“This is—why does anyone care about this?”
“In a book, background matters.In a media war, the juice gets more airtime.”
“People think it was—it wasn’t sordid like… What do they think?That our lives were cocaine and orgies.”
Roxie raised a hand.“Ask anyone on the street, they’ll tell you my life is cocaine and orgies.Doesn’t change the truth of my life.”
“You have Zairn.It doesn’t matter what the world thinks when you have each other.”
“We know the truth,” Roxie agreed.“That’s what matters.”So long as the lovers knew each other’s truth, the opinions of others were irrelevant.“How did you meet Spence?”
Back to the story then… “I got spooked.I was at the library, out late, walking back to the dorm I… It was stupid and I ran… right into Spence.”
“He wasn’t your professor?”
“No… People forget that.I was never his student… Well… except…”
“Late night study sessions?”Roxie asked.“When you were alone?”
“He came to check on me a couple of days later.Then he started showing up to walk me back from the library.Nobody ever… It was talking… Then vacation time came around.I had nowhere to go and assignments to complete for extra credit.”As her mind wandered through the memories of that time, the innocence awed her.“My feelings were real.Of course I thought he’d never return them.Are you crazy?He was Spencer Raith.Except he wasn’t like the myth—no one ever made me laugh like he did.”
“Raiths aren’t known for their comedic talent.”
“Are you kidding?Spence would lean in and whisper to me…”
“Best not to let them do that in public unless you have an exit strategy,” Roxie said.“Zairn uses the whispering thing against me.”
“This was before then, it wasn’t sexual when it started.”Though she had to admit, “No guy as accomplished and admired could be into me like that.That’s honestly what I believed; that I was making up the whole chemistry thing in my immature, teenage head.He would buy me things and take me places, alone, of course.We couldn’t be seen together in public.He got me an apartment, no one knew.The girls thought my parents paid for it, I think.Truth is, I hadn’t made many friends, any friends.”
“No one was watching,” Honey murmured.“Go on.”
“He’d visit.We’d cook together.Watch TV, movies.Talk.He’d stay the night—it was a two-bedroom place.This was over the course of years, it didn’t happen all at once.At some point, somewhere, he was always there, we were always there… I skipped a day of the Institute here, skipped a day there, he took care of everything and… I’d never been with a guy, never had a relationship.I didn’t recognize love when it was right there in front of me.”
“God, I remember being a teenager,” Roxie said with a wistful sigh.“I fell in love every twenty minutes.Not real love, ridiculous love.”She was quick to correct herself.“I was the girl who didn’t know what she wanted.”
Honey laughed.“A trait she only recently grew out of.”
“Hmm,” Roxie conceded with a half shrug.“I could tell you the exact date I fell out of that cloud…”
“We all could,” Honey said.“We witnessed it on TV.”
“In full living color.”After an inhale, Roxie held the breath, then released it as she smiled again.“Sorry, Ariella, this is your story.When did you decide to leave together?”
“We talked about traveling.It was a dream of mine to go everywhere.The adventure of life was the vast sea and the soaring sky.I wanted to see history, to breathe the beauty of nature.Talk about starry eyed.”
“It’s a powerful lure.I didn’t know that drug until Zairn gave me it.There’s temptation in forever, in no limitations, in life being its own leader.”
She was grateful for Roxie’s support and that her friend understood.
“We had all these fantasies and then—I thought they were fantasies.He kissed me and… That was the key.Anything was possible and I was his… the chains were off and we were all that mattered.Us.Together.Life became plural as we became one.”
“Oh, I like that line,” Honey said.“Sure I can’t write that down?”
There wasn’t a flicker of judgment in either of these women.Telling the story wasn’t the insurmountable peak she’d believed it to be.In other hands, it might be.No, itwouldbe.For now though…
“If I’m telling stories, I want to hear them too…” Rising to her feet, she set the kitchen in sight.“Who’s hungry?”
“There are numerous versions of my story,” Roxie said, following her while gesturing for Honey to join them.
