Page 7 of The Proposal Pact
“There is nothing going on.” I chew on my lip.
“So, you just decided to quit your job out of nowhere—the one you worked so hard to get—leave the only family you have left in New York and go on vacation for God-knows-how-long to the weirdest town in America,just because?”
I sigh. Damn it, I have to give him something or else he’ll follow right after me and drag me back to New York, right into their fancy-ass penthouse.
No, thank you. Been there, done that, and heard way too much of my brother’s sex life to never be the same again.
“I’m not happy with my life right now, Vas. I feel…I feel like I’ve wasted it.”
“Sophie…you are only twenty-seven! What are you talking about? I thought engineering was your dream!”
“Exactly! I’m already twenty-seven and lost. I don’t want to be lost, Vas.”
“This is not a solution! You can’t just run away from your problems, Sophie.”
Watch me, I think to myself.
“I’m not running, Vas. I just need to try something else. I need a break.”
“Then you go on an actual vacation! What is this? Some kind of early onset of midlife crisis? You’re too young for that. Please come over, Kira and I will make your favorite dinner. The kids will be so happy to see you and we can talk it all out. We’ve all been through hell before, we can help.”
My brother and his world-renowned chef wife, Kira, have, indeed, been through hell and back and in all honesty my problems seem laughable in comparison.
No, not laughable—downright childish and that’s exactly how it would seem to them.
They love me! I know they do, and they want the best for me. But…but I’m afraid I’ve been living my whole life based on what others deemed “best” for me.
“I need this, okay?” I say softly, needing my older brother to understand me. He’s always been the best. Always one to come to my rescue, especially after we lost dad and then mom more recently. I can’t have him pick up my slack anymore. He has his own family; his own kids he needs to worry about. “I’m not saying this is permanent. But I just need this.”
I hear Vassar exhale heavily, and I know I’ve won. “Stubborn pain in my ass,” he mutters, and a small smile pulls at the corners of my mouth.
That I am.
“Fine, take some time off, God knows I deserve it, but I will call. Daily! And if you don’t pick up, I will come down there and drag you back up to New York if it’s the last thing I do.” I roll my eyes, not missing the fact he thinks this is a temporary vacation. “And don’t even think about rolling your eyes at me,” he says as if he can see me.
Tears and a smile both flash across my face at the same time. I have the best brother in the whole world. I guess I’ll take what I can get at the moment and we’ll cross the bridge of me actually living in Loverly sometime later.
“Oh, and another thing,” Vas adds. “I need the number to their local sheriff, hospital, fire department and the mayor for good measure.”
“Um, why?”
“Because in a few hours that poor town won’t know what hit them when you reunite with Grace Levine. God help all those unsuspecting souls.”
This time I do burst out in laughter.
“Stop,” I say, wiping a tear away. “Grace is a married woman. Our wild days are in the past.”
Okay, so that might be an exaggeration with a dash of a lie, but in my defense…I have no idea what I’m getting myself into.
2
Sophie
“Friendship is a wildly underrated medication.” — Anna Deavere Smith
“Sweet Harry, Ron, and Hermione!” Grace shrieks across the airport as soon as she spots me, startling everyone around. “What happened to your hair?”
“Hi, to you too, bestie. Aw, you missed me? I missed you too,” I coo as I walk up to her and then switch to a whisper-hiss for a more dramatic effect. “Maybe lead with that and not one of my recent failures?” I push my hip out, planting one hand on it as the other flicks my best friend on her forehead.
