Page 84 of What They'll Say About Us

"Yes. There's an energy that makes me feel alive. Have you ever lived anywhere besides Chicago?" I asked as he sat down across from me with his own plate of food.

"Nope. Been here my whole life."

"Ever thought about leaving, or is this your forever home?"

"I never thought about it in terms of forever. But I have a good life here. And I've been making my way up the ranks, which has been nice." He paused, then gave a shrug. "I've never been one to make plans too far in advance. I grew up in an unpredictable household, so it was safer and saner to stay in the moment. It saved me from being continually disappointed."

"I know how that feels," I murmured.

"Your parents were unpredictable?"

"Absolutely. They're both creatives. My father is a musician and has been playing in bands his entire life. He's very good but not great, not rockstar material, but he plays a mean guitar and has a good voice, so there was usually some band looking for someone like him. Which meant he was always on the road."

"And your mother?"

"An actress. She didn't travel as much as my dad, but she had to work a lot of odd jobs to try to make ends meet in between auditions. She wanted to be a star. She hated that she wasn't as successful as my aunt, who had a lot of starring roles both on the stage and even in some movies when she was young. My mom would do everything she could to get a part, find an advantage over another actress, which sometimes included sleeping with directors and sending me somewhere for a few days or weeks, whatever she needed."

"That doesn't sound like the best childhood."

"It wasn't the worst. They were both good to me. I just never knew who was going to be around, especially after I was about eleven or twelve. When I was old enough to stay home alone, I was often home alone. But when they were around, they were fun."

"Do you see them now?"

"Funny you should ask. My father is apparently coming into town today to perform at some club later tonight. My aunt wants me to go, but I'm tied up with all this, so I didn't commit, and I don't really need to see him."

"But you could. I'm betting he wants to see you."

"That wouldn't be a good bet."

"You're his daughter."

"And he loves me in his own way; I know that. It's just not the way I want to be loved." I paused as I put another bite of scrambled eggs into my mouth. Swallowing, I added, "Looking back now, which I've been doing a lot of lately, I realize how much their attitudes, their behaviors, influenced my choices. My role model of a mother wasn't the best, and I think I let her attitude of being willing to do anything to get ahead become my mantra. Not that I was sleeping with directors." I shuddered. "I couldn't imagine touching Professor Hale. But I was competitive with my rivals, and I did burn friendships down along the way to what I thought was stardom. Turns out it wasn't." I smiled. "I'm sure that's way more than you wanted to hear."

"You're a pretty interesting woman, Tessa."

"Interesting is one of the nicer words that people have used to describe me."

"Well, you are a lot of other things, too," he said with a grin. "What's your plan today?"

"I want to stop by the Cornerstone Theater and talk to my aunt and anyone else I can find there. Carrie is in this production. Jay, who used to work with Hale as a TA is directing along with Hale, and Nate Gardiner, Paige's old boyfriend, handles ticket sales."

"I had no idea."

"Even Sloane, Paige's former roommate, has contributed some of the set designs. My aunt uses a lot of people from the university. I think some of the current students are also in the cast. Her productions are very good. She usually sells out. You should go to one sometime."

"I should," he agreed.

"What's your plan for today?"

"I'll go down to headquarters and check in on the forensics from Vincent's crime scene as well as what information came from any of the neighbors. I'm going to ask Professor Hale to come in with his attorney if he chooses to. And I'll look into Ray MacIntyre as well. Then I'll go from there."

As he finished speaking, my prepaid phone rang. "This is Morgan."

"Put her on speaker. I'd like to ask her more about the car that followed her."

I answered the call and hit the speaker button. "Hi, Morgan. I'm with Detective Barclay, and you're on speaker."

"Okay," she said, clearing her throat, clearly surprised that I was still with Colton. "I was worried about you, Tessa. You said you were going to text me last night after you got settled somewhere."