Suri’s Sure Thing – Chapter 8

The next morning, I stay in bed in Erik’s apartment an hour past when I hear him leave for work. He would have come in and said goodbye, but he probably wants to forget what happened last night when his best friend hit on him and tried to kiss him.

Stupid, stupid Suri. How could I do such a thing?

“Don’t do that unless you mean it.” Does that mean he would approve if I had? Or does that mean he knows I was too drunk to make a solid decision about kissing him?

I don’t know. I just don’t know.

I tip-toe out to the kitchen, hoping to leave the dogs in peace, but their heads pop up as soon as I’m in sight.

“Morning, Suri. Morning!” Finn jumps up and trots over to me. “Sleep okay?”

“Not really.” I press my fingers to the spot between my eyes where a giant headache is setting up camp. “We’ll go home in a few minutes. I just need to hydrate first.”

“Erik brought you food,” he says, setting his wiggly butt on the floor.

A cup of takeaway coffee and a croissant are on the kitchen counter behind me. Erik flattened out the paper bag and wrote, “Coffee and baked goods for your impending headache.”

He knows me too well. I hold back tears as I grab both and sit on the couch with them. Staring into space, I sip and eat and replay last night over and over in my head, from dinner straight on through my massive screw-up with Erik. How does one person make this much of a mess in their life? I must be talented or something.

Despite the lightness of the croissant and the perfect brew of the coffee, they both sit in my belly like a boulder. I need to return home and get some proper food and sleep before I face my father about Leo. Maybe I can talk him out of kicking me out of the house. Maybe I can enlist Mom to my side. Maybe my sisters can help me stand up to him.

Maybe, maybe, maybe.

There are too many unknowns in my life.

I tilt my head up and look at Erik’s ceiling. I wish I was in space.

The walk home is brutal. My steps are far too slow, and I keep seeing people I know along the way. At least I was able to comb back my hair and put it in a ponytail. It aggravates my level-ten headache, but it’s better than the rat’s nest I woke up with. Finn walks right beside me and keeps me on a straight path to home.

The good news is my father and sisters are gone for the day.

The bad news is my older brother, Ean, is working from the home office.

I sneak around the kitchen for a little bit. I grab a glass of water and down it all before I fill it back up again. In the fridge, I find hard-boiled eggs, cut carrots, and a container of berries freshly washed. Mom was busy making sure we’re all fed. I make up a quick plate of food for myself, and I let Finn into the mudroom where all the dogs eat away from the cats. I fill his bowl with food and freshen up the water before returning to the kitchen to eat.

The island is clear, so I pull a chair up, slump down, and stuff my face. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I’ve gotta figure it out in the next day. The ball is tomorrow, and I want to give my ticket back to Tilli and let her go in my place. That means confessing to Dad what happened and how I’m prepared to move out if it comes down to it.

Yeah, I think I just need to pull up my big girl pants and move out. Myra’s place is tiny, but I can move in there for a bit until I can find my own place. She won’t mind, I don’t think.

Well, she may mind.

I may just have to see if the I.A. can put me on permanent assignment in space. I know people who have done it. It sucks for your body, though, because you have to take the bone and muscle drugs continuously to avoid the problems with zero-g. But there are too many cons to that idea. I hate sleeping in zero-g, and then there’s Finn. I can’t be without him.

Sigh. I don’t know what to do.

I put the dishes away and try to tip-toe to my room when I hear the office door open.

“Suri?” Ean calls out. My palm print on the door lock would have announced my presence to anyone at home, so he’s been waiting for me to come out of the kitchen. “Suri, can I see you in the office?”

I groan and close my eyes. This is not going to go well. I can feel it.

I’m tempted to tell him to shove off and that I need to sleep, but I don’t think it will make a difference. When Dad isn’t around, Ean is the head of the house. We don’t do anything without him knowing about it.

He pokes his head out of the office door as I’m about to slink away. “Finn can go to your bedroom.”

I look at Finn, and he turns and heads down the hallway to my room.

“Last night didn’t go so well?” he asks as I slip past him into the office. “You look like a bus ran you over.”

