Restless Hope

Chapter 14

Isaac

The lamplight gleams dully on the pavement, illuminating the street in patches. In the distance, the houses are dark and silent. Most likely the neighbors are dreaming peacefully, but sleep eludes me. A restlessness has taken hold of my mind. Too agitated to sit anymore, I stand and walk aimlessly.

Usually I am able to block the memories, but after seeing Beth at the dance, I know there's not going to be a way to stop them.

The brief period spent at Harvard with Beth was the happiest of my life.

Freed from the constraints of always looking over our shoulder for fear of someone catching us, we were finally free to be a couple. We still had to be discreet, though, because we didn't want word to get back to her family that we were dating. Since she was an adult I knew they couldn't stop her from dating me, but I didn't want her to have to deal with the guilt or manipulations that would inevitably follow the discovery.

At first I didn't mind it being our little secret. There was something intimate about being the only ones who knew what we meant to each other.

There were downsides though.

See, Beth was a stunner.

Not only that, she was a total sweetheart.

Just as I suspected, the guys were drawn to her. She was always fending off overly friendly guys. So, yeah, it was tough not to get a little jealous when a guy put his arm around her shoulder or hugged her, even if he was just acting friendly. Because, let's be honest, a guy doesn't initiate a hug unless he wants to.

It wasn't that I didn't trust Beth. She had always been a loyal girlfriend. She knew how to handle the attention perfectly, a brief smile, a few words, and the guys would be dismissed without feeling stupid. It's the guys I didn't trust, but I tried to put it out of my mind as we worked on our business.

I first met David in an economics class. Bit by bit, I opened up and shared my vision for my product, and he became excited about the possibilities. He introduced Beth and me to Heidi. Her father was the CEO of TriClear, a company in Chicago that invests in clean energy. He sat on a couple of boards, and knew a lot of folks who might be interested in our company.

Once we had developed the prototype and business proposal, the plan was to pursue angel investing though Heidi's father's contacts.

Soon the four of us were fast friends, bound by a deep admiration for each other and a passion for our product. We became obsessed with developing Solaire. The closer we became, the more uncomfortable I felt that Beth and I were keeping secrets from Heidi and David.

It came to a head one day at Flour Bakery. We were putting the final touches on our business plan, and Beth had to leave early to meet with one of her teachers.

As she was leaving, I caught David staring after her with an appreciation that made me uneasy. This wasn't the first time I'd seen that look on his face, and I sensed if I didn't do something soon, he was going to ask her out. What could she say if he did? She couldn't tell him about us, and she wouldn't be able to easily dismiss David with a charming smile. We were all too familiar for that.

There was something else about David.

He never took no for an answer, and he pretty much always got his way. I suppose that's one of the perks of being raised with money and parents who support your decisions. David was brimming with a confidence I'm not sure I'll ever have. Just like Beth, he came from old money. If it came down to him or me, I was pretty sure I wouldn't have a shot.