บททั้งหมดของ Make Me: บทที่ 1 - บทที่ 10

Moving to America had always been my ultimate goal in life. Ever since I was fifteen, when my high school bestie and I had constructed a detailed ten-year plan, mapping out everything from our university courses to our apartment's precise address just five minutes from Broadway, I had known that this was what I wanted to do with the one life I'd been blessed with. And from the moment Rebecca and I had come up with a catchy 'American Dream' jingle in the ninth grade, I'd been determined that nothing could get in the way of me getting to the Big Apple.Having lived in the 'perfect family' my entire life, I felt as though I needed to take some risks and live a little. My parents had given me the classic sheltered upbringing, lined with curfews and restrictions, healthy meals and a private school education. In hindsight, I was grateful for mostly everything they'd done for me, no matter how hopelessly deprived I may have felt at the time. Nevertheless, I was the sort of

Monday morning came around way too fast for my liking. After leaving the confines of Mr Gray's intimidating building just three days ago, there had been a number of things I'd needed to do in preparation for my first day in the office. I'd started off by telling Becca about my new job, which had produced an unexpected reaction from my best friend."How could you go against Mase like that?" she had practically yelled at me. "I know you were desperate for work, Al, but your priorities are absolutely whack if you think you made the right decision taking this job."Deep down, I'd known that she was completely right, but that hadn't stopped me from being rather defensive at the time."You're literally the PA of Mason's biggest rival!" She'd responded to whatever lame argument I had scrambled together. "I can't believe you see nothing wrong with this.""It'

Just six weeks after touching down at JFK, we were back at the airport, this time to pick up a very special delivery. Mason's plane was due to land in a little under thirty minutes, and the moment couldn't come fast enough. The last twenty-four hours for me had been hell, to say the least. It hadn't all been bad, but it had ended in a way that caused me to forget the good. It had all started after the success of our meeting with Mr Russo. Not even five minutes after I'd saved his butt in his consultation with the bigwig investor, Mr Gray had called me into his office and completely discredited all that I had just done for him. "If I had needed your help, I would have asked for it myself," he'd snapped. "It's not like I was

After the awful weekend that I'd had, walking into work on Monday morning actually came as a relief. It didn't change my mood, or make me forget, but it certainly did provide a sort of distraction. As soon as I entered through the doors of Gray's Consulting, it was business as usual; people all over the place moving every which way, and the soothing sound of small-talk. Small-talk was such a funny thing. It was humanity's way of building rapport, without the added stress of vulnerability. We were all equally guilty of it, but it was certainly a strange concept when you took a step back and examined it from a different perspective."How was your weekend?" Bella called over to me from where she sat behind the main desk."It was good, thanks," I smiled back. "Yours?"I was just as culpable of idle chat as anyone in this office, but it wasn't like I was going to pour out

"You got everything?" I asked, scanning the apartment for any last things belonging to Becca. "I think so," she replied, setting her bags down in a heap beside the doorway. "I mean if you don't, it's not like it's the end of the world," I laughed. "I'll be seeing you again when I come back for Jake's wedding.""Very true," she nodded her head, looking around the place. "I'm gonna miss it here.""What's there to miss?" I joked. "The leaking tap? The shower that takes years to warm up? Don't even get me started on the rock-hard mattress." "That's half the magic of the place, though," she smiled. "If it were perfect then life would be boring.""Very true," I mimicked her earlier response, smiling warmly at me best friend. "It won't be the sa