He didn’t regret things not working out with Alicia, Risha, or Carrie. Timing was everything in life and the timing with them hadn’t been right.
But now…now he wasn’t so sure about what he wanted in his future.
What he did know was that he missed his family. He wanted to surround himself with family and friends and, for the first time in his life, put down roots. He was even toying with the idea of buying a house. He didn’t need anything big or extravagant.
He rarely ever spent money on things. Things meant nothing to him. After seeing first-hand how many millions of people live below the poverty level, spending anything on himself just felt indulgent and selfish even if he did have it to spend, which he did.
Easton had interned for a startup the summer between his junior and senior year of high school. The guys running it had offered him the choice of making minimum wage or getting shares in the company, and he’d taken shares mainly because he hadn’t wanted to put a financial strain on them, which at that point even paying minimum wage to a kid would have.
When he got out of the Marines, he discovered his decision had paid off. The company was worth billions. He cashed out originally to help finance a school in Sudan.
After donating the needed funds to make the school a reality, he’d decided to reinvest in other startups, two of which were Uber and Spotify.
At this point in his life, his money basically made money which had afforded him the ability to give to causes and people that needed it most. And that wasn’t himself. He lived off less than ten percent of his annual income and donated the rest. It was the only way he could sleep at night.
The largest purchase he’d ever made was the ’89 F-150 he was driving. He’d bought it when he turned sixteen with money he’d saved from his part-time jobs as a lifeguard during the summers at the local pool, a deli where he worked behind the counter, and his paper route.
The truck had taught him the value of a dollar and what hard work and sacrifice meant but it held more sentimental value than any real monetary value. He’d lost his virginity in this truck. He’d driven this truck to the recruiter’s office the day he enlisted. He had a lot of memories in this truck. It had been the one constant in his life. That and his family.
And he was glad that he’d be reunited with both.
The wind picked up and the visibility was abysmal as he slowed to round a curve. As soon as the road straightened out, he noticed a vehicle off to the side of the road with its hazards flashing. Without a moment’s hesitation, Easton eased off the road and pulled up behind it. He checked behind the seat and thankfully, his toolbox was exactly where he’d left it the last time he’d driven the truck, which was at least ten years ago.
He started to get out when he realized that the one thing he hadn’t packed was a jacket. Coming from Africa the weather hadn’t really called for it. Thankfully, his body had an unnatural knack of adjusting to extreme temperatures. He’d seen a few specialists over the years and the consensus was that he was born with a mutated hypothalamus. Basically, if he was a superhero his superpower would be thermoregulation. That wasn’t the only thing it regulated. It also served him well because it controlled thirst, appetite, sex drive, emotions, and sleep cycles, which had made it much easier to live the lifestyle that he had. He didn’t experience things as intensely as other people. He’d get tired, but not exhausted. Hungry, but not feel like he was starving. His emotions were always fairly even keeled. He had a healthy sex drive, but it didn’t consume him.
He was just always okay. Never too high, never too low.
As far as superpowers go, it’s not as sexy as being able to fly, but it comes in handy when it’s freezing outside and he was just chilly, he thought as he stepped out into the cold and started walking toward the Range Rover.