“Yes. And the car is waiting for us, so we need to go.”
He stands, pulling me to my feet, and I let him. I can’t deny that I’m curious what his surprise is.
“What are you going to do with Elizabeth Bennet while we’re gone?”
“My housekeeper will look after her.”
“Sounds like you’ve thought of everything.”
“I hope so.”
We make our way to the elevator, down to the parking garage, where a black SUV is waiting. Razoul sits in the driver’s seat, and gets out when he sees us, opening the door. Jafar motions for me to climb in and rounds the vehicle, sliding in next to me. Once we’re seated, Razoul pulls out of the garage. Jafar presses a button, closing the privacy screen, reminding me of the last time we were in the SUV together.
“Have you talked to Jasmine?” I ask.
“No. You?”
“No.”
He huffs. “I’m not surprised.”
“I thought about texting her, but her words kept running through my mind and I decided I was better off if I didn’t.”
“I never understood how the two of you became friends.”
I smile. “That’s not the first time I’ve heard that over the years.”
“I imagine not.”
I bite my bottom lip. “When I was sent away to boarding school, I thought it was the end of the world. I just didn’t understand why my dad wanted to send me to another country. He always said I looked like my mom, and I think that had a lot to do with it. I was a daily reminder of what he’d lost.”
“I like this man less and less each time I hear about him.”
“He was a good man. Or tried to be. He just didn’t know what to do after my mom died, you know? She was the love of his life, and I don’t think he could wrap his mind around the way she died. The pills she overdosed on were his. He’d gotten them from a friend after he hurt his back because his doctor wouldn’t give him a prescription.”
I wasn’t the one to find her, but I made the mistake of walking by the bathroom before the paramedics arrived. She was in the tub, and it was so full that water spilled onto the floor. Her eyes were wide open, and her head was tipped to the side. Dried vomit trailed out of the corner of her mouth and floated in the bathwater. The empty pill bottle floated in the water, too, and I remember hearing my dad tell the cops where he got the pills. The anguish in his voice scared me and I worried that I might lose my father, too.
“When he said he was remarrying, he also said that I was being sent to a prestigious boarding school in England. He said it was a way for me to have a new start. It was hard. I was grieving the loss of my mom in a place where I didn’t know anyone. The two people who I hoped would be my friends were anything but. Dru was in my face one day when Jasmine walked up.” I smile at the memory. “Jasmine pushed her down and told everyone that she still wet the bed. It wasn’t true, but you know how Jasmine is. People hang on to every word that comes out of her mouth. She took one look at me and said we were going to be friends. And that was it.”
He says, “I’ve heard a variation of that before, but the thing that I don’t understand is how you stayed friends. People grow apart, especially during their college years.”
“You’re not wrong.” I let out a small laugh. “God, this is going to sound horrible, but I’ve dreaded coming to see Jasmine ever since college.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. It gets harder and harder each time to find a reason to come back.” I pause. “You asked me why I picked Kansas to live. I picked it because I knew it wasn’t a place that Jasmine would want to visit. When I’m there, I know I won’t have to see you and her together.”
He rubs his thumb over his bottom lip. “I had no idea.”
“How would you? Before this trip, we barely spoke to each other.”
“That’s my fault.”
“How so?”
He gives me a sheepish smile. “I’ve purposely been an ass to you so that you’d hate me.”
“But… why?”