Page 23 of Flame
Jason: Brat.
Me: Ha. Love you.
Jason. Love you, too.
I set the phone on my stomach and close my eyes. But it buzzes again. This time, Tate’s name is on the screen.
Tate: So I’m sitting beside Jason right now and I was reading your texts over his shoulder. I just want to point out that this trip could be a gift if you play your cards right.
“Oh, Tate,” I say, laughing.
Me: I would tell you to mind your business, but you’d ignore me.
Tate: You know me well. Gotta go. The tech guy just came in and nothing he’s saying is registering with Jason. How can he fly planes and run an airline and be so technologically incompetent?
Me: Go be a hero.
Tate:
I wait to ensure he doesn’t send anything else. After a few moments, I lock my screen and settle into the cushions again.
My mind goes to work—budgets, contracts, and negotiations flood my brain, reminding me of the many tasks required of me. I envisage the unread emails, the piles of papers on my desk, and the voice messages waiting to be returned. And I don’t want to do any of it.
I lay my hands on my stomach to help ease the guilt eating through my insides.
All I ever wanted to do in life was to run Brewer Group. Everyone who has ever known me knows this singular fact. I followed my father to work while the other girls took dance classes. I asked for a briefcase when my friends at school wished for dolls. While they followed movie stars and celebrity marriages, I watched the stock market.
It was who I was.
It’s who I am.
But I’m not so sure it’s who I want to be.
And I’m also not quite so sure what to do about that.
Oof. I stand and stretch, trying to jostle the anxiety out of my bones. Then I pick up my phone and dial the number of the one person I know can help and distract me.
My assistant answers immediately. “Hey, Bianca.”
“Hi. What’s going on with you?”
“Let’s just say that Renn is getting much better at asking me for help with things,” she says, laughing. “I took his reluctance to request help for granted for so long.”
I laugh, too. “Well, I have a few things that I need help with, and I need you to prioritize my stuff over my brother’s. Okay?”
“Don’t I always?”
You do. And that’s why I adore you. “You know that I flew to Florida with Jason this morning …”
“Right …”
I pace the room. “And it turns out that I’m not coming home for a few days.”
You could hear a pin drop on the other side of the phone.
“Astrid?”
She clears her throat. “And you made hotel reservations for yourself on the beach somewhere with a cabana boy?”
