Page 48 of One Last Chance

If someone told me a year ago that I would be out and about spending time with that slightly awkward new girl from our department, I probably would’ve laughed. I’ve become so content with my boring adult life, with going home and orderingtakeout only to watch TV, that I figured after the days of partying and going out and socializing on the weekends were well beyond me.

I guess it’s just what I’ve been needing to distract me.

And I’m not complaining, really. Joane and her friend group are nice. They’re all betas and a bit younger than me—which makes me feel ancient sometimes—but I fit in well enough. Everyone is always nice to me, and they act like I’ve been a part of their group for longer than just a few months.

“Lost in thought again, Day?” I hear her voice in my ear, so I blink and look up.

It takes my brain a moment to come back to reality.

Right. Earth to Dayton. We’re out by the waterfront, celebrating her friend Michelle’s big promotion. There’s people, you can’t just zone out.

“Damn, sorry,” I say with an apologetic smile and sip from the can of non-alcoholic beer I’m holding.

“I’m getting used to it,” Joane notes playfully, giving me a brief expression of concern before smiling in return. Maybe I have been a little absent minded recently… But I can still do my job, pay my rent, function, and I’m completely, utterlyfine. I’ve moved on. I’m living. “Andre was talking about that Richard Thornston guy. I was saying he’s one of the board members in our company, right?” she asks, interrupting my internal monologue again.

“Oh. Right. Yeah, he is,” I say, steadying my voice and putting up a more present, likable expression on my stupid face as I turn to Andre sitting across from me. “I’ve met him a few times. Really serious, tough to read guy.”

“Well, he’s a board member in my company as well. How many boards can you be a member of?” Andre notes with a frustrated grimace.

Michelle scoffs. “I’m pretty sure it’s the whole family. I’ve heard the name Thornston more than once. I think they’re all about that legacy of successful, macho, filthy rich alpha bastards. Probably own half the companies in the city behind the scenes.”

“That’s such a tired stereotype, though. It’s not like all alphas are CEOs and rich, successful people,” Joane notes swiftly, unintentionally using a tone indicating she’s the informed, responsible ally who has to educate her less knowledgeable beta friends.

A faint smile appears on my lips without even knowing why. Then I realized what she said.How ironic.

Usually, this beta savior behavior would make me roll my eyes, but Joane has come a long way from her completely clueless self. Ever since we’ve gotten closer, she’s been trying her best to educate herself on all things venus, and if she comes off a little preachy and self-important about it, so be it. She’s got the pass from me.

“Well, of-of course,” Michelle says with a quick, nervous blink, and the eyes of most of the group awkwardly aim at me, like they’re waiting for my wrath or for me to be offended. “You know what I meant.”

I like these people, but situations like these make me feel like such a freak sometimes.

When I feel my phone buzz inside my pants pocket, I thank the universe for giving me an out of that uncomfortable moment. I pull it out, expecting moms calling or maybe a courier—I might have been soothing myself with online shopping a little too much recently—but instead I see the same unknown number from before.

Joane leans in to see. “Again?” she mutters with a frown.

An unknown number rang me about twenty minutes earlier, but as soon as I picked up and answered, the line went dead. A mistake, or some prank, I thought. I hardly ever get calls likethis. My first instinct is to ignore it or hang up. Yet with each ring, my stomach tightens, and something tells me to pick up.

I excuse myself and walk a few feet away before accepting the call. “Dayton Choi, hello?” I say just like before and wait.

Silence.

For a moment, anyway.

Faintly, I hear someone’s trembling breaths, or maybe even whimpers? I can’t tell. The muscles in my shoulders tense up. Something in my gut tells me to stay on the line.

“Hello? Who is this?” I ask in a more urgent tone.

A more clear sniffle comes through, then another shaky exhale. “It’s…it’s me.”

My heart skips a beat and the hairs at the back of my neck stand on end. “Mina…?” I say, half wanting to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming. But it is. Itisher voice. Little, trembling, and weak.

“I’m…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t…shouldn’t bother you, I…” She sniffs again, sounding like she’s barely winning a fight against full on breaking down. “Nevermind, sorry I—”

“No!” I blurt, blood going completely still in my veins. I make a few more steps away from the chatting group, leaning against the tree by the path next to the water. “Don’t hang up on me, Mina. What is going on? Where are you?”

Whatever you do, don’t you dare hang up on me.

As I go through all the possible catastrophic scenarios, I run out of the ones surrounding Mina and enter a category that makes my stomach turn upside down.Oh no.“Mina, is Rowland— Is your dad okay?” I ask breathlessly, digging my fingers against the tree’s bark. The air I draw into my lungs doesn't seem to do anything at all.

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