Chapter Two
SUNNY
After spending the last two weeks in Oregon with my aunt and uncle, I find myself standing outside the bustling Boston airport.
The time away was necessary to heal my busted face before making a jump into a travel nursing gig.
The contract is longer than I’d like. When my recruiter called me with an offer at a large hospital that pays generously in a big city, I couldn’t help but say yes.
I’ve never been to Boston, or anywhere like it for that matter, but the idea of the city seems…comforting. Hoping I’ll somehow get lost in the city, my face morphing into just another one in the crowds, that way he can’t find me.
If he’s still alive.
I’m as far away from him as I can be without leaving the continent. It’s something new and somewhere he will never expect me to go. Somewhere I never expected to go.
As soon as I step outside, I’m hit with the frigid morning air, reminding me I am not acclimated to this type of weather at all. I’ll have to do some shopping to keep myself from freezing, considering all I have is the backpack over my shoulder.
As the driver takes me through the city, I breathe a little easier while I watch the array of red brick and greenery pass by.
As far as I’m concerned, my parents haven’t seen or heard from him since the day I left. No one has. The comfort and fear of it settles deep in me. He can either be long gone or trailing me right now. Or dead.
The police don’t have any leads, especially since he has no family or friends, either. He has no strings attached except to me. Another reason I stayed for so long – I was his only family.
Despite practically begging on my hands and knees for my parents to not send me off, they knew better than that. Clearly I wasn’t in the right mental state to make decisions, which is why ultimately, I listened and ended up leaving them behind, unaware of where he is and when I can come back.
I think back to all the signs I missed that seem so obviously clear now. When the good days happened, they were so good. I clung to those days desperately, letting them serve as relief for the hard ones.
It never started that way, and it’d never gotten to the point of physicality until the day I left. That was another justification I used, too.
Swallowing hard, I take in the city before me. At least he gave me the push I needed to finally leave. Because looking back, I know I wouldn’t have if we stayed together.
He wouldn’t have let me.
I look at the checklist on my phone, noting the busy day I have tomorrow despite my fatigue.
Two weeks is a lot of time to spend in your own mind, so I need to find a distraction where I can. Being in my own mind is too dangerous right now.
TYLER
Our morning ritual stays the same with myself, Sam and Anthony walking to work together without Cole. As head of security, he has earlier mornings than the rest of us. More often than not, he takes the truck we built together in college to beat rush hour while the rest of us walk to work.
“Let’s stop and get some coffee!” Sam skips toward the doors of a little coffee shop owned by an older lady named Betty, to which she named Betty’s Beans.
It’s a place we frequent probably too much, but Betty smiles every time she sees us there. Somehow that little old lady’s smile is what keeps bringing me back.
“I made coffee at home. Why didn’t you just have some there?” I ask, following my sister inside.
“Tyler, your coffee is good, but you rarely ever make lattes. A girl can only drink black coffee for so long. I want my basic white bitch fufu lattes and Frappuccinos.”
Anthony’s golden eyes trail her path as he watches in admiration. I know he’s in love with her, despite all his efforts to deny it.
He has the best intentions and just like me and Sam, tries his best to not let the thumb of his parents push him down too hard. They’re part of the elite in our society as well, creating a pressure on him we all feel.
Sam isn’t oblivious to his feelings, but her own towards Cole makes for a good distraction from it. If it’s not Cole, then Sam wants fun, not commitment.
Sam doesn’t love based on gender. She’s a very fluid person and isn't guarded or particular the way I am.
Obviously I’ve fucked and dated in my twenty-nine years, but as heir to the Caddell Investment Firm, I’m expected to marry based off of my parents choice. I’m not allowed to commit to anyone unless it’s to Shelby. I just haven’t fucking found it in me to do so yet.
It’s a storm looming over my head while I bide my time until the torrential downpour of it all.
I’m basically the foundation of reputation for the future of the company.
While I don’t care, my father, Mitchell, does.
Appeasing him makes my life easier than it does going against him.
After all, I'm next in line to take hold of those puppet strings.
The world of the rich is a game, and my father is trying to make me the best there is.
He is the puppet master, and they are all his puppets.
