“Neither do you, anymore,” Miles reminds me. “So let’s just agree on one thing: we don’t talk to each other again unless absolutely necessary.”
“I’m good with that,” Rex says.
“That’s fine,” I say. I don’t need to see their faces again or hear their voices. Especially with this new boastful attitude they have. “We’ll stop these regular video conferences and communicate only when necessary and only through our assistants.”
“Great,” Miles says.
“Agreed,” Rex says.
“That’s it then,” I say, and with that, I push the button that ends the conference and erases their smug faces from the room.
I let out a deep breath, collapsing back against my chair. My brothers and I never get along and these calls are always continuous, but that was a real shit show. Not only did I drop the ball on the reports I was supposed to have sent out, but I lost my cool. A man can only be pushed so much and God knows my brothers know what buttons to push.
A text pings on my phone. My heart clenches when I see it’s from Emily.
Thanks again for last night. Totally amazing on all counts.
I stare at the words for a moment, Emily’s face floating through my mind. My instinct has been to get back to her as quickly as possible. Drop everything and have her by my side.
She has my mind spinning—spinning so much that even after just one night I’m already slipping on the job.
What would happen if I actually dated her seriously or, God forbid, married her? Even though I can see it, that stupid, childish institution of marriage with Emily Brown, I shake it from my head. If I do what Father’s will asks and marry to keep the company, I need someone who doesn’t make me screw up on the job. Emily wouldn’t help me with the company—she could only hurt me.
How ironic that the one woman I’ve found who stands out from the rest is the exact woman I know I can’t afford to get wrapped up with.
No distractions—not now, not ever.
But especially not now.
I look back at the text, sitting there on my phone. I picture Emily at the other end of that text, waiting for me to reply, probably excited and nervous, wondering what I’ll say and when we’ll see each other again.
No, I can’t have that. I can’t spend time with these flirting games, texting each other on the sly in meetings and planning fun outings. I
have a job to do, and now it’s two-fold: keep my end of the business running smoothly like I always have, and find a way to beat my brothers to the top of this company.
What I need is a woman who’s already used to my lifestyle—someone refined, elegant, someone who understands social etiquette and doesn’t get excited by little things like a private dining room.
Someone who dresses the part, speaks the part, a blue blood through and through.
I need someone like the girls I grew up with, the ones I met at the socials when we’d bus over to Dana Hall, the girls’ boarding school not far from my own. They were beautiful, well spoken, had hobbies like equestrian, and were basically being groomed for a life of social galas and luncheons. It’s a life we’d both understand.
There’s an empty tightening in my gut, imagining myself pursuing such a woman. They are all the same—they are all I’ve ever known—and they bore me.
But Emily is a risk.
I do not respond to Emily’s text. I know it’s better this way.
Emily doesn’t need someone like me—selfish and arrogant, just like my brothers said. She needs someone good and giving, someone more like her. How could we possibly work together as a couple, especially long term? She’s already more to me than the things we did last night—the good in her goes so deep, and I’d only ruin that in her.
Yes, this is for the best. I just have to keep telling myself that, and hope someday I actually start believing it.
Emily
“And don’t forget, the paper is due a week from today so if you need any help or have questions about it, make an appointment during my office hours,” Brent, the TA for my class says as he wraps up. “Professor Stanwick is a real stickler for anything late, or any excuses so make sure you’re on it and if not, well, that’s what I’m here for. Okay, that’s it for today.”
It’s been another long day that began with work at CEF, transitioned into classes at school, and will end with me working on this paper. Brent Fuller is a good and fair teaching assistant and his knowledge of School Law is ridiculously intense, especially for someone who is only in his late twenties. More than once I’ve holed in his office as he helped me understand the tricky legal aspects of school policy.