Chapter 27
chapter twenty-seven
Luke
This is the happiest I’ve ever been in my life— happier than when I was valedictorian of my high school class, happier than when I got into Harvard, happier than when I got my job at the hedge fund.
Happier than any other moment combined. Mia is mine, and she loves me, and she is finally ready to give me a chance.
She finally understands that while I love my job and I love my work and I love achieving everything to the best of my ability, it doesn’t mean more than she does. I will ensure that she realizes that she means everything to me.
“I think that we’re going to be very happy together,” I say as I drive us toward the hotel so that we can pick up the last clue that she found at Kona Ice.
We can’t remember exactly what it said, and though we know we have to head to Hidden Cove, we aren’t exactly sure where we have to go.
“I love you so much, Luke. This is just so weird to me. Juniper is going to absolutely flip when I tell her that we are officially together.” She turns to me and smiles. “By the way, do you think we should tell everyone that it started as fake and became real or not right away?”
I laugh. “I think there’s been quite a lot that’s gone down, especially today. I don’t think anyone needs any more shocks.”
“Can you believe that Rex slept with Talia?” she says in shock.
“I knew she was a hoe. I can believe it from both of them. They both kind of suck, and they deserve each other.”
“Do you think they are going to get married?”
“No. They will one hundred percent not get married. I don’t even think they’re going to last in India together for more than a couple of days. Each of them has an ego the size of the sun. It’s not going to go well for them.”
“Man, I’m just in shock,” she says. “I’ve never been in more shock in my life.”
“Yeah, I can kind of say the same thing though. I’m in more shock that Rex has practically run my family’s company into the ground.
” I shake my head. “It’s kind of disgusting how poorly he’s done, and I still don’t really understand why he didn’t come to me for help.
He knows I am a good businessman. He knows I could have ensured that this didn’t happen. ”
“But he has an ego. Remember, you just said it. He didn’t want to come to you because then you would be the fixer and you would be the good son.
And his whole thing over your entire life was that he was the chosen one—and, well, look how that turned out.
” She rubs my arm. “How are you feeling about that, by the way?”
“I don’t know. There’s a time in my life where I would’ve felt delighted, right?
Rex is a screwup, a failure, and I’m coming in to save the day.
But it doesn’t feel like I thought it would feel.
It doesn’t feel satisfying. I don’t like that the business is in this position.
I don’t like that Rex screwed up, and now he’s running away, not even trying to fix it.
“I didn’t want to take the company from him.
I just wanted us to be brothers—to build it up together.
I guess I’ve always just craved having that true brotherhood, and I suppose now I’m realizing that was what this was really about.
It was about him seeing me not only as an equal, but as someone that he loved—someone that he wanted to go through life with.
And I guess I realize that was a pipe dream.
He doesn’t see me as someone he wants in his life like that, and it kind of hurts.
“I think I have been chasing something that was perhaps never going to exist for me, and I don’t know that I ever really realized that what I wanted more than beating Rex was actually having a relationship with him, actually having a bond with him.
“I don’t think I was doing all this to prove that I was the better brother to my dad. I was trying to prove that I was his equal, that I was good enough.”
I smile at her. “Really crazy, the things we figure out about ourselves, huh?”
“Yeah, it makes sense now that you put it that way. He’s still your brother at the end of the day—even though he’s a big jerk. India and yoga?” She raises an eyebrow. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him at the beach, doing yoga. Ever.”
“I have no words,” I say, and I can’t stop myself from laughing.
“I’m realizing that, obviously, he’s got his own insecurities coming from somewhere, and he needs to grow up.
And I think I’m going to reach out to him.
I’m going to just tell him that if he ever needs to talk or if he ever wants someone, I’ll be there for him.
I think that’s the only thing I can really do at this point. ”
“You’re so great, Luke. How did you get to be so understanding and calm and warm? I would’ve been like, Fuck you, bro. Don’t bother calling me again.”
“No, you wouldn’t have, Mia.”
“I know. Maybe I wouldn’t have, but I would’ve been thinking it for at least a day.”
I smile. “So, we’re really going to do this, right?”
“I think we have established that we’re really going to do this.”
“So, it’s no longer fake?”
“It’s no longer fake.”
