I work three jobs and it's still not enough. My mother is in the hospital and I can't pay the bills. I write stories no one reads about feelings no one cares about. Sometimes I think about what it would be like to just stop. To let the water close over my head and sink.
But then I remember: I'm my mother's daughter. And we don't quit. We just keep swimming even when there's no shore in sight.
I've read that post a dozen times. Each time, something in my chest tightens. She's drowning, and I'm the only one who can save her.
The only one who will.
My phone rings. Not Marcus this time, but Owen, one of my two closest friends. He and Kai are probably already at the beach, wondering where I am.
"Where are you?" Owen asks when I answer. "We've got the fire going and Kai brought his sister's friends. You're missing out."
"I'll be there in twenty."
"You said that an hour ago."
"I mean it this time."
Owen laughs. "Sure you do. You've been weird all week, man. What's going on?"
I could tell him. Owen and Kai have known me since college, watched me build Crawford Ventures from the ground up, covered for me when I needed to disappear for days to chase down leads on investments. They're the closest thing I have to brothers.
But I can't tell them about Jade. Not yet. Not until she's here.
"Just work stuff," I say. "I'll explain later."
"Whatever. Get down here before Kai drinks all the beer."
I hang up and change into board shorts. The surf report says the waves are decent this afternoon, and I need to clear my head. Need to stop obsessing over a bank account that hasn't changed in three days.
The beach below my house is private, accessible only by a steep staircase carved into the cliff. By the time I reach the sand, Owen and Kai have already started a bonfire. There are half a dozen other people scattered around, most of them women I don't recognize.
"Finally," Kai says, tossing me a beer. "We were starting to think you'd turned into a hermit."
"Just busy."
"Too busy for this?" Owen gestures at the scene around us. The sun is starting to sink toward the horizon, turning the ocean gold. Music plays from someone's portable speaker. Two women in bikinis are laughing at something Kai said.
This is my life. Beautiful people on a beautiful beach, wealth and freedom and no obligations except the ones I choose. I should be enjoying it.
Instead, I keep checking my phone.
Still nothing.
"Dude, what is going on with you?" Kai asks. "You've looked at your phone like fifty times in the past ten minutes."
"Waiting on something."
"A deal?"
"Something like that."
Owen leans back on his elbows, studying me. "Must be a big one. I haven't seen you this wired since the Meridian acquisition."
It’s bigger than that, bigger than any deal I've ever made.
One of the women approaches, introduces herself as Vanessa or Veronica, I'm not really paying attention. She's pretty, blonde, exactly the type I usually go for. She sits down next to me and starts talking about something, but I can't focus on her words.
My phone buzzes.
