Chapter Twenty-Six
Chance
“Are you still mad at me?” I asked.
“What do you think?” Sophie’s tone was huffy.
I smiled. “Considering how long you can hold a grudge, I’m guessing you’re still a little miffed.”
“I wouldn’t use that particular word,” she replied. “But I am annoyed…yes.”
“It was only a week,” I justified.
“You went to Paris,” Sophie argued. “With a woman, during Christmas, and you never told me.”
“Would it have made a difference if I’d gone with a man?”
“Don’t get cute with me,” she grumbled. “It won’t work.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” I said, deciding to be the bigger man here. “I just… I guess I didn’t want to have to answer your questions.”
“That much is painfully obvious,” she huffed. “But since you’re calling me now I assume you’re ready to give me answers.”
I smiled. “You know me so well.”
“Where did you meet this girl?”
“Uh…at the university.”
“Go figure. I can’t believe you’re dating a college professor,” Sophie said.
“Yeah…not quite.”
“What does that mean?”
“She’s not a college professor.”
There was a small pause, and then I heard a bubble of sound from Sophie. “Don’t tell me she’s a student.”
“She’s a senior.”
“Oh God, Chance,” Sophie said, in an exasperated voice. “You’re sleeping with one of your students.”
“A new semester just started,” I informed her. “Technically, she’s not my student anymore.”
“Geez, I was under the impression that this was an important relationship.”
I frowned. “What makes you think it’s not?”
Another pause. “This girl, your student… It’s serious between the two of you?”
I took a deep breath. “I think so.”
“You think so?” Sophie sounded amazed.
“Okay, okay…it’s pretty serious.”
“How serious?” she demanded.
“I took her to Paris and… I’m in love with her.”
There was a couple of seconds of silence on the other line. “My brother’s in love?” she asked, and I could sense her softening at the news.
“It seems that way.”
“I never thought I’d see the day,” Sophie breathed. “I mean… Tony kept telling me it would happen sooner or later. No one goes through their entire lives without falling in love, but… It’s still surprising with your track record. Didn’t you always maintain that monogamous relationships were an archaic tradition set up by a society that wanted to limit and suppress natural human instinct and desire?”
“I might have believed that at one point.”
“Wow…”
“She’s an amazing woman.”
“She’d have to be, wouldn’t she?” Sophie reasoned. “To take the most passionate bachelor I know and turn him into the poster boy for commitment.”
“I wouldn’t say I qualify as the poster boy for anything.”
“Fair point,” she said, and her tone was amused and curious. “What’s her name?”
“Natalie,” I said.
“How young is she?”
I rolled my eyes. “She’s twenty-one. I actually met her on her birthday last year.”
“Twenty-one,” Sophie repeated. “What do you talk about with her?”
“Everything,” I said. “She’s young, but she’s the smartest person I know—”
“Excuse me?”
“With the exception of you of course,” I smiled.
“Thank you,” she replied. “Continue.”
“She’s well traveled, well read, hardworking, and unbelievably mature. She’s an old soul.”
Sophie’s voice got soft for a moment. “Dad used to say that about you.”
“There was so much I didn’t know about Dad,” I said, feeling a little prickle of sadness in my gut. “There was so much I didn’t bother to learn. Like the fact that he was actually proud of me.”
“How could you ever doubt that?” she asked. “Dad and you were nothing alike, but he always admired your sense of adventure. He loved how brave you were.”
“Is that why he would talk to Tommy about me?”
“I was angry with you for a long time,” she admitted. “Your need to escape, your need to get away from the family… It reminded me of Mom. And because Dad couldn’t talk to me about you, he started talking to Tommy. I just never realized how much.”
I nodded. “You know, I didn’t start traveling to get away from you or Dad,” I said.
“I know that now,” Sophie said. “But at the time, it just reminded me of her.”
“I know,” I said. “I reminded myself of her.”
“Is that why you became a nomad?”
“In a way.” I nodded. “I think I was trying to figure myself out.”
“And did you?”
“I’m starting to,” I said. “It’s ironic, really; I had to come back home to understand myself a little better.”
“And, what did you figure out in the end?” Sophie asked.
“I was running from what I thought I was scared of,” I admitted. “I was scared to love like Dad, only to be left behind. But I realized something only recently…”
“What was that?”
“It wasn’t Dad that I was scared to become,” I replied. “It was Mom.”
“Huh?”
“You said it yourself; hell, everyone said it. I took after Mom. I was most like her. I guess I figured that one day I would get married like she did, realize that it wasn’t enough for me, and leave my family. And knowing how much it had hurt when she left us, I knew I did not want to do that to someone else. So, I decided to skip the family and just…travel.”
“That’s why you were so against relationships?” Sophie asked in amazement. “Because you were scared that you’d do what Mom did to us?”
“Yes.” I nodded.
“Wow,” she breathed. “So, what changed?”
