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Laura plopped down on my bed like she owned it. We had been at school almost two months. “You’re avoiding me,” Laura said.
I was in the middle of studying. I coughed. “No, I’m not. It’s junior year. I’ve got a lot of things that I have to do. I’m sure you do too, and you told me that you switched majors.”
She shook her head. “No. I know when someone is avoiding me. I get it, I’m sure I’m putting a major cramp in your style with the security guards. I also know not everybody is best friends with their roommate. But my brother’s kind of rule this campus, and it’s hard for me to make friends. So…what do you say?”
I turned around from my desk and looked at her. “I swear I’m not avoiding you. I actually think you’re pretty great. As for the security guards, Giovani and Billy don’t bother me.”
“They don’t?” said Laura.
I nodded. “They don’t.”
“So, why do you keep on ignoring me when I say we should hang out? Usually, people are begging me to get into my family’s restaurants or clubs or something. You haven’t asked me anything.”
Because, I currently have a big secret and if your brother finds out the truth, he’ll kill me.
I was so close to being done with school. To being able to get what I’d worked so hard for, and get what I wanted most back in my life. I just had to keep my nose clean. As long as I did that, everything would work out. If I screwed up again, however…. I didn’t want to think about what the consequences from my family would be.
“I mean, I don’t want to seem like I’m using you,” I told her. It was only partly true. “I also have pretty simple tastes. I don’t really party.”
I kept my nose clean, because I had family obligations. My uncle had paid for half of my schooling. The rest was scholarship. But taking anything from my uncle meant that I had to do a favor for him when I graduated. If there was one hint of trouble, he’d make sure I didn’t finish school. If I couldn’t find a job to pay him back after I graduated, I’d have to get married to someone he chose for me. I didn’t want to think of what would happen if he thought I was fooling around with people I shouldn’t. The Luna brothers were those kinds of people.
It was why I’d majored in business. A business degree was good for a lot of things. I didn’t have the luxury to date, or party, and I had to keep my distance from Laura and her family. If my uncle thought I’d fooled around with Cesare….my freedom would be done for.
Our family wasn’t exactly without its own sins either. They were also of the mind that women like me needed to be protected from them. In their mind, the only way to do that was with a rich and powerful husband. Someone like Cesare would fit that bill.
But it absolutely could not be him.
“Okay,” said Laura, “that’s fine. But can I ask why?”
How much could I tell her without her finding out the truth?
“Um, I made some mistakes my freshman year. Pretty big ones. I’m on scholarship for the most part but my future is dictated by my uncle. He lives in Italy but he still has people that are all over the place. I’ve got to be careful, or else he’ll marry me off.”
“Oh,” said Laura, “I get that. But you know, that’s what’s kind of perfect about going to one of my family’s businesses. No one there is going to snitch on you. Look, why don’t we start with something simple, like dinner?”
“Are you asking me out?” I said.
Laura laughed. “No. I like men too much. But I’m a fashion major…or I was before everything got messed up. We’re not exactly known for being subtle or sitting still. I need to do something.”
I sighed. “Okay, okay. What were you thinking?”
“My brother works at The Crescent. He’s a sous chef. One call, and I can get us in.”
“Um, I don’t really have that kind of money….”
Laura shook her head. “It’s on me. Just, let’s have some fun, okay?”
“Okay, okay.”
Laura squealed. “Yay!” she clapped her hands together. “Alright, we’ll paint the town red! Let’s go.”
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