Page 66 of Safer Alone
I hear him yell out to Jess that I will be helping with the move.
“Sounds good, Ange, thanks for that.”
“You’re welcome. By the way, I have some news to tell you.”
I don’t have to wait long for him to answer.
“Oooh, news, hey? Tell me it’s a boyfriend.”
I smile into the phone, Liam is so easy to talk to.
“Indeed it is a boyfriend. His name is Elliot and he lives in New York. It’s super early in the relationship but I spent the weekend with him at his place. We have a lot in common. I would really like for you to meet him so you can let me know what you think.”
I pause before voicing my real concern.
“He runs in the same circles as Dad, so I think it will come out eventually who I am.”
Liam knows everything about me, about my entire past in New York and what that means.
“I get it Angie, you’re worried he will think differently about you when he finds out your loaded, but if he runs in the same circles as John then I’m guessing he probably has a fair bit of money himself. Am I wrong?”
“He owns his own business and is very successful. And from what Wikipedia says, he is super wealthy, way more so than I.”
Liam lets this sink in before continuing.
“Angie, are you talking about Elliot Sands?. The guy who made his fortune in commercial real estate?”
I can’t believe he figured out who Elliot was just from his first name, and the fact he runs in the same circles as my dad.
“Yeah, the very same Elliot Sands. Do you know him?”
What if they know each other. What if he knows something about him that I should know?
“I don’t know him exactly. I know who he is though, our parents know each other and if his parents know my parents then you can bet your bottom dollar that he knows who your father is. My dad isn’t as big of a fish as your dad is in the game.”
Liam’s dad, Robert, is an architect just like my own father, except my dad has gotten a lot more high-profile jobs then his. However, the jobs that Robert has got have been multimillion dollar building designs.
This is why I needed to speak to Liam, I needed to tell him all about Elliot. He still has connections back in New York, one conversation and I’m ready to bail. He could find out my secret. I ask Liam the one question I truly need answered, answered by the one person who I trust the most in this world.
“Should I tell him who I am?”
“Angie, if it were me, I would tell him. It’s better if he hears it from you than finding out from someone else.” There is a pause. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Angie. You have money, so what?”
He is right, I know he is, it’s only money at the end of the day. I just like the way I get treated when people don’t think I am entitled to anything. I get treated like normal.
“Have you told him about Dylan?”
It takes me by surprise that he would ask this question, after all he knows every single detail of what happened to me.
“No, I had a nightmare though, I called out his name in my sleep. He asked who he was, I told him he was my ex and that he was physically abusive.”
Liam is quiet, no doubt processing what he has just heard
“You slept with him?”
“We shared a bed. He slept on top of the covers with a blanket. We laid next to each other and talked, and got to know each other. He told me he is waiting for marriage, just like I am.”
Liam makes a grunting noise.
