Lassiter paced in front of his door. Left three steps, turn, right three steps, turn. Repeat. Rebecca, watching him walk back and forth, was sitting at his kitchen table and wishing that she wasn't due to her extreme levels of awkwardness and anxiety. Finally, there was a knock at the door.
After taking a deep breath, steeling himself for whatever was to come, Lassiter opened the door and invited his ex-wife and her fiancé inside. Rebecca smiled at them and waved a little.
"Thanks for agreeing to meet with us, Carlton," Parker said. "I really do appreciate it."
Lassiter shrugged. His shoulders felt tight, strained. "No problem. Ah... This is Wiliams."
Rebecca jumped up and crossed to Parker and her fiancé, shaking their hands and smiling shyly. She hovered close to Lassiter, always a step behind him, as if he would shield her from everything around them.
"Hello, I'm Rebecca," she said.
"Victoria Parker. Nice to meet you," Parker said with narrowed eyes. "Carlton, could I have a moment?"
Lassiter nodded, patted Rebecca's shoulder, and followed his ex-wife. He and Parker ducked into his living room.
Parker said, "I have to say, Carlton, I'm a little taken aback. When you said you were dating a secretary, and that the job was fine given her age, I was honestly expecting someone on the opposite end of the age spectrum. I certainly didn't expect you to be dating Lolita."
"Hey! I'm dating an English major. I know who Lolita is."
"Well, now I'm even more convinced that you're making a bad choice by dating her. What could a girl like that ever want out of someone like you?"
"Gee, I don't know," Lassiter retorted, unable to keep the biting sarcasm out of his voice. "Maybe love, companionship, protection?"
"Look, I'm not trying to offend you, Carlton. I'm trying to get you to think about your actions because believe it or not, I do care about you, and I don't want to see you hurt."
"She's not going to hurt me! If anything, she's too nice."
"Is she really? Or just for you?"
"She really is! For example. Earlier today, she befriended Yang."
"Yang? You mean, the serial killer lady?"
"No, she wasn't actually the serial killer. Her father was, so she killed him."
"Right."
"She's also friends with an ex-arsonist."
"Who is? Yang?"
"No. Williams."
"How did that happen?"
"...I don't want to talk about it."
"So she befriends people who are criminals. Or related to criminals. And you're still dating her?"
"Well...yeah. Someone has to watch out for her. She needs me."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course."
"And does she give anything to you in return?"
"Love. Companionship."
"You could get those from a cocker spaniel."
"Oh, no more movie references, please. I get enough of that from Williams."
"That wasn't a movie reference, Carlton."
"Of course it was. It was from White Christmas, when Vera Ellen tries to convince Danny Kaye to get engaged to her and he says that she's like his cocker spaniel. And then later, he tells her that in some ways she's far superior to the cocker spaniel."
"I've only ever seen that movie once. I wasn't referencing it."
"Oh. So you were just being obnoxious." Lassiter crossed his arms.
"I wasn't being obnoxious."
"No? Because it sounded like that to me!" After a pause, Lassiter's eyes widened and he said, "Oh, Lady Justice, I'm starting to sound like Williams."
Parker, exasperated, said, "Don't you see? You're getting very wrapped up in someone who might not even know her own feelings. It sounds like she has a lot of issues, and not only that; she's a teenager. You can't trust the emotions of teenage girls."
"Trust me. Williams is one of the most stable people I know."
"Is she? Is she really?"
"Yes!" Lassiter said emphatically.
"How do you know?"
"What?"
"How do you know that she's stable? For that matter, how do you even know that she loves you?"
Lassiter was dumbstruck. What disturbed him was that he realized that he honestly didn't know. Something snapped in his brain, a defense mechanism. He shut his mind down and gave in to the anger welling up inside. "I see what this is," he said. "You don't want me to be happy. For once, couldn't something in my life be too good to be true---and actually be true?"
Author's Chapter Notes:
This...is the beginning.
Chapter End Notes:
By the way, I've never actually read Lolita; I know only of its reputation.