The Right Time (22 page)

“Sophie, I’m sorry.”

“Where were you?”

“One of the partners called me into a meeting. I couldn’t exactly turn him down. They want me to be a consultant for a company in Texas. It’ll mean a lot of money for the firm.”

“And another prestigious assignment for you.”

“Yes. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Have you even been working on your restaurant idea?”

“You and the damn restaurant. That’s all you talk about anymore. I’m an attorney, not a chef. This is what I do. I went to school to practice law.” He let out a puff of air. “I don’t want to fight.”

“Then you should have been here on time.” She took a good look at him and didn’t like what she saw. She could practically interchange his face with Keith’s, their behavior was so similar.

“You want me to change overnight and it’s not that easy,” he said in a heavy tone.

“Not if you’re not trying.”

“I am trying!”

“No, you’re not! You asked me what I wanted, and I told you, but you’re not going to change, and I was foolish enough to think that you could make time in your busy schedule for me.”

“You’re being ridiculous.” He tugged on his tie and walked away from her toward the kitchen.

“No, I’m not,” Sophie said, following him.

He whirled on her. “You knew the kind of man I was when you met me. I’ve always been upfront about who I am. I work hard. My time is limited. I’m doing the best I can, but I can’t drop everything to play house with you.”

“Play house with me?” She laughed shrilly. “People make time for the things they want. For having babies. For starting a business. For treating your girlfriend like she’s more than a damn afterthought. There’s never a right time to do anything, so you do it now. When you feel it. When you want it. You’re missing out on life. On living. On doing.”

“It’s so easy for you to judge. You don’t have my responsibilities and you’ve never had anyone look down their nose at you and predict that you’ll never amount to anything because you made some mistakes when you were young.”

The room went silent.

A muscle in his jaw flexed. “And yes, I know it’s in the past,” he said.

But not so far in the past that he had forgotten.

“So you’re just going to keep living this…this life that you no longer enjoy, when the one you want is within reach? But because it’s not prestigious enough for you to rub in the faces of the people that put you down, you’re willing to sacrifice your own happiness? Do you know how ridiculous it is to work so hard to impress other people at the expense of your own happiness?”

He frowned at her. “You think you’re so much smarter and better than everyone else because you
chose
to be a flight attendant. I’m ecstatic for you, but some people want more in life.”

“Yes, I chose to become a flight attendant, and I love it. I’m passionate about people and love to travel. Passion, Ransom. Do you remember our conversation? What are you passionate about? What do you choose to do, except hide behind a law degree doing work you don’t even enjoy, instead of what you’re passionate about? Don’t stand there and judge me, when you’re not even being true to yourself.”

“I am true to myself! This is what I want. This condo. These things. This suit.” He yanked off the tie. “My car. Everything. So I’m late a few times or have to cancel a few events. If you loved me the way you say you do, you wouldn’t try to change me. You’d be more understanding.”

Sophie laughed softly to herself, shaking her head. “From the frying pan into the fire.”

“What?” he asked sharply.

“It’s only going to get worse once you become partner, isn’t it?”

“We don’t know that. Just give me a little more time. I’m so close. You know how important this is to me.”

“I know.”
More important than me.
“But you’re not even happy.”

“Happiness is overrated.”

That had to be one of the saddest things she’d ever heard, and he didn’t even understand how dismal saying something like that was.

Ransom scrubbed a hand across his forehead. “I’m sorry. Just give me a little more time.”

He sounded exhausted, but she was done being treated as an afterthought. There would always be something else taking priority, and she couldn’t hold on anymore. She wanted to be the priority.

“How about this,” she said quietly. “You don’t have time for me. I don’t have time for you.”

She walked over to her luggage.

“Sophie, it won’t happen again.”

“Damn right it won’t.”

“What does that mean? What the fuck are you doing? Put down the bag.”

She picked up her purse.

“Sophie.”

No matter how much she loved Ransom, she had to walk away. She’d been in this position before—for three years—and promised herself she’d never do it again. She couldn’t. It damaged her self-worth.

