My stomach was in knots as I sat down in Alex’s classroom. I had been so nervous to see him, when in reality, I didn’t have any reason to be. I would simply sit in his classroom as I had so many times before. Before I ever introduced myself, I was just an anonymous student. I tried to go back to that time by sitting quietly and not drawing any attention to myself.

Alex said that he was making his internship announcement at the end of class. Though I feared that he might change his mind after our parents’ marriage, he gave me the impression that he was planning on going forward with his selection. Besides my own insecurities, I had no reason to think the job was anyone’s but mine. He didn’t know this, but after we left his office, his dad went on and on about how glad he was that I was getting the opportunity to work in the office. And, all of Alex’s superiors were seemingly excited to have me join them for the summer. I had to remind myself that my job status would not change, even if our relationship status did.

Throughout class, I tried to look over at him, just to make sure we were okay. I fully understood if he wanted to put an end to the sexual aspect of our relationship, but I had gained a valuable mentor and I wasn’t ready to be released into the world on my own. I still wanted to talk to him and get advice from one of the best in the business.

I completely spaced out Alex’s lecture. Since I had a very clear career path, I didn’t really worry about fallback plans. I would do my internship throughout the summer, start business school in the fall, and hopefully graduate in a few years with lots of job prospects. For the first time since I started college, I felt relieved. Everything I had been working toward had all paid off. And, with my new stepfather’s generosity, I wouldn’t have to live like a poor person for the next few years. As cynical as I was about their relationship, I hoped it would last long enough for it to pay the bills.

Toward the end of class, Alex grabbed his stack of papers and called out names. He handed out the essays, looking uncharacteristically nervous or sickly. His usually bronzed face looked ashen. I figured he was either hungover or short on sleep. I’d been feeling the same way, too.

When he gave me mine, he didn’t even look at my face. I was a little confused, but then remembered that he was about to give me an internship, and didn’t want to make it look like I had to do anything extra to get it. In reality, I had put in overtime for this award and felt as though I went above and beyond to deserve it. I dealt with his poor behavior and bad attitude, stressed over every detail at the charity dinner, and put up a lot of convincing arguments.

I looked at the top of the paper, and it only contained one short sentence in Alex’s messy handwriting, next to the large A.

Great job, as always.

I smiled to myself. Praise from Alex was rare, no matter how minimal it was. I’d have to take it.

“Now,” he said. “I’m going to announce the summer intern. I don’t want to discuss it now, because it’s not the time or the place, and I have a lot to do at the moment. I’ll just say the name, and the winner can expect a welcome packet from the HR department in the mail in the following week. I understand that many of you already have jobs lined up and summer plans settled, so hopefully it won’t make or break your summer.”

I wrung my hands, wondering if I should act surprised when I heard my name, or just act casual. I was practically bouncing in my seat. I was ready to graduate and dive head first into some real work.

“The new summer intern is Kevin McNamara. Class is dismissed.”

I was frozen for a minute. There must have been some mistake. I had clinched that position over a week ago, but it wasn’t my name that was called. Everyone else got up and mumbled to each other while some other student smiled like an idiot. Even Alex packed up his things to leave.

Feeling tears welling up in my eyes, I pushed past my classmates toward the door. I didn’t want anyone to see me cry over Alex and his stupid internship. I felt horribly betrayed by someone I was beginning to trust.

“Hey,” Alex muttered as he discreetly tried to pass through the doorway beside me. “Call me later. I want to explain what happened.”

I shook my head. I already knew what had happened, and I didn’t need his poor excuse of an apology. I stormed out of the building and walked briskly back to my dorm to sob in peace.

Luckily, Carol wasn’t home when I got back. I didn’t want her to tell me that she told me this would happen. She was right, and I had been too naïve to see it. I felt like such an idiot for thinking that I could manipulate Alex Rye into getting what I wanted. Instead, I allowed him to play me.

In my room, I let my tears flow freely. I had tried to put on a tough face while everything around me threatened to blow up in my face. I fought back when Alex had been rude to me. I stayed optimistic when my mom sprung her surprise marriage on me, when I could have potentially talked her out of making a terrible mistake. Instead, the universe continued to play cruel tricks on me while I pretended like I was in control.

Once I finally started to calm down, I heard my phone buzz. Out of instinct, I checked it, to find it was from Alex.

I know you’re probably very upset with me, but I really want to talk to you. Meet me at the Millennium hotel today. Let me know when you’ll be arriving. I can’t stay all day, but I’ll wait as long as it takes. I’m sorry.

“Fat chance,” I said to myself. I was going to make him wait there all day expecting me, just like he made me wait around, expecting to have work this summer. He deserved worse, but if I could provide him with a little inconvenience, it would make me feel better. Besides, if he wanted to speak to me so desperately, he would come to me and grovel at my feet, not make me take a cab to a fancy hotel and watch him check out bartenders and sip expensive drinks.

I heard my phone buzz again, and this time I ignored it. I was going to let him sweat it out all day. For all I cared, he could assume I was dead.

Then, it kept ringing, so I decided to turn it off. However, I realized that the persistent calls were from my mother. I called her back, to hear her sobbing harder than I had been.

“Mom, what’s wrong?” I asked, all of the most horrible scenarios going through my head. I imagined any number of my relatives to be dead and it made me feel sick.

“It’s Winston,” she managed to blubber out.

“What happened to Winston?” I asked, my heart pounding.

“Nothing,” she wailed. “It’s what he’s done to me!”

“Oh, Mom,” I said, pitying the poor woman. I hadn’t even had the chance to tell her what I had learned from Alex. “What did he do?”

“I caught him in bed with his maid,” she cried. “I went out to go shopping, but halfway there, I realized I forgot my new credit card. I turned around and came back to his apartment, but he was screwing some young thing. We’ve been married for less than a week, Rebecca. I loved him. Why did he do this to me?”

I wanted to start crying all over again, but I needed to be strong for my mother. “It’s not your fault,” I said. “He has a reputation for doing that sort of thing. Where are you?”

“I’m on my way back to Hazelwood,” she said. “I can’t be in the city right now. I can’t see or speak to Winston, I’m so upset. I just want to stay in my own home until I can sort this out.”

“Do you need me to come home?” I asked.

“No, I really don’t. You have school to finish and this is my problem. Perhaps if I hadn’t done this so hastily, I wouldn’t be in this problem.”

She was right about that, but I wasn’t going to say it.

“Are you sure you’re fine being there alone?” I asked.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. In fact, I think I would like a little alone time. I’ll call you later. Sorry for dragging you into this mess. I know it’s already weird with your internship and everything.”

With all that had been going on with my mom, I had momentarily forgotten about the internship debacle. I wasn’t going to bring it up now. Instead, I felt a fire boiling inside of me, threatening to explode at any moment.

“Don’t be sorry,” I said. “It’s not your fault. It’s these Rye men. They can’t be trusted.”

“You’ve got that right,” she sniffled. “Thanks for talking to me. I already feel a little better. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye,” I said, before hanging up the phone. I clutched it tightly in my hand. My nerves absolutely on fire.

I decided that maybe after all, I would have a chat with Alex. I didn’t want to meet with him so I could hear his side of the story, but to give him hell for everything he and his father had done to ruin my happy family.

I wiped my tears, slipped on my shoes, and went looking for a cab. It was time to make Alex Rye pay.