Chapter 5
Mia
I’m grateful for work. It keeps my mind off just how frustrated I am with my brother, myself, and my poor sense of timing, and now, with the mayor of New Carnegie.
Have I met her before? No. Do we now have beef? Absolutely fucking yes.
“What do you mean, she’s mad you stopped those kids from stealing from the store last night?
” I ask Nolan over the phone on my lunch break, absolutely livid.
I’m at Royal Empress Café, sipping on taro milk tea and eating a small bowl of noodles, veggies, and pork.
When Nolan’s call streamed in a few minutes ago, I hurried to answer it.
When Nolan tells me someone in the shop recorded his confrontation with the would-be thieves who tried to have a free shopping spree in my sister’s store and somehow he’s the one getting heat for it? I’m ready to have a meltdown.
“It’s all political.” Nolan sounds weary. “And it’s handled, but I thought I might let you know. Reporters may start nosing around the store.”
“I appreciate the heads-up. I’ll tell Jess about it in case she doesn’t know.” I nibble on my lower lip. “Sorry, Nolan.”
“Why are you sorry?”
“All this feels like my fault.”
“It’s not,” he insists. “I need to get back to work, but text me later, all right?”
“I will.”
When I hang up the phone, I try to make room for this unsettling feeling in my heart in the silence that follows.
This is it. This is going to be my reality as I continue to see Nolan.
People will be looking for ways to bring him down.
There will be mistrust, suspicion, unfair treatment.
It doesn’t matter that there hasn’t been a single death since he joined the fire department on his watch.
It doesn’t matter he protects all the men he serves with, including my brother, from the dangers of the job.
All people will see when they look at him is the potential for an unhinged TerraPura virus.
I can’t stand the state of the world. But I can stand with him. And I’m determined, more than ever, to do that.
Driven to keep myself busy and get rid of this excess negative energy, it’s time to dive back into my marketing gig at double speed. I clean up after myself and stalk out of the café back to Cyber Street, intent on telling Jess everything if she hasn’t already been told by Apollo.
Except by the time I get back, there’s already a woman chatting Jess up. She’s dressed to the professional nines in gorgeous tan pants belted with a gold chain and a collared sage blouse with long, billowy sleeves. She definitely looks like somebody with a lot of cash.
A new customer, perhaps? Big money?
“Speak of the devil and she appears,” Jessica says wryly, motioning to me. “This is my sister-in-law, Mia.”
The woman walks right up to me, toying with a pair of sunglasses as she flashes me a disarming cherry-red smile. Everything about her is flawless. “I’m told you’re the one who saw it all happen—what went down with the near-shoplifting incident?”
“Yes, I did,” I say, somewhat mistrustful. “Sorry, who’re you?”
Jessica laughs. “Relax, Mia, it’s okay. This is Amber Rivera from New Carnegie Times.”
Immediately my eyes widen. “The reporter?” I tentatively stick out my hand to shake hers.
“The one and only,” Amber replies, brushing aside her long, silken dark hair.
“Look, I know the internet is going insane with this viral video, but I wanted to hear it from the horse’s mouth, so here I am.
” She gestures to the store. “And I gotta say, I’m really impressed.
I love the style of this place. No wonder these kids were trying to rob you blind. ”
Jessica laughs softly. “That’s a compliment.”
“Aren’t you related to the mayor?” I say, fairly certain I read that somewhere in some article. “If you’re here to write some sensationalist piece about Nolan, then—”
“Not at all,” Amber replies patiently, and I realize I need to cool down.
“That is, yes, I’m related to the mayor.
She’s my cousin, but that’s neither here nor there.
I don’t sugarcoat the truth for anyone—not even family.
And I’m really impressed with Nolan and the way he handled the situation here, but that’s bionics, isn’t it?
They don’t escalate situations or make big deals out of things, not like we do.
But no, I’m not really here to write about Nolan. ”
“Really?” I’m aware of Amber Rivera because of the pro-bionic podcasts I’ve listened to previously. Everyone who knows anything about BioNex or androids seems to know of her. Her pieces are usually pretty objective, from what I understand.
“Of course,” Amber reassures. “The story’s already been told from every angle, the mayor will cool off, and everything will blow over in a couple days.
I’m here to write Jessica’s official response—so she can actually get a word in—and about Cyber Street, how it’s growing.
Jessica tells me you’re the new marketer. ”
“And junior designer,” Jessica adds.
