Page 89 of Ten Rules for Faking It
“Not at all, Mari. More of a ‘this is what I’ve gone through in my marriage while building a successful company, having children, andnotcheating on my spouse’ discussion. I’m talking CEOs who share their slips down the ladder rungs before they reached the top. Supermoms who don’t mind sharing that the secret to their success is buying a dozen cupcakes instead of staying up all night icing ones she didn’t have time to bake in the first place.”
“People are getting back into radio because of the human connection,” Mason said.
Everly pointed her finger at him and said, “Yes,” loudly. She bit her lip, her cheeks heating up. “Sorry.”
“Never apologize for your passion,” Chris said.
“Human interest stories where we get to see the flip side but still with a happy ending,” Mason said.
Everly’s heart thundered in a new way. With pure excitement.
“The grit beneath the gloss. Not just ugly stories but more the mud they trudged through to get to the top. So people don’t think it’s as easy to do as it seems when they post the picture on the top of some mountain.”
They were getting it. They were excited, and they were actually getting it.
Ideas bounced around the table, everyone having a story about a struggle they’d faced to get to where they were. Everly realized as she listened to them that they werealldifferent. They all had theirthing;Stacey feared commitment, Mari didn’t know if she was good enough at her job—hell yes she was—Chris said he struggled with getting his father’s approval. Every one of them faced battles the others weren’t privy to. She spent so much time wishing she were different, calmer, chiller. If she’d been anything other than who she was, if she’d taken a different path, she wouldn’t be sitting here right now feeling like she finally belonged.
[30]
The house was awesome. Noah showing up, along with this inexplicableneedto show his staff how much he appreciated them, gave Chris the idea to rent something beachside. They could have done a restaurant or someone’s house with a caterer, but he really wanted them to let their guards down.You want to get to know them better. All of them.He wasn’t getting attached; he was just doing what any good boss would.
“Dude. This place rocks. Maybe I should buy this,” Noah said, looking around. The two-story, almost-beachfront property was available for staff parties, weddings, vacations, or whatever else people could come up with.
“Maybe you should figure out what you want to do before you purchase anything,” Chris countered.
Noah opened the double doors off the galley-style kitchen. Crisp ocean air wafted through, easing leftover tension out of Chris’s shoulders. He’d intended for Jane to take care of the details, but once he’d started, he wanted to finalize everything himself. He wasn’t sure why it mattered so much to him, but once an idea struck, Chris couldn’t let it go until he saw it through.
“Not all of us have had our lives mapped out since we were kids,” Noah said, bringing Chris back into the conversation.
Grabbing a couple of beers from the party-size fridge, Chrisbrought them out to the deck and stood at the rail beside his brother.
“Nothing wrong with a plan. It’d stop you from wondering where to go next,” Chris said, clinking his bottle to Noah’s.
“Yeah. That’s one way to look at it,” Noah said, taking a drink.
Chris glanced at his watch. He had a caterer showing up shortly, and then the staff would be here soon. They had time to sit around, shoot the breeze. It felt like forever since he’d done just that. The fact that some of his favorite people would spend the evening with him was a huge bonus.
“What’s another?” Chris glanced at Noah.
“It’s good to have a plan and all, but not if you never look up.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Why do you want to be like him so much?”
Chris reared back slightly. How they went from talking about the house to their father was beyond him. “What the hell, Noah? I bring you a beer and you insult me?”
Noah half smiled. Chris was only partially joking, though.
Turning so he could rest against the banister, Noah looked Chris straight in the eyes. “You sure the plan you laid out for yourself is still what you want?”
Irritation prickled along the back of his neck. “Of course it is. You think I worked this hard, bounced around fixing company after company, just so I could keep doing it?”
Noah tipped his beer back, fine with making Chris wait for his answer. “I don’t think you should have had to jump through any of those hoops in the first place. None of us should have. You seem happy here, man. Do you even know that?”
Chris shook off his unease, taking a long drink of the beer that no longer tasted good. “I’m a happy guy. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“No. You seem happyhere.”
