Page 3 of Discord
“Without an office space, we need to decide where to work out of? We have a rigorous schedule over the next few months.”
Personal reasons aside, expanding to the West Coast was once in a lifetime opportunity. The prospect required our undivided attention with all hands-on deck.
“It’ll be difficult to keep things seamless during this transition if the four of us aren’t together around the clock. The best option is to share temporary living accommodations.”
Another pregnant pause on the other side. Milo was considering my suggestion. However, I needed him to take the last leap.
“I think my place makes the most sense—”
“My parents' brownstone,” Milo declared like the little authoritarian I expected him to be.
I smiled.
The bizarre idea had been brewing since I met with Mia at that café. Part of it was to keep her from seeing someone else, but there was another reason. Mia didn’t seem happy with her current life. Much like myself.
I pressed Mia about how much of what she had shared in the cottage was true. She claimed not to have lied. Much to my chagrin over Mia concealing her identity, I believed the rest to be true. She wasn’t happy with the current path forced upon her but didn’t know how to change her destiny.
Clearly, I lacked rationality around that girl’s potent scent. Without confirming it with Milo, I declared my intent to move into the Sinclair home.
Luckily, Milo was predictable, though I put up a deliberate protest. “I prefer to work out of my home.”
“That’s not happening. You live in a condo. We need more space. There’s already a home office set up at my parents’ brownstone, along with a separate apartment for you, Jaci, and Alexa. So let me know when you want to move in.”
I sighed reluctantly. “Couple of weeks.”
A couple of weeks to talk myself out of this insane plan. I wanted to move across the country to be away from her. Now I was manipulating everyone to live two floors down from Mia.
The Sinclair home was comprised of two giant brownstones connected to make for one lavish mansion. The split-level was a floor below the family brownstone and had its own entrance. Milo’s family lived beyond their means, and Milo… well, he was a sucker, working like a dog instead of denying them. That family was filled with drama, and the living situation was far from ideal. However, I couldn’t take two more seconds of picturing another man’s grubby hands on Mia without doing something lethal.
On some level, I also wanted to punish her for working me out of her system while I was drowning. She needed to join this miserable club so we could be unhappy together—a righteous payback for the fabrications.
After hanging up with Milo, an email came through from Aldo. It was the request I had put in for Chris Allen.
When I first met Mia, I was convinced she was my punishment from the powers above. Retribution for Dad. It ended up being true because Mia turned me into a person worse than my father. The thought alone should be enough to let her go and allow her to be with someone her own age. Such as Chris Allen.
My chest burned at the idea, and I forwarded the email to Mia.
Brandon
She is doingthis shit on purpose.
My brash side felt out of control with rage because Mia was avoiding me again. I moved into the Sinclair house a few weeks ago. Mia had dodged me during the entirety of the time, only socializing when others congregated and provided her with a buffer.
I angrily paced the length of the oversized living room, my gaze drifting to the stairway to Mia’s bedroom. High school concluded for her a few weeks ago. Surely, she’d prefer to enjoy summer outside of her bedroom. At the bare minimum, she couldn’t function without coffee.
Though I hadn’t seen her around, it was clear Mia was still fueling her caffeine needs. I found several used coffee filters and lone books on the kitchen table. There was only one person who’d read a first edition book and be scatterbrained enough to leave it behind.
I had hoped to make Mia suffer by moving into her space. Except, I was the one harboring an emptiness. She had no right to dismiss me after playing me and turning my life upside down. It was infuriating. I had to do something before losing my mind and decided to cut her off at the source by installing a new coffee machine. I presented it under the guise of a gift—a thank you to the Sinclairs for hosting us—aware that no one could operate the technologically advanced equipment without reading the instruction manual. If Mia was sneakily making coffee every morning, the complicated machinery should stall her long enough for a conversation. It was a long shot to snuff her out, though I had no idea what I planned to accomplish afterward.
The wooden floorboard creaked underneath my soles from the excessive force I exercised with each step, annoyed.
“Will you sit down so we can get through this?” Milo looked up from the blue Chesterfield sofa, papers scattered on the sleek, black coffee table.
Jaci’s head twisted in my direction while Alexa narrowed her eyes. She flipped her platinum blonde hair over her shoulders. “He’s right, Bran. Since when are you so fidgety?”
No one had accused me of being ‘fidgety’ before, but these three were my childhood friends and could read my body language. They were right about the restlessness.
“Why wouldn’t I be? I’m trapped in this house, and I don’t do well in confined spaces.” It was the first excuse to pop into my head, though baseless. Milo’s family home was equivalent to a mansion.
