Page 71 of The Fine Line
“That’s nearly a week in PR time,” Linda says. “We need to move fast.”
Caroline’s eyes glaze. She doesn’t speak.
And I still do nothing.
Not until she’s out of her chair and bolting down the hallway.
Then I can’t move fast enough.
“Cub! Please, hold on?—”
She whips around the second my hand touches her shoulder.
“Donottouch me,” she snaps, her voice cracking as the tears burst free.
“I’m sorry,” I say, hands up. “I just think we need to talk?—”
“Oh, you’re suddenly capable of speaking again?”
I flinch. “I’m sorry. Ijust froze.”
A tear slips down her cheek. She wipes it away before it even falls. “What a luxury to have that option.”
“Hey,” I say gently, following her. “Don’t you want to discuss this?”
“There’s no need.”
“What do you mean?”
“There’s no need to discuss anything with you because this only concerns me now. That was abundantly clear in there.”
“Not by me, it wasn’t.” I reach for her arm. She looks down. I let go. “Cub, I’m not leaving you alone in this.”
“Well, you might as well. I’ll be all alone soon enough, probably grinning through gritted teeth while asking some freshman point guard with three chin hairs and a 2.0 GPA how he ‘digs deep’ in the fourth quarter.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You heard them! That’s what’s left for me.”
“Why is that the only option?”
“Oh, sorry, you’re right. Maybe I’ll get lucky enough to get placed with a baseball team. Then I have the chance to die of boredom within the first week?—”
“No, I mean… why do you have to go at all?”
She laughs, bitter. “What part of that meeting didn’t you understand? We screwed up. There are only two solutions. And you said you don’t want to marry me, so?—”
“I never said that.”
She blinks. “But you?—”
“Baby Bear, it’s gonna be okay. Let’s just talk?—”
“No, Rhett. None of this is okay.” She swallows. “I can’t even look at you right now. You’ll have to get your amusement elsewhere.”
“Cub—”
“Rhett, my future as I know it is fucked. What would you know about that?”
