I'm a Good Person (Book 4)

Chapter 15

The night of the ball arrived two days later and while Laura was beginning to feel a sense of security and comfort growing in her for the first time since living with Grayson, Robert seemed to be trending in the opposite direction, struggling mightily not only with the idea of going down to the ball, but with opening up to anyone about why. He had not made good on his promise to tell Laura about his conversation with Adam and though he had tried to put it behind him and ignore it, he found he simply couldn't.

By the time the ball came around, Robert was a nervous wreck. He was afraid to go downstairs and face the crowd, afraid of seeing Adam, afraid his father would catch on and lose his temper resulting in another bout of angina or worse, result in a heart attack. Robert had thought a number of times how excellent Rebecca's timing had been, as Grayson had been so preoccupied with her that he hadn't noticed his son's struggling.

The same could not be said for Laura, who was acutely aware of and deeply troubled by it. For as light as her own heart felt, she couldn't help but feel pained for Robert, who she knew was deeply hurt by something Adam had said. She had tried multiple times over the last two days to talk to him, to no avail. Laura had even briefly considered going to Adam herself to ask what he had said that had hurt Robert so much, but she had quickly thought better of it knowing that if she were the cause, she would never get a straight answer. Robert, for his part, tried to brush it off. He told her on multiple occasions that he was fine, that it would pass.

When the ball came and Laura found Robert was pacing his room, his tie hanging untied about his neck, she had finally had enough of his silence. She closed his door and locked it behind her.

"Neither one of us is leaving this room until you tell me what happened with Adam," she said.

"Then you might as well take a seat because we'll be here a while."

"You said you'd tell me."

"And I will. Eventually."

"You said soon."

"Okay then, soon."

"Now, Bob."

"No. It'll pass."

"You've been saying that for days. It hasn't passed. You're locked away up here just like last year. Whatever he said hurt you and I want you to tell me what it was."

"Why?"

"It might help."

"It won't."

"We promised we were in this together," Laura insisted, "if it has something to do with me, I want to know about it."

Robert turned away from her and back to the mirror, trying again to tie his tie. Much to his frustration, his hands were shaking and he found himself unable. "There's nothing to tell."

"I don't buy that for a minute. I think it does have to do with me," Robert didn't respond, "if you don't tell me, I'll go to Adam and ask him myself. If he did say something about me and you're trying to protect me, I think it would be much kinder coming from you," when Robert still didn't speak up, she added, "I can handle it, Bob. I promise."

"It wasn't about you. Not really, anyway."

"Then what?"

"Adam... is convinced I'm playing up my fear for sympathy."

"You mean pretending it's worse than it is," Laura asked?

"He thinks I like the attention."

"That's ridiculous. You know that, right?"

"I thought so when he said it... but now..."

"There's nothing you want more than to feel normal. You say it all the time. You're standing here shaking, scared to tie a tie. Do you really think you're faking that?"