I perk up considerably at junior designer. While I haven’t sat down and worked on a clothing line for Cyber Street yet, just that title—designer—gets my heart all a-flutter. Did I just get a promotion?
Amber seems intrigued. “You design?”
“Yes, I try to when I can,” I reply, sputtering a little.
“Good. You know, there’s this big design convention up in New York in February.
It’d be great to see New Carnegie represented,” Amber says.
“Let me make a few calls. I think it’s time people understood we don’t just make gorgeous state-of-the-art robots.
We contribute to arts and fashion and history just as much as anywhere else. ”
She slides her sunglasses back on. I’m speechless, unsure of what to say as she turns away to address Jess. “Looking forward to when my order comes in.”
“Of course. Shall I have it delivered to your home directly?”
“Yes, if you wouldn’t mind. I can’t wait. Your autumn line is absolutely charming.” Amber adjusts her purse and heads out the door. “Ta-ta!”
My jaw’s on the floor as I stand in front of Jess, placing my hands on the counter. “What just happened?”
Jessica just grins. “Amber’s a friend of mine. We went to school together, so she pops in every once in a while. She just wanted to stop by and tell me what I already knew.”
“Which was?”
“C’mon, Mia,” Jessica says playfully. “All press is good press. They’ll churn out stories and try to make something controversial about what Nolan did, but ultimately they’ll die out and move to the next thing.
We’ve got more online orders in the past twenty-four hours than I know what to do with.
I’m going to run out of stock soon at this rate. ”
That reassures me. Maybe today won’t be a total bust. Which reminds me . . . “Jess—I’m really sorry about this morning.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just—I should’ve picked another time. What with, you know, what’s going on. We should’ve been celebrating, not worrying about all my baggage.”
“It’s no big deal. I’ve been giving myself time to let it sink in.
Honestly, I didn’t know how to feel at first, but I think this is a good thing, and I’m starting to get excited about it.
When I’m not throwing up, anyway.” Jessica shrugs, braiding her hair to one side out of her face.
“Really, don’t sweat it. I wasn’t planning on telling Apollo today. ”
“Are you sure?”
“A surprise baby deserves a surprise announcement, and I want to make it special for him.” Jessica’s eyes glint with affectionate mischief. “What do you think? Want to help me plan it?”
“Absolutely! I could do that,” I agree. “But . . . I probably need to talk to Apollo.”
“You do.” Jessica nods. “But he needs to talk to you too. The sooner you guys can work this out, the better.”
“You don’t mind that I’m talking to Nolan, do you?”
“Talking?” Jessica’s smile turns impish. “Not kissing?”
My cheeks heat. “Okay, there was some kissing.”
She laughs. “Of course I don’t care. I think it’s great. And Apollo will too, just give it time. Now, relax your face and unclench your jaw. You’ve looked like you wanted to punch someone all day.”
She’s absolutely right. And I kinda do want to punch someone—the mayor. How can someone as cool as Amber be related to a politician? Ew. Forcing myself to unwind, I breathe out. “Sorry, just have a lot on my mind.”
“I believe it.” Jessica stands next to me and gently rubs my back, which helps the tension evaporate all the quicker. “Now, show me what you’ve been working on.”
We work hard for the rest of the day and return home together.
I exchange messages with Nolan throughout the day, but it’s nothing too deep, not while I’m focusing on trying to harness this newfound publicity into sales for Cyber Street.
He seems just a busy as I am. All I want to do is flop onto my bed and text him until I fall asleep.
We may not be solving world hunger together or anything substantial, but our conversations makes me feel interesting.
Wanted. Alive. It’s enough to keep me going.
Apollo is already home for dinner, which is normal on the weekdays. We all love to sit together and eat the glorious meal Laolao made for us. And after a day like today, they’re already getting started when Jessica and I arrive.
Apollo straightens in his seat when he sees me come in. Jessica makes a beeline for her chair. “Oh, thank god, Mom. I’m starving.”
“Mia?” Apollo asks hopefully.
I’m a little uncomfortable. I don’t want to have this conversation in front of Laolao, Jessica, and the kids. It doesn’t feel right with an audience. “Save some for me, okay? I’m going to go shower, and then I’ll be down.”
He clamps his mouth shut and doesn’t argue. I’m appreciative of the extra hour to wind down, clean up, and face things. When I return to the kitchen, everything’s already being cleaned up, except for my plate.