part0006

I turned away from the blender and reached for the pile of sliced bananas. “Good. Ten miles down.”

“Ten miles?” Selina let out an impressed whistle. “It’s not even 7:00.”

“I’ve been up since 5:00.” I tossed the remaining fruit into the blender and punched the button. Ten seconds later, a fruit smoothie waited for me. “Want some?”

“Sure, why not.” Selina settled herself on one of the barstools at the kitchen island. “I’ve been eating a lot healthier since you moved in.”

I grimaced. “This is only temporary. I promise. I have a couple of places to check out during lunch.”

“I’m not complaining.” She gestured around at her immaculate apartment. “You cook, you clean, and you even alphabetized my spice rack. You can stay as long as you want.”

I took two glasses over to the island. “I appreciate your generosity, but I really do need to find my own place. I think that will help me move on. ”

“That’s probably true. I just really like living with you again.” Selina took a sip. “This is really good. You should go into business.”

“Maybe. It’s not like I’m actually using my law degree.” I frowned and glanced at my phone. Ten new text messages from Kevin.

“Your eye is starting to heal,” Selina observed casually.

“It’s hideous.” I had taken a long look at it in the mirror this morning. She was right that the edges of the bruise were beginning to yellow, but the rest of it was still black and purple. It looked worse now than it did three days ago. “What are your plans today?”

“Work, what else?” Selina groaned. “One of our clients has a big conference tomorrow so I’ll be working late. What about you?”

My eyes flitted down toward the invitation I had found when collecting my mail yesterday. It had been haunting my every waking moment since then.

“Nick is having a memorial thing for Michael at the office,” I said, my stomach twisting into a knot. “He wants me to come by today to chat about it.”

“You spoke to him?” she asked in surprise.

“No. His secretary called.” I finished my drink.

Selina glanced at me tentatively. “Have you spoken with him at all since the funeral?”

“Not really.” I felt a familiar tightening my chest. “He used to call pretty often, but when I never responded he eventually gave up.”

“Maybe it will be good for you to see him,” she said carefully. “Give you some closure?”

I nodded, unable to tell her what I really thought, that I would never have closure. My brother was gone, and he was never coming back.

Sometimes I couldn’t believe that it had been five years since that night. It felt like just yesterday he was calling me Lo-Lo and ruffling my hair. I still thought about him every single day. I still had questions about what had happened that night.

“Do you want me to go with you?” Selina asked, interrupting my thoughts.

“No. I’ll be fine.” I was faking a brave face for her. I was dreading seeing Nick again.

Dreading it so much, that I put it off as long as possible. I took a long shower and spent time drying and straightening my hair, something I rarely did. I took time picking out my clothes and stopped for coffee on the way. By the time I reached the Kingston office, it was almost lunchtime.

“Logan Elliot here to see Nicholas Kingston,” I told the receptionist. She appraised me with her pretty blue eyes. She looked like she was a professional model and I felt drab and frumpy next to her.

“One moment please.”

“I have Logan Elliot here,” she said into the phone. Her eyes widened in surprised. “Yes, sir. I’ll be right there.”

I wondered if she had been speaking with Nick. She seemed frenzied as she commanded me to follow her.

The office hadn’t changed much in the last five years, with one key exception- they now employed over 2,000 people and had taken over three more floors in the building. Tethered was a wildly successful company that was getting ready to launch its IPO in less than a month. Michael would’ve loved to be part of it.

As we got closer to Nick’s office, my heart began to thump erratically. I hadn’t seen him in person in five years, but I hadn’t been able to ignore him completely because he was all over the internet, magazines, and news channels.

The receptionist knocked on his door and he called for us to come in. I was unable to cross the threshold.

“Thanks, Holly,” he said without looking up from his desk.

The girl gave me one last skeptical look and then hurried away. Now, we were alone .

Nick’s eyes came up slowly, almost hesitantly. It occurred to me that he was just as nervous to see me as I was to see him. We were strangers to each other now.

“Logan.” He stood and stepped around the desk. “Please, come in.”

I shuffled forward on shaky legs. Up close, I get a better look at him. He still had the same boyish smile, the same chiseled features. His hair was shorter than he used to wear it, more like the haircut of a CEO. It was his eyes that had changed. They were darker and guarded. It didn’t take a genius to see that he had been through a terrible trauma. His eyes looked like mine.

“Nick. Thanks for inviting me.” I didn’t know what to do with myself. Part of me wanted to slap him and a bigger part of me wanted to hug him. I hadn’t admitted it to myself until now, but I missed him. “It’s been a long time.”

“Too long,” he said quickly. “I’ve missed you.”

