“To find her someone more compatible.”
“What about Blake?”
“Well, Blake is very nice, but…You know what I mean.”
I suddenly feel like defending Blake and Caroline’s relationship. “No, I don’t.”
“Their relationship is destined for failure. They’re polar opposites.”
I’m still smiling and kindly listening to her argument, but I’m a little shocked at what she’s saying. I don’t think Caroline and Blake would appreciate someone basically writing off their long relationship and the years they’ve put into it to a virtual stranger. “But opposites attract sometimes, right?”
“No, honey…they don’t.”
And that’s that. I change the subject and we spend the rest of the day shopping and talking about the potential company we’re going to run together. I’m excited to think I’d be able to expand my work and do something I love for more people, especially knowing how good my clients feel about themselves after I work with them.
The week flies by and I’m headed to Little Five Points to meet Caroline. We haven’t spoken at all aside from the brief texts. She’s standing in front of the same shop we’d gone to before when I see her. Her eyes light up. I give her a big hug.
“Hayden, I feel like I need to apologize again.”
“Please don’t. Let’s shop. That night you were clearly under a lot of stress and I’m so sorry your work pressure is that heavy right now. Let’s get our minds off of it with some retail therapy.”
“Absolutely!”
I follow her into the store and start pulling things off the rack. I’m handing stuff over the dressing room door when I say, “I think your dad will be really happy about these choices. They’re stylish but professional.”
She swings the dressing room door open. “Truth be told, Blake was right the other night. My dad is too controlling. I loved the blouse with the plunging neckline but he was so distraught by it.”
She’s in just a shirt and no pants, with the dressing room door wide open for all to see. Gone is the meek and timid girl I once knew.
“I understand. Let’s talk in here, though.” I walk in and close the door. She sits on a bench, with a pouty look on her face.
“I don’t know if the company is my dream. I don’t know what I like anymore. I fell for Blake because he was wild, but smart. I feel like I’ve ruined him to appease my father.” Her eyes begin to fill with tears.
“Caroline, you haven’t ruined him. And what are you worried will happen if you don’t take over your father’s company? I mean, can’t you retain ownership and have someone else run it for you?”
“Yes, that’s an option. But I’m scared to disappoint him.” She sniffles.
“Honestly, he sounds like a hard person to deal with,” I say.
“He’s not. Not always. He’s generous and loving a lot of the time. But it’s like he’s molding me to be just like him and I’m not.” She holds up the clothes she wore to the store—a pantsuit. “This is so not me. And even what you’ve picked for me, as stylish as it is, I know you’re trying to find stuff that my father will approve of, too.”
“Why don’t you try to show me what you’d wear if you had no restrictions at all? I can put some things together for you and you can decide if you want to stand up to your dad in that way. Clothes are an expression of individuality. That little bit of freedom might just give you the strength you need to make decisions for yourself without anyone else influencing you.” She wipes at her eyes and sighs.
“I want to take you somewhere,” she says resolutely, changing the subject abruptly, or so it seems. She pulls her pantsuit back on and I follow her out of the store without a word.
We end up at a dark and dirty music venue where a punk band is playing onstage. “I used to be into this,” Caroline yells to me over the music. “I used to come here all the time. Blake still does. This is what we connected over.”
So they’re not as different as Diana thinks. “And…”
She gestures around the room. “I used to dress like this.” It was definitely an edgier scene than I imagined. The style is kind of anarchist hipster.
Caroline lifts up her shirt to reveal a very large tattoo of cherry blossoms on branches running up her torso. “If my father knew I had this, he’d cut me out of the will.”
Holy cow, she’s a wild woman after all!
“So what?” I yell. I know I’m testing her but I can’t help it.
“No, he wouldn’t, CC,” comes Blake’s voice from behind her. Whoa. He’s here, too? These two are full of surprises. “I’m glad you came. I’ve missed doing this with you.”
