Page 34 of The Rules Of Attraction
“Shocking me. You can’t seriously tell me that Alex Sullivan is the second man you’ve ever slept with.”
I didn’t know why that surprised her. “You know I’ve always been with Tom.”
“Sure, but I kind of thought that in college you might have played around. You two had a long distance relationship. Those don’t tend to last or work especially during college, and damn working in LA too.”
“I know.” I breathed.
A few months back I would have said all sorts of positive things about long distance relationships and how Tom and I made it work for us because we loved each other, but no way was I saying that now.
Instincts were a powerful thing. They were innate warnings, and I’d categorize them as a sense like a sixth sense, to forewarn you of bad things.
In college while I remained loyal to Tom, despite the numerous guys who hit on me daily, I felt that he’d cheated on me. I never accused him of doing so. It was just something I felt.
When he came to me with Becca to tell me they’d been seeing each other for awhile I had the feeling that thatawhilehadn’t been a recent thing. Neither went away to college. They went straight into work after high school.
I’d felt they’d been together at various points in our lives.
“Okay so this has a little more meaning then.” There was a playful tone in her voice.
“No, there is no meaning, I shouldn’t have slept with him. Damn, I shouldn’t have gone home with him.”
“Wait, you left that part out. He took you home?” She giggled.
I didn’t see what relevance that was. “Yes, does it matter?”
“Okay honey, let’s just put it this way. Let me give you the four one, one on Alex Sullivan. Yes he’s the hottest man alive, and a playboy but even I know that the word on the street is that he practically never takes women back to his house. Five star hotels we’d have to spend our yearly salary on for sure, but no not his home. It’s just a thing he has about himself.”
I didn’t know how to interpret that.
The fact that Eilesh knew his bedroom rules, or whatever they could be classed as wasn’t exactly a good thing, and didn’t make me feel comfortable one bit.
On the other hand I remembered how easy it was for him to ask me to go home with him.
If he didn’t take women back to his home then how could he have asked me so effortlessly.
On the other, other, hand did the fact that asking, and taking me mean there was something special about me?
I was going to definitely doubt that. After all I’d been through it would have been foolish for me to even contemplate that.
“I feel really awkward about this.” It was bad enough that I felt like I had to watch myself with the whole Ashfords situation. There wasn’t a firm around that didn’t know what happened. I was just hoping that being in a new state would help.
Eilesh sighed. “Summer, I’m your friend and I’m going to be real with you. Things move fast in the legal world. You know this. It’s tough to get back in after you’ve been out of the game. You have been out of the game for over a year.”
God, had it been that long?
Had it really been that long since I did what I loved so much. Standing in a courtroom, armed with knowledge and flair stating my client’s case.
I missed that. I missed helping people who really needed me. I’d helped so many with all sorts of problems.
“I’d feel more comfortable trying to get something else,” I winced.
“You know I’ll do whatever makes you feel comfortable. So I’ll help you find something else. It’s my job as your friend though to tell you the stuff you might not like. Ashfords left a huge black mark on the legal world and I’ve told you that there are a lot of firms who have specifically said they don’t want anyone from there.”
It made my heart ache every time I heard something like that. It really did.
“I know.” I could barely talk, barely breathe.
Weeks ago when this job came about I didn’t like the idea of it because it wasn’t what I wanted, but I saw the opportunity it would give me. The idea was to work for Sullivan’s for six months to a year. Then apply for an associate position at another firm.
