Chapter 25
Chapter
Twenty-Five
Six Months Later
Ryan
There’s a note on my desk and a box of donuts. “Happy six-month-aversary. Good luck tomorrow.” Macie wrote that—her handwriting is swirly and playful. Underneath is Alana’s contribution in sharp block letters: “We’re making fun of your shitty haircut when you get back.”
The day Alana King hired me, her building blew up and she almost died.
That woman has the world’s sickest guardian angel.
Weeks later, she decided she was going to buy another security company and merge the two.
Did she have the liquid capital? Nope. That’s where I came in.
My whole life for the past two quarters has been keeping Alana King’s empire afloat.
This time next year, her net worth will be in the nine figures.
My life has been reduced to numbers, doctor’s appointments, and self care.
Alana is a huge believer in therapy and coping strategies—for everyone else.
She refuses to go herself, claiming she’s “protecting the therapists.” I think the truth is simpler—she doesn’t have the patience to sit still in a room for an hour and talk.
My email chimes. An invitation pops up for a video game launch party hosted by a studio under Grasshopper—one of the many tech divisions Alana built back in college. She doesn’t even make money off this branch anymore, but Grasshopper is still where most of her equity comes from.
At the top of the invite, Alana’s added her own note: “You should go to this … and don’t look shitty.”
It’s the night before my brain surgery, and she wants me to go to a laser light show. I can’t understand this woman at all.
I’m about to delete the email when I scroll down to see the guest list.
Amber. She’s the lead designer.
Well, fuck. A few months ago I received the horrific punishment of an entire Broadway cast of Love Never Dies focusing all their creativity and talent in a laser directly at my head.
I was alone in the audience, no other bodies to absorb the energy.
They were so incredible, but the script, the sets, and the plot was abysmal.
It haunts me to this day. The only thing that made it endurable was that Amber was worth it.
I was paying for the sins I had committed, and tonight I would have the chance to tell her everything.
A million questions run through my head: How is she?
Does she even want to see me? What do I say to her? Am I even ready for this?