I slam my bedroom door so hard, the frame rattles.
God, could this day get any worse?
* * *
It could indeed.
“What were you thinking? Staying out all night?” my mother hisses into the phone. “Are you trying to jeopardize your future with Oliver? Have you lost your senses? You know the Beaufort family is from good southern stock, where propriety and manners still reign supreme. They will not be so keen to welcome you into their ranks if you continue to spiral out of control!”
Of courseshe wasn’t concerned for my safety — merely the possibility that I might upset my potential in-laws and thus derail any future business dealings between the two family companies. The Beaufort bloodlines are old as their money, an empire built on oil and tobacco dating back well over a century. From what I’ve heard from Oliver, his parents — and grandparents and great grandparents and great, great grandparents — are steeped in tradition stronger than the sweet tea they serve at their bi-monthly luncheons.
Appearances are everything.
“Mother.” I glance at my bedroom ceiling, trying to get a handle on my ever-increasing exasperation. My hair, still wet from my shower, drapes over my shoulders in a damp curtain. “I hardly think having a sleepover with my friends is cause for all this overreaction. And even if I’d been out all night smoking crack and getting knocked up—”
“Do not even make jokes about such things!”
“—it wouldn’t matter to the Beauforts,” I finish tersely. “Oliver and I aren’t engaged.”
“Yet.”
I swallow a scream. Unless she knows something I don’t, she’s wildly off-base. “Have you taken up tarot card reading since I left? Purchased a magic crystal ball that predicts the future?”
“I don’t need to be a psychic to see where this relationship is heading. Men like Oliver are not frivolous. They do not flit around indecisively. They move through life with intention. And I assure you, men like that look for the same qualities in their spouse.”
Her pointed pause informs me I am not currently up to par.
“I’m not even twenty,” I grumble. “Don’t you think I’m a little young to be discussing lifelong commitments?”
“I married your father at eighteen. Look at all we’ve built since then. Look at all we’ve accomplished. Do you think I’d be able to say the same if I’d waited a few years longer to settle down? Dated a slew of useless suitors with nothing to offer? No. I taught you better than that. Men of calibre are not an abundant resource, Josephine. When you find one, you keep him. You’d be a fool to let Oliver slip away.”
“Who says I’m letting him slip away?”
“He did.”
“Hedid?”
“He may as well have.” Her voice is practically smug. “He confided in me that you’ve been distant since your departure. I assured him you would be coming back soon, and all would be well again.”
My frustration bubbles into furious betrayal. I can’t believe Oliver is having pow-wows with Blair and Vincent, discussing me like a science experiment gone wrong.
“Your father and I both agree,” Blair continues, “It’s past time you ended this little charade of independence and returned to Switzerland, where you belong.”
“Charade? I’m here to figure out my college plans, not audition for Cirque du Soleil.”
“You cannot possibly still be considering attendance at that institution.”
“Brown is an Ivy League school!”
“Barely. How you could pass over Harvard and Oxford in favor of that haven for pot-smoking artists, I’ll never understand.”
“Stop. Just stop.” I press my eyes closed. “You know I want to study design. It shouldn’t come as such a surprise to you that I’m not willing to change my plans in the blink of an eye.”
She laughs. It holds no joy. The sound is cold, biting. It makes me flinch, even thousands of miles away. “Isn’t it time to let go of that infantile pipe dream? I thought you’d surely seen the light, working here at VALENT these past few months. I was certain, once you got firsthand experience at an organization like ours — one that actually makes a difference in this world, one that actually matters — you’d let go of this silly notion ofartandfashion.” She says the words like curses. “How can you chase such an insubstantial pursuit when we are offering you the reins to our empire? How can you turn your back on your birthright?”
“I never asked for that future. I never wanted to be heir to the VALENT throne.”
“This isn’t about what you want, you foolish, selfish girl. This is about obligation. We are your parents. You will come to heel or we will bring you to heel.”