“Actions are too. I thought last night I proved some of them.”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t change the subject to sex.”
“I wasn’t.” His hand landed on her thigh and rubbed it bringing her some comfort. “I meant that I’m not going anywhere. That you’re holding back for that reason and I told you I was finding a place to stay for six months to start and not putting a timer on anything. Do you believe me?”
“I do.”
“That goes for how I feel about what you think are differences. Maybe you’ll get sick of the fact I sit around and do nothing in your eyes all day while you’re working.”
“It’s not nothing. You’re putting puzzles together.”
He laughed. “See. You can joke about it. My mother, she can’t. It’s liable to come up. As proud as she is of what I’veaccomplished, in her mind, I should do more. She thinks that I’m lazy.”
“That’s not nice.”
“She’s not trying to be nice or mean, she’s being her. I know that. I laid rules down. No talk of my father, my grandmother or anyone else in the family. No work talk. No talk about your family either nor my lack of ambition in her eyes.”
“That doesn’t leave much,” she said.
“It leaves a lot. There is an entire world of possibilities and topics out there. That is what I explore.”
“Do you like it?” she asked. “Being able to get up and decide daily what you’re going to do? What do you want to learn? Research? Read?”
“I did at first,” he said. “Now, it’s getting lonely. I could always go back to what I did before, but I know one thing, I don’t want to work for someone else.”
“That’s an important thing to know.”
“Exactly. I want something that fulfills me, pushes me to grow, and keeps me motivated without draining me, holding me back, or chaining me to a desk.”
“So you want to be independently wealthy?” she asked, tongue in cheek.
“Mission accomplished.”
“Arik, you have to do what truly makes you happy, not what other peoplethinkyou should.”
“And that is where I’m stuck. I’m happy.”
“Who wouldn’t be in your shoes?”
“But I’m lonely. Or I was,” he said. “I’m not now. When I get into a rental house, I’ll have more room to move. More room to learn. I love to cook, but can’t do it in the hotel. You know I’ve got a degree in engineering. Putting things together, building, it’s something I did as a kid, but then was forced to playsports, go to parties, events, do the things my parents felt were important.”
“So now is your chance to be you? That’s what this is about?”
“Sounds cheesy and immature, doesn’t it?”
“Not at all. You just said what you want and don’t want. You’re craving something you loved in your childhood. Do it. Go for it. Buy a bunch of tools and wood and build a piece of furniture. There is an art studio on the island; learn to make pottery and paint. Work with your hands along with your mind.”
“You know, you’re the first person to say that to me. My parents always said the opposite. Use your mind to make your wealth.”
“That’s their life, not yours. You be you and let them be them.”
“Thanks, Natalie.”
“For what?”
“Thanks for the clarity. I was dreading this dinner with my mother, but now it feels like anything she says will just ricochet off me like a rubber ball.”
They pulled into Molly’s Restaurant a minute later. She was going to suggest Duke’s but knew the likelihood of running into some family member was great and not knowing how Arik’s mother would be, it was best to avoid any gossip.
