Page 76 of Finding My Charming

He stared down at me with his hands on his waist. “Are you ill?” His tone was not nearly as stern as I was expecting. In fact, he seemed concerned.

“Kinda.” My eyes closed again while I considered my excuse. Fatigue? Cramps? Dad hated it whenever my sisters or I said anything about girl problems, as he called them.

“What’s wrong?” The typing next to me stopped, and I knew Sherrie had joined the discussion.

If I wasn’t careful, half the office would soon be involved. I slowly opened my eyes and looked up at him.

His brows were knitted together as if he was either trying to solve a hard problem or was practicing his intimidating-lawyer face.

“What isn’t would be a shorter list.”

I peeked at him again and saw his eyes dart behind me and knew he was asking for backup.

Sherrie moved closer and placed an arm around my shoulders. “Talk to us, Elle. We can’t help if we don’t know the problem.” Her voice was soothing and motherly.

Just hearing it made me soften. “Ari’s going to be far away this year, and we won’t see each other every day or even every week. I don’t know which guy was the one to make the necklace change, and dating two guys is incredibly stressful. I have less than two weeks to figure this out though, otherwise I’ll ruin April’s life. And—” I paused, not knowing how much further to go. Shall I just lay everything out in the open now or stop with just the few, more pressing issues?

“And?” they both asked almost at the same time.

“—and I don’t know if I want to study law!”

I hadn’t meant to shout it for the whole office to hear, but once I decided to let it out, my mind and body needed to purge it fast, and, for some reason, loudly. I raised my eyes to find my dad’s.

His face of worry had turned to confusion, and I felt Sherrie’s arm tighten around my shoulders. I knew she was now standing behind me, and I didn’t know yet if it was to show she was supporting me or wanted to have a good position to move me when my dad lost his mind.

I watched his face for even the tiniest hint of what he was thinking, but he was good at keeping on a mask. I wouldn’t know anything until he was ready to tell me. He opened his mouth then closed it before taking one step away from me and stopped.

We were all frozen for almost a minute before he suddenly turned and rushed into his office, slamming the door closed behind him.

Sherrie and I both blew out the breaths we’d been holding, and I turned to look at her. “That went better than I expected.”

She shot me a two-second smile then shook her head. “I think he’s just in shock right now. You’ve never mentioned this to him before, have you?”

I shook my head. “I never actually told him I wanted to study law, but when he started suggesting it, I didn’t say no either. It seemed so far away I didn’t think I’d worry about it for years, and suddenly registration deadlines are coming up, and I have to face it.”

“I understand, Elle. You and your dad have always been partners. Two peas in a pod. But now you’re growing up, and you have your own interests. I’m sure he’ll support whatever you choose. Just give him some time to adjust.”

I nodded and took a deep breath. Even though I’d shocked my dad into silence, I felt better knowing the truth was out there. We could now come up with a plan that was more interesting and exciting to me, and we could be partners again with a new goal.

“Any ideas of what you’d rather do?” She was giving me the look like she was my grandma and loved me unconditionally, which was exactly what I needed in that moment.

“Not one clue.”

She burst out laughing and scooted over to give me a hug. “Don’t you worry about it. You’re very talented and have plenty of time to figure it out. You just need to focus on all the guys in your life and sorting out that situation. The rest can wait.”

I hugged her tightly, trying to hang onto her strength. She’d always been a rock for me, and I knew she would help me now. I just needed to find my direction and follow it.

i woke with a start, my eyes darting to my clock. It was eight thirty. On a Tuesday! I should have been at work a half hour ago! I looked around my room, still dazed. What happened to my alarm? It’d been set. I’d checked twice before giving into sleep. I even had a second emergency one. I picked up my phone from the nightstand and found a sticky note on the screen.

I frowned as I read the message. Evidently, Dad had thought I needed a personal day. Part of me was excited by the idea of a day of freedom, but the other part thought that just maybe he wasn’t ready to face me.

I had disappointed him, nothing worse in the world. My eyes couldn’t look away from his note. He’d told me to relax and take some time for myself. It felt like he was firing me or something. As much as I hated the idea of giving up my summer, I had actually enjoyed working at his office. Mostly, I liked hanging out with Sherrie, but getting some job experience at the same time wasn’t all bad.

The phone buzzed in my hands, and I nearly fell out of my bed. I tore off the note and checked the screen. Grandma was calling. That’s it. This is all a ridiculous dream. It certainly made things easier to comprehend.

I finally answered the call and hesitantly brought the phone to my ear. “Hello?”

“Elise, dear. Are you ready?”