Page 61 of Unfinished

Turning back to my dad, he said, “Go to Pittsburgh. You have a way of winning her over. Then go to New York and do what you need to do, so she can do what she needs to do.”

“What about you?”

“I’m fine, Gary is already getting doctors set up in the city. The Penthouse is being prepared. The lawyers are filing the papers on Monday. Gary will fly with me to New York when it’s safe for me to fly.” Turning to Bas, "Contact your dad. We need to fix this mess with Bill and get him back on our payrolls in Pittsburgh."

Bas nodded but my head swung to my dad, "Bill worked for us?"

"Yes."

"Does Hannah know?" I asked.

"No and Bill wouldn't want it that way. So keep your mouth shut. Handle your relationship, Bas can get Pittsburgh set up."

With Bill working for my family that meant there would be more reasons for me to go to Pittsburgh, to see Hannah. Except I would have to keep yet another secret from Hannah. One that could ruin us entirely, or save us.

Bas and I had landed in Pittsburgh and the car was taking us to Hannah’s apartment. Bas was able to get the address from Ashley. Pittsburgh really was a beautiful city, there were so many trees everywhere and everything was green. No one would ever suspect Pittsburgh to be so green with its industrial history.

The driver took us through this long tunnel, and the moment you exited it, you were on a bridge with this breathtaking view of downtown. I saw the appeal of this city and wouldn’t mind visiting it regularly for the next four years, if Hannah would let me.

We arrived outside of Hannah’s apartment building. Bas hit the buzzer and Ashley answered.

“Let me up, babe,” Bas said.

“David?” Ashley’s voice came over the speaker.

“Who the fuck is David?” Bas yelled and then we heard Ashley cackling before she buzzed the door.

We walked up the stairs and got to the door but when Ashley saw me her grin dropped and she gave me a sad look.

“What are you doing here?” Ashley whispered.

“Fixing this,” I replied and she nodded.

“Hannah!” Ashley yelled and Hannah came out of their room and stopped when she saw me.

My heart was trying to beat out of my chest to get to her and already I saw the tears forming in her eyes. I needed one sign that this was fixable, that maybe I hadn’t completely lost her. I didn’t remove my eyes from her, waiting for anything.

She tipped her head back for second, and I saw her chest rise in a breath. When her head tipped back down, she looked at me. Tears fell out of her eyes. Hannah ran towards me and leaped into my arms. I held her close and she wrapped her legs around me. I closed my eyes and buried my face in her hair.

“What are you doing here?” Hannah choked out.

“I want to figure this out,” I said, “Please help me figure this out.”

Hannah nodded into my neck and I carried her into the apartment following Bas. Ashley pointed me to their room and I took Hannah to it. Once I closed the door, I sat on Hannah’s bed and held her in my lap as she straddled me. For a little bit, we’d forget everything. It was just us here.

“Alright, let’s figure this out,” Hannah said, sitting back and wiping her tears from her face.

“Let’s figure out what we don’t want first.”

“Okay.”

“I don’t want to date anyone else.”

“I don’t either, but I can’t have any expectations. It’s too hard to manage long-distance.”

“I don’t want to go too long without having conversations or seeing each other.” There was a pause in our conversation as Hannah looked at me. Her eyes shined from the tears.

“Weekly phone calls? See each other on breaks?” Hannah asked and I nodded.

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