Sigh.
Yes, I’m fully recognizing a pattern now, all right? Sheesh.
But the offer is the real deal and not an elaborate hoax. That night, as I’m sitting on my bed in my dorm room and filling out all the forms Mr. Markos gave me—including forms for fricking security clearance, and a non-disclosure agreement—I’m…stunned.
Mimi would be screaming with joy right now, I know she would.
I miss you, Mimi.
I knew I’d lose her one day, but I didn’t think it’d be this soon. I thought she’d be able to see me make my dreams come true.
Since her death I’ve been lost, in some ways. We never left anything unsaid, though. Because of her, I learned I deserved the right to be honest and open about my feelings. To speak my mind. To demand my emotional real estate.
That I was worthy and worthwhile and didn’t need to prove anything to anyone except to myself.
That last lesson I’m still working on, because I’d love to have something to tell my parents “fuck you” over.
I thinkthisis that thing.
Hell, I still haven’t told them Mimi died. She told me she didn’t want them at the funeral, and she wasn’t leaving them anything, so she preferred I defer telling them. Or not tell them at all, if I didn’t want to.
Again, I didn’t think that was something I’d face so soon.
But in just a few days, I’ll be in Washington, DC. I have so much to do before then, including packing all the stuff from my room and moving what I’m not taking with me to my storage unit. They’re putting me up in a hotel until at least after the inauguration in January. The length of my stay will depend on how long it takes to finish everything. They’ve already purchased the one-way plane ticket to DC for me.
I’ll need to buy several large suitcases to hold everything I want to take, but it’s worth it.
This is…real.
This ishappening.
Had someone told me this when I was a kid, I wouldn’t have believed them.
Thatkid lived in terror. That kid had a mask he was terrified to turn loose of for fear of being exposed.
Now?
It’s hard to believe my life has led me…here.
All I need to do is make the most of this opportunity and not waste it. Because this could be the chance I’ve been waiting for.
Like hell will I squander it.
