Page 44 of Meant to Be

“Yeah, I try. But my mom didn’t think it was too funny.”

Picturing Dottie Kingsley, I winced and said, “Ohh. Yeah. I bet not.”

“She wasbesideherself.”

“Why? Is it that big of a deal?” I said, feeling a little defensive about my own academic record. “You can take the bar exam as many times as you want, right?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Youcan…but let’s just say that that’s not expected of aKingsley.” He said his last name in an exaggerated, snobbish voice.

“Yeah. I guess not,” I said, thinking it had never occurred to me that it might be kind of a drag to have super successful parents or a famous name. I had also never considered that there was any sort of silver lining to having an abusive stepfather and an arguably not so great mother. I mean, hell, simply by having become a functioning member of society I was something of a success story.

“So, after all of that, do you like being a lawyer?” I asked, wanting to stay off the subject of my own life.

Joe appeared to ponder this question, taking a sip of wine. “Yes and no. Working in the DA’s office can be fun…but it can be demoralizing. I may quit soon.”

“And do what?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I need to figure that out,” he said, giving me a look that messed me up a little inside.

I held his gaze, resisting the urge to look away, but said nothing.

“And what about you?” he said.

“What about me?”

“Do you feel like your life is…on track?”

“Mylife?” I said with a laugh. “That’s a pretty broad question.”

“Okay. Your work?”

“It’s good, I guess.”

“And how about your relationship?”

I hesitated just long enough to have given him my true answer, then tried to recover. “Passion is overrated.”

“You don’t believe that, do you?”

“Yes,” I said. “I do. And I’ve found that it’s better to keep your expectations low in life. About everything.”

“Damn,” Joe said, shaking his head. “That’s kind of depressing.”

I shrugged and said, “Not to me.”

“Were your expectations low for me? Tonight?”

I smiled and said, “Yes. Very.”

“So I surpassed them?” he asked, his face all lit up.

“Un peu,” I said, lowering my voice and giving him my most seductive look. “Mais cela reste à voir.”

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