Page 30 of After Life
“I’d absolutely help you lure a honey badger into your vengeance plot if I were there.”
She sighed. “This whole fucking week’s been a nightmare,” she said, sounding small and tired. “I regret almost all of the choices I made that led me to think getting married was a good idea.”
“It’s not your fault the guy you married didn’t exist,” I said. “The Jacob Grant you thought he was, was just a front. He made him up.”
“Don’t say that too loud or his lawyer’s going to claim Jacob’s innocent of any wrongdoing because he’s not the man named in the charges.”
“Well,” I drawled, “If they go that route, it also means he has to drop his attempts to get money out of you because he’s not the man on the marriage certificate or the prenup.”
“Touché.”
“I have my moments.”
“So talk to me, favorite brother. My twin senses were tingling. There’s a disturbance in the Force. Something, something, Dark Side...”
“Ezra called?” I shook my head, even though she couldn’t see me. “I just got off the phone with him less than thirty minutes ago!”
“Texted. I think he’s drunk but figured I’d check on y’all anyway, just to be sure. What’s going on with Oscar that’s got Ezra in a tizzy? And why are you so calm if he’s so het up? And oh my god, a hurricane? Seriously? I saw on the news it’s heading right for y’all! Are you okay?”
“It’s just been a strange day all around.” I curled up on the armchair by the room’s window and told CeCe a bare-bones version of everything so far, starting with Hurricane Nelson apparently deciding to head our way instead of bouncing off the mainland further up the coast, and ending with Oscar’s strange new quirks.
“Good lord,” she muttered. “Where’s Oscar now?”
“Napping, downstairs in the study. He just looked so tired, I didn’t have the heart to suggest hauling himself up to bed for a nap.”
“Seriously, up until this year the most havoc you ever wreaked was the time you told Mother her toast points were dry during her Spring Fete. Now you’re seeing ghosts, fighting murderous ex boyfriends... Jules, I think Oscar might be a bad influence on you.”
“Ha fucking ha. And I’d think having a relationship that got me fired and blackballed from teaching for the foreseeable was far more havoc wreaking than telling Mother her canapés were bland.”
“That’s not entirely true, though. About the being blackballed from teaching.”
The silence was heavy, expectant.
“Who told?” I finally asked on a sigh. “I know it wasn’t Oscar.”
“A Professor Norman Charles contacted my office to verify you’re legit. Lee passed the call on to me after apparently info dumping all over the poor guy about your being on vacation, and we had a nice chat. He’s very keen to get your CV officially and set up a time to talk. Is that... is that something you want?”
The insecurity in her voice pained me. It reminded me of the time we were in fifth grade, and she had her first run-in with a bully aimed her way. But what did I do, Jules? Why do they hate me so much?
“I don’t think it is,” I said carefully, weighing the words on my tongue. “They seem eager though.” And it was true—I didn’t think it was what I wanted, but the temptation, the pull, was stronger than I wanted to admit. The idea of leaving what I was starting though... It gave me a twinge of anxiety. Oscar might say we’d be okay, and I might be excited to dive back into academia again, but how much of that would last?
NRE, Reggie’s memory whispered. That new relationship energy. More guys have fucked themselves over thinking the sidepiece is their one true love, but once that NRE wears off, the realization that they fucked up a good thing just for a rush of dopamine and a blowjob kicks in and they’re totally screwed.
Okay, he’d been talking about a mutual friend who was a serial monogamist and on his fourth engagement in two years, but I felt the comment could stand for this too.
“Mmm. I just want you to know,” CeCe said in a rush, “that you don’t have to stay. I’ll have Harrison figure out a way for you to break your contract if—”
“Hey! Slow down! I never said I wanted to leave, alright? The offer is flattering. And... okay, tempting.” More than I’d like to admit, really. “But I’m happy, Cec. I’m excited about this new part of me, I love working with Oscar and Ezra but if you tell Ezra I said that you’re getting one of those cheese and salami gift baskets for every birthday for the rest of your life.”
“I’m lactose intolerant.”
“Exactly. But no, I’m not leaving.”
Not yet. I didn’t think.
“Okay,” she said slowly. “Fuck, I need to go soon and meet with Tamara and Peter about this bullshit defamation suit Jacob’s trying to make stick. But listen, about the Oscar situation... Maybe you need to talk to Lisa.”
“Lisa? I was thinking Heinrich.”
