Page 85 of Hawthorne

“Haha,” he mocks. “Not well at first. You know how they are. Stubborn. And he thought he’d be working until death came knocking on his door. He was angry that we’d taken the only thing that kept him sane—his words, not mine. At that point, not one of us was sane, worried sick about him.”

“I know. Alzheimer’s can be brutal.”

“He's doing better now that he’s not as busy, but it only gives him an excuse to try and control everything I do,” he sighs, and I nod in understanding. We may not have financial problems in our society, but we surely have other kinds of headaches. “And you? How have things been ever since your aunt passed away? I'm sorry I wasn’t there. I was in Greece back then.”

Ah, yes. I remember his condolences through text. Even if he was here, he wouldn’t need to go. It was more of a show than a true memorial. The only good thing that came out of it, and her death, was reconnecting with Camilla.

“Fine. I have been much better since I’m not living under the same roof as my mother,” I confess.

“Ah, Vincent Hawthorne is free as a bird now, without the overbearing mummy.”

“I don’t think I will ever be free; you know that better than most,” I sigh. “Now, let’s stop addressing depressing shit. How are we going to endure the next five hours in here?”

“Oh!” His face lights up as if he had won the lottery. What is he plotting this time around? He was the troublemaker in our college years, so whenever his expression lights up, it’s more of a menace than fun. “Things always go better if we have something to look up to.” He smirks. “How about we crash my baby brother's after-party after this?”

“I feel too old for after-parties,” I sigh, my mind drifting to Camillaagain.

I am not old for anything, but I haven't been to one of those since my college days, almost a decade ago.

The only thing I am looking forward to tonight is Camilla and a bed in a locked bedroom.

But I checked her program. She has dinner and will be going out tonight with her college mates. It will be a while until I can go knocking on her bedroom door.

“Why is he doing an after-party?” I let my curiosity get the best of me.

“The loser is reuniting with old friends,” he scoffs. “He is at Kingston University’s reunion. He couldn’t stop talking about it and seeing his friends and his ex again. Sounded like a kid who was given a lollipop. So, why not have the big and cooler brother crash his party and steal the attention? Especially with the most famous duke on his tail.”

Kingston’s University is where Camilla studied.What are the odds...

I can always go with Oscar and see if I see her there…by chance. I am such a loser,but fuck yes. I want to go, now.

“Such an attention seeker. Using me to get ladies,” I joke.

“Like the good old times.” I can’t help but laugh at his blunt honesty and clink my glass with his before drinking the rest of the whisky.

We fall into slow conversation, catching up with all of the years we didn’t see each other. Making the slow hours of the night more bearable, helping time run faster to the destination I am craving.

Camilla’s arms.

Maybe it’s not going to be such a long night, after all.

25

Camilla White

“Ithink I’ll call it a night and head to my hotel,” I confess.

“No way, Cami,” Rachel groans. “Charlie was all over you tonight. He invitedyouto his after-party. There’s no way we’re missing it!”

While it has been good to reconnect with Rachel, it’s been weird tonight. I don’t think I’ve changed much since my time studying, but everyone around me surely has.

Charlie is one of them. We dated for two years, my freshman and sophomore years. We met after crossing paths in the library, where I was finishing a project with Rachel. Ever since, he’d flirt with me often until he got the courage to ask me out, and we started dating. Most of our free time back then was spent together.

As he could, being in the same circle as Vincent required certain attendances from him that I was never part of. But I was fine with it, I’ve never wanted to be part of that world anyway. What mattered to me was that he never treated me differently.

Still, I knew what we had would never be something for the long haul.Just like now…Weirdly, I was okay with that back then.

A completely different reality from the present.

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