“And I want it handled quickly and cleanly, without a fight, because a fight will require me to explain to the licensing board exactly how your residency placement came to be.”
Nathan stared at me.
“You’ve thought about this,” he said.
“I’ve had several hours.”
“Cassandra’s father—” He stopped himself.
“Cassandra’s father what?”
He shook his head slowly.
“He’s not someone you want to make an enemy of.”
“Is that a warning?”
“It’s a fact.”
“So is this.” I placed my hand flat on the envelope.
“I have documentation, a recording, and a witness who is willing to speak on my behalf.
What do you have?”
The room was quiet.
Outside, a car passed on the street below.
The small plant on the windowsill caught the last of the evening light.
Nathan reached up and rubbed the back of his neck.
It was a gesture I had seen a thousand times.
He did it when he was tired, when he was studying, when he was trying to think through a problem.
“I’ll call my lawyer tonight,” he said finally.
“Good.
Mine will be ready tomorrow morning.”
He stood.
He picked up the prepaid phone from the desk and put it in his jacket pocket.
I let him take it.
I had already photographed the screen.
He walked to the door of the study, then stopped without turning around.
“For what it’s worth,” he said, “I didn’t plan for it to happen this way.”
“Which part?” I asked.
“The affair, or the way you ended it?”
He didn’t answer.
He walked down the hallway.
The front door opened and closed.
I sat in the study for a long time after that.
The acceptance letter was still on the wall.
The plant still needed watering on Thursday.
My phone buzzed.
A text from Daniel.
*My sister’s name is Ruth.
She says call anytime tonight if you need to.
She means it.*
I looked at the number he had sent.
Then I looked at the acceptance letter one more time.
Ruth Adeyemi answered on the second ring.
