Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 85135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
“Sometimes. But it’s been so long now and there are…perks to being well-known.”
“I don’t think I appreciated how well-known you are until I Googled you yesterday.”
I nod. It’s not unexpected. I would Google me too if I were in his shoes. It is a little disappointing. It would be nice to meet a person who has no idea who I am and no interest in finding out beyond what I have to say for myself.
“I get why you might be excited to get your own coffee.”
“Tell me about you,” I say, wanting to change the subject. “What do you do for fun?” I don’t need to hear about how famous I am or contradict ridiculous stories that I know are online about me. One of the good things about traveling with what some people would consider an entourage, is that your assistant or you manager or your PR rep becomes your gatekeeper. They shield you from questions you don’t want to answer or news you don’t want to hear.
“I went swimming with my brother in Hamstead ponds last night after work. I’m not sure it falls into the category of fun, but…it was an experience.”
“Did you get caught?” I ask.
He laughs. “You’re allowed. There’s a whole setup for people who want to do freshwater swimming. Jacob does it a lot. I was a freshwater virgin until last night.”
“How was it?” I ask. “Other than cold?”
He laughs. “Yeah, it was cold, although I didn’t mind that much. It was…better than I expected. More thought-provoking.”
Thought-provoking? I want to follow up and ask him to elaborate, but it feels weird to be nosy about someone when I’m not willing to share. “You must be close with your brother if you live together and hang out after work too.”
“Oh no, I live with one of my other brothers, Nathan, and his wife and my niece. I rented my place out when I did some trekking in Tanzania a year or so back, and every time I come back, it kind of doesn’t coincide with the lease being up. Then when the lease is up, I’m often abroad and so I just renew. I’m in a cycle.”
“Two brothers? That’s a lot of testosterone when you were a kid.”
“I have four brothers altogether. Well, five if you count my cousin who’s—yeah, five. There’s a lot of us.”
I come to a stop on the path. “There are six of you? And no sisters? Your poor mom.” I can’t even imagine what his brothers look like. I bet there are some very happy women in London right now.
“She loves having five boys. And Vincent.” He pauses. “My dad? That’s another story.” We start to walk again. “You said you had a brother.”
“And a sister,” I confess, not wanting to mislead him today.
“Are you close?”
“We’re not not close. But we lead different lives.”
“It would be weird if you were all pop stars. Unless of course you were the Jackson Five or something.”
“We’re not,” I say, and we both laugh. “You probably figured, what with me being alive and white and twenty-nine.”
“Are they musical?”
“I think my sister could have been, but she was never interested. My brother plays the saxophone and piano, like my dad.” Somehow I’ve slipped into telling him more than I’m used to sharing. I bat the conversation back to him. “You were saying you like to travel?”
“Yeah, like I said to you yesterday, I like to get the most out of life. I enjoy new experiences and adventures.” He pauses like he’s going to say more, but then the silence just hangs between us, like we’re both holding back.
“What’s your next trip? Rappelling off Everest?”
“Definitely not.” He shoots me a grin and then shrugs. “Not sure yet. Maybe husky mushing.”
“Wow. Husky mushing. I didn’t realize that was…a thing. I mean, as in a thing people go off to learn.”
“Tourism is everywhere, I guess.” He pauses again, and I can’t help but wonder what he’s holding back. Is it a question about me? Is he going to ask me to sign something for his niece? Or is he hiding himself?
He seems genuine, although I have zero confidence in my ability to tell the liars from the good guys these days. I seem to have lost the ability to know who’s telling me the truth and who’s kissing my ass. To be honest, most people are kissing my ass most of the time—probably because I’m responsible for their paycheck or because they want something from me.
Beau doesn’t seem to want anything but a walk in the park.
“Your trips are about chasing a natural high?” I ask.
“That’s always been part of it. I never wanted to go to my grave not having made the most out of life. Otherwise, what’s the point?”
“Wow, we got deep real fast,” I say on a smile. I’m silent while I think about what he’s said. “I’m not sure being here is the same for everyone.”