Chapter 4 Then And Now
THEN AND NOW
Natalie didn’t know what to think.
Her independently wealthy comment had been a joke.
It was a crude thing to say to someone, but Arik had a way of disarming her, making her drop her guard and forget about being proper.
After a minute of them both eating their lunch and her trying to conjure up another topic, he finally spoke.
“You know I went to school for engineering, right?”
“I do,” she said.
“I minored in computer science. I always thought data engineering was for me. A combination of two things I loved. Working with my hands and my mind.”
“By gathering the factors of those things and being able to determine what was working or what wasn’t?”
“Exactly,” he said. “My first job out of college was for a small tech start-up in Seattle.”
“Wow, a long way from here. You were from the East Coast, right?” She knew he was interviewing all over the US but never found out where he’d landed.
“Baltimore,” he said. “And you right from this small island.”
“And back here I came,” she said.
She wouldn’t regret it.
During summer breaks she’d worked at the front desk of The Retreat. Hard work wasn’t beneath her and her family.
She wasn’t born with a silver spoon in her mouth and never professed it.
Some employees found it odd that she was working the front desk, given her last name, but it didn’t take long for them to realize which branch of the family tree she came from.
“There is nothing wrong with going home.”
“I need to hear more. Continue.”
“Oh, I want to tell you.” She grinned at his familiar, adorable smirk.
Plenty of guys in college were cocky, but he’d never been arrogant.
He never bragged about his family, any wealth he might’ve come from, or what his parents did.
He didn’t even ask about her past. It had always just been about the two of them, in the moment, as they were then and now.
“My grandmother, she’s a smart one. She set up an investment for me years ago when I was a kid and let it ride.
When the place that hired me was looking for investors, I thought, I believe in what they are doing and I’m here working my ass off too, why not try for more? ”
“That’s bold,” she said. “Most might just let that ride as a big nest egg.”
“I was a little cocky ten years ago.”
He’d been more than a little, but in a harmless way around her. For his career, sounded as if he knew what he was doing and went after it.
After seeing him two days ago she’d been having flashbacks of them in college.
His brown hair was longer now, slightly unkempt, but still held that familiar wave.
His beard wasn’t neatly trimmed, but not overly thick either. More like he shaved whenever the mood struck. And his brown eyes? They were almost always lit with laughter.
He never gave two pennies what other people thought of him and said it as it was.
She wished she’d had that confidence back then.
If people talked about her or thought poorly of her, it hurt, but she let no one see it. She kept those feelings tucked away, hidden where no one could reach them, sometimes not even herself.
It was how she got through her remaining time there. Arik had been the first to get her to open up some and relax, but knowing he was leaving zipped her back up.
“Not you,” she said.
“There. Let it out. Be free with your words.”
A giggle escaped. “So you’ve got money and you’re willing to take a risk?”
“I did and I had. On top of the shares they gave me when I was hired, I put in almost all of what I had. I didn’t tell my grandmother. God, I’m not sure I could sit for a week with the lashing she’d give me.”
“You proved her wrong, from the sound of it.”
“And everyone else. Four years later, it sold and I went from a six-figure investment to now eight.”
The fork stopped on its way to her mouth. “You were a millionaire at twenty-six years old?”
“Twenty-seven. Right after my birthday.”
“Good for you,” she said.
“I was still cocky though.” The way his eyebrows were wiggling with the massive smirk, she knew where this was going.
“Did you do it again?” she asked.
“You should see how wide your eyes just got. What do you think?”
“I think the challenge would be too great for you to pass up.”
“You’d be right. I wasn’t crazy enough to invest it all though.”
“I’d hope not.”
“But it was much more than I had the first time. Another tech company I went to work for. Same thing. Got a lot of stock options going in. I actually took more for a reduced salary.”
“Sounds as if you didn’t need the money or to work,” she said.
At least he wasn’t lazy if he went right back at it.
“I didn’t. But there I was again, putting in seventy hours a week because now I’ve got so much on the line and had to see it succeed. And it did. Three years ago. I hit nine figures. Not to brag or anything. Just didn’t want you to think I was some bum.”
“Hardly anyone would think you were a bum,” she said. “That’s amazing. You’re living the American dream.”
He shrugged. “I guess. I don’t know. I’m bored. I don’t want to do it again. I burned out. Seriously burned out.”
It reminded her of what Hunter had lectured her about. Not that she made herself ill. Nothing compared to what Arik was describing.
“I’m sorry that happened to you. I hope you’re better now.”
“I am. It helps when the stress goes away.”
Natalie had headaches and some sleepless nights trying to prove herself too.
“I’m glad,” she said. “Sounds like your biggest stress is entertaining yourself.”
“Listen to you getting all cute and sarcastic.”
She hadn’t meant for it to come out that way, but his laughter said he wasn’t offended.
“Sorry, that was wrong of me. I apologize.”
He pointed his finger at her. “Don’t you dare. I love it. And yes, that is a big part of my problem. For three years I’ve tried my hand at so many things hoping to find something that stuck.”
“Like careers?”
To her, he didn’t need to work.
“Yeah. I’m too young to sit around. Few my age do, so then it leaves me hanging with retired people. I’ll take a hard pass.”
“Not ready for cigars, poker, and whiskey?”
“I’m totally ready for it. I’m sure I’ll try my hand at the casino too. But it’d be better with people my age.”
“This is a great story. I always wondered what happened to you.”
“You did?”
Oops, let that slip. Just like she always did in his presence.
She pointed her fork at him as he had his finger. “Now you should see your face. Your eyes lit up and your grin is bigger than your wallet. I bet that ego of yours is matching it.”
