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We sat by the window so she could watch the river glitter in the moonlight. I ordered her a glass of wine. She’d never had it before so I got the most expensive red blend they had.
She loved it.
I had a lean cut of steak and steamed vegetables. She had lasagna, two more glasses of red wine, and a piece of chocolate cake the size of my fist. I watched her eat, impressed.
“Have you eaten today?” I said.
She shook her head. “I forgot to have breakfast and I got caught up with everything else and didn’t eat lunch.”
I sat back, crossing one leg over the other. “I have a late morning tomorrow. I’ll take you to my favorite bakery in the city before I leave.”
There was a lot I needed to get done tomorrow, but making sure she was comfortable took priority. My two right hand men, Yale and Caden, could handle things for me until noon. Her eyes lit up again and a glow of pride swelled in my chest.
It turned out, I liked being the reason her eyes lit up.
“I’d like that,” she said, a little shyly.
I was late for work the next day, but I didn’t regret it. Clara was unlike anyone I’d ever met and she had turned my entire worldview on its head in a day.
She didn’t want a career, but she was bright and witty and knew what she liked and what she didn’t. I’d never known anyone who had so much energy for life, for just enjoying themselves without guilt.
I told her she needed to pick what degree she wanted to pursue in the fall and she chose folklore, which confused me because she didn’t read very much. Or seem to care about the traditions and stories of our people.
She was standing in the kitchen with her iced coffee gripped in her glittery, manicured hand. It was the middle of the summer and she wore a pink t-shirt and shorts that were definitely not long enough.
Again—that was not my business. If anyone bothered her, I would deal with them.
“Why folklore?” I pressed.
“I just like fairies,” she said, shrugging.
“What…fairies?”
“Tinkerbell,” she said. “Duh.”
My eyes watered. “Jesus Christ,” I said under my breath.
“I’ll do a double major,” she mused, spinning and heading to her room. “Maybe like…astronomy.”
“It’s not like astrology, Clara,” I called down the hall.
She put her head back around the corner. “Oh, I’m pretty sure it is.”
I decided not to intervene further. She packed up her things in September and went to North Carolina for her first semester of college. I’d honestly expected her to be back within a month, but she returned for Christmas with the highest grades in every single class.
I was shocked, seeing as I’d never witnessed her crack open a book.
“How did you manage this?”
She looked up from her laptop where I knew she was racking up another bill on her credit card. Her brow arced and her lips curved in a smirk.
“Maybe you should try not being so judgemental,” she said, clearly savoring my confusion.
“Do you…study?”
She shrugged. “Not really.”
Jesus, this girl was a menace. I cornered her best friend Candice, a blonde with a sharp tongue, one day and asked her what the hell was going on. She sighed deeply and snapped her textbook shut, giving me her full attention.
