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“Like hell it is,” Xavier says and crosses the room to me. “I’m your boyfriend.”
I rest my hand on his bicep. “You guys need to calm down. You don’t need any more bad press. I can handle this.”
Xavier grabs my hand. “I need to talk to you for a second.” We go to his office, and he shuts the door. “Did you hear him when he said those things?”
I sigh. “I did.”
“Figured. You let him speak that way about you in my house and didn’t tell me? Thank fuck I kicked him out, but we’re a team, Clara.”
I stare at him for a beat. “I know that, but you didn’t need to hear it. You were already upset, and I don’t care what that guy thinks of me. His opinion of me does not matter.”
“I’m glad you feel that way, but I want us to conquer these things together.”
I chuckle and shake my head.
“What?”
“You want me to tell you this type of thing so you can handle it for us. Just like the library extension, that was very Team Xavier and Clara.”
He frowns. “That’s different.”
“Is it?” I raise my eyebrows.
“I said I was sorry.”
“And I forgave you, but this is my fight, not yours. But I will let you know what happens when I decide what to do. I want to know one thing.”
He waits for me to continue. Now that we’re just putting it all out there, I might as well ask the question that’s been nagging me for a while.
“Do you expect me to follow you to San Francisco and not work anymore? Or even when you’re off-season, to not be a librarian?”
“Yeah, I thought something was on your mind.” He wraps his arms around my waist. “You’re kind of transparent when you’re stewing over something. I want you to do whatever you want. But the option is there if you don’t want to work. I’m more than happy to take care of you.”
“I want to work,” I assure him.
“Okay.” He kisses my forehead. “Now, I’m going to be gone a day or so.” He unhooks himself from me and starts to walk away, but I grab his arm, pulling him back.
“Please just give me a chance to handle this first. If my way fails, then you can go to New York and do whatever you want.”
He stares at me for a long moment then nods. “This goes against everything I was taught when I was a kid.”
“I know. Just give me an hour.”
“And you want me to go out there?” He thumbs in the direction of the door.
“Yep.”
“You owe me.” He kisses my forehead one more time and steps away from me. “No clown outfit for you.”
He opens the door and leaves, shutting it behind him.
I sit at Xavier’s desk and use his computer. I start typing a letter, hoping that fighting words with words is the best solution for this situation.
For an hour, I type, delete, and type again. I release all of my feelings on that page and hope it’s received well. Then I send it to a few news stations, including TMZ. I send it to Nikki, who I know can get it in the right hands, asking her to distribute it as she sees fit. And I tag Mark in every post I make.
Then I sit back and wait to see what happens now that the pin is out of the grenade.
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