“After yesterday’s media explosion, I don’t really have a choice,” I said.“Konni asked his dad for help dealing with the guy who assaulted me, and his mom saw the news.”
Mom sat across from me and accepted the plate from Konni.
“You have a choice,” he said.“If you’re not ready, I can?—”
“I’m ready,” I said.
It was the truth, too.I wanted to get the meeting over with so we could figure out how to move forward.What would he do when he found out his mom didn’t like me?Would that be the end of our very brief relationship?What would happen to the mark on my shoulder?Would it fade to nothing, or would it be like he’d hinted…permanently there forever.
“Eat while it’s warm,” Konni said before moving back to the kitchen.
Mom gave me a speculative look, and I knew she was reading me.
“What are you going to do today while we’re gone?”I asked to distract her.
“Shop like I have money to burn.Konni mentioned you told people I paid for your dress.We think it’ll have attracted the attention we want.”
“So, you’re going out as bait.”
“Yes, but not alone.Konni has someone coming over to help me.”
“She’ll look like an assistant,” Konni said, bringing his plate over to join us, “but she’s a qualified bodyguard.”
“How qualified?”I asked.
“Very.I wouldn’t take a chance with your mom.”
Mom watched me, waiting for my agreement.
“Fine, but buy something for yourself.You need better daily wear if you’re going to convince people you have money.”
Mom looked at her loose-fitted shirt and lifted her arm.“I don’t have a lot of choice.”
“That’s not what someone with money would say.”
Konni hid his amusement with a bite of omelette as Mom and I playfully bickered about her wardrobe.
We’d just finished breakfast when her “helper” for the day arrived.The petite woman with a friendly smile and a bubbly personality didn’t fit the role of bodyguard at all.But I realized that was the point.
“I’ve got it from here, Ms.Elmantas,” the woman said with a smile.“I promise your mom will be safe with me.”
I waved goodbye and let Konni lead me out to the car.
“Are you nervous about going in today?”he asked as he started the engine.
“I wasn’t until you said something.Now I am.How many people in the office know, do you think?”
“About the articles or about us?”he asked.
“Both?”
He was quiet for a moment.“What are you really worried about?”
“The same stuff as before…that people will stop seeing my effort and only my association with you.That I’ll be treated differently.”The hate and the social-climbing accusations bothered me, too, but not as much as the cronyism did.
“Don’t allow it.Stand your ground.Your work speaks for itself when people are willing to listen.You’ve already proven that with the Southside project and by not only keeping the Riverfront project on track but also steering it toward an even better option than they were initially provided.
“Don’t let someone else’s beliefs about you change who you are.”
