I look at D, who has tears swimming in her eyes, but they have yet to fall. Instead, her eyes keep moving back and forth from Jake and Bradley. I can’t believe he released her, I thought he loved her.
A pair of shiny black dress shoes appear in front of me and I look up. A heavy gulp lodges in my throat as I meet Sir’s eyes, and my hands are shaking more than they ever have before.
“Five, walk with me to my car.” He turns around and walks away and I rush to keep up with him. I don’t want to, but I don’t have a choice. All I can do is follow and ensure I stay behind him the entire time.
“I have been thinking about the discussion we had over dinner when you accompanied Aeron. If you are still interested, I can have a meeting set up for you and a member of my business and financial team on the twentieth. You will have to go to New York for a week, but I’m sure you will be able to catch up on any work that you may miss. What do you say, Five, are you still interested?” He stops walking and looks at me with eyes that leave me feeling entirely vulnerable.
I can’t stutter, I can’t stutter. Please don’t let me stutter.
“Yes, Sir. Thank you. This is incredible and more than I could have hoped for.” Yes, I stayed strong. I’m feeling pretty proud of myself right now.
“Excellent. Very well, it is all in place. You can accompany Tucker to the meeting, just ensure you have a business plan in place and include your plans for marketing and your financial predictions. It should be a very enlightening experience for you. I will see you soon, Miss Carter.” He holds his hand out to me and I don’t know what to do. Am I supposed to shake it? Well, I wouldn’t advise licking it.
I place my hand in his and our eyes stay locked for the entire time before he finally releases me and walks over to the door. I hate that I’m rushing to open it for him, but it feels like it is the correct move to make in this situation. He does not look back as he climbs into his car and leaves the Academy. I’m not sure I really understand what just happened, I think I may be in shock. I shake my head to try to clear it before poking my head into the hall, but Daria is nowhere to be seen. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out where she has gone, and this time, I will not stop knocking until she either opens the door, or I knock it down.
As if you could, but I agree. She should not be alone, let’s show D that we’re here for her.
I’m not going to hesitate this time, I have no idea what state she’s going to be in, but it doesn’t matter. She can shout at me, hit me, or slam the door in my face. Whatever she needs, I have to prove to her I’m still the girl she met.
The door opens after a couple of minutes. Her eyes are clouded over, she’s swaying on her feet, and her bottom lip is trembling as she stares right through me. She isn’t saying a word as she disappears back into her room, leaving the door wide open. I follow her inside and gently close the door behind me. She drops onto her recliner and sags into the seat.
“D, hon. Can I do anything?”
“No, there’s nothing…” She trails off and I don’t think she’s going to bother finishing her sentence. Or maybe that is the end, it’s hard to tell right now.
“I know I haven’t been there for you lately and I’m going to do whatever I can to make things right. I won’t put myself first again, not when it comes to you.” I mean it, but her bitter laugh is hard to take. I hate seeing her like this.
“You can’t do that, Lu. I just wanted to feel as though I had someone to talk to, someone who would listen. Maybe I overreacted, I don’t know. It’s too late now, I’m leaving.” Her chest sags as her head drops low and her hair falls to conceal her face.
“What? D, no. You can’t leave because of him, he isn’t worth it. You’re better than these idiots here, none of them deserve you. Not Bradley, not Jake, no one.” Her head shoots up, fast enough that I’m surprised she doesn’t have whiplash.
“Jake? That’s a strange name to just throw in. Do you think I’m interested in Jake?” Her voice sounds so hollow, and it’s scaring the living fuck out of me.
“No, of course not. I know you only had eyes for Bradley.” Stop mentioning that dickhead’s name, she doesn’t need reminding.
“I was an idiot.” Her voice cracks as she wipes furiously at her face.
“You’re not an idiot, no one would have seen this coming.” Except from Jake, didn’t he keep saying Bradley wasn’t a good guy and was only going to hurt her? What about Emmet? Hadn’t he tried to tell me something before I acted like a lunatic and made him walk away in anger?
“No, you’re wrong. Everyone but me and you saw this coming, I just didn’t want to believe it, face it. I wanted to believe I had found the one good Harkwright in this place. I fell for the wrong Harkwright, and now it’s too late. I’ve ruined everything. I’m suck a fucking mess, Lu.” She’s tugging at her hair and her face is filled with pain, and she’s one decibel away from shouting.
“I’m here, D. Anything you want or need. I’m not going anywhere, not until you kick me out.” Her spine stiffens before she relaxes back into the chair and rests her head back against the chair.
“Just stay a little while, I don’t want to be alone.” It comes out low and my heart is breaking for her. So, I fold my legs up under me as I take a seat on her loveseat. I’ll just wait until she’s ready to either talk or kick me out. Let’s hope she chooses the former.
“Luna.” It’s been a couple of hours since anything was said and she dozed off for a while, I look over at her and her red-rimmed eyes. Poor D, she doesn’t deserve any of this.
“I don’t know if I’m ready to put everything in the past, not yet at least. But I want to, so I’m not going to open up about what happened. Although, when I’m ready, it will be to you.”
“I love you, girl, and I’ll give you all the time you need. Whatever you need, I promise.” I smile at her and it isn’t surprising that she isn’t returning it. She looks so broken right now, I wish I could help to put all of her pieces back together again, but that’s something she has to do. I just know that she’ll come out stronger and all the better for what that a moron has put her through.
“What did Sir want you for?” Curiosity is burning bright in her eyes and I wish I could distract her with something else, but I guess I have to play ball for now.
“He’s setting up a meeting for me with someone from his business and financial team, I don’t really know what to make of it, but I could use all the help I can get right about now.”
“Damn, be careful with that. I doubt Sir would do anything unless it benefited him in someway.” I don’t know if she’s worried about me, I can’t read anything in her voice but her words only confirm what I’m already thinking.
“I’m worried, D. I don’t know what his angle is, and I’m not sure I even want to know. But that doesn’t even matter, I just want to make sure you’re okay,” I say it softly and I can’t bring myself to make direct eye contact. I guess I’m still worried that she’s going to change her mind and kick me out any minute now.