“My turn,” she announced. “How long will you stay here? In New York.”
“Six weeks. Without applying for a visa, I can stay in the country for just three months, so I decided to make my New York stop the longest because Lina offered her place. She said she couldn’t break her lease until December and the apartment would be empty after she moved in with Aaron anyway, so…”
Rosie’s lips were pursed but I couldn’t tell why exactly, and Iwouldn’t spend a question on that when there was a more important one I wanted to ask.
I rested my chin on my fist. “Why do you need emotional leverage? With your dad.”
Her chest deflated. She was quiet for so long that I thought she wasn’t going to answer, that perhaps she was done playing this game with some man who had barged into her life less than twenty-four hours ago.
But then she said, “I quit my job.” And her following words seemed to topple right out of her. “My well-paid, indefinite position as a team leader in an engineering firm. That’s why I said that I no longer worked at InTech. Because I resigned. Six months ago.” I opened my mouth to speak but more hurried words left hers. “My dad doesn’t know. Neither does my brother. Only Lina does. And Aaron, of course. Not because he’s her husband but because he was my boss and I had to hand my resignation letter to him. And everyone at the office, obviously, because I’m no longer there. So, I guess, some people know. What they don’t know is what prompted it.” She bothered her lip. “Anyway, that’s why I needed leverage with Dad. Because I’ve been… keeping this huge thing from him. And I’ve never lied to him, not ever. We’re very close. We’ve always been a team, Dad and I.”
“Will he be mad?” Something unexpected stirred in my gut.Protectiveness. I shook it off, attributing it to Rosie being my little cousin’s best friend. And to how much I hate bullies. “About you quitting? Is that why you haven’t told him?”
“Oh no. He’d never be angry at me for following my dream. Even if it’s a relatively new one.” That somehow appeased me, but it also made me all the more curious.A relatively new dream?“But I don’t think he’ll be happy about it, either. He’s always been so proud of me. Of his daughter being an engineer. Working in Manhattan. We didn’t have much growing up.” She paused. “When I graduated, it was the first time I ever saw him cry. Big, fat tears that wouldn’t stop falling. I think he cried for hours. And when I got a promotion last year, back when he was still living in Queens, he told everyonein the block. ‘My Bean leads a team now. She’s a leader!’ He threw me a party and invited the neighbors as if… I don’t know, as if his daughter had just won a Nobel Prize or something.” She shook her head with a sad smile. “He will be terrified that I’m throwing everything away for something he probably doesn’t fully grasp. That’s why I haven’t worked up the courage to tell him. I’m scared he won’t… understand and support me. And that would break my heart.”
“So, what is it?” I couldn’t stop myself from asking, craving more. “This new dream you are chasing.”
I watched Rosie all but fold into herself, her shoulders falling and her eyes leaving mine. And I knew she was pulling away. “You’ll think it’s silly.”
“There’s no such thing as silly when it comes to dreams. No matter how new or old they are.”
Those emerald-green eyes shifted to me with a new weight.
“Lay it on me, Rosalyn Graham,” I continued. “You don’t know this about me, but I don’t judge. Ever.”
Her chest rose with a deep breath. “I wrote and published a book,” she finally said. “A romance book. Over a year ago. Around the time I got the promotion.”
As if she was saying something completely ridiculous.
I frowned. “That’s amazing, Rosie. That’s more than amazing. It’s incredible, and not at all silly.”
“There’s… more to it.”
Nodding my head, I encouraged her to keep going.
“I self-published it, under a pen name, not my real name. And I didn’t tell anyone at first, except for Lina, because I… Well, I was scared my colleagues wouldn’t take me seriously if they knew I was writing what they’d consider steamy novels for bored housewives.” She sighed. “How stupid is that, huh? Instead of being proud of myself.” A shake of her head. “But I was scared someone would think less of my work as an engineer, or belittle my book just because it’s in a genre that’s so unfairly judged, or belittle me, because of something I love. Okay, not someone, but them, the guys at the office. Mostly men. Maybe even my dad, too. Society in general? I don’t know.”
Rosie seemed lost in thought for a second, then continued, her expression brightening a little. “Anyway. The book started getting some attention. Nothing huge, but more than I ever anticipated. It slowly but steadily escalated from there, until I was offered a book deal. And it was then that something in me snapped. I signed the contract with the publisher and quit my job, which is something very out of character for me. Taking leaps is not my thing. Making decisions without minimizing risks, without having the assurance that it will all work out is not something I’ve ever done. But dammit, it felt good. Terrifying but liberating. As if I had been waiting my whole life to be… free.” Her smile fell. “And then, it all went to sh—”
She stopped herself.
“It all went where?” I asked, realizing only now that I had inched forward in her direction. Over the table.
Rosie squared back her shoulders. “You’ve already met your question quota.”
“What?”I grunted.
“You’ve asked your five questions,” she explained. “So, no more for you.”
I had forgotten we were still playing this game.
“Me, on the other hand,” she pointed out with what I was pretty sure was satisfaction, “I’ve got two more questions.”
I leaned back on my seat. “I feel like I’ve been cheated here.”
Rosie’s lips tipped up the slightest bit. “I always play by the rules.” Her chin lifted. “So… what are your plans, Lucas?”
While that was a simple enough question, it somehow felt like a punch to the gut. Because it only reminded me of the truth: I didn’t have a plan. I was no longer a man who thought in terms of plans. I wasNo Plan Lucas. “Nothing special. Just… tourist stuff.”