She went to the door with her belongings, but Ransom yanked away the suitcase. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“Leave me alone. I’m not doing this with you.”

“You’re overreacting.”

“Give me my suitcase.” She reached for the luggage but he held it out of reach. “Stop!”

She hit him in the chest with a fist, and he grabbed her arms and slammed her back against the wall.

They were both breathing hard, emotion and energy filling the air.

His fingers bit into the soft flesh of her arms. “Don’t leave me.”

The words tore at her heart. “I don’t have a choice. Just let me go.”

He didn’t budge.

“Please,” she whispered.

He collapsed against her, pressing his face into her neck. “Sophie.”

She rested her cheek against his. “I can’t do it. Not again,” she whispered.

As he lifted his head, his thumbs rubbed the spots where he’d squeezed her arms. “I can’t walk away.”

“I’m not asking you to. I’m walking away.”

He turned his mouth toward hers, but she twisted away from the kiss. “Let’s not make this any harder. Chemistry is not enough. We made a mistake thinking that it was.”

He stood in place for a little bit longer, but she kept her eyes averted. Finally, he moved aside, and on wobbly legs she walked over to take the handle of the suitcase. Her chest hurt as she stepped to the door, expecting him to say that she deserved better treatment.

She kept hoping he would stop her, but he never did. Not when she crossed the floor. Not when she exited the door. Not when she entered the elevator.

By the time she was seated in the back of the taxi on the way to a hotel, she finally accepted that he wouldn’t.

Sophie flew back to Atlanta early the next day, but instead of going home, she drove to her parents’ house. She parked her Jeep in the driveway, and before she could even knock, her mother opened the door and pulled her into her arms.

Tears flooded her eyes as they sat on the sofa, her mother cradling her head against her chest.

“Was I wrong?” Sophie sniffled. Perhaps watching couples like her parents and Brenda and Jay had skewed her perception of relationships.

Dora touched her with soothing strokes to her hair. “Absolutely not. You don’t deserve to be treated like that.”

From the corner of her eye, she saw her father’s feet appear at the entrance to the room, checking on them. Her mother gestured at him, and he walked back out.

“Relationships are tough, and they require time and energy to nurture and grow. Both people have to be invested.” Her mother petted her hair. “I never told you this, but your father and I didn’t always have a perfect relationship.”

Sophie lifted her head. “I can’t believe the two of you ever had problems.”

“In the beginning, it was rough. Your father never took me anywhere, and I finally figured out it was because I was white.”

Sophie gasped. “You never told me that.”

“Well, imagine back then, a dreadlocked man, serious about the advancement of his race, working toward a doctorate in African-American studies, talking about the Motherland and black love, had fallen in love with a white woman. You can understand his dilemma.” She chuckled softly. “I can laugh about it now, but my goodness, it hurt like the dickens. He convinced me to keep our relationship a secret for a long time, but not just because of our families. Because he worried about what people would think. I finally put my foot down. I told him if he didn’t want to be seen with me, then I’d move on to someone who wasn’t embarrassed to be seen in public with me. I was terrified he would let me go.”

“But he didn’t,” Sophie said softly.

“He did a complete one-eighty. He chose me and made sure
everybody
knew we were together. He received some pushback from his friends, and of course there was the problem with our families, but our relationship changed drastically. Adversity only made it stronger. He took me everywhere, held my hand, introduced me as his girlfriend, and couldn’t keep his hands off of me in public. Still can’t. He’s always holding my hand or giving me a kiss.” She smiled, her eyes glowing with happiness. She laid a hand against Sophie’s cheek and gazed into her eyes. “I said all of that to say, sometimes you have to put your foot down, sweetie. The result may not be what you want, but you don’t deserve to be treated as if your feelings don’t matter, as if you’re nothing more than an afterthought. Not by anyone, and certainly not by someone who claims to love you. Your feelings matter. Your heart matters.”

Sophie sniffed. “It’s hard to let go, though.”

“I know.” Dora stroked her hair. “But when a man really cares about you, he makes an effort, not an excuse.”

