Series: Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
Total pages in book: 241
Estimated words: 236417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1182(@200wpm)___ 946(@250wpm)___ 788(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1182(@200wpm)___ 946(@250wpm)___ 788(@300wpm)
We’re home.
EMAIL FROM SAM STOKES
FROM: samstokes@fizzle.com
TO: dontemailme1882@yahoo.com, eliotalice@gmail.com, benpirripcobalt@upenn.edu, aragorn1225@gmail.com, queenofthebula@gmail.com
After the mini-marketing campaign tour, the rankings are as follows:
Charlie Keating Cobalt
Eliot Alice Cobalt
Xander Hale
Luna Hale
Ben Pirrip Cobalt
Luna has requested feedback, so I’ll be adding short notes from here on out.
Xander: You clearly are a favorite among your peers, but you showed a lack of initiative to engage. Even with the photographers. The board would like you to be more personable and try to put yourself out there. (-1 spot in the ranking)
Eliot: Great people skills. The board is overall very impressed with how you captivated the audience during the meet-and-greet portion. (+1 spot in the ranking)
Charlie: Our focus group loved the “intense” and “sophisticated” photos of you that were taken by our photographers. The board is satisfied. (- neutral, no shift)
Luna: Job well done all around. I loved your spunk and outside-the-box thinking regarding the buttons. Thank you for being present. (+1 spot in the ranking)
Ben: The board was disappointed with your no-show appearance, and they fear your feud with your brother will hinder marketability. Charlie has more vocal fans than you. Please keep this in mind. (-1 spot in the ranking)
62
LUNA HALE
“What’s your working theory?” I ask my older brother in the penthouse kitchen. We’ve been pouring Chex Mix and M&Ms into serving bowls, but we paused when my phone pinged with the latest email from Uncle Stokes.
Now we’re leaning against the stove, and Moffy rereads from the screen in my hand while feeding his daughter a bottle. Piercingly loud chatter and heavy footsteps resonate from outside the kitchen. It sounds like a circus has blown through the penthouse, but none of the chaotic noises disturbs my brother’s train of thought.
“They’re planning on picking Charlie,” he deduces. “He’ll be their first option unless he pisses off the wrong shareholder or board member.”
“That’s what I thought too,” I mutter. “But I still don’t get why they’d go through this whole competition if they already plan to pick him.”
“To find a backup to Charlie.” Moffy lifts his gaze off the phone and onto me. “He’s not reliable, and they’d need assurance that if he said no at the end, they’d have another viable option.”
“So we’re actually fighting for second.”
“Unless Charlie implodes on someone.” He tilts the bottle so Cassidy can suck the last drops of milk. “But dear world, do not let that doomsday happen. Sincerely, one grateful human.”
I smile. “You want him to win then?”
He licks his lips, thinking. “I want whoever wants it to take it, and I know that’s not Charlie. He’ll admit it’s not him.” He eyes me, but in such a Moffy way. He’s not stuck on the purple star-shaped stickers on my cheeks or the swipes of glitter. He’s trying to read my innermost thoughts.
“Are your Professor X mind-reading powers kicking in yet?” I ask him.
His mouth pulls in a smile. “They might’ve jumped me. I think they’re most strong with you.”
I touch my temples like Professor X. “You’re thinking Luna Hale is the most badass of the Fizzle Five.”
Moffy feigns shock. “Right out of my brain. She’s a genius.” He says that last part with such deep sincerity, and I see how much my brother values my intellect. It swells deep inside my heart. He nods to me, “Do you want it? To be CEO?”
I shrug. “It’s not really me either.” I wiggle Cassidy’s teeny-tiny toe, and she smiles against the bottle. “I had fun during the marketing tour, but that’s not what being a CEO really entails. And I’m not sure I’m ready for my future to be so defined. I like that there’s some ambiguity, new paths to uncover and explore.” I crinkle my nose at Cassidy and her big brown eyes widen with curiosity at me.
Moffy seems lost in thought. I wonder where he went, but I don’t need to ask. His forest-green eyes focus on me. “Have you and Donnelly talked about your future at all?”
“Like…?”
“Marriage?”
“No.” My cheeks roast. “Has he…has he talked to you about it?”
“No, no.”
“I’m…not that ready to bring up topics like marriage and babies,” I confess to my brother and slump more against the stove. “I’m afraid our visions of the future aren’t similar, and then what? We breakup? That feels…excruciating.” My eyes well just contemplating a fictional breakup. I can’t even imagine how gutting it’d be in real life.
“I get it,” he tells me. “I was not ready to talk about marriage for a long time. It freaked me out.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I wanted to just be in a relationship with Farrow since he was my first one. Anything more felt like too much too fast.”
“What changed?”
“I almost died in a car crash.” He puts the empty bottle on the counter behind us. “And the too much felt like not enough. I couldn’t picture my life without him. But it’s a colossal, life-changing decision and commitment. So if you’re not ready or if it’s not what you want, don’t feel pressured into it.”