“Doing this is the only way I can protect Vander and my job. If I sit back and do nothing, I may end up fired anyway. Look at what happened to Tania.” I drill her with a look because she knows I am making sense.
We stop at the entrance to the restaurant. “I care about you, Kendall, and I don’t want you to get hurt. If you won’t tell Vander what his father is doing, you need to at least come clean with Vi. You need more than my opinion.”
“Come clean about what?” Viola asks from directly behind us, and we yelp in fright.
Nerves fire at me as I turn around to face my best friend. I have been keeping my secret from her because I’m a chickenshit. I know she won’t approve, and I don’t want anyone bursting my bubble, but I can’t keep lying to her now June has alluded to the truth. I have no choice but to fess up. “I’ll tell you inside,” I say, opening the door and walking to my doom.
“You have achieved the impossible, Ken,” Viola says, twenty minutes later, after I have spilled my guts.
I have barely touched my salad while my two besties have almost finished theirs because I’ve been doing all the talking. Fessing up about my relationship with Vander and ending with the predicament I find myself in.
“You have truly shocked me.” She sets her silverware down and takes a sip of her glass of water.
“Because I didn’t tell you?”
“No. It doesn’t surprise me you confided in June and chose to hide it from me. You went to the person you knew would encourage you over the person you knew would caution you to hold back.”
“Hang on here a sec.” June pushes her plate away and glares at Viola. “Don’t make out like I flippantly pushed Ken into his arms as if I didn’t have her best interests at heart or imply there is something wrong with her loving him. You have said yourself how much happier she’s been these past three months. Vander is a huge part of that.”
“I’m not denying that or begrudging you your happiness, Ken.” Vi’s features soften as she looks at me. “I’m shocked you have done something so reckless.”
Her words sting. “This is why I didn’t come to you.” I push my uneaten salad away, losing my appetite. “I knew you would judge me.”
“Now who’s being unfair?” Viola leans across the table and takes my hand. “I’m not judging anything but your timing. I’m shocked you would do this behind West’s back. That you didn’t wait until the divorce was finalized and Vander had graduated to do this the right way.” Her earnest eyes pierce mine. “Vander is a good guy. We all know that, and if he makes you happy, then I couldn’t give a flying fuck about his age. But society will. Your family will. Your work colleagues may look at you differently. And hiding it from the start is a shit show in the making. That’s what I object to, Kendall. I want you to be happy, but how will you retain that happiness when the lie is discovered and you risk losing everything and everyone you care for?”
“You’re being overly dramatic,” June says, and I can tell from the hostile expression on her face she regrets her words at the door because they set all of this in motion.
“You think I’m selfish.” I yank my hand back and fold my arms around my chest.
“You are one of the most selfless people I know, but I think you rushed this decision, and now you’re paying the price. You’re caught in the middle of whatever is going on with Vander and his dad, and I’m worried about you.” She angles her head, eyeballing June. “On that, we do agree.”
“I don’t have many options here, Vi, and I love him. He’s my forever love.” Shock splays across her face, and I can tell she doesn’t buy it. But I don’t care. I’m not here to convince her what we share is the real deal. If she’s my friend, she’ll support me, no matter what. “I won’t stand on the sidelines and watch that asshole destroy his future.”
“You say he’s hit on you a few times now?” she asks, and I nod. “Then go to human resources. File a complaint. Do this legal and aboveboard.”
“That is exactly what I intended to do until I remembered hearing the rumors about one of the girls who used to work on his team. I phoned Tania, and she was very frank with me. Told me he sexually harassed her, on several occasions, and she brought it to HR immediately. They refused to believe her without proof because it came down to her word against his, and of course, he denied it. Then he made her life a living hell until she was forced to resign. He ruined her reputation and refused to give her a letter of recommendation. She had to move out of state to get another job.”
“Kendall suspects he has something on Paul Cummings, the VP of HR, and that he’ll force him to turn a blind eye unless she has concrete proof of what he’s doing,” June supplies, lifting her mug for a refill when the waitress appears at our table.
I ask her to box my salad up, and she takes it away after refilling our coffees. “Tania said she doubts she was the first or I’ll be the last. She told me she wished she’d thought of doing what I plan. She agrees that baiting him into doing something and recording it is the only way to beat him at his own game, and unless either of you can think of a better course of action, that’s what I’m going to do.”
“Hey, painter boy.” I can’t contain my grin as I greet my lover when he appears in front of me in the lobby of the hotel in Bridgeport.
“Baby. I missed you.” Vander drops his weekend bag and picks me up, swinging me around, before planting my feet on the ground and passionately kissing me. When he breaks our lip-lock, he brushes hair out of my face and smiles as he keeps me bundled in his arms.
“How was the drive?” I ask, running my fingers through his hair.
“Smooth sailing, and I made it in under four hours.”
Vander drove from Vermont while I flew directly to Connecticut. “How did the session go with your mom?”
“It was emotional but good.” He kisses the tip of my nose. “She has really turned a corner, and she’s determined to stay sober and cut all ties with my father.” He holds me closer. “She apologized and promised she’s going to be there for me now.”
I really hope she stays the course. “That’s great, babe.”
“I love it when you call me that.” His smile expands, and he stares at me like he can’t quite believe we are here. It’s contagious, and I cling to his arms and giggle into his neck while surreptitiously scanning the people milling around the hotel lobby and reception area, watching for expressions of horror. But hardly anyone is paying attention to us. They are too busy going about their day to notice or care. Another couple walks by, heading for the exit and smiles at us. There is no shock, judgment, or disgust, and it feels so freeing. “I am so freaking happy you were able to come with me this weekend.”
“Me too,” I say, shucking out of his embrace and taking his hand. “Although I hate lying to my family.” They think I’m gone for three nights on a work trip.
Vander slings his bag over one shoulder and leans down to kiss me. “I hate you had to do that too, but it won’t be for much longer. It’s only two months until graduation.”