissed him to shut him up when he confessed that he'd always liked me. In my defense, I wasn’t thinking straight, but I left soon after and the next day, at the earliest opportunity, I told him that an office romance wasn’t a good idea. He told me that he was willing to wait.
For what?
Ever since then he's had the wrong idea. He leans closer to me. “If it makes you feel better, you'll enjoy working for me. I'll make sure you get all the best projects and the best clients.”
I jerk my head sharply at him. “What are you insinuating?” I see this man for the scumbag he is.
He seems affronted. “You're good at what you do, you're the best at it. I just want to reward you.”
