A Richer Shade of Gold

XXXVI

"There's a blizzard due tonight, I wouldn't recommend coming by..." Sachi sighed, "Sorry, I know I said it'd be better if you could...but just about the whole of Manhattan is snowed in."

"That's fine, could you still tell me what you needed to now?" Kendall replied, watching flakes of ice spray her window from the warmth of her bed.

"Well, before I start, I like to be as candour as possible, so take everything I say with a grain of salt."

"Of course,"

"I assume you asked about my sweater because it connects to the office, doesn't it?"

"Yes, Gavin Laurence's office."

"I won't lie, I was in there that night, but you have to understand Kendall, the files were already gone by the time I got there. I was asked to grab them, on your behalf actually, but I refused as it sounded like breaking and entering at the time to me. Additionally, you were preoccupied with the gala and so it struck me as strange that you would need them that day anyway."

Kendall was silent for a while and Sachi continued, "I was late to the gala that night because I went to the office regardless, I thought I'd secure them for you or something—I don't really know, the whole thing just felt odd. However, as I said, I was too late, and clumsy me snagged my sweater as the cherry on top."

"Who was it?" Kendall asked, the hesitation clearly displaying that she wasn't sure if she wanted to know at all. 

"Your friend." 

"What?" Kendall wasn't sure she heard the name correctly, but Sachi didn't repeat herself. 

"I'd be very cautious moving on, Kendall. Right now, you need to see everybody as untrustworthy and ensure those you can trust are, without fail, unimpeachable." 

"Right...thank you, Sachi." 

"Stay sharp, Kendall...good night." The line clicked dead. 

Ironically, Kendall wondered where Sachi's loyalties lied and whether or not she was unimpeachable herself.

—

The blizzard subsided in the morning and school resumed as per usual. Kendall arrived a little later than normal, but that was the case for most high-tier students—nobody was going to race to school, especially if they could use the slushy roads as an excuse...and the status they possessed meant they could all get away with it. She wasn't sure where her friends were, but she only cared about one person at that moment—Sachi's words haunted her all night. As Kendall approached him, her mind returned to the letter she received yesterday. Her acceptance letter.

"Seems my connections are more efficient than I remember," William said as he skimmed the thick paper. Shortly thereafter, he folded the letter and slid it back into its envelope, the scarlet wax seal hovering over the edges. "Usually, their early offers require a prompt response, so I wouldn't mess around if I were you, Kendall."

She nodded and took the letter before leaving her father's office. She stared at the words as she climbed the stairs. She didn't feel as happy as she thought she would.

Why was that?

The envelope fluttered when she discarded it atop her desk and she laid on her bed, her eyes trained on nothing but the ceiling.

"I was thinking about the holidays that are rapidly approaching." Wesley's words resonated with Kendall after a delay, causing his brows to furrow as he soaked up her blank expression. "Kendall?"

She blinked, mustering a smile for the sake of her boyfriend, "Sorry?"

He slyly grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers with hers, "We should go somewhere."

"We're already planning—"

"No, not the group trip...I mean, just the two of us instead." He looked hopeful and somewhat euphoric...And in a few months, she'd be jetting off to England like she'd been planning for since she could remember. There's no way it could work when they were that far apart...She felt guilty.

Sometimes plans and desires change and the ultimate goal becomes blurred. Sometimes, you lose yourself along the way to your end goal and when you find the path again, you realise that it's no longer the one you want to be following.

At that moment, Kendall did nothing but stare into the two kaleidoscopic palettes of emerald green that had ripped her through an emotional blender. His eyes sparkled as his lips curled, revealing an enticing grin that compelled her to drop everything and leave with him right then and there. It was there when Kendall reached an epiphany that Cambridge and Wesley Archer were two very different paths.