Page 112 of Claimed By my Father's Enemies
Adrian stands, nods at Arthur, minimal but adequate. I stand and do the same.
We leave the conference room. The door closes behind us, the corridor is quiet and that chapter of my life is finished.
I turn to him in the corridor. "Thank you for coming. I thought I could do this alone. But it was good to have you in my corner."
His eyes soften, he looks deeply to mine. "I will always be in your corner.” He takes a deep breath in, ”I know I wasn't—" He stops. Tries again. "Can we go somewhere to talk? There are some other legal issues I want to discuss with you."
Legal issues. That’s all we have between us now. I feel the disappointment arrive and settle in.
"Yes," I say.
The elevator is quiet. He stands close enough that I'm aware of the warmth of him without us touching. I look at the floor numbers. He looks at the floor numbers. Neither of us says anything.
In the lobby he says, "There's a small coffee shop just on the corner," and I nod.
Outside is ordinary. Cars passing. Someone with a grocery bag. A dog. The coffee shop is small and dim, four tables, a window with the street going by outside. We take the table at the back. A server comes. We order. His coffee comes black. Mine comes with milk.
Adrian goes straight into working mode, "Regarding the trespassing charge," he says, formally. "I worked out a deal. You'll do community service." A brief, dry almost-smile. "Which was what you were already doing in a way. The ironies of the legal world."
"Thank you," I say. "You didn't need to do that."
"Yes, I did."
He straightens. Runs one hand through his hair, the first break in his posture all morning. Settles his hand flat on the table.
"Regarding the other matter. The juvenile record." A pause. "Although it's sealed, I'm trying to work something out with Judge Richard Holloway to get it expunged."
He says it almost in one breath. Like he had to get it out before he stopped himself. Like he needed to get it out. And now that he did he seems hollow.
I reach across and put my hand on top of his.
He looks at our hands joined on top of the table and then he looks at me.
"Sienna." Low. Almost nothing. "Believe me when I say we had the best intentions. We believed you were really on a spiral and would end up hurting yourself and others. We thoughtGreenhaven was the best for you at the moment." His jaw works. "We never thought—"
I take my hand away.
His hand stays on the table where I left it.
I know they're good men. I have no doubt about it. But, they hurt me.
"I need some time to process all of this," I say.
I can see that my words hit Adrian hard. But I can’t take his pain now. I need to heal my own first.
Adrian clenches his jaw and nods in understanding.
I don't want to stand up. I want to stay in this dim ordinary room with the traffic outside and Adrian across from me.
It takes all the strength that I have left, to stand up, look at Adrian and say “Take care Adrian.”
And then I leave.
41
ADRIAN
The chair hasn't changed.
