Page 4 of Nolan
My heart lifts with the slightest sliver of hope. Returning to the city where bionics reign supreme, not fashion, isn’t the direction I thought my life would take.
I don’t know what the future will bring. But maybe, just maybe, everything will be okay.
Three weeks later after a whirlwind of selling everything I can’t take with me, as well as packing, planning, and buying a plane ticket, and I’ve arrived back home in the android capital of the world: New Carnegie, Pennsylvania. The birthplace of everything bionic. Where everything is cold steel instead of warm sand.
The one thing that California didn’t have was four seasons. There was no fall, no pretty season of leaves changing. Not where I lived, anyway. So the moment I’m back, I’m hit with a fresh dose of nostalgia, and it’s hard not to get swept up by autumn fever.
In downtown New Carnegie, it’s creamy crop tops, leather boots with neon orange trim, rose-gold eyeshadow, and pumpkin-flavored everything advertised in every window of every café. Vibrant, glowing chalk signs display basic corny quotes like Fall Leaves & Pumpkins, Please and Witch Better Have My Coffee in a flourish of cursive.
It’s October first, and I don’t think “calm down” is a phrase New Carnegians have in their vocabulary when it comes to autumn. That’s fine by me, though. I surrender and accept it the moment I reach the quiet little suburb of Belmont—where Apollo lives—just north of the Vanderbilt River and west of Mellon Fields.
The moment I’m here, I realize I made the right choice in accepting Jessica and Apollo’s help. I was dreading getting off that plane, but there’s something different about my hometown now. It no longer feels like a cage. Sure, Belmont happens to be close to the place where BioNex was founded and went on to invent the robots that eventually cost me my job in LA, but it wouldn’t have mattered what I wanted to do or where I was from. The world is changing, and I have to figure out where I fit in all of this. It’ll be nice to clear my head, cleanse my thoughts, figure out how to live in a non-corporate environment.
Who knows. Maybe I can reinvent myself as a fashion designer here. It’s not like Manhattan is far away.
At this moment, I’m not thinking about any big city. I’m already smitten with the sights and smells of my childhood, the quaint small-town feel that’s a cocktail of historical nostalgia with state-of-the-art flair, all with the sparkling skyscrapers of New Carnegie and BioNex Tower in the distance. When I was young, we lived in New Carnegie proper, to be close to Dad’s work and Mom’s hospital. I never ventured into Belmont. In a place like this, I get all the peace and quiet with all the benefits of the big city just twenty minutes away.
I got used to smog, palm trees, and dates with my girlfriends and coworkers on Venice Beach, where we could lay out in the sun whenever we like. Layers with winter in mind are something I’ll have to grow accustomed to again. I wave down Jessica as she pulls up to the passenger pick-up area in her sexy Flagler Cupid sedan and quickly throw my stuff in her trunk, then jump into my seat like we’re bank robbers about to skip town. After I agreed to move in, Jessica promised me a weekend of shopping in Belmont’s Old Town sector. We pass by pretty cobblestone streets and sidewalks sporting holo-map displays shimmering on several corners for curious visitors. It’s all done up with gourds, scarecrows that sway and move, and the trees are changing from lush green to warm reds, glorious yellows, and vibrant oranges. Kids ride fearlessly around on their hoverbikes. I feel inspired for some new designs, when I have a moment to rest with my virtual sketching tablet.
Suddenly, everything isn’t so scary or overwhelming anymore. This could be the reset I needed. It’s not a permanent change, and yes, I have to live with Apollo—again—but I survived that once. What’s one more time? In Belmont, I have everything I could ever want in a place to call home: unique eateries, tavern dives, a vintage movie theater, and what I’m looking forward to seeing most of all: my sister-in-law’s clothing boutique.
I’m all set for my return to the City of Barons. After talking with Apollo and Jessica, and with the support of my parents once they get back from their vacation, this will help me get my bearings and figure out my next steps. Plus, if I can help put my family on the fashion map, why wouldn’t I take this shot? Everyone wins. At least, I try to tell myself that. There’s some guilt I have to contend with, how I’m getting to live rent-free and try something different, something new. I tried to make an arrangement to offer them some rent money, or even to help pay for groceries, but they wouldn’t even consider it.
