CHAPTER SEVEN: CHANGE
876 Words
The click of the front door echoed through the apartment as I stepped inside.
For the first time since Mr. Bennett had assigned me the London account, the reality settled over me.
I was leaving.
Not forever.
Just a month.
Yet somehow, it felt much bigger than that.
I slipped off my heels and let my gaze wander around the apartment.
The cream-colored couch by the window.
The books arranged neatly on the shelves.
The fresh lilies sitting in their vase.
Everything was exactly where it belonged.
Exactly how I liked it.
People always assumed I loved challenges because I thrived in high-pressure boardrooms and billion-dollar negotiations.
What they didn't know was that I hated change.
Not the kind you chose.
The kind that chose you.
The last time my life had changed without my permission, I was sixteen years old.
My father had stood in our living room with two suitcases by his feet.
He couldn't even look at me.
"I'm sorry," he'd said.
Those were the last honest words he'd ever spoken to me.
Three weeks later, he had moved in with another woman.
Just like that...
Our family became something we used to be.
I still remembered watching his car disappear down the street.
Remembered standing beside my mother, hoping he'd come back.
He never did.
Ever since then, I had learned to build my life around things that stayed.
Routine.
Work.
Goals.
The apartment.
The people I trusted.
Because people left.
Success didn't.
My phone buzzed on the kitchen counter, pulling me back to the present.
Amelia
Brunch tomorrow? Before you fly?
A small smile crossed my face.
Some people stayed.
Absolutely.
---
The next morning, the familiar scent of coffee welcomed me into Zoe's Café.
Amelia, Maya, and Chloe were already seated by the window.
"There she is," Maya said.
"Our international banker."
I slid into the empty chair.
"Please don't remind me."
"You still don't want to go?" Amelia asked.
"It's not that."
"Then what is it?"
I stirred my coffee absentmindedly.
"I like knowing where I belong."
"And London isn't home."
"No."
"It will only be for a month," Chloe reminded me gently.
"I know."
"But every time I have to leave somewhere familiar..."
My voice trailed off.
The girls exchanged knowing glances.
Amelia reached across the table and squeezed my hand.
"You're thinking about your dad."
I looked down into my coffee.
"I always do."
No one spoke.
They didn't need to.
They'd been there.
They'd watched me slowly put myself back together after he left.
"My dad promised he'd always come home," I said quietly.
"Then one day... he didn't."
"I think a part of me still expects every goodbye to become permanent."
Maya's expression softened.
"Kathy..."
"I know it sounds ridiculous."
"It doesn't," Amelia said.
"It sounds human."
I let out a quiet laugh.
"I've spent years convincing myself that change can be a good thing."
"And?" Chloe asked.
"I'm still trying to believe it."
To lighten the mood, Maya nudged my shoulder.
"Well, this change comes with business-class flights."
"And London shopping."
"And British accents," Chloe added with a grin.
I laughed.
"You're all impossible."
"That's why you love us."
"I do."
Zoe appeared beside the table with a plate of warm croissants.
"Breakfast is on me today."
"What did we do to deserve this?" Maya asked.
Zoe smiled at me.
"Someone's about to leave for a month."
"I figured she deserved a proper send-off."
I smiled gratefully.
"Thank you."
"So," Amelia asked after a moment, "who exactly are you meeting over there?"
I unlocked my phone and pulled up the itinerary.
"The primary meetings are with Sterling Group."
"The technology company?" Maya asked.
I nodded.
"They're acquiring an artificial intelligence cybersecurity firm, and Montclair Capital Partners is advising on the financing."
"What went wrong?"
"My associate represented me while I was helping you with that court case."
Amelia sighed.
"I still feel guilty."
"Don't."
"It wasn't your fault."
"He walked into the meeting with outdated financial projections and couldn't defend the strategy I'd spent weeks building."
"So now?" Chloe asked.
"So now their CEO has requested that the person who created the proposal come to London."
"Which means..."
"I get on a plane tomorrow."
I scrolled farther down the itinerary.
"After my meetings at Sterling Group, I also have a visit to Hawthorne Engineering Consultants."
"What's that?" Maya asked.
"A family-owned engineering consultancy."
"They're overseeing part of the infrastructure planning connected to Sterling Group's expansion."
"Sounds busy," Amelia said.
"It will be."
What I didn't know...
What none of us knew...
Was that Hawthorne Engineering Consultants belonged to Adrian Sterling's mother.
Or that the CEO waiting for me at Sterling Group was the same man I'd smiled at from across a beach weeks earlier.
By the time I returned home that afternoon, my suitcase sat open across the bed.
I folded each blouse with care, arranged my blazers neatly, and placed my laptop inside its case.
Everything had a place.
Everything except the uncertainty sitting quietly in my chest.
I zipped the suitcase shut and rested my hand on the handle.
"One month," I whispered to myself.
"It'll be okay."
I wasn't sure whether I was convincing myself...
Or simply hoping I was right.
- Writer