I swallowed hard and looked away. The sun caught my face, illuminating my garish eye injury. Nick flinched in alarm. “What happened to your eye?”

“Why did you ask me here, Nick?” I didn’t want to get into the details of my personal life with him. I needed to keep that wall between us. If I didn’t, everything I had built up in the last five years would come crumbling down .

He cleared his throat, composing himself. “Right. Let’s sit.”

We sat in two plush leather chairs, facing each other. It was hard to look at him so I kept glancing around the room.

“I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but our IPO date is fast approaching.” He crossed one long leg over the other, his ankle resting on his knee. I noted that his suit fit perfectly.

“I heard. It’s only on the news every single day.” I finally looked at him. “I can’t avoid you no matter how hard I try.”

He laughed uncertainly. “I guess my publicist has earned her giant paycheck.”

“What does this have to do with me?” I asked, wishing that I had just stayed home. Being around Nick was just too hard. All I could think about was Michael.

“It has a lot to do with you, actually.” He reached over and grabbed an envelope from his desk. “Your brother was a cofounder of the corporation. As such, he and I owned a majority share of the company. Once we go public, those shares will be worth a lot of money.”

He handed me the envelope. “When he passed, I made sure those shares were held in your name. They are yours to do with as you wish, but if you do choose to sell, you will become a very wealthy woman. ”

I stared hard at the envelope, blank except for my name written in perfect cursive. Nick’s handwriting. My fingers traced the letters. “You’re giving me Michael’s stake in the company? Why would you do that?”

“Because I loved him. He was my family. You were my family.” His voice cracked and he looked away. “This is what Michael would’ve wanted.”

“I can’t accept this.” I didn’t have to open the envelope to know that whatever number was inside was more than I deserved.

“Please.” His eyes returned to me, pleading. “All I want is for you to be happy, Logan. I would do anything to go back in time and fix what happened, but I can’t. This is something that I can do. Please let me.”

I could see the pain and grief in his eyes now, just below the surface. He had carried it with him every day for five years. “I’m not sure I can do that.”

“Just think about it. Please.” He dropped his foot to the ground and leaned forward. “Whatever you decide, I’ll support it.”

“Okay.” I nodded. “I’ll think about it.”

“Good.” A small smile. “That’s not the only reason I asked you here.”

“There’s more?” I shook the envelope. “Independent wealth isn’t enough? ”

His smile grew. “Not for you. You deserve so much more.”

“Nick.” I didn’t like the familiar way he was looking at me.

“Okay, I’ll cut to the chase. As you know, two weeks from now is the five year anniversary of Michael’s death. A few of the original employees came to me with an idea. They want to host a memorial service with a small dedication in Michael’s honor. I want you to be part of it.”

“Me?” My mouth dropped open. “Why?”

“No one knew Michael better than you. Not even me. I want you to make it a personal event, something meaningful.” He seemed to relax, turning more into the Nick I used to know. “You’re the only one that can do justice to the great Michael Elliot.”

This was a conundrum. I didn’t want to have Nick back in my world, but this seemed like an honest request. And I had to admit that it would be nice to spend some time remembering Michael in a meaningful way.

“What do you need me to do?” I asked.

“Meet me for dinner tonight,” he replied quickly. I started to object, but he cut me off. “I’m not asking you on a date. Relax. I just want to talk more about the event and I have a meeting in five minutes. But I’m free tonight, if you are. ”

He looked at me so hopefully that I couldn’t think of a way to let him down gently.

“Okay. I’m free.”

“Excellent.” He stood and went back to his desk. “I’ll have my assistant call you to confirm the details.”

That was his way of ending our meeting. I didn’t mind. I needed to get away before he asked me to commit to anything else.

“I’ll see you tonight,” I said, heading toward the door.

I was surprised when he rushed up behind me, his hand slamming onto the glass door just as I started to open it. His body was so close to mine. Too close.

“Who did that to you, Logan?” he asked urgently, his eyes searching my face. “Tell me who the asshole is and I’ll take care of it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, unable to look him in the eye.

“I heard you were engaged. You’re not wearing a ring.” He moved even closer so that I was forced to make eye contact. “Was it him? Did your fiancé do this?”

A lump formed in my throat and I was seconds away from letting the wall crumble. “I need to go. Please, Nick.”

He stared hard at me before eventually sighing. “I’ll see you tonight, Logan.”

“Tonight,” I said, voice shaky .

He held the door open for me. “It was really nice to see you.”

“Thanks.” I held up the envelope. “For everything.”

“I haven’t given you everything… yet.” One last, lingering look and he turned away.