Maybe I can reinvent myself here. I can leave behind the corporate lifestyle that betrayed me. Maybe when winter sets in, I’ll miss the land of eternal sunshine, but this little suburb is growing on me.
Who knows, maybe Apollo and I will finally bury the hatchet too. I’m not a teenage girl anymore; I’ve grown up. If I have, so has he. It’s just a question of how and when. For me, it’s still awkward to think about.
“So, how’s it feel to be back home?” Jessica asks as she checks her phone. She’s in the driver’s seat, but her car is on autopilot, gliding effortlessly down the cozy downtown streets.
“I’m thinking I might be in falling back in love with the city,” I say with a playful shrug. “Maybe.”
“Maybe?” Jessica glances up from the screen with a triumphant smirk. “And here I thought it might take you a little convincing. LA burned you that bad, huh?”
“Yeah. The longer I was there after I was fired, the shittier I felt.” I can be open and honest with Jess. She’s the big sister I always wanted but never got to have. Thank God Apollo had the sense to marry her. “Everything reminded me of the job I lost. I must’ve applied to a hundred jobs that first week and got rejected by all of them almost instantaneously, and I just realized—why should I care that much about a place that snapped their fingers and dropped me like a bad habit?”
“Exactly. Fuck those guys.” Jessica’s fire is unmistakable in her voice. “Fuck big corporations, period. Like, don’t even get me started.”
I’ve heard her long rants about everything wrong with America: big business, big pharma, big everything. She’s not afraid to talk politics with anyone who’ll listen, and it’s hard not to get stirred by her. “I know. Honestly, I think part of why I took it so hard was because I felt so foolish. I bought into it.”
“Well, you’re free now, cutie pie,” Jessica says, using the nickname she’s had for me since the first time we’ve met. If anyone else called me that, I’d hate it. “And I think you’ll like what you’re working with, if you don’t mind me saying so.”
The first thing I want to see is Jess’s store, Cyber Street. Jess switches her car to manual and parks, applying fresh lipstick in the mirror. “I’m so excited you’re here,” she adds. “Business is growing fast. I haven’t even needed to advertise much, so I’m psyched to see how much better we can do with an actual marketing specialist.”
“Of course,” I say. “I can’t thank you enough, really”
“Don’t worry about it. Besides, this was Apollo’s idea. He’s been talking nonstop about you since you got laid off.” Jess smiles at me. As though sensing my subtle skepticism, she adds, “Look, I know things weren’t smooth between the two of you growing up, but he’s a good dad. A good husband. He takes care of us. He takes care of the city. And I think if you give him a chance to prove to you how much he’s grown, you might like what you see.”
It’s hard to argue with her. I can only nod. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“That’s all I ask.”
“Okay.” Feeling uncomfortable, I’m quick to change the subject. “By the way, I have a ton of ideas on how we can make sure Cyber Street takes the entire city by storm. Then the coast, then New York. Then the sky’s the limit.”
Jessica laughs. “Baby steps. I’ll take the whole city first, definitely.”
Before our conversation can continue, she gets a phone call. “Sorry, I need to take this.” A mature man’s gentle voice flows through the car speakers, speaking smooth, fluent Mandarin. Jessica answers seamlessly. Since I can’t really understand, I tune out, gazing out the passenger window. I admittedly took two years of Mandarin in college, but I fell out of practice in my final year, and now I’m pretty sure I’ve forgotten everything. I promised myself I’d pick it up again when I have time. Now that I’m living with Apollo and Jessica, and Jessica’s mother. Everyone calls her Laolao, which means grandmother in Chinese. She was born and raised in Guangzhou. Now, I definitely have a reason to dust off my old college language skills. I admire the scenery, and Jessica talks on the phone until we roll into the parking lot behind her store. She tells her caller goodbye and hangs up.
“That was my dad,” Jessica explains, toying with her key fob as we walk together to the back door. She lets me in first. “He’s on a business trip in Taiwan. Our evenings are his mornings, so it’s the best time for us to connect.”