Sophie rested her head on her mother’s shoulder again. “I sure know how to pick ’em.”

“I’m confident one of these days you’ll find a man who sees you for the jewel you are. For some women, it happens later than others. But he’s out there, sweetie. You just have to be patient. When you find him, you’ll know. Because he’ll choose you.”

Ransom drummed his fingers against the desk, thinking long and hard about the case before him. He was almost certain the plaintiff was lying about his client, and he needed to prove it. But how?

Sophie.

Dammit! He pinched the bridge of his nose.

He couldn’t concentrate for thinking about her. He’d called several times since she left, but each time she sent his call to voicemail and simply texted back that she was busy.

A sound at the door caused him to lift his head, relieved at the distraction. His assistant Lena stood before him, a little breathless, eyes overly bright behind blue frames that matched her blue pantsuit.

Ransom lowered the documents he’d been reading onto the desk. “What’s wrong, and what are you still doing here?” It was an hour past the time she usually left work.

She waved her hand dismissively. “I had some filing to do and thought I’d stay behind and get it taken care of instead of waiting until tomorrow.” She took a deep breath. “Mr. Wong saw me when I was returning from making copies and stopped me with a message for you.” A dramatic pause. “He and the other partners would like to see you in his office upstairs.”

“Now?” Ransom jumped to his feet, his heart kicking up several notches at the implication in her words. “Did he say why?”

She shook her head briskly. “Not even a hint of what it was about,” she said, but the broad smile on her face indicated she had her suspicions.

He lifted his jacket from the coat rack and buttoned it. Lena dusted off his shoulders and straightened his tie. “Congratulations, sir.”

Ransom clenched his fists to offset the nervous energy channeling through his body. “There’s no guarantee. There could be any number of reasons why they want to see me.”

“Right,” Lena said, bouncing with excitement.

Ransom breathed quietly through his lips and squared his shoulders. If his prescient assistant thought this was his moment, then it was. “I better get up there.”

With Lena’s broad grin and a thumbs-up sign pushing him forward, Ransom exited his office and took the elevator to the top floor.

The moment he’d been dreaming about since he took his first law class was now upon him. He knew it. All his hard work, dedication, and sacrifice would finally pay off. Exiting the elevator, his steps faltered on the way to Brit Wong’s office.

He stood in the middle of the carpeted outer office, the silence ominous and oppressive. He wanted this. He did. But now that the moment was upon him, he felt a slight hesitation. A niggling doubt in a corner of his brain.

He
did
want this.

Sophie had gotten inside his head, and now he questioned everything he had ever wanted professionally. Ransom fisted his hands and marched forward, shoving aside Sophie’s accusations, Sophie’s smiles, and Sophie’s sweet nature. Yes, he missed her. He’d hardly been able to sleep for thinking about her, but she expected him to walk away from all the hard work and trappings of the lifestyle he’d acquired. He needed someone supportive by his side. Someone who understood his needs.

He arrived at the double doors that led into Brit’s office and knocked, and on the inside, Brit called for him to enter.

The founding member and four of the managing partners were seated on the leather sofas, each of them holding a cigar and a glass of ruby-colored port.

“Come on in.” Brit waved him in with a wide smile.

What he wanted was assuredly in his reach within minutes, and he would not allow Sophie to make him doubt the course he’d been on for eleven years.

Ransom closed the doors, flashed a smile at the men, and prepared to accept the fruits of his labor.

Sophie pulled up outside the bike shop with the rest of the riders.

Eric parked his bike in front of the shop and hopped off. “Whew! That was awesome.”

Sophie grinned as she lifted off her helmet. Rotating her shoulders, she said, “I couldn’t agree more.” Today had been a long ride on a new route that pushed her endurance, leaving her simultaneously exhausted and exhilarated.

“See you next week,” Eric said, waving.

Sophie attached her bike to the back of the Jeep and strolled into her mother’s juice shop. A few patrons occupied the tables, and her father stood behind the counter today, reviewing printouts of the new menus. Once again he’d used his graphic design skills to redesign them.