His mouth opened, he stood and bowed down. “Natalie Bond, I’m so proud of you.” He looked at his watch. “It took twenty minutes for you to loosen up. I’ll take that as a victory.”
He should because she only ever talked like this to her family.
And that meant her brothers, her sister-in-law, and her parents.
Maybe some of her cousins. Only first cousins.
But being the only girl with her brothers and having three male cousins, it didn’t leave her many to talk to other than their wives.
Most had kids and were busy in their lives.
“You should,” she said, laughing at his antics.
Why did it feel so good to let go like this?
Had it really been that long since she’d felt free—truly free—or found this kind of simple, frivolous joy in something as ordinary as a lunch outing?
“So what do you plan on doing here? There aren’t that many jobs and I’d think you don’t want anything full time. ”
“I dabble in day trading. It keeps my mind sharp. I’ve had a lot of hobbies. Wrote a book.”
“A book?” she asked. “About what?”
“How to take risks.”
She laughed. “Was it a bestseller?”
“Nah. It did well for a short time, made me some money. I checked it off my list and moved on.”
She snorted. “I just can’t imagine waking up and trying to find the next thing to tackle like that.”
“It’s not easy, let me tell you.”
“Now you’re bragging.” She let out a soft laugh when she shook her head, still trying to eat since she had to return to work soon.
He held his fingers up in a pinch. “Not really. I don’t want this whole lunch to be about me. Let’s talk about you.”
“Not much to say. I busted my butt and graduated the summer after you.”
“Good for you. You didn’t feel comfortable there to me.”
It was funny how few saw what Arik did with her.
“I wanted to try it. See what it was like off the island and past Boston. After the first year I was happy enough to return, after the second, not as much.”
That was when she really saw people for who they were. Or maybe it was just that her eyes had finally been opened.
Many saw her as the na?ve small town girl.
She was at fault for giving off that vibe, but she couldn’t change who she was and wasn’t about to. She held no embarrassment over her roots.
“Why go back?”
“Because I knew I could finish in another year and it wasn’t worth starting over somewhere else.”
“I’m glad you did. I would have never met you if you hadn’t.”
They had art class together. Their second class together. The first had been a semester before, another elective she didn’t remember. They even spent some time outside of class hanging out and having fun.
She knew he was graduating and moving on, just as she planned to finish her last few classes over the summer and leave for good. There was no point in getting involved with anyone.
He was off for bigger and better things, and she was coming home.
“We had some good times,” she said.
“You sure don’t share much about yourself. With your last name, does your family own this resort?”
“No,” she said, laughing. “I mean, not my immediate family. Distant cousin. Not sure what you know about this island.”
“Oh, with all the time I’ve got on my hands, I read what I could.”
“I’m not surprised. You can probably guess the branch I’m from.”
“William?”
He’d know the five branches and that hers were the blue-collar workers that all made names for themselves after William lost his share of the family money, gambling and whoring centuries ago.
“That’s me. My father owns a business. Or he did.
He ran Bond Auto. My mother worked there too.
I did for years until college, then I came back here to work summers.
My father is retired and my brother Carter bought the business and expanded it.
My other brother, Grayson, is a financial adviser. You might get along with him.”
“I get along with just about everyone,” he said.
“I remember that about you.”
“We shared that trait. Everyone loved you, Natalie.”
“I don’t know about that,” she said. She finished the last of her salad. She should get back to work soon. Normally she’d feel out of place talking about her family background with someone of his wealth, but he was just Arik, the cute kid in college to her still.
“They liked you as a person. I don’t know if anyone ever said anything bad about you.”
“Davey Mitchell didn’t care for me too much,” she said.
“Davey the Douche?” he asked. “What did he say?”
“You knew him?”
“Everyone knew him. He wanted them to. Talk about an ego. He was out to be a legend in his fraternity. He got it.”
“By being labeled that name,” she said.
All she could be thankful for was that everyone realized nothing happened between her and Davey. His fraternity brothers had been waiting to catch them in the act and no one would think to lie that it happened.
Not only hadn’t it, Davey got labeled as the guy who couldn’t get it done.
Nothing ever came about her being there that night. She’d threatened him that if even a whiff of her name came out he’d regret it.
An empty threat, but with Davey not knowing what Bond family she belonged to, he kept his mouth shut just like she did, pretending it never happened and not reporting them.
The last thing she needed was to be caught up in that drama. Davey’s embarrassment over the events of that night had him lying low until he found his next conquest.
“That’s right. Were you one of the women that he tried to get to?”
It benefited her to keep to herself and continue doing what she had most of her life.
She knew how rumors could start in the school.
Rather than go home and run and explain anything to her parents, she’d decided to stick it out after nothing had been said after a few days.
“We dated, but I caught on to what he was after and ended things fast.” No reason to say more when nothing happened other than realizing she couldn’t let her guard down.
“Good for you,” he said. “And I know you’re itching to go back to work, but what about doing this again?
Not on working hours so you have a fast escape plan.
You’ve got to have a day off or a night.
We know my time is flexible. Show me around this island of yours and give me some suggestions of what to do with my time. ”
She thought he was asking her on a date, but now it seemed like he just wanted a private tour or a list of places he should see.
She could handle that. It was her job to be accommodating to guests. She reminded herself that was what he was.
“I can do that,” she said. “You’ve got my number. I do have to work tomorrow though, but after that I’m off on Sunday and most nights next week.”
“You’ll hear from me soon,” he said.
She was betting it’d be before she left the building today. Or maybe she was just hoping it was.