“Careful man, if you look too hard you might undress her.” I slap Anthony’s back as I walk into the coffee shop. “And that’s something I don’t want to witness.” His light brown skin burns with embarrassment at my comment.
We’re greeted on a first name basis by the baristas behind the coffee bar. Thankfully the last name has been ditched. Almost anything successful in the city is because of the Caddell name. It makes it easier for people wanting to cling to it for success.
As an investment and wealth firm, we have a string attached to almost any business you can name. It’s how we control the world around us. From something as small as investing in restaurants to political campaigns, we’ve somehow managed to climb to the top over generations of Caddell men.
Sam and Anthony put their orders in while I sit on a couch waiting for them and scroll through my work emails.
Every so often I casually glance around the shop.
It’s a force of habit—needing to always be aware of my surroundings.
I may have a powerful name, but that also means powerful enemies, too.
The floor to ceiling windows are open, letting in the cool air that breezes from the waterfront not too far away. Despite the old red brick architecture, it still screams modern day with the ropey green plants and rickety couches people lounge on.
“Would you like anything Tyler?” The barista asks.
I give her a smile. “No thank you.”
“He’s a coffee snob,” Sam scoffs.
I roll my eyes. “Ignore my sister, she is a snob.”
Sam sticks her tongue out at me and turns back to the barista.
A few tense minutes pass as the barista eyes me and talks with her coworker, giggling with each comment they exchange. Their occasional looks don’t go unnoticed where the three of us wait.
“Typical. Tyler gets hit on wherever he goes,” Anthony groans.
“Even more typical, Tyler will deny it or deny any passes they make at him and avoid getting a date or laid.” Sam pokes.
I flick my eyes to my sister who sits across from me.
It’s not that I’m not interested in dating again, it’s just that I’m enjoying my time alone after everything that happened with Shelby.
I didn’t love her, but I am exhausted after her.
The idea of starting anything back up just seems too draining.
Plus, I’m arranged to Shelby. I can’t be seen with someone who isn’t her until I decide what to do with her.
I have my plan, it’s just a matter of going about it. I have to be meticulous, precise. Manipulate the situation to seem like it benefits those around me more than myself.
At one point, I was willing to go through with the arrangement. Things have changed, and while I may not have full freedom, I do have power. I’m willing to use it, it’s just a matter of how.
“Prove me wrong, then,” Sam challenges.
My eyes flick back to my phone to go over all the emails I already read, ignoring her.
“See,” Sam says with her hands in the air as she leans back into the couch.
Their names are called for their drinks. Thank god.
“Thanks!” Sam yells as we walk out.
“Tyler!” The giggly barista calls. She jogs toward me with a bag. “It’s on the house.” She smiles, her cheeks turning red.
Looking down at her, I take the bag from her. I can’t deny that she’s cute. Matching chocolate brown hair and eyes. Her smile is kind. But I am not.
“Thank you.” I peer into the bag, seeing a bagel with cream cheese.
“A hard working man needs to eat.”
I rub the back of my neck, say my thank you again and head for the exit. As I walk out of the shop, I notice she wrote her name and phone number on the bag, complemented with a bunch of doodle hearts. Fucking doodle hearts.
“My man!” Anthony steals the bag from my hands, examining the name and number on there. “Cassidy.”
Walking over to see what all the commotion is about, Sam rolls her eyes and scoffs.
“She was super cute, too. You should definitely follow up with that.” Anthony wraps his arm around my shoulders, taking a bite of half of the bagel.
“How about you call her?” I hand him the bag.
He rolls his eyes at me and I laugh, because I know neither of us will call her.
Sam steals the bag from his hand. “Your loss. She’s mine now.”
SUNNY
Nestled into the plush hotel bed, my tired bones start to relax as I scroll through my email about my contract here.
It’s going to be completely different from my small town hospital, but the change feels necessary. I’d been comfortable in that hospital for my two years as a nurse. Prior to that my other years as a CNA.
I was twenty-five when I graduated with my RN, now twenty-seven with a handful of experience. Nothing like what a metro area would provide, but I’m a quick learner. I’m ready for the pace.
As I scroll, I find the email showing my orientation date. My heart drops. It’s been moved to tomorrow. Are you kidding me?