“I want you to—” My phone rings, and I look down at the screen. “Shit. It’s the office. It’s New York. Do you mind if I take this?”
“No, not at all,” she says, smiling at me.
“I’m going to put it on speakerphone.”
“Okay.”
“Hey, this is Luke.”
“Hey, Luke. This is Johnson. We need you back in the office—like, now.”
“Sorry, what?”
“The deal is about to fall through, and you’ve been gone long enough. Look, I know you’re there for your brother’s wedding, but this is a multibillion-dollar deal. It’s more important than that. Throw your brother another fucking wedding next year to make up for it, but we need you back now.”
“I can’t do that.”
“It’s not a request. It’s a demand. You get back now, or the deal is off.”
“What do you mean, the deal is off?”
“You are part of the deal. If the deal is off, you’re out. Out, as in fired, Haverbrook. So, you’re on the next plane back to New York, or you’re fired.”
The phone hangs up.
I look over at Mia. There’s a concerned expression in her eyes.
“I guess you should go,” she says softly. “Do you want to drive to the airport?”
I stare at her, my heart thudding. I nod slowly.
“I’ll come back in a couple of days. I’ll fix this, and I will be back. And then we can discuss what we want to do—if you want to move to New York or if we want to go to England, or—”
Her expression changes slightly, but she just keeps nodding.
“I don’t want to lose my job. I’ve been working for a really long time to make this happen. This is a big deal.”
I continue driving and then make a swift U-turn.
“Okay. I’m going to go to the airport. You can stay in the hotel room.
We’ve got it for … I don’t even know how many more days.
I’ll give you my credit card information.
You can stay there until I come back, and then we’ll talk, and we’ll figure out how we’re going to make this work and where we’ll live and if we’re based in different places, how often we’ll see each other.
” I can hear my voice escalating. Something doesn’t feel right. I’m panicking.
She doesn’t say anything.
“I have to leave. I cannot lose this deal. And I will figure out how to take care of the family business as well. Once I figure this deal out in New York, I’ll ask for a sabbatical because I have to help my parents. I have to help our business. And then you and I will talk.”
As I drive, I feel like my voice is escalating, and I’m panicking.
My heart is racing, and something doesn’t feel right.
I don’t feel right. My body is shaking and tense, and Mia is shying away from me.
Her body language is off. The laugh is gone from her mouth.
She’s no longer smiling, and she’s avoiding eye contact.
We drive past a McDonald’s, and I see two kids standing outside. The little girl is giving the boy French fries.
And I smile, thinking about when we were kids—how Mia would always share her burgers and fries with me.
And that’s when it hits me.
That’s when everything hits me.
I pull over suddenly and stop the car.
“Fuck,” I say, turning off the ignition and staring at her.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” she asks, concern in her eyes.
I can see the tears, and I feel like a damn fool.
“I nearly did it, didn’t I?”
“What?” she says.
“I nearly ruined it already.”
“I don’t know what you’re saying.”
Her lower lip trembles, and I run my fingers through my hair.
“I’m a fool. I’m not going to New York,” I say suddenly.
“What? No, you have to. You’ll lose your job.”
“And we have literally spent a billion hours talking about the fact that you wanted me to put you first, and you were worried my job would take over, and I told you it was okay. I told you I understood.
“No. We are just figuring us out. I’m not going to rush off to New York and leave you here to pick up the pieces of everything I’d be leaving behind. You don’t deserve that, and I don’t want that.”
“But the job—you’ll—”
“I don’t care about the job,” I say, laughing suddenly, realizing it’s true. “In every single lifetime, I would choose you over a billion dollars.”
“A billion dollars?” Her jaw drops.
I smile as I reach out and touch the side of her face. “You are everything to me. You are worth every shiny silver dollar, every piece of gold bullion, every hundred-dollar note, every private island. You are my heart, Mia. I was a fool to even think about going to the airport and leaving you.”
“What made you change your mind? You were dead set. You were going to go.”
“Those two kids.”
“What?”
“Just now, we passed a McDonald’s, and there was a little boy and a little girl, and she was giving him her French fries.”
“Okay … and what? You want to go to McDonald’s and get fries?”
“No. It reminded me of us. Of how we’ve always been.”
“What do you mean?” she says softly.