Page 36 of How to Deal
Zane rolled his eyes. “He’s supposed to run Warren-Madsen Engineering, but Paul does mostly, which was why you hadn’t met him until a week ago. He’s a busy man.”
“How old is Tathan?”
“He turns twenty-six in August. Kelly is twenty-nine and James is thirty-three.”
I’m impressed with how much Zane knows.
“If you knew Tathan was Elliott Warren, how come you didn’t tell me before?”
“It really wasn’t my place to say. He likes to keep his cover.” He shrugs. “Everyone around here knows. Why do you think these sluts around here are so obsessed with him? He’s famous.”
“But Casey didn’t know either.”
“She doesn’t pay attention to that sort of thing.”
He’s right. She doesn’t. For the last year, she didn’t know Bryan had brought home a cat. She thought she’d been feeding a stray all this time.
I turn my attention to the article, and I don’t realize I’m crying until Zane hands me a tissue. The article is so detailed on Jason and Keri’s endless love for one another. They met when they were eight years old for crying out loud. Eight! Goddamn you, Joy. Where’s the blessing in their happiness coming to a bloody end?
The article describes a fairy-tale love that you wouldn’t think even existed, ever and it’s no wonder Tathan is the way he is.
Just when you think someone’s life is perfect, you see it’s not.
The guy who makes me insane at work now has a tragic story. I feel so bad for Tathan. I want to comfort him, which scares me because I had a plan. The plan went to shit. I need a plan that doesn’t include having sympathy for a guy like Tathan Madsen, and I’m not sure a plan like that exists anymore.
