“Are you ready?” I asked, turning to Jake as we sat in the driveway of my parent’s house. This was the house that I grew up in. My parents had lived in this house for nearly 25 years. When they first got married, they couldn’t afford much. My dad got a big promotion when I was a young and this was their big purchase. They loved this house and I loved growing up here. The neighborhood was quiet but friendly, a far cry from many of the neighborhoods in the city. My parents lived far enough away from Chicago that they didn’t have to deal with all the crap of the city, but close enough that visiting was easy. Jake smiled at me, grabbing my hand. “Of course I’m ready.” “Well, I am glad one of us is ready.” I said as we exited the car. I could hear laughing coming from the backyard and decided to bypass going into the house and head straight around to the back. Opening the gate, the squeezing noise caught my mom’s attention and she turned quickly towards us. “Amali

JAKE’S POVDinner was essentially ruined after my aunt left. I stood up for Amalia, I confirmed to Amalia that I didn’t care what my aunt said, but I knew at the end of all of it that what my aunt said and did hurt Amalia. Hell, my aunt really didn’t need to say anything. Just the way that she looked at Amalia was enough to be hurtful.We spoke positively about the meeting with Dr. Ochoa and Amalia discussed her plan for her team this week as we ate, but the atmosphere had changed. I could sense her frustration and unease. She shouldn’t have to always be worried what my family thought about her. That just wasn’t fair to Amalia. Jonathan thought she was great. Anna did as well, despite having never met her. I shared with Anna about two weeks ago. I wanted her to know. I liked talking about Amalia but felt like I was so limited in who I could talk to, that telling my sister felt like a good next step. I planned on telling my other sister, Em

I stood outside of the Waldorf Astoria, admiring the architecture of the building. It wasn’t the first time I had seen the hotel, but it was the first time that I had stopped to appreciate the building. The fall flowers that lined the front entrance added to the beauty of the building. There was a slight chill in the air, the first signs that the weather was completely in to fall, and all traces of the warm weather was gone. The weather was chilly enough that an evening gown was less than warm enough to keep out the chill.“Ready to go in?” Katrina asked. With Jordan out of town visiting her sister, I was left with few options when Jake said he wasn’t going to get back to Chicago tonight. To say I was disappointed was an understatement. I was excited to share this with him and he wasn’t going to be here. But Katrina had been great and was more than eager to attend with me.I tried not to overthink things, but I was notorious for doing that

JAKE’S POVI awoke in the morning, a glass of whisky on the coffee table in front of me. I had fallen asleep on my couch, not even bothering to go upstairs and get changed. I just took off my jacket and bowtie and left the rest on. Jonathan had offered to stay the night with me but, honestly, I didn’t need him to see me like this. I yelled, screamed, and cried for at least an hour after I got home before the fourth glass of whisky caught up with me and I passed out.I had desperately wanted to go see Amalia last night, but everyone told me that I needed to give her time. I knew Amalia and I knew that the more time she had, the more she would think. The more that she thinks, the more she will get caught up in a bad thought pattern. I didn’t know if I could say anything that would help to pull her out of that, but I knew that being stuck in that pattern would bring her to a dark place.I sat up on the couch, the headache hitting me hard as the mo

Chapter 29   I was surprised at how friendly everyone was at the new lab. Apparently, it was well known that I had a recent advancement in our cancer drug research and everyone who greeted me was excited about being a part of the research. It was a welcomed difference from my work in Chicago. Not that people weren’t friendly there, there is just something about southern charm that made the people in the Dallas office a bit more welcoming. I was even pleased to see the skill set of my team. During our first meetings this week, the team had some great ideas in terms of next steps and directions to take our research, and we had already had several virtual meetings with the Chicago team. The drug research was still in its infancy and would require a lot more experimentation and lab trials that could take years to complete. Yet, the team was focused, and I was happy with all of those on the team. One researcher on another team, Kevin, had been quite f