Page 114 of True Colors

“No, Mom,” I protest. “It’s the right fucking thing to do.”

“Exactly!” Dad chuckles. “You aren’t as dumb as you look, and thank God for that. Luther, you’re right, this isn’t about reconciliation, it’s about accountability.”

Well, at least they don’t think I’m a complete screw-up.

“But you don’t get another chance if—and that’s a big if—you win her back,” Mom warns.

“I know.”

Mom gets up and pats my cheek. “This is how you grow up, Luther. Not when things go right—but when you don’t look away from what you broke.”

After a beat, I grin, looking into her kind eyes. “You’ll like her.”

She chuckles. “I already do.”

“Can we go home now?” Dad asks. “I have an early meeting with China.”

My parents keep a place in Nob Hill. Since Ria lives in the city, they’re here often, and it’s easier for them to have an apartment rather than bouncing between hotels.

Mom lets out a satisfied hum. “Yes, we can. I think our work is done.” Then, she drills her eyes into mine. “Now, go, and become the kind of man who is worthy of Anouk’s trust…a second time. The first time was easy; you had no baggage. This time…well, that’s what separates the men from the boys.”

CHAPTER 27

Anouk

Isee the meeting invite, and the petty bitch inside me wants to decline. They didn’t want me for the board meeting, so why do they want me for an internal project meeting, huh?

“Don’t do it,” Dot warns as she leans against the doorway to my cubicle.

I turn to look at her and give her the best puppy dog face I can conjure up. “Do what?”

She gives me a dry look, barely hiding her irritation. “Decline the invitation or not show up after accepting the invite.”

“Why not?” I’m pouting, which is unusual, but I’m having a week, so can anyone really blame me?

Dot chuckles. “Luther wants to talk to the team, regroup after the…well, disastrous board meeting.”

The petty bitch in me did a happy dance when Pallavi told me all about how the presentation went south because Erin just couldn’t handle it.

Sweet, sweet revenge.

That’s my model and data, bitch, and you’re just not smart enough to talk about it. You’re a project manager, so stick to that, alright?

“He’s probably just going to make excuses, blah, blah,” I say, but I’m not sure.

The man who came to my place last night, contrite as hell, I don’t think he’s going to just sweep everything under the rug.

But trust for me is on low supply.

“Come on, aren’t you curious?” Dot asks, mischief in her eyes.

I think about it for a moment. “Yeah, I am,” I confess.

So, I walk with Dot and Pallavi to the meeting room—the same one where we met the first day Luther Grant the Great took over as CEO of HelixSphere and gave me a hard time. I wonder what this meeting room has in store for us today.

I know, a part of me is playing the cocky bitch to protect myself. Anger is an armor, while grief is an invitation to more agony. I want to stay angry, so I don’t have to feel the agony of ending my relationship with Luther, of missing him. It’s just been a couple of days, but I have phantom pains, like I lost a limb.

For three months, we spent almost all of our free time together, and the emptiness of not having him is vast.