“That’s ...good.”
“I’ve had to accept some hard truths.”
Keeley added two spoonful’s of sugar to her coffee.“Like what?”
“I always craved acceptance, more than that, I’ve wanted people to value me, think I’m worthy, think what I do is worthwhile.That no matter the beginning I had, I was somebody important, somebody that would do great things.I wanted to play the hero, but that’s all it was, playing a role.”
“It’s admirable, striving to be a good person.No one can fault you for that.If the world was full of just good people, it would be a better—”
“It’s not, though.It’s full of the selfish and selfless.The honest and the dishonest.Good people and bad people.I let people down, I made mistakes.I strived for the unachievable and beat myself up at not getting there.I set myself up to fall.”Chad’s smile was small.“I was bad at being a good person, but I think I could be good at being a bad one.”
“I don’t understand—”
“Also,” Chad interrupted.“I had to accept I was a liar.I lied to you.I lied to Josh and Ally.I lied to my superiors and colleagues. I lied to the public.Most of all I lied to myself.”
“In what way did you lie to yourself?”
“A compromise?Really?”he laughed.“It’s not balance, it’s restraint.It’s a restraint on both parties and that creates strain, and it creates tension, and conflict and they will lead to a moment where you have to chose between doing what’s right and doing what’s wrong.And this time, there’s nothing to hold me back anymore, no sense of righteousness I’m desperate to achieve, and I choose the wrong.”
“I think we need to backpedal and go through these feelings one at a time.”
Keeley picked up the plate with the brownie and slid it closer to Chad on the coffee table.
Chad eyed her offering through a squint.“I’m not hungry.”
“The sugar will help.”
“It’s funny you say that...”
Keeley leaned back in her chair.“Why is that funny?”
Chad reached down beside the sofa and lifted a silver tin.
Romeo cocked his head, studying it, but he was certain he’d never seen it before.
Without a word, Chad placed it on the coffee table.
The resulting silence felt charged.Romeo shifted his weight from foot to foot, uneasy with the atmosphere in the living room.Chad glared at Keeley, and Romeo assumed Keeley stared right back at him.
But there was fire in Chad’s eyes, anger, but he forced a smile to his face, dulling it slightly as Keeley broke the stalemate.
“That’s from my office...”
Her soft voice barely carried to Romeo standing behind her in the doorway.It wavered, felt fragile, but Romeo imagined that was the point.Everything about Keeley looked and felt delicate, from her slender frame to her porcelain skin, and sweet smile.
The eye just seemed to skim over her like she wasn’t a threat, but Chad stared at her like she was.
“It is.”Chad replied.“Your sugar tin.”
“You ...you took it.You’re the one that broke in last night.”
“Pam mentioned months back she was having issues with the computers.They needed updating.I have to say the new ones looked good before I ripped them out last night.”
Keeley got to her feet, shaking her head.“I don’t know what you’re playing at here—"
“I’m not playing,” Chad snapped.“I lied to everybody, but there’s one person I didn’t lie to.There’s one person who is your downfall in this game you played with me.I didn’t lie to him when I promised him when we die, it’ll be together.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
