Page 134 of Heart Strings & Hotlines
“Oh, that’s right. That particular word isn’t socially acceptable unless it’s hurled at your seven-year-old in the privacy of your own home, right?
“I don’t think anyone here would argue that growing up is difficult in the most average of situations. But now imagine going through puberty alone because hanging out with kids your own age physically hurts. The sounds of the mall are amplified by a thousand, or too many people talking at once sounds like a dump truck being swallowed by a garbage disposal.”
I glance around the room, suddenly aware that I have everyone’s rapt attention. When the panic starts in my fingertips, I find my way back to the little boy, who hasn’t stopped nodding his head since I began speaking.
“I didn’t have the support I needed growing up. Hell, I didn’t have support at all. That’s why now, at thirty-two years old, I have people monitoring me, yelling out the word ‘tone’ when I forget to soften my voice. Not because I want to yell at everyone, but because I don’t hear tone the same way most of you do. I hear the words, I understand the words, I internalize the words, and then I take action. The emotion behind the words is something I work at every time I open my mouth.
“That’s why I appreciate the opportunity to be here tonight, not only to accept this award on behalf of all of those who are different, but because I’m thrilled to announce new advancements that will help people of all abilities in so many facets of life, I couldn’t begin to name them all. In partnership with Charlotte Sinclair.” But when I look at our table, she isn’t in her seat.
I scan the table and the one next to it, in front of it and behind it, before shifting to the edge of the room, then the back of the room in an effort to put eyes on her.
Someone claps, probably unsure if I’m finished or not.
“Ah, in partnership with Charlotte Sinclair, we’ll endeavor to make life a little easier, regardless of the kind of support you have at home.”Where is she?“We live in a time where online relationships take precedence over real-life interactions, and it’s our hope that we’ll be able to bridge the already wide gap in social norms for people of all abilities. Thank you.”
Someone hands me a trophy shaped like a phallic crystal as I’m ushered off stage.
“I’ll sue you for defamation, you ungrateful piece of shit.” Jonah’s voice barely registers.
I drop the trophy off in front of Weston as I frantically scan the room. Now that the lights aren’t blinding me, I find Lottie along the back wall, standing in a semi-circle with two other men.
One of them I recognize as her father, the other has his back to me.
Fuck. How did she end up over there?
I cut through the tables as people try to glad-hand me and give perfunctory words of congratulations, but I ignore them all.
Lottie’s face is pale, and she’s clutching her fists to her stomach as if she might be sick. Her father’s face is twisted into a cruel snarl as whatever he says causes Lottie to take a step backward.
And when the third person in their trio spins to face the room, the floor falls out from under me.
He knows the second we make eye contact that he’s fucked up too. He didn’t expect me to be here, and I’m sure he had planned to slip out of this conversation before I reached them, but he should have known that nothing would tie me up. Not when Lottie wasn’t in my line of vision.
The soon-to-be dead man formerly known as Roger quickly makes an escape as Lottie and her father turn to me in slow-motion.
“I can explain.” The words are loud enough to cause everyone in a ten-foot radius to tune in to our conversation.
“Is it true?” Lottie’s voice cracks, right along with my heart.
“It’s not the same.”
“Is it true?” She seethes. “Are you behind LotiTech Industries? Have you been hacking into my company?”
I nod, and she takes another step back, her fists pressing into her belly as though punched.
“It’s not the same.”Tell her. Tell her how you shut down the acquisition plan after you met her. Tell her how your entire plan changed when you fell in love with her. Tell her you bought the companies she thought were investors because they were companies puppeteered by your father. Tell her you fixed her security so he couldn’t hurt her. Tell her you’d never use her this way.
“Nev-sam-her.” My words smash together in an incoherent word vomit.
Shaking my head, I try again with the same outcome.
No. Not now, Thane. Just spit it out. Say what you mean. Say it. Say it.
SAY IT.
When my words won’t come, I step forward. She holds her hands up to stop me.
“I told you, little girl.” Her father’s condescending words don’t appear to faze her. “No one is coming to save your little company. No one is going to help you out of the goodness of their heart. If you’d stuck to the plan, you’d be married by now, popping out little brats and securing your future. Now you’ve squandered your inheritance on something too far out of your pay grade, and you’ll be left with nothing.”
