But hell, maybe it was a day for firsts.
“Too well?” he prompted when she fell silent.
Her nod was tight, as was the gulp that followed it. “I-I thought I could handle it, and for a long time, I could, but then I got another client, and now it’s just too much.”
Because this was the last thing he’d expected to hear from her—hell, he wasn’t entirely sure what he’d been expecting, but it hadn’t been this—he shuffled in his seat. In a world where success was the meter by which everyone lived, she was doing great. Just not that great.
Uncertain of how he could help, he attempted, “Have you tried scaling back?”
“I can’t. They won’t let me, and if I was in their shoes, I wouldn’t either.” She blew out a breath which had her bangs flying out of control, before they fluttered back down and settled across her face. “A victim of my own success.” She peeked at him from under strawberry blond lashes. “Sounds like a joke, doesn’t it? I mean, seriously. Who complains about this kind of crap?”
“People who are overwhelmed,” he said softly.
Hailey pursed her lips. “Yeah. Because I see you and Aidan complaining about all this… Jesus, what I’ve done is nothing in comparison to Arias. How do you guys cope?”
James shrugged, “We delegate. We have each other. Both things make a huge difference.”
“Seriously? That’s it?”
He shrugged again. “We have down time. Don’t think that we don’t. Plus, what we’re doing isn’t as high pressure as sales.”
“No, you’re just trying to fly to the moon, James,” she said with a scoff. “That’s really nothing.”
His lips twitched. “Why are you even comparing yourself to us? Do you think I could sell what you do?”
“I don’t know. Probably. You seem to be able to do everything.” She didn’t sound too pleased by that though either.
“What are you talking about?” he immediately dismissed. “I have my strengths, and I have my weaknesses. Thankfully, yes, the latter are very few,” he teased, pleased when she rolled her eyes at him. “However, Aidan and I are a team. We’re very lucky to be able to gel together as well as we do. His strengths are my weaknesses. We speak different languages and can make pitches to different investors. His preferences are to work on the inner body of the cars we make, whereas mine is to work on the outer shell.” He shrugged his shoulders. “We’re a team, there are two of us, so you can’t compare us to you.”
“Mom and dad do,” Hailey said before thinking.
The glum retort had James' eyes widening. “Diane and Edward?”
“Who else?” she said with a huff. “Yes, them. They’re my parents, aren’t they?”
He held up his hands in apology. “I’m just surprised.”
“Why? They’ve always done it.” She scrubbed at her forehead. “How am I supposed to compete with Aidan when he’s done all he’s done?”
“You’re not supposed to. That’s how.” He blinked, astonished by what she had to say. “I’m seriously in shock right now. I didn’t think they were like that.”
Hailey exhaled. “I don’t think they mean to be. I feel like they’re not judging me or anything, but they wonder how they’ve managed to breed one wunderkind and not two. Like genius is in the genes or something.”
“I’m sure it’s not like that. Have you spoken to them about it?” A thought came to him. “It’s a wonder you don’t get really mad with Aidan. I mean, you could take it out on him.”
“I love my brother,” she said simply. “Always have, always will. That’s just the way of it. It’s not his fault he’s incredible, and it’s not his fault that our parents can be dicks sometimes.”
James turned away from her, though he kept his body tilted at an angle toward Hailey. It shouldn’t have been important, but he knew how body language could be read. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel like he was shutting her out. As he turned his gaze onto the dying sun, he watched a few stars start to twinkle overhead and murmured, “I always wanted a brother or a sister.”
She jerked at his words, then shot him a little frown. “You did?”
“Yep.”
“Why?”
Now it was James’ turn to exhale, “I was lonely, I guess. My parents were busy being my parents. They didn’t have much time for me… still don’t. But when I met Aidan and then you and your family, I realized how much I’d missed out on by not having a sister or a brother.”
She tilted her head to the side in surprise. “I never imagined you’d be nostalgic about something like that.”