My message had been sent.
6
JONAH
The numbers never lied.
I leaned back in the sleek leather chair of my office, scanning the latest performance reports on my tablet.
The graphs were still disappointing.
Profits were down, and inefficiencies were growing.
I’d just sent out the layoff email a couple hours ago, eliminating entire teams, but these numbers showed that Dad’s company still couldn’t be turned around.
I’d planned to show him some encouraging results at the surprise party I’d organized. Now, all I felt was a sense of doom at the thought of his disappointment. I took in a deep breath, closing my eyes for a minute.
Frustration coiled tight in my chest.
I should have felt powerful, sitting in Dad’s old office, taking over the reins of his company. Instead, I felt restless, and it wasn’t completely due to the business.
I’d been restless ever since I’d met her.
Lexi. The woman from the bar. The one with the soft curves. I remembered the way her head had rested on my shoulder in bed,her auburn hair tumbling over my bare skin as her fingers traced lazy patterns on my chest.
I had experienced one-night stands before, but something about her had drawn me in. I’d felt a mysterious, magnetic pull that only intensified after her abrupt departure.
How could I find her again?
I didn’t have time for distractions, not today or ever. I knew better than to go chasing after her.
But the moment my phone rang, I had an undeniably stupid, hopeful moment that it was her calling me.
It wasn’t.
It was, however, my business partners Alex, Desmond, and Sean. They were the only people I’d ever answer my phone for while at work.
I accepted the video call, and their faces appeared on my screen, all three still covered in a fine layer of volcanic ash, calling me from what looked like a helipad.
These were the people with whom I’d founded Lead Capital Group, a venture capital firm focused on tech companies and health startups.
“I don’t know whether to thank you or have you institutionalized,” Alex said, his voice rough from exertion.
Desmond gave me a wave from behind Alex, and Sean popped in to flip me off.
I leaned back in my chair, grinning. I’d finally gotten them to go volcano boarding.
“Come on. You loved it. Tell me that wasn’t the most insane thing you’ve ever done,” I said.
A few months ago, a high-stakes hedge fund manager I’d met at a black-tie charity gala offered to take me volcano boarding. We stood at the top of Cerro Negro in Nicaragua, staring down the near-vertical slope of the active volcano, strapped onto a reinforced metal board. The heat from the smoldering rock wasenough to warm my boots before I even started. And that was before gravity took over, and we sped down the side. For the first time in a long time, my mind had been empty, with no deals, no deadlines, and no failing companies to save.
“You had me racing down a live volcano at fifty miles an hour,” Alex said, rubbing a fresh scrape on his arm. “I could have died. I should have died.” He paused, then grinned. “And it was spectacular.”
“Knew you’d love it,” I said with a smirk. “The adrenaline high lasted for days.”
Sean exhaled, shaking his head. “My twelve-year-old son is mad at me for not taking him along,” he said, sounding torn between guilt and exhilaration. “But God, after that? He’s never doing this. Not until he’s thirty, at least.”
“In ten years, he’ll be out there with you, anyway,” I said.
