Borrowing Amor Boxed Set

Chapter 2

2

Charles stared up at the night sky from the balcony off his bedroom, trying to clear his head. He always felt more at peace when he was outside. Maybe it had to do with his house being too big for one person. It was so much empty space that he felt claustrophobic, the silence pressing in on him from all sides. But all the other hedge fund managers said that if he wanted to be taken seriously, he needed to look the part. That meant the fancy car, expensive suits, and gigantic house that was nestled inside a gated community. Charles had drawn the line at hiring someone to cook for him. He was afraid that if he couldn’t even warm up his own burritos, he’d lose touch with reality—and himself.

The email he had just received replayed in his mind. When he’d first heard of Galactic Enterprises, it had sounded like some rich person’s pipe dream. But when they’d dominated the newspaper headlines, Charles’ interest had been piqued. He had put his name on a list to reserve a seat on one of their flights. That had been years ago, and he hadn’t expected them to really get their operation off the ground. But then they had. They’d asked for his confirmation that he would like to be on their second flight, later that year. A quarter of a million dollars was just a drop in the bucket for someone like him, but it had still caused him to hesitate. He could buy his parents a new home for that amount of money. But he had already done that a decade earlier. He could use it to pay off his two sisters’ student loan debts, but he’d done that too.

Charles sighed. He’d thought that making his fortune would solve everyone’s problems, and it had. But now he was bored of it. He had come to the realization that when someone had more money than they knew what to do with, their life became very stale. When he had been in school, he had often been stressed about money, but life had also been much more of an adventure. There were things to look forward to, surprises awaiting. And now? Now he was traveling to space because it was something he had never done before, and he had the money to do it. He had offered to sign the rest of his family up as well, but they had all politely declined, happy to have both feet firmly planted on Earth, thank you very much.

He had submitted his confirmation a few months earlier. That evening he had received another email. One that asked if he would like to arrive in Amor, New Mexico, one month earlier than he had planned. They’d said that if one of the passengers on the first flight didn’t pass their final physical assessments, he was next in line and would take their place. His room and board would be paid for while there. Worst case scenario, he would receive an all-expense paid vacation to Amor (wherever that was). Best case scenario, he would fly to space one month earlier than he had planned on their inaugural flight.

Charles could easily work from a hotel room, and then have a trusted colleague cover for him if he ended up on the flight. But did it really matter if he went up one month earlier? Was it worth potentially wasting a week in the middle of nowhere?

Looking out across the expanse of manicured lawns, Charles realized that yes, it would be worth it. In fact, he hoped he would go out to Amor just to have to return there a month later. Because then, instead of getting just one break from the life he had created for himself in Connecticut, he’d get two.

He longed for a simpler life, where one wrong decision didn’t cost his clients millions of dollars. Thankfully, he didn’t make many of those mistakes. His clients trusted him because his own assets were at stake, and he had done very well over the years. But for what? He was now fifty-four years old, and what did he have to show for it? A house he hated, a perfect lawn he despised, and a car that he’d rather trade in for something that cost a tenth of its price.

Having made up his mind, Charles stood up, stretched his legs, and took one last longing glance at the stars. Maybe that was where he would find the answers he was looking for. He desperately hoped so.