Chapter Forty-One

Keanu dressed himself quickly and held a finger to his lips. Then he approached the pool entrance and stood in the doorway. "I've got everything here covered," he said to the person out of her sight. "You can leave."

The person mumbled something she couldn't hear.


"No, it's really okay," he said. "Don't worry about it."

"But - "

"I am the Dean. You answer to my authority. If I say I have things settled here, then please leave them to me."

More unintelligible words.

"Thank you. Good night," he said, then moved away from the entrance. He returned to her, giggles leaving her lips.

"You answer to my authority," she repeated his words jokingly.

"Between us, baby girl, I answer to yours."

She grinned. "You're unreal."

He laughed and touched her back. "How does your body feel?"

"It feels awesome, thank you," she said.

Then it hit her.

Waves of guilt consumed her. The image of her father flashed in her mind, and she recalled the way betrayal had looked on his face when he caught them together once. There was blind rage, but she also saw a little hurt in his expression, and for a moment, she thought he was going to cry.

How could she hurt him like this?

"What's wrong, Alice?" Keanu asked.

"Did we do something wrong, Keanu? I feel awful, I feel like we shouldn't have done what we just did."

"No, we didn't do anything wrong."

"But - "

"Alice, I'm also tired of pretending I don't love you. I used to put Mike first but no longer, I'm placing you first now and I won't regret it ever. I want what we have, and I'm never backing down again."

She felt tears coming. "I don't want to hurt my dad, Keanu."

"Then let's tell him. We'll invite him out to Fuller's for dinner and we'll tell him then. Better yet, invite your mother too."

"What about Leonard?"

"He's still out of town. We'll tell him another time."

"What are we going to tell them?"

"We tell them the truth. And whether they accept it or not, it doesn't matter. Because I'm never letting you go again, Alice. I vow that to you."

When the day came, she had to invite her parents out to Fuller's without telling them that Keanu was going to be there. He had suggested to Mike for everyone to have dinner together, but he refused because he wanted them to stay apart. So she was left with no choice but to do it this way and as they prepared to go out in the living area, she tried to brace herself for what was to come.

"Alice, why aren't you putting your shoes on?" her mother asked.

"Oh, right," she said, heading over to put them on.

"You've been out of it the entire day," Mike said. "Has work been difficult lately?"

"Yeah, I suppose," she said, slipping her feet into her heels.

"Is everyone ready?" Mike asked.

They nodded and left their home. When they reached the restaurant, her parents glued their eyes to the menu while she sent texts back and forth to Keanu, who told her he was reaching. When he texted her that he had arrived, she excused herself and met him outside.

"Are you ready, Keanu?" Alice asked him.

"I am," he said.

She took a deep breath in. "No matter what they say, we stick together."

"I promise we will."

"Then let's go in."

He nodded and they went back into the restaurant. As she took steps towards the seats, her heartbeat thudded in her ears, panic touching her mind. The world seemed to slow down, and she felt her supply of air thinning. But she continued taking steps towards her parents, and held her head high. She wanted this, and she was not compromising any longer.

Her parents' heads lifted and the moment Mike's eyes landed on Keanu, a flash of rage crept into his expression. His hand at the table fisted and he tried to rise to his feet, but her mother kept him to the seat. They both stopped before the two of them, and Alice took Keanu's hand into hers.

"Dad," she said. "I know you're furious right now. But hear us out first." She inhaled sharply. "Keanu and I know ourselves how wrong this is, and you're mistaken if you think we didn't try to fight it. We tried with every ounce of strength and I'm here to tell you that we failed. And I love that we failed, because I don't think that it should be wrong to love a person. We didn't ask to be placed in our circumstances, but we were. I've backed down many times on things I wanted, compromised on things you guys wanted because we are family, but this time, I am going to do what's right for me. I'm going to choose who I want to spend the rest of my life with, and I'm not bending on that. If you think you can try to change my mind, you're welcome to try but Keanu and I are in a committed relationship now."

The diners paused, their heads craning at them as her parents' jaws dropped, their expressions unreadable. Keanu squeezed her hand in support and a few people whooped for them. She smiled a little, until the next moment.

Mike burst from his seat, his hand around Keanu's collar. She screamed along with other diners as it happened in the blink of an eye.