Page 19 of Destiny

“That’s different.”

“How?”

I don’t have time to answer because my mother storms in shortly after.

“Hello, Mrs. Carter.”

“Hi, mom. How are you?”

She kisses me on both cheeks before going on a rant about this, that, and the other thing. She’s the kind of woman who always has something to complain about.

“Mhm, interesting,” I mutter as I pretend to be listening.

“Really, Beatrice? The fact that rabbits are eating all of my tomatoes is interesting?”

“Uh, no. I meant—”

“That sounds very frustrating,” Micky jumps in to say.

“It is.”

I shoot a grateful look at my bestie. She just nods.

Chapter 2 – Marco

“Dude, what has been going on with you recently?” Justin, a loyal client whose company I often draft contracts for, asks in my office later that morning.

“What do you mean?”

“You just seem so happy. I swear to God, you basically skipped in here.”

I can feel my cheeks burning. “Um . . .”

“It’s a woman, isn’t it?”

“Fine. We’re off the clock, okay?”

“Of course.”

“There may be a female in my life.”

“I knew it! Who is she?”

I hesitate.

“Come on—”

“Bea Carter.”

“The hot hippie chick who works at the record store?”

“Yeah.”

“Nice.” He raises his hand. I feel weird about it, but I high-fived him. “She’s pretty young, no?”

“A few years younger than me.”

“You’re going to want to be super careful with that, though?”

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