The Only Exception

CHAPTER 20

After being caught, twice, it put an end to our make out sessions; no matter how bad I wanted him. I settled for three games of chess instead of lying on my back. Every time I turned my head it seemed as if there was some sort of servant watching us. It definitely killed the mood.

Mindy came home after Trey won for the third time. I heard her heels on the wood floor of the entryway before I saw her.

“Trey, I don’t believe I’ve seen you play chess since high school,” she said, her voice overly cheery.

Trey stared down at the crystal set. “I thought this would be better used than just a decoration in the parlor.” He glanced up, shooting a wink in my direction. “And it’s nice to see that I can actually beat Monica at something.”

“Well, don’t beat her too bad; we wouldn’t want her running off before dinner. I instructed Nadia to prepare duck a l’orange. Your favorite.”

Mindy stopped right next to the chess set. “Monica, are you a fan of duck?”

“Um, I honestly can’t say that I’ve ever had it, so I don’t have an opinion.”

Mindy smiled. “That’s such a political answer.”

My eyes connected with Trey’s. “I learned from the best.”

Mindy placed her hand on Trey’s shoulder and he broke our contact, looking up at her. “He does have a great way with words. I think he will definitely follow in his father’s footsteps.” She patted his shoulder and then retreated down the hall.

I waited until I couldn’t hear the clicking of her heels anymore before I spoke. “Do you want to be a politician like your dad?”

He thumbed the chess piece in his hand and then set it back down before his eyes were locked on mine again. In the fading light that streamed in from the large, French windows they looked even brighter. “The canned answer would be that every boy aspires to follow in his father’s footsteps.” He paused, moving the chess piece across the board. “But the official Trey Chapman answer is that I want to make my father proud and keep my girlfriend happy.” He stood up, putting his hands in his pockets. “Checkmate.”

Before I could respond, Nadia came shuffling down the hall with her purse slung over her shoulder. “Goodnight Señor Trey, Señorita Monica. I hope you got to enjoy each other’s company.” She nodded in our direction before shutting the front door behind her.

I stood up, covering my mouth to stifle the giggles that were threatening to escape. “It looks like I made quite the impression on her.”

Trey reached his hand out to me and I took it, walking with him down the hall to the dining room. “I think you make an impression on everyone you meet, Miss Remy.”

“As do you, Mr. Chapman.” I had to bite my lip to keep a straight face once we made our way into the dining room.

The plethora of food was even more plentiful for dinner than it had been at lunch. A giant silver platter sat between two large, lighted candles. On the platter was a duck that had to be some sort of a mutant because it was bigger than a house cat. On either side of it were trays of more food, but three plates were already sitting at each of our place settings, piled with a large hunk of duck, caprese salad, mashed cauliflower, and tiny phyllo shells filled with something that could have been seafood. It was decadence to the extreme.

“There are only three plates,” I said, standing behind the chair I sat in earlier that day.

Mindy walked in from the kitchen behind us and took the seat across from Trey. “Yes, Kirk said he was very sorry, but his meeting is running late and will not be joining us for dinner.”

“Oh.” It was all I could muster as I pulled my chair out and took my seat next to Trey. As soon as I sat down, he held his hand out me.

We didn’t hold hands at lunch and especially not on top of the table, which had to be some sort of rich person faux paus. I stared at his hand until he finally spoke. “It’s time for grace.”

I looked over and saw he was already holding Mindy’s hand across the table, and she was reaching her other one out to me. Great, another thing I didn’t pick up on. I quickly grabbed their hands, and they bowed their heads, so I followed suit.

“Trey, will you do the honors?” Mindy’s tinny voice carried over the table.

Trey cleared his throat. “God our Father, we thank you for bringing us together for this bountiful feast and for bringing Monica into our lives. We ask that you bless this food that we are about to eat as you have continued to bless our family. Amen.”

Trey and Mindy let go of my hands, and I put them on my lap. I couldn’t believe I made an idiot of myself, again, in front of his mom at the dinner table. Hopefully, the Chapman’s wouldn’t hold my dinner etiquette against me, or the other laundry list of things that had been piling up.

***

After the extravagant dinner, another short, Latina woman came in and cleared our plates. This time I didn’t protest and let Trey lead me into the living room. Just as I sat on one of the plush couches, the governor sauntered into the room and took a seat at the other end of the couch.

Trey sat next to me and put his arm around my waist. I felt awkward showing any kind of affection in front of his dad, but I hoped it was his way of showing the governor that I was worth something.

“Hey Dad, how was the meeting?”

The governor nodded and Mindy practically flowed into the room, taking the seat next to the governor. “The city comptroller never sleeps. Not even on a Saturday. I’m sorry about that, son.”

“It’s fine.” Trey lifted his hand ever so slightly.

The governor looked right at me. His stare used to scare the bejeezus out of me whenever I saw him on TV, but up close I realized how many of Trey’s features he got from his dad, especially his smile. “I’m mostly apologizing to you, Monica, I’m sorry I didn’t get to spend more time getting to know you. My son seems to think very highly of you, and I would have loved to get to know you better.”

