“Yeah yeah, put a shirt on,” She waives a dismissive hand at me.
CHAPTER TWO
SUNNY
After spendingthe 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. SomewhereInever 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 weresogood. 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 andAnthony 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 namedBetty’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.
