“But you know, don't you, Chase? I bet you know everything,” Tomas asks.
“I do. I know her SAT scores, the way she takes her coffee. That she has a special pair of socks she wears when she plays volleyball. I know how many of those games they won and how many points she scored. I know more than I think you want me to.” Tomas leans back in his chair, and I know I’ve really shown more of my cards than maybe I should have. I could go on for days about the things I know about Emily. Even more so after last night.
“You sound in love.” Grace smiles over at me.
“I’ve always loved Emily in some way. Been protective over her. It just changed over this last year a lot. I didn’t understand it fully till this last year when I realized she was about to take the next step in her life, and it scared the hell out of me that I wouldn’t be a part of whatever that was. That she might be leaving.”
“She will be turning the page soon. I’m just not sure where her story is going,” Tomas says with a long sigh.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself, honey.” Grace walks around the desk to sit in Tomas’s lap. “I’m not sure what Molly has planned, either.”
“She—” Asher tries to speak, but Grace holds her hand up to stop him.
“Even before you showed up, Asher. She’s been a bit lost.”
“It’s because she feels like she doesn’t belong,” Asher says. “And she doesn’t. She’s so much better than everyone in our world.”
“That she is,” Tomas agrees. Grace leans in and kisses Tomas on his cheek. For the first time today, I actually see a partial smile pull at Asher’s mouth. He’s getting it. His father’s in love. This is what he wanted. For his family to be happy.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell them that Emily pretends to fit in. Everything she does is because she thinks it’s what is expected of her. Whatever will cause the least amount of waves and make people proud of her. There is a lingering fear that everyone looks at her as if she’s her mother. It’s shitty, but some do, but Asher doesn’t get that because this world is full of fucked-up double standards.
I see it, though. When it comes to Emily, I see everything.
16
Emily
I stare out the window at the Eiffel Tower and wonder if I’d love this view more if Chase was at my side. I’d taken the coward’s way out. I even tried to get Molly to come with me. When my mother called me about heading to Paris, I was hesitant with everything going on. I’d given her a small run-down but more to do with Chase than anything. She didn’t have the right to know about Molly and Asher.
If she wanted to know them, she’d have to do that on her own. When I mentioned it to Molly about coming, I told her she could just say we were friends from school, but Molly being Molly wanted some time away. Her way of dealing is thinking and reading while keeping to herself. Mine is to keep moving.
What had gotten me to pack a bag and head for the private airport was when my mother confirmed the rumors I’d been hearing. Chase is promised and committed to marry another woman and has been for almost a year. My mother might not live in the same city or even state as I do, but the world of the wealthy can be small at times, and rumors are always floating around.
It killed me that he could do this. Part of me wants to rage at Chase that he’d make love to me as he called it, all while knowing his mother was planning a wedding. I couldn’t bring myself to ask who the woman was. I don’t want to know. Our families run in the same circles, so I know it will only be a matter of time before I do. I’ve been in Paris for weeks now. The escape hasn’t been what I thought it would be. I think it might be time to head home and face whatever happens. I can’t hide out here forever. Plus, I miss Molly a ton.
I walk over to the nightstand in my hotel room and pull my phone off the charger to call her. I’ve been keeping in touch with her, but it’s not the same being so far away. All I told my dad was I needed some time and I was going with a friend to check out the possibility of Université PSL. I begged him not to tell anyone with the exception of Grace, of course. They have the kind of marriage where they wouldn’t keep secrets from one another.