Page 3 of The Hookup Situation
He nods. “Very good. Thrilled you can count. You haven’t taken a true vacation since Eden died. It’s been five years, Nick. I know how close the two of you were and how important this marketing firm is to you, but when was the last time you enjoyed yourself and had fun? I’m worried about you.”
I don’t answer because I can’t. I’m a workaholic—I know that. But what else is there to life?
I can’t keep a relationship for over a month. I push people away when they get too close. Not to mention, the internet watches my every move.
“When’s the last time you felt anything besides angry or numb?” he continues. “And don’t try to pull that jokester, happy-as-can-be, fake-self bullshit on me. I see through it.”
I can’t move.
“I know grief has no time limit. I miss the hell out of Eden too,” Asher says. “But you’ve been slowly losing yourself. She’d hate this,Nick. She’d hate what you’ve become. You refuse to have a work-life balance, every relationship you rush into fails, and you’re not living your life. You have tied my hands, and now I’m forced to do exactly what Eden would want.”
“Don’t.” My voice cracks on the word.
“You need a reality check, Nick.” He shakes his head. “You’re taking a break. A real break. Go somewhere and get lost so you can find yourself. When you scan out, your credentials will be deactivated.”
Asher moves toward the door.
“This isn’t fair,” I tell him.
He laughs. “Oh, boo-hoo. Life isn’t fair. Build a bridge and get over it.”
The door slams shut, and I sit in the silence, allowing it to swallow me whole.
I slump into my chair and glance up at my computer, seeing my schedule immediately grayed out.If anything, Asher is thorough.
Fifteen minutes pass, and I’m still in the same place because when I leave, I will be locked out.
“Nick?” Lauren, our executive assistant, says from the doorway. She’s holding two cups. “Saw Asher storm out, mumbling under his breath. Figured you could use this.”
She sets the mug in front of me, and I notice the tea tag hanging from the side. She’s been bringing me mugs of Earl Grey since she worked for my dad at our family’s finance company.
When Asher quit the family business and took over the marketing firm, he took our father’s executive assistant with him. Lauren didn’t hesitate to leave. She’s been watching us since we were kids. Now we’re adults, and she’s often the only voice of reason we have.
“Tell me what happened.” She settles into the chair across from me.
“I walked out of that bullshit meeting.” I take a sip, letting the warmth spread through my chest.
“I heard. A few directors are currently having heart palpitations because of that little scene you caused.”
“Mr. Big Mac doesn’t get it. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was a terminator.”
Lauren lets out a small laugh. “You know what your problem is?”
“Please, enlighten me.”
“You’re thirty-eight years old, and you’re already a ghost,” she says matter-of-factly. “You float through these halls, meetings, and life, but you’re not really here anymore.”
“I show up every day?—”
“Your body shows up. But Nick? The real Nicolas Banks? The one who used to throw baseballs in the hallways and bring me wildflowers from the park?” She shakes her head. “I haven’t seen him in a long time.”
The tea suddenly tastes like ash. “That Nick had nothing to lose.”
“That Nick had joy, and you need to find it again.” She leans forward, plucking a chocolate from the candy jar next to a stack of invoices I was auditing. “Where would you go if you could go anywhere in the world?”
The answer escapes before I can stop it. “Cozy Creek.”
Her eyebrows rise. “Where Zane is?”
