Page 40 of Crying Shame

“It’s not like you'd lose anything by quitting," I said.

Following our passions was something we’d all been urged to do since birth. Charlie always had his head high.

“You’re right," Charlie said. "I’m still deciding what I want to do. I just hate being the unreliable one, and I’m jealous of you and Clarissa.”

My lips thinned. “Why?”

He let out a long sigh and folded his hands. “Because I’m nothing like you, and maybe I need to change so I’m a better version of me. I think you changing brought her back to you. If I’m lucky, maybe I’ll figure out whatever is going to make me happy too.”

So he already thought Clarissa and I were more than friends.

My skin buzzed like it did when she was near. I pressed my hand to the back of my neck and stood. “I need to get going.”

He stood too. “Of course.”

I felt a hand on my back. I turned to see Clarissa, and a thrill rushed through me.

“What are you two talking about?” she asked.

I stood taller. “How Charlie hates working for a corporation.”

She nodded. “I can’t imagine a Norouzi taking orders from anyone.”

Her observation was spot-on.

“I made up a picture in my head of what being a pilot might be like, but the day-to-day of answering to anyone is wearing on me,” Charlie said.

She looped arms with me. “Well, your family loves you, and they don’t want to see you unhappy.”

Charlie smiled. “True. Where have you been all these years?”

Her face went white, and she blinked. “I was pretending to be a princess.”

She referred to the make-believe world that I’d rolled my eyes at.

Charlie said, “Elon can get you a diamond tiara, and you can walk around with it on your head every day if that’s what you need.”

That sounded like the perfect plan, a small way to show her that I was different than other men and that her dreams were important.

She laughed at Charlie's suggestion. “Now, that is a picture.”

I took my phone out and texted the local jeweler what I wanted. “I’ll have it delivered in the morning.”

She let me go. My body grew cold. She hugged herself. “That’s too much.”

Charlie backed away. “I’ll leave you two alone.”

I'd meant the gift to show I was trustworthy. “He’s right. You are a princess.”

She rocked on her feet. “Don’t be silly. It’s not who I am, and I’m not looking for anything from you.”

I pressed my hand on her shoulder. “I used to roll my eyes at your dreams of princesshood, but we can now make it happen.”

She turned toward me and touched my face. “You’re strange tonight. Let’s head back inside.”

She put her hand in mine, and we walked toward the house.

I asked, “How was Sam?”