“Okay,” Perry said.
“So losing the one thing that I’ve always had, it just...” He tossed and caught the ball again. “And Zander’s not even smarter than me. Everybody just thinks he is because I goofed off more.”
“So what does this have to do with Veritå?”
An ache sank deep into his chest as he recalled exactly what it had to do with her. “There was this secret fraternity within my frat house at Stanford, right? There was one on the girls’ side too.” He shook his head. “Was supposed to be the elite. Only big names and big money need apply.”
“You and Zander were part of it?”
“Yep.”
“And Veritå wasn’t.”
Duke nodded. “Bingo. Anyway, a few key members in the frat had deep ties to the group that hosted the Stanger Awards.”
“Stanger?” Perry said. “Never heard of them.”
“They’re fairly prestigious. They’re recognized nationwide, in fact. My dad got one once. My grandpa too. So imagine my surprise when I get nominated for one and Zander doesn’t.”
He caught the ball once more, then sat up and grabbed the phone where it lay on the chaise lounge. Sparks of adrenaline rushed through him at the memory alone.
“You’ve got to understand. This was a huge deal. I’d never had that type of recognition in my life. Everyone was too busy giving Zander all the awards and praise. Photo ops with Grandpa Benton and Dad.”
“Okay,” Perry replied. “You are going to bring Ms. Tripoli into the picture at some point, aren’t you?”
Duke sank back onto the chase lounge. “It’s a long story. We were dating at the time, and there was a dance coming up. I thought I could take whomever I wanted, but this secret organization had a few rules. One of them said I had to take a girl from the private sorority lined up with ours. I had no intention to honor that one.
“I figured it couldn’t affect my status at the frat house. I was the most popular guy there.” He chuckled wryly. “That probably sounds conceited, but I knew my place. Making friends had always been easy for me.”
“Okay,” Perry said. “There’s a dumb rule about who you can and can’t take to the dance but you didn’t really care. So what went wrong?”
Pricks of guilt settled over him as he looked for the words. “I wasn’t worried about losing my image on campus, but I did worry about losing the award.
“I’d just been notified that my status had shifted from finalist to winner. The committee sent a rep onto the campus to take my picture and everything. And that’s where I found out that there were strings attached.”
“What kind of strings?” Perry said through a cough. He coughed again. “Sorry,” he rasped. “Wrong pipe. I’m drinking this horrible cleansing drink. Continue…”
“Not only did they know about the secret fraternity, the committee insisted that I honor it. It wasn’t enough to simply not go, which is what I figured I’d do if worst came to worst, but they had a specific girl they wanted me to take. One who’d be awarded the same honor in the woman’s category.”
“That’s shady,” Perry said.
“Yeah, it was. Her name’s Sylvia Sampson.” Duke shook off the chill that came over him. “I wish I’d have just told them to screw off, but I didn’t. I cowered. I told myself that Vivi didn’t want to go anyway. Heck, she’d barely budged the night I’d tried to talk her into it.”
“You tried to talk her into it?” The incredulous tone of Perry’s voice made him cringe.
“Before I knew I couldn’t take her.”
“Well, wouldn’t take her. You chose an award over—”
“I know what I did, Perry, sheesh.” Duke squeezed his hand around the ball, harnessing enough frustration to hurl the thing at the nearest window. He imagined enjoying the satisfying crack as it hit the glass. It wasn’t like it could break clear through an aircraft window.
“I just…really wanted that moment at the ceremony—standing before my family, receiving an honor like that.” Duke’s stomach twisted as he considered how much the moment had cost him.
“No wonder she’s ticked off at you,” Perry said.
Without effort, his mind reached back to the night he’d tried to warm Vivi up to going with him. Before he’d known it was an issue.
They were cuddled up on a porch swing behind the sorority house. It was late, past curfew, and he’d recently discovered how very much he liked holding hands with her. The sensation of her silky smooth fingers gliding through his. Back and forth. He liked watching the action too, noting the difference in size, shape, and tone of her olive skin. Her slender fingers always looked so delicate next to his.
Why don’t you want to go? he’d asked her that night. Music rang from their shared headphones, one in his ear, one in hers. A silly love song he hadn’t liked until Viv came along.
“Because they don’t mean anything.” Viv recited one of her proverbs in Italian—he loved when she did that. This time it was the not-all-that-glitters-is-gold one. “They’re all for show,” she continued. “Who’s wearing what. Who they’re with. How much he spent and how much weight she lost to fit into the dress.”
He loved watching Viv’s face when she got talking. She had this pent-up passion that would send her into rants about one injustice or the next.
And those eyes, always filled with such life. They were reflective—uniquely so. He loved that too, the way they’d reflect any hint of light within miles. That night they mirrored the houselights as she listened to his response.
“We don’t have to make it for show,” he’d assured. “It can just be about us.”
“And your friends,” she’d pointed out.
“Yours can come too.”
“Duke?” Perry’s voice sounded foreign in the midst of his memories. They didn’t belong in the same place. Perry was in the present, and the image in his mind, a moment that was ten years old, was like a ghost from his past. One that had haunted him ever since.
“Yeah?” he asked.
“Umm…it sounds like you have company.”
Duke’s face scrunched up. “What do you m—” But then he heard it—the soft sound of a woman clearing her throat.
A fresh scent wafted through the air. The same floral fragrance he noticed when Viv stepped onto the jet. Duke’s pulse sped as he spun to look over his shoulder.
Vivi stood before the retracting door. It had already closed behind her; is that what Perry heard through the line? He had been on the jet himself dozens of times.
“Hi,” Duke blurted, the feelings from his memory still warm in his mind. In one swift move, he reached over to place the baseball on its stand.
“Sorry to disrupt,” she said. “I just…you said I could order something to eat, and I wondered if you’d like to join me.”
Duke stood to his feet and cleared his throat. “Uh, yes. Of course. That’d be great.”
The slightest hint of a grin pulled at her lips. “Great. I usually start off the interview process over a meal. May as well keep up the tradition.”