Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44920 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44920 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
“It is for me, yes.” I couldn’t believe I was saying this, but it had to be said. “I’m in my mid-twenties. It’s time for me to make my own way through life. I need to figure out my next move—me. Not Frank. Not my boss. Not my former roommates or teachers. I need to stand on my own two feet.” Another tear slid down my cheek, but this time, it wasn’t a tear of joy. “And I can’t do that if three fairy godfathers are going to use their money to solve all my problems.”
“Fairy what nows?” Tye asked, but the other two looked upset.
“That’s not what we’re doing, Naomi.” The sincerity in Dominic’s eyes was touching. “We just miss you and want you to be with us. Is that such a bad thing?”
“Of course not, but I can’t do it. Not like that.” The odd thing was that though I was crying, there was no hesitation in my voice. I knew from the bottom of my heart that if I allowed them to swoop in and do this, I’d never be independent. I’d never find out what I could be without someone else holding me back—like Frank—or making the decisions for me, like these men.
Justin, Tye, and Dominic had made this offer out of kindness, friendship, and perhaps something more—but I still couldn’t accept it. Not like this.
“Let’s just talk about this,” Dominic began, but there was nothing more to say.
“My, uh, flight leave soon,” I said, getting up from the table. “I’d better go pack.”
“Naomi—”one of them called, but I didn’t even turn around. I couldn’t, or I would’ve given in.
“Congratulations on the game,” I said, and then my voice broke. “And you’re going to do great in law school.”
I closed the bedroom door behind me, sat down at the desk, put my head down on my arms, and cried my eyes out.
23
NAOMI
EPILOGUE
Two weeks after that
It was the end of my first week back at the massage chain I’d worked at previously, and I was exhausted as I trudged up the street to Frank’s apartment. Still, at least I wasn’t lugging a portable massage table around.
That’s what I tried to tell myself in terms of a silver lining. That and the fact that the slight increase in pay might help me eventually find an apartment I could afford by myself. Like possibly by the year 2040.
“It can’t be that bad,” Penny had said when I talked to her the other night. But I knew she could hear in my voice that it was.
“Miss?”
At first, I ignored the man in a gray uniform who stepped in front of me. Strange men approaching me on the city streets wasn’t that rare of a thing, unfortunately.
He tried again. “Are you Miss Naomi?”
That got my attention. There weren’t all that many Naomis around these days.
“Yes?” I said cautiously. For the first time, I noticed a black town car parked ahead. Was he a driver?
The man had a phone to his ear. He handed it to me, but I stepped back. “Please,” he said. “I mean you no harm. There’s someone who wants to talk to you.”
Still, I didn’t take the phone.
The man nodded as if he expected that. Then he added another detail. “Actually, there are three people who want to talk to you. Three men.”
That got my attention. “Tell me their names.”
Once he did, I eagerly grabbed the phone from him. “Hello?”
“Hello, sweetheart,” Tye said.
“Hi, Mimi.” That was Justin.
“Hope we didn’t scare you,” Dominic added.
They had, but that didn’t matter. Things had been strained between us since I’d turned down their very kind offer, but I’d gotten a call or a text from at least one of them every day.
“What’s going on?”
“We couldn’t make it to Chicago, but we still wanted to plan a special weekend for you,” Tye said.
“A special weekend?”
“Yep,” Justin said with a big grin. “We’ve got it all worked out. All you have to do is to get in the car.”
“But… but I don’t even know this man.”
“We do,” Dominic said. “Do you really think we’d send him if it wasn’t safe?”
No, I didn’t. But that didn’t mean I could just hop in and go. “I have a massage appointment tomorrow morning.” It was the weekend, but my new place of employment was open until two on Saturdays.
“That was me,” Tye said. “I booked it, and I’ll call in the morning to cancel it, so you don’t have to go in.”
“You’ve thought of everything,” I said, a little uneasily.
Dominic picked up on it. “This isn’t about us running your life. It’s just… we knew it was a hard week for you, and we wanted to treat you. If we were there in person, you’d let us treat you well, right?”
I nodded, biting my lip. In spite of everything, I wished so much that they were here in person. “That’s sweet of you, but I can’t just go away for the weekend on no notice.”