“Natalie,” I said. “Natalie changed everything. She made me realize that I was more like Dad than even I realized. I don’t have it in me to do what Mom did. I’m not scared anymore.”
“That’s quite a revelation,” Sophie said. “But I’m glad you finally realized it.”
“Me, too.”
“So, when do I get to meet her?”
I had been expecting the question, and it didn’t bother me anymore. “Soon,” I promised.
Sophie seemed content with that answer. “I’ll hold you to it.”
“I have no doubt you will,” I laughed. “Now I’ve got to get going. Natalie’s meeting me by my car and we’re heading home.”
“Strange…”
“What is?” I asked.
“Just life,” Sophie said simply. “See you soon, little brother.”
I smiled. “See you soon, big sis.”
I hung up and made my way to my car. I had parked just outside the campus, far away from my allocated spot in the faculty parking lot to avoid being seen. On the days that Natalie accompanied me home, I always made sure to park somewhere discrete. It was a longer walk than usual, but I enjoyed walking, especially on cool, crisp days like this one.
I turned the corner where my car was parked and spied Natalie standing on the sidewalk next to the car. I paused immediately, realizing that her face looked a little troubled. I realized in the next second that she was not alone. The man with her shifted his position, and I recognized him as Jason.
They looked to be having a conversation, but it didn’t look as though Natalie wanted to be having one at all. Her body language was stiff, tense, and nervous. Jason, on the other hand, looked much more self-assured than I’d ever seen him before. But he also looked slightly aggressive. I hung back, wanting to see what he wanted with Natalie.
I was annoyed at how persistent the boy had turned out to be. When he had first come to me asking for help with women, I had judged him to be harmless, but now I wasn’t so sure. Natalie had made it clear to him in the past that she wasn’t interested, and it seemed he still hadn’t gotten the message. As they moved a little closer to the car, I could hear them a little better.
“Jason, please… I don’t mean to be rude, and I certainly don’t want to hurt you, but I’m just not interested in you. I’ll never be interested in you, and I don’t know how much plainer to make myself. I just want you to leave me alone.”
“I don’t get it,” he said, shaking his head in frustration. “We would be so good together.”
“Based on what?” she demanded. “You barely know me.”
“I know you,” he said. “I know you better than you think I do.”
He said it in a strange tone. Apparently, Natalie noticed the inflection, too. “What does that mean?”
“I know that you and Missy go for lunch every Thursday between classes. I know you like to visit the library on Mondays for a couple of hours in the night. I know you like to sit on South Lawn under the big oak by the drinking fountain and do your research. I know all that and a hundred other little details that no one else does.”
I froze, and it seemed Natalie did, too. “Have you been stalking me?” she demanded, and I detected a note of panic in her voice.
“Life is so fucking unfair; you know that?” Jason said, without answering her question. “It’s just so fucking unfair. I’m a nice guy. I’m a good guy, and we would be so perfect together. I would treat you really good, but no, you refuse to give me even a chance. One chance is all I’m asking for. Why is that so hard for you to do?”
“Please, please, Jason,” she said imploringly. “Just leave me alone.”
She tried to turn away from him, but he reached out and grabbed her by the arm. He spun her around to face him, and his face turned hard and angry. “I don’t know why I’m trying so hard with you,” he spat. “You’re just a whore; a cheap, worthless whore.”
I had heard enough. Furious, I rushed towards them. Jason didn’t see me coming until I was shoving him away from Natalie. He dropped her hand and turned to me with venom in his eyes. “You,” he said.
“I’m going to report you to the cops for stalking and harassment,” I informed him, putting myself between him and Natalie.
Jason puffed himself up and looked me in the eye. “Oh yeah?” he asked confidently.
“Yeah,” I said, a little thrown by his reaction.
“If you do, I’ll report you to Dean Mueller,” Jason said haughtily. “I’m sure he’ll be very interested to know that one of his staff is fucking a student. I believe it’s against university policy, which means you will lose your job.”
I gritted my teeth, and my hands balled into fists. “You think I give a fuck?” I asked. “I’ll find another job.”
Jason’s eyes narrowed. “It’s very noble of you not to give a shit about yourself. But what about Natalie, huh? Do you give a shit about her future?”
I hesitated a little, and Jason’s eyes lit up, as he realized that I didn’t know the whole story. “You don’t know,” he laughed mockingly. “If a student and teacher are caught having a relationship, the teacher is fired, and the student is expelled.”
I felt Natalie tense beside me, and I felt anger course through my body. I moved forward, ready to punch Jason in the face but Natalie held me back. “No,” she whispered to me.
“Jason, please,” she said, turning to him. “Just leave me alone, okay? If you leave me alone, there’ll be no reason to report you.”
His face was contorted into an ugly expression. He had the upper hand, and he knew it. “I’m warning both of you,” he said. “Don’t fuck with me. Just watch yourselves.”
Then he turned and walked away. I glanced at Natalie and realized she was pale with worry. I clenched my fists again, shaking with the anger of knowing that I was powerless to protect her.