Page 35 of Arianna

“Senator Kenton steps out to attend the inauguration of the second Youth Center for under-resourced kids days after he inaugurated The Vivienne Kenton’s Children’s Mental Health Center in the South Shore area.”

“Yes, understood, boss.” Benjamin’s voice does not deter me from reading the entire piece written to make the senator of Chicago look like Saint Thomas of Aquinas.

I stare at the man that has taken over my thoughts. He looks like your typical politician, but there is something more. Everything about him feels larger than life. I take in his smile as he is cutting a red ribbon.

He is wearing a full suit, and his hair is slick back from his face, the same as the night at the beach. He looks powerful and intimidating but tamed.

So…handsome.

I never had any interest in men.

Most of the kids at school irritated me to no end, to the point I had no interest in them.

I was too busy trying not to drown that I never had the chance to be a girl. To date. To form long-lasting relationships. I became numb to it all.

Now… I cannot seem to stop my thoughts from wandering back to this much older, handsome, yet extremely infuriating man.

I agonize over the fact that he is both my savior and my villain.

Stop it…

Then I see the woman standing behind him with hearts in her eyes. One would look at her, and I see she’s a beautiful and sophisticated woman, hung up on the man she is looking at as if he is her moon and stars, but I only see a sad sack with cuckoo eyes.

However, why does the image of that age-appropriate and stunning woman next to him bother me? God, this is maddening. What is wrong with me? Him. That is what is wrong with me.

He dropped me off here with his head of security as if I was a dirty secret he didn’t care to deal with, and he looks happy. Happy to be back in his world, and I am here. Lost. Confused. I try not to feel miserable, but when you are alone, that bitch misery creeps in.

Then I think about how everyone is happy, except for me and the green monster who has been my only friend since childhood takes over.

Lost in my head, I hadn’t noticed Benjamin ended his call and is now looking at me while chewing on a piece of whole grain toast. He gets up from the table, goes to the kitchen, and opens a drawer before walking over to me and dropping some sort of brochure next to my plate.

Putting down the newspaper, I pick up the brochure.

A college brochure.

I do something I will regret later.

I tear up in front of a stranger who works for my enemy, but I cannot help it.

I never… Christ. How is this happening? Why? Is this a cruel joke?

“Fuck, kid.” Benjamin’s voice is oddly soft and gentle. I hate it just as much as I appreciate it. “I know this is not what you envisioned for yourself or what you hoped out of life, but it could’ve been worst, and before you bite my head off, I know it’s fucked up what your cunt of a father did but rise above it.” That makes me look up at the man I have been ignoring, as if I couldn’t be bothered by his presence. His brown eyes are kind, one thing I would have noticed if I gave myself a chance to get to know him. “Now, don’t be foolish and waste this second chance at life. Because that is precisely what Bastian is giving you. The life that your father stole from you. The boss is an asshole, but he is no villain. Not to you. Now, take this opportunity, make something out of yourself, and for fucks’ sake, make this easy for the both of us, yes? He will have my ass if something were to happen to you.”

He knocks the wind out of me with each word he says. I am too choked up to say anything. There is nothing to say really, so I hold on to the brochures close to my heart and keep the tears at bay.

Tears of joy…

I have never cried tears of joy before.

Tears of frustration, fear, and sadness? Yes. Never because my heart was happy.

Because my heart has never been happy…

Could this all be genuine? And I’m so jaded that I can’t see the good in this situation? I never thought any of this possible. Yes, I hoped, but it all seems so out of my reach. Never as simple as it is now.

So simple.

An impossible dream he has made possible without me having to fight or beg for it.

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