Page 69 of Spiteful Lies
The Uber driver is as interested in conversation as I am, so we ride along in silence. My body relaxes as the houses get farther apart, and the lawns grow wider in size. The neatly painted homes and Christmas decorations in Rockingham make me smile, but it disappears as a worrying thought enters my mind.I don’t belong anywhere.
The car stops in front of a two-story brick house placed far back from the street. The snow covers the perfect lawn and the flowers that will come up in the spring. I hop out and hurry up the path as the front door opens. Dr. Rawlins smiles as I enter her tasteful home, located a mile away from campus in the cushy suburbs. There are gifts around the Christmas tree in the living room, and a gas fire is lit in the fireplace. Old-time music plays over the speakers in the living room as I sit down on a cushioned couch. Big difference from those straight-back chairs in her office.
I hand Dr. Rawlins a gift, and she smiles.
“Charlotte, this wasn’t necessary.” She gives me a serious look. “You should save your money.”
I shake my head. “I bought it months ago. I do my Christmas shopping throughout the year.”
She walks over to the tree and picks up a gift with my name on the ornate tag. “This is for you.”
We sit side by side and tear the wrapping paper off the boxes. Rawlins looks surprised and then delighted with the book I gave her.
“It’s a rare edition of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. You’re all work at school, but I know you appreciate other things.”
She nods her head, opening the book. “I will read it when I want to forget my day at work. Open yours.”
Inside the box is the latest iPhone, and I’m pleased but confused.
“I want you to stay in touch with me,” Rawlins explains. “And I’m paying the bill for it, so there’s no reason for you not to call me if you need me.”
I hug and thank her. “I really appreciate it. You’ve always been so nice to me. And kind when maybe I didn’t deserve it.”
“Charlotte, I was like you when I was attending Stonehaven.” She sighs, looking at the book in her hands. “Do you know I dated Howland a long time ago when we were both students?” She smirks. “He was a terrible ass and a bore. He was not the one who got away. I wanted him to go.
But when I met you, I thought you would have been my daughter if I had married him. I’ve always liked you much more than that man.”
“What about Astrid?” I ask, “Did you feel the same way about her?”
Rawlins sighs. “She’s a challenge, but she loves you, so I let a lot of things slide. Don’t tell her that.”
We sit down to dinner, preferring the smaller kitchen table over the dining room table set with china and silver. We move our plates into the other room, and Rawlins pours me a glass of wine. The conversation is polite, and we try to make each other laugh. We avoid certain topics like Howland. But I can tell something is weighing on her mind each time she looks away.
“Charlotte, I want you to reconsider,” she says abruptly. “In fact, I’ve considered waiving your school fees.”
I swallow hard, realizing that I have a way out.
But it’s a lie. And it will only delay the unavoidable.
“I’ve already enrolled at Monarch. But if it’s really awful, may I change my mind?”
“Yes, you can always change your mind.”
“Is this karma?” I ask her, tilting my head. “For picking on all those kids?”
She smirks, lifting her wineglass to her lips. “No, just shitty luck. People make poor decisions, and it impacts everyone around them.”
I leave before dark, and Rawlins has her driver take me home. He keeps checking the address as he nervously looks around the neighborhood that is slowly morphing into a no man’s land covered with snow.
I hop out of the car, and he doesn’t wait to see me head in. I glance up at the men standing by the door, but I keep my head down as I walk past.
One of the men openly checks me out. “Now that one has a sweet ass. Hey, where you going, babe? You look cold and I got something that’ll warm you up!”
I hurry into the building as they laugh. Not waiting for the elevator, I race up the stairs. Maybe I shouldn’t have run, but I’m not Astrid. I can’t stare anyone down. My key is in my hand, and I open the apartment door, leaning against it as soon as I’m locked inside.
“How was your visit?” asks Evelyn as she walks into the living room.
“It was nice.” I stare down at my purse and think about what Evelyn said about nice things. I have to start blending in. “Do you have Nova’s number? I’d like to call her.”