Trey squeezed my side. “There should be plenty of time for that. She isn’t going anywhere for awhile.”

My breath caught in my throat. I knew Trey loved me, but to express that he wanted me around for a long time, in front of his family, set our relationship on a whole new level.

The governor nodded, patting Mindy’s knee. “Good to hear, son, and we’re happy to have you anytime, Monica.” Then he winked. A genuine wink! I didn’t know what he meant, and it was so fast it could have been something in his eye. He turned away and grabbed a remote, turning the TV on to the nightly world news.

I didn’t usually mind watching the nightly news, but sitting with a family of conservatives and watching was completely different.

The blonde news anchor’s voice rang over a shotty video that looked like it was taken from a camera phone; it was of a large brick building, some sand, and lots of gun fire. Another shooting at another embassy.

“And what do you suppose the president’s response will be to this devastating tragedy?” The governor held his hand out to the screen. “More gun control laws on our end for something that was caused by terrorists?”

I clamped my mouth shut, not willing myself to respond. Usually everything that came out of the governor’s mouth sounded like it was written for him by a guy in one of the back rooms with a typewriter. To hear him actually say what he was thinking was refreshing and maddening at the same time. Mainly maddening because I didn’t agree with his view points at all.

The next story was about healthier school lunches, another program the governor thought was on the president’s liberal agenda, and used money that could have been put toward job creation instead. I was about ready to excuse myself when another video played on the screen. One I was all too familiar with.

Another reporter’s voice called over a very grainy video, but there I was, clear as day with a guy standing at my back before Trey punched him in the jaw. “Trey Chapman, son of Illinois governor, Kirk Chapman, recently came into some hot water after putting a fellow student in the hospital when he caught him dancing with his girlfriend at a private fraternity function.”

“This is bullshit,” I muttered.

Trey squeezed my side and bent his head down to my ear, whispering, “Just keep your cool. The news likes to over-exaggerate things.”

A picture of the governor popped up on the screen with scrolling words next to him that the reporter read off. “It is with my sincerest apologies that my youngest son had a lapse in judgment. He has since apologized to his friend, and his fraternity will be handling this matter as my son would like to keep his personal matters private.”

Then, something I didn’t expect happen did. My high school senior photo replaced the governor’s picture and the reporter kept talking. “The relationship the governor is talking about is Trey Chapman’s new girlfriend, Monica Remy.”

The pictures shuffled on the screen. They were random shots that they must have somehow gathered from my high school yearbook, mostly pictures of me in class or at pep assemblies. “Her classmates at Central College have said that she is outspoken and a perfect match for the governor’s son.” The last picture faded and the governor clicked off the TV. He turned to me, his eyes dark and his brow furrowed.

“I’m very sorry about that, Monica, I didn’t know they would bring up that much about you.”

I sucked in a deep breath and then released it slowly. “I guess, it’s fine. I mean, it’s weird they had so many pictures of me, but I guess it could have been worse.” They could have really dug into my past. The news could have spun that in a way so that I came out looking like the bad guy. The liberal girlfriend who had to go to the clinic after a night of partying.

My phone started buzzing the minute I stopped talking. I slid it out of my pocket and there was a text from Sam.



Holy shit, dude, you are like famous.





And then another text from Melanie.



Was your family emergency to get those yearbook photos to the news? Txt me ASAP!





And then came the phone call from my mom.

“Um, I should take this!” I sprang up from the couch and darted to the front of the house. When I hoped I was out of ear shot, I finally answered.

“Hey, Mom.”

“Trey punched a guy and put him in the hospital for you?”

I groaned, I guess the situation didn’t call for a ‘hi, how are you’. “No, Mom, he didn’t put the guy in the hospital, that was just an exaggeration.”

She ignored my statement and just kept talking. “I swear we didn’t give the news those pictures of you. You don’t think they will start knocking at our door now, do you?”

I sighed. “I don’t know, Mom. I’m hoping it will all blow over soon. Maybe some congresswomen’s daughter or member of the royal family will have a sex scandal, and that will be the big news.”

“Is that really going to happen? Do you have insider information on that?”

“Moooom.”

“Okay, I’m sorry. I was just curious,” she said. “I was just calling to make sure everything was okay.”

I heard footsteps and looked up to see Trey in front of me, his hands in his pockets. He wasn’t smiling and he didn’t ask me to hang up, but I knew I needed to talk to him.

“I will be okay, Mom. But I have to go. I’ll call you tomorrow. I love you, bye.”

I hung up the phone and slid it back into my pocket. Trey took another few steps, closing the distance until we were toe-to-toe. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t think all that would end up on the news. But you’re right. Hopefully it will all be over soon.”

I nodded, unsure of what else to say.

“Hey.” He put his fingers under my chin and lifted it so I met his eyes. “I meant it when I told my dad that you weren’t going anywhere anytime soon. As long as this didn’t scare you off, I want you to stay around.”

I sighed. “As much as this all sucks, I know even if I tried to leave you, I couldn’t. If any other guy dragged me to their parent’s house and I had to sit and watch myself on the nightly world news, I’d be running for the hills. But not with you. You’re the exception to all of my rules.”