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Chapter One
Kir
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I sat outside on the patio of my parents’ beach mansion. I’d spent countless summers and weekends there, listening to the surf. The dojo where I practiced karate was within a walkable distance, but I wasn’t a kid in love with action movies anymore. Starting a business with my brother had been the first adulting decision I’d made. I’d taken a chance. I needed to do more of that.
I was the opposite of every one of the heroes in my favorite shows. My bank account was flush, and I was always working to grow it. To be fair, launching an airline had taken more time than I’d realized. Two years after starting it, we were fully funded. Most of my time was these days was spent soothing investors or sitting in board meetings. When I wasn’t doing that, I was in my chair, running every math scenario I could for all our planned flights.
Sleeping was for other people. We would hire more staff when we were closer to the purchase date for the planes. That moment was still a year off.
Inside, I heard Maman mentioning that dinner was ready, so I stood. She sounded so happy surrounded by my new sisters-in-law. And it was clear she and Pedar, my father, hoped the rest of us would get married and settle down. Pedar always said, “A man cannot truly manifest greatness until he is married and has children,” and, “The more children a man has, the more blessed he is.” He’d set up trust funds for all of us that my billionaire friends envied. But I still had never stopped working.
As I walked inside, I thought of work. My brother, Charlie, had worked for a year as a pilot and was now my partner in creating this company. I was good at the paperwork. I sat down, and the staff set down my salad. Our partner—my brother’s fiancée, Hope—Charlie, and Maman all left their seats and joined me at the other end of the banquet table.
Hope spoke first. “We need you to take a vacation.”
I blinked. “I’m sorry?”
She folded her hands and gazed directly at me. “We waited till we were together at dinner with your parents to spring this on you, but in ten months, Charlie and I will be taking six weeks off for our wedding, and we officially launch the year after that…”
“Congrats.”
She nodded. “You sleep and eat and work. We all want you to take a few weeks for yourself.”
My eyes widened. “I’m fine.”
I was focused on ensuring success. As I gazed at Charlie and Hope, I took a deep breath. The two of them made sense together. They seemed balanced. She raised an eyebrow.
“I’ll take time off when I feel I need it,” I said.
Charlie frowned. “Kir, no one wants you to hide away. You need to figure out what you love to do besides working and making money.”
He’d read my mind. Over the holiday, when my cousins had been here and Ralph proposed to his girlfriend, Gina, I’d avoided celebrating with everyone else. I shook my head. “I will trade in my briefcase for another relaxing day on a beach.”
Damn. No. The word will had just come out of my mouth like it was set in place. I sucked in my breath. It was time to change.
Maman patted my back. “You can do more than that.”
Charlie and Hope both wanted me to call up Hope’s pretty blond friend, Avril Lawson. But she deserved a man capable of falling in love. I wasn’t that.
I pressed my hands to the table. “Okay, challenge accepted.”
Charlie asked, “What challenge?”
It was time for me to change. I needed new hobbies besides my portfolio and karate. I gazed at the three of them. “I will prove to everyone that an intervention isn’t necessary and that I’m capable of taking care of myself.”
Maman squeezed my arm. “We just want you to be happy.”
“And I appreciate the concern,” I said.
I’d been on the fence about what to do with my life next. Now I had a plan. I would try something new every day for the next month. This wasn’t what they’d wanted for me, but if I shook my life up, ideally whatever was weighing me down would wash away.
Chapter Two
Avril
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