“Thanks, Ean.” I sit on the couch against the far wall. “What do you want? I’m tired and ready to go back to bed.”

“I won’t keep you long,” he says, sitting at the desk. “Dad and I had a visit from Leo this morning. He’s left to return to Tengōku by now, so don’t worry about running into him.”

I cross my legs and sit back on the couch.

“Here’s the deal. Dad’s upset, as you can imagine. He figured this was a done deal; otherwise, he wouldn’t have spent any effort on it. You know how he is about wasting his time.”

“‘Time is money,'” I recite in Dad’s usual tone of voice.

Ean points at me. “Right. He feels you’re being ungrateful and smiting this union because it’s something he wants, even if it’s good for you.”

“That’s not it at all, and it’s not good for me.” I am too tired to put any energy or emotion behind my voice. I remember what Leo said about keeping quiet about his side job. Despite what a pain my family can be, I don’t want them to come to harm. Hopefully, Ean doesn’t ask me anything more about him.

“So tell me what is, and I’ll advocate for you with Dad.”

“You?” I laugh. “Since when have you cared at all about your younger sisters? You have the high life here. You get to reign on high above us all without having to deal with Dad’s dumb ideas of how your life will be.”

Ean is silent and staring at me, and the longer the silence goes on, the more ashamed I feel.

“Sorry,” I mumble. “I had a rough night.”

Ean’s voice is barely above a whisper. “You have no idea what I go through every day keeping this family above water and Dad out of trouble. What I have sacrificed to sit here and help everyone. You’re not the only person in this family suffering, Suri.”

He sighs and places his hands on the desk, palms down, fingers spread wide. He breathes deep and lets it go slowly. Ean is the king of calm, so it’s significant when he has to pull in and tamp down his emotions.

“Let’s make a deal.”

A wave of tingles cascades down my body. This is a split moment in time.

“We have option number one, which is to go to Leo and take his offer.”

I sit forward to object, but he raises his finger.

“I know you don’t like this one. Leo says you were pretty adamant about your ‘no’ last night. That you are not in love with him anymore. But I’m prepared to sweeten the deal. I know you’re broke because you bailed out Tilli —”

I throw my hands up. “For crying out loud, does everyone know this? I tried to keep it a secret.”

Ean cracks a small smile. “Mom and Dad don’t know. But the rest of the siblings do… Well, maybe not Rosa and Demi. Let’s just say that the Kimura family is not the best at keeping secrets.” He clears his throat and takes a sip of water. “I will double what you lost from your savings, plus interest, and we can put it in a trust so the money’s yours and Leo can never touch it. You may marry, but he’ll never have access to those funds. They would be yours.”

My stomach turns over. He wants to buy me out? My body prickles with an oncoming wave of nausea.

“Or?”

“Or, I will give you back half of your savings, and I’ll help you pay for an apartment in town. But you will piss off Dad, and it might even make it hard for you to spend time with Mom and your sisters. Because once you leave the house, he will not want to see you back here. He may ban you.”

My eyes fill with tears, and he deflates.

“I’m so sorry,” he says, his voice rich with empathy. “I don’t know what’s going on with Dad. It’s like he’s broken and unable to see reason. He sees his family as this unit that always backs him up on everything, even though we have our own lives, wants, and needs. I have a feeling he’s going to make a lot of mistakes before he makes the right decision.”

“What’s the right decision?” I wipe away my tears and sniff up.

“I have no idea. But it’s not alienating your family, that’s for sure.”

I stand up from the couch and cross to the desk, pulling a tissue from a wooden box there. “When did you become so wise?”

His eyebrows rise halfway up his forehead. “How have you not noticed?”

I laugh, blow my nose, and rub the back of my neck.

“I need sleep before I decide. I’m going to bed, and we’ll talk again later.”

As I’m leaving the room, Ean calls out to me. “That Erik is a nice guy. Maybe you should consider him instead. You could do a lot worse.”

I pause for a moment. “Erik is just a friend. But yeah, he’ll make some girl very happy someday.”

Unfortunately, I don’t think it’ll be me.