Page 29 of Roses, Pearls, and Hot Summer Nights
I rolled my eyes at his nonsense. I knew I would fit in, but I didn’t need false flattery. “I feel like I’m playing dress up. You guys were built for this world, but this? This isn’t who I am. Not really.”
Jeremy led me toward the front door before answering. “You think we don’t feel like we’re wearing costumes most of the time? I personally believe everyone is faking it in some way shape or form, whether they want to admit it or not. If everyone is dressing up and playing pretend, what makes you so sure you’re the one who doesn’t fit in?”
I considered the idea, weighing it against my experiences.It was something to contemplate, especially since it might be useful to keep my anxiety at bay.
Barrett sighed as we stepped into the elevator. “Actually, I think we should start getting used to our roles, even if they don’t feel like they fit. I get it—I don’t want to do what they want, either. Do you believe I want to go to law school? Still, I’ll probably get used to it, and I’m sure I’ll be good at it. Eventually, I’ll get so used to wearing suits every day, they’ll feel like they were made for me. Once the costume pushes into my cells and takes me over, then I’ll become the thing they intended.”
Julian pressed the button for the doorman on the wall of the elevator and rolled his eyes theatrically. “And I’m the one who wants to write? Lovely description there, Brother.”
He might be impressed by the word choice, but I couldn’t help feeling sad for him, for me, for all of us. Maybe he was right, but that didn’t make it fair. I glanced between the three brothers, trying to be objective about them. I didn’t normally have a lot of sympathy for poor little rich boys who had every advantage in the world, but somehow, I found some for them. I should dwell on the feeling. Maybe it wasn’t fair to judge people solely on shoes, ignoring the fact they too had hopes, dreams and could get stomped on as easily as me? I squirmed where I stood, uncomfortable with my own introspection. Could their shoes mean rich but troubled? I glanced at the white sneakers again, wondering if I stumbled on a whole other category to add to my shoe theory.
“You don’t have to do what they have planned for you,” Jeremy said, snapping me out of my thoughts. My gaze shot to him, but he stared at Barrett. “You want to teach? Teach. I’ll handle the family career thing. I can run things. That’s always been my plan, anyway. Besides, I’m smarter than you are.”
Julian laughed. “No one is telling me what I should or shouldn’t do. You two are so bent to their will. Be your own men.”
“I think it’s the nature of our life,” Barrett snapped but then he shook his head. “Never mind.”
The elevator door opened, so we stepped into the lobby. Theirs seemed even more ostentatious than most of the lobbies in the neighborhood. White marble glinted under terrifically high ceilings, dominance and power screaming down at me from above.
“Back fast,” the doorman greeted them with a smile. “The taxi is waiting for you.”
How did they know we needed one?I realized it the moment I came up with the question. Julian must’ve hit the button in the elevator, triggering the alert for the doorman to arrange a car. I pinched my lips, finding it a helpful service despite myself. Our building didn’t have it, but itwouldbe handy.
They all thanked him, but Barrett stopped. As the rest of us almost made it to the door, I heard him say, “This is Alatheia Winder. I would like you to add her to my safe visitor list. She can come and go as she wishes.”
“Yes, sir. We’ll need a copy of her ID for the file, though.”
He glanced toward me. “Do you have it on you now?”
I shifted my weight from foot to foot automatically, used to the problem, if not happy about it. My parents weren’t ever concerned with government paperwork, or so they always said when I asked. Eventually, one of my aunts or uncles found my birth certificate, but that was it so far. “I have a birth certificate.”
It was somewhere. I knew my aunt had it.
Barrett’s eyes glinted, but he only asked the doorman, tilting his head, “Will that do?”
Julian ducked back into the building, surprising me as he said, “Cab is waiting and the driver isn’t very patient.”
“I’m just getting Alatheia added to my list.”
His brother brightened up, tapping the door frame with one hand. “Good call. Add her to mine, too, while you’re at it. Jer’s, too.”
“The birth certificate is unusual, but it will do. Do you have a passport? That would work instead.”
My lips pinched, as my family would eventually have to figure that part out. If they actually intended to send me abroad, anyway, I would need a passport. “Not yet.”
“I’ll have to check with the building manager,” the doorman began, shifting his weight from foot to foot nervously.
Barrett stepped away from him, disinterested. “Let me know how that goes.” He slid his arm around me before he led me out the door. “We own five apartments in this building, so don’t stress it either way. No one is going to tell us we can’t have any visitor we want.”
“That’s nice, but it’s probably for the best if I get buzzed in if I ever visit. It’s not like it’s inconvenient, and it gives you time to be ready for visitors.”
I slid into the waiting taxi before him. Both twins looked up from scrolling on their phones as I entered.
“True,” Barrett said, continuing our conversation as soon as he sat and closed the door. “But what if you want to come to my room at two in the morning? If I’m asleep, I want to make sure you can still sneak in to get to me and make bad decisions.”
Jeremy groaned. “Kind of presumptuous, don’t you think? Assuming she would want to sneak in with you and not me. Especially humorous, since you’re leaving for the dorms.”
Barrett groaned. “I didn’t think of that, but you’re not wrong. I’ll have to spend a year in the dorm, but then I’ll be back.”
