She hung up so fast I was sure her mother was trying to say more.
“What in the actual fuck, Jett?”
“You silence that phone every single time she calls.”
“And for good reason.”
“She micromanages your life?”
“Among other things.” She curled in on herself, her eyes shuttered closed.
“Care to elaborate?”
“Not really.”
“You know, if you were a business deal, I’d say the whole thing was off. You can’t hide your hand like that.”
“I’m not a business deal, Jett. And I’m sure you’re hiding things too.”
“Ask me anything you want to know.”
She stared at me like I’d just suggested wearing our clothes inside out. “Really?”
“Ask.”
She picked at an imaginary fuzz on her shirt and combed the strands of her hair with her fingers in her mirror. “Why are you so against relationships or marriage or happiness in general?”
“Why wouldn't I be?”
“Because normal people want a happy ending.”
“I get that all the time when I sleep with a woman.”
She rolled her brown eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“Why do I need a reason to believe in reality? It’s a fact that all relationships end at some time or other. You break up or you die.”
“That’s morbid.”
“I had a great childhood, if that’s what you’re asking. Everyone knows that. They’ve printed it in magazine after magazine.”
“You could have told them to print that. Is it the truth?”
I didn’t even have to think about it. “My parents fought when they separated, sure, but there was always love there. I wasn’t deprived as a child. I didn’t have a traumatic relationship, maybe one or two women scorned but nothing life altering. I don’t have a reason for the way I am. I don’t need one, Vick. I honestly believe it makes the most sense.”
“I just think it’s a sad way to live. With no hope for something better.”
“I hope to make other lives better. I try to run a successful business. I try to push this city forward.”
“Ah. You don’t want the complication. You do realize being happy doesn’t mean you have to quit putting one hundred and ten percent into your company, right?”
“We’ll agree to disagree.” I shrugged. “My turn. You want to answer the question about your mother or your whimsical lifestyle?”
“Can’t a girl dream?”
“You take it to an extreme and you know it.”
“At one point in my life, I was wrapped in a lot of darkness, so much so it felt like tar clinging to every piece of my mind and dragging me into the pits of hell. I don’t want to be there again. I won’t be there again.”