Clementine had become a wild child. Born in America but raised abroad, she now had little regard for the expectations of high society. But her reckless ways eventually catch up with her when she is kicked out of college in New York City and forced t...
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The morning after the party, Clementine woke up still haunted by Mina's words.
Just in case.
As if that concept had the power to haunt her for the rest of her life.
Opening up the doorway to a possibility, with such little probability, she thought.
Regardless of how much she wanted to sit around and observe and ponder every aspect of that thought, her dad called her to have breakfast in the garden that morning. This was slightly unusual as he would usually be at the country club, or something, Clementine thought.
And just as soon as she figured it was going to be a nice, father-daughter breakfast, he came out with:
"I have an announcement to make," looking particularly pleased with himself, using the white cloth napkin to dab his mouth in between the fruit salad.
Clementine raised her eyebrows, "what is it?"
"I was able to pull some string and, well, I'll just come out with it. You're going back to Columbia!" Her father exclaimed with expectation in his eyes.
Clementine froze.
"When?" She finally asked.
"Soon. After Mina's wedding. They wanted you to come back next year, and even that was an if. But why skip so much? I managed to get you in just in time for the summer semester." Her dad pulled out a ticket from his pocket, neatly folded as if it was the most natural thing to do in the world.
Watching for her reaction, Clementine stayed blank, and he took a sip of orange juice, mostly trying to calm down and understand as to why Clementine wasn't reacting the way he'd expected her to.
She didn't expect it, but she did't want to come back to Columbia, to New York. Just as she was getting used to the life and culture here, she realized her priorities had completely shifted. Finally, it started to feel like like maybe everything had happened on purpose, that maybe leaving Columbia wasn't a bad thing as she was so afraid of in the beginning.
"And, what if I don't want to go back?" Clementine slowly asked him, expecting for sure a blow up a lecture, anything that would show her she better not test these waters or his limits.
But much to her surprise, her dad, instead of saying anything, paused himself. Looking at his orange juice for what seemed like al long time, as if it contained the answers, he finally looked up at her and said:
"Then I would be disappointed," there it was, she thought, "but I would understand if that's the decision you want to make, for yourself."
Now Clementine was raising her eyebrows in shock because of his reaction. What?!
This was radical for both of them. Him, letting her make her own decisions, and her having the chance to...take a different path without being chastised for it.
Maybe her parents felt bad for all that happen to her, somehow thinking it was their fault. Was it their fault?
Clementine looked at the ticket, and suddenly, felt nauseous thinking of al the opportunities opening up in front of her.
What was the right path?
Her brain was firing a million shots per minute.
She could see it in his eyes that she hurt him, but she could also sense that his leeway was genuine.
"Do you mean it?" Clementine asked carefully. "You genuinely would feel fine about me leaving Columbia?"
"You're an adult. You can make your own decisions. And you don't have to leave forever, but I understand if there are other things you want to explore."
They sat there in silence, both pondering what had just happened. Both slightly surprised at how the other took it.
"But, just take this. I want you to have it, just in case." He slid the ticket further over to her.
Just in case.
Clementine watched her father take his daily vitamins, swallowing one pill after the other. Clementine hated taking medicine as a child, but now she realized that the the hardest pill to swallow was going to be Zico.
