Conflict of Interest

Chapter One

"Okay, you've made your point," I muttered, thinking about Carrie's sister and the thought that I didn't even like her either. Not even a little bit. "God, are all of you guys named after a Kennedy? Caroline, Jackie, and your brother Robert..."

"Don't forget my estranged older brother, John Fitzgerald."

"I don't think I've met John Fitzgerald," I laughed at her stupid joke.

"That's because my parents locked him in the basement for not going to law school," she quipped caustically.

"You have a dark, twisted sense of humor."

She smiled briefly before cocking an eyebrow. "Who said I'm kidding?"

***

Kim

"Just move a little bit," I instructed. "No, to your left. Your other left."

"I can't see."

"Just a little to the left. My left. That's it. Now down, slowly...slowly...you know what, just stick it there. Put it there."

"I can't believe you made me do this backwards."

"Just, drop it," I decided, letting my end go. The world's heaviest mattress fell to the floor in the world's saddest looking apartment.

"I guess that's the last thing," Grace marvelled, standing back to admire our own handiwork. Sure, it looked humble now, but the fortress of boxes we'd just lugged tirelessly up to our fourth floor apartment were more symbolically impressive than aesthetically so. They looked ugly, but they represented the truth that this was becoming real.

"Now all we have to do is unpack them all," I added, pessimisically.

"Don't bring me down," she deflated. "At least there's no more making trips into the elevator. I told you we should have hired movers."

"But look how well we did on our own," I pointed out.

"Yeah, four days later."

"And four hundred dollars saved."

"Fine, have it your way," she relented. 

"I think I already do."

"Let's unpack."

"No," I urged, tugging her back onto the mattress we'd just thrown on the ground. "Let's take a break."

"What kind of a break?"

"You know what kind of a break," I smiled, straddling her lap and kissing her.

"God, are you ever not in the mood?"

"You should know the answer to that question by now."

She just rolled her eyes, though she was smiling, and returned to kissing me.

"Thank you," I eventually said at random.

"For what?"

"For taking this leap with me," I said honestly.

"I'd rather be taking a leap with you than sticking to what I know without you."

"It's a pretty damn big leap though," I noted.

"Kim. You know that you're safe, right?"

I forced a smile and laid myself down next to her. "Of course I do," I lied.

"It took courage to move to Green Falls," she assured me quietly. "And I don't blame you for having doubts."

I sighed. "In all honestly, I'm anything but sure of what I'm doing here."