'Til Sun Beams Find You [COMPLETED]

Twenty-one (Part 2)

To say he felt out of place was an understatement, but for the sake of family, Carter smiled and shook hands with the businessmen, politicians and lawyers his father introduced him to and spoke about mundane things with them. He laughed when he was supposed to, inquired about their wives and kids when he was supposed to and overall, was behaving the way his dad would have wanted.

It was the least he could do.

Dale came by mid-conversation with some white guy that looked just like the one before him, and Carter took that as his cue to leave.

He patted his dad on the shoulder. "I'm gonna grab a drink. Do you want anything?" He asked, but had already walked away before Dale could answer, leaving him in the company of some man going on about what sport his youngest son had recently taken up.

Carter grabbed his second drink on the night at the bar and then a seat at the table reserved with his name on it.

He sat, quietly observing all the people and chatter and laughter, and wondered how much, if any of it, was genuine.

It was like watching a movie.

A long, boring movie mostly starring white people.

The chair next to him was pulled out, and he turned to see Alicia, the paralegal that worked with his dad, sitting down next to him.

"Hi stranger," she said, adjusting the bottom of her formal blue dress as took a seat. "Can you believe the mayor's here?! I shook his hand," she squealed lowly to Carter.

His father was being honored for the work he did pro-bono by some large scale government office, so that inevitably brought out some heavy hitters.

Carter quietly took in how dolled up she looked.

For some reason, he didn't feel like it was something that she'd been informed of last minute, like he was.

"I was looking for a dress for weeks," Alicia continued speaking, almost answering the question on his mind.

Carter just hummed and knocked back the rest of his drink.

"And you look very handsome," she touched her hand to his shoulder and smiled.

Carter stared at her hand until it disappeared off of him.

Alicia giggled. "Not a fan of compliments?"

"Not really," he said, and left it at that.

His fingers tapped at the table, impatiently awaiting the end to this where he could finally get out of the suit. Sitting here, after a long day at work, wasn't exactly what he imagined on doing but it was the sacrifice he made... for family.

Alicia sighed softly before placing her chin in her hand. "You see her? She's the new girl," she pointed across the room to a girl in a long purple dress, and though she was turned around, Carter could make out those curls and her stance anywhere.

She looked healthier than the last time he saw her, and she filled out her dress pretty nicely.

"She's been slowing us down on prepping for trial, but she's from Harvard so.. legacy kid I guess. And her dad's the prosecutor so I don't know what kind of power move your dad is pulling but I'm worried.."

He chuckled. "It's not a power move. That's Letty.. she's like family."

His dad had watched her grow from a baby.

It was as if the mentioning of her name had her turning around mid conversation, to look directly at Carter.

He hadn't noticed her all night, and he didn't even realize she was in town or that she worked with his father, but he was glad she had gotten the opportunity as he knew she really wanted to work with him. He was also glad to know she was alive. It was as if she had disappeared from earth after he dropped her off at her cousin's house, and he hadn't heard a word from her since.