She's Beautiful And Mine (gxg)

Chapter Fifty: Forever.

"No problem, I had fun with it," I said, sitting down, motioning for the two to do the same. Norah sat opposite to me and Harley sat at the head of the table.

Norah hesitantly started picking at her food with her fork and Harley followed suit.

"So, how've you been?" Harley asked.

"It's been alright. I have a job as an elementary school teacher," she said, a small smile forming on her lips at that last part.

"That's good to hear," I replied, smiling back at her.

"And you're a journalist, aren't you?" she asked me.

I nodded.

"So, nobody's gonna talk about my job?" asked Harley.

We both turned to look at her, seated at the head of the table.

"You're a billionaire businesswoman, literally everybody knows at this point," I said.

"Yeah, you're one of the leading examples of wealth disparity in our country, what's there to talk about?" Norah joined in.

And then we chuckled together.

Harley rolled her eyes and continued picking at her food.

I slapped her lightly on the arm.

"Stop playing with your food, I worked hard at that," I said.

"Hasn't changed one bit," Norah said, shaking her head.

"I know, right?" I said, shaking my head along with her.

Harley sipped on her water and was quiet after that.

"Can I ask you something, Norah? I mean, I don't wanna come off as rude or make you uncomfortable but-"

"Let me guess. Is it about my killing my dad?"

There was awkward silence for a few seconds. I could feel Harley's glare on me.

I knew what that glare meant: Why the fuck would you bring that up?

But I wanted to know. She didn't deserve to go to jail after all that happened to her. At least, from what I know about what happened to her, she didn't deserve it. And Harley might not want to know, but I did.

And then I nodded slowly.

"Yes," I said, letting out a sigh. "From what I've heard about your father, I'm sure it was-"

"Nope. No, it wasn't. I killed him 'cause I wanted to. It wasn't. . ." She looked over at Harley for a brief instant, her stormy grey eyes softening, before looking back at me. "It wasn't self-defense."

"Oh," I said, lost on how to reply to this confession.

"It's no big deal. I did my time. I've moved on."

"He was a dick, wasn't he?"

My thoughts went back to the day Harley told me about what happened to her. What he did to her, all those years ago. 

"That would be an understatement," she said.

"Couldn't agree more," I replied.

I looked over at Harley to make sure she was okay, as her silence had turned awkward. No matter how many years may have passed, it can't be easy.

But she looked fine. She looked seemingly lost in thought.

The words that Norah had just said kept replaying itself.

Nope. No, it wasn't. I killed him 'cause I wanted to. It wasn't. . . It wasn't self-defense.

And that brief stare. Was it. . . love? After all these years-