him and I had no idea where he was going. Eric hadn’t known either. I only had myself to blame. If only I hadn’t pushed him away. I hurt him, and now he was running from me.
Robert
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Eric asked.
“I have to,” I said as I carried my bags into his house. “I promise, this is only for a few days and then I’ll be out of your hair.”
“You know you always have a place here. What if this doesn’t turn out how you want?”
“It will,” I said confidently. “I’ve worked too hard to fail now.”
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Anna’s devastated. You should have seen her face when I told her you were selling your apartment.”
“Yeah, well, she ended it. She shouldn’t be surprised.”
“You have to give her some time. This is a lot for her. You were gone from her life for so long, and then you just reappeared and wanted to pick up where things left off. That’s a hard pill to swallow.”
“You know, the one thing I’ve learned after all this time is that you go big or go home.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean sell your home and quit your job. You just made senior partner at your firm. Are you sure you want to give all that up?”
I sat down at his table and took the beer he offered. “You know, it just didn’t mean anything to me anymore. I was at work, looking at all my stuff and I realized that I needed to change. Maybe Anna doesn’t want the man I am, but staying that man isn’t going to make me happy.”
“So, you just walked away.”
I shrugged. “It was an easy decision in the end. It was her or nothing.”
“And you don’t have her now,” he concluded.
“Look, this isn’t a bad thing. I’m starting a new chapter in my life, one that might actually make me happy. I hadn’t realized how much I hated my life until she walked out of it. I even sold the car.”
“No shit?”
I nodded. “I’m meeting with the guy tomorrow for the transfer of paperwork. I think I might get myself a pickup truck.”
He shook his head, chuckling slightly. “You’re insane. Where the hell is my brother?”
“He’s been missing for a while, but I think I finally found him.”
“Well, I’m glad he’s back. I like this version of you a lot better.”
“You mean without the suits.”
“I hated those fucking suits.”
“And the cell phone.”
He huffed in irritation. “That fucking cell phone needs to be thrown in the lake.”
“Well, you’ll be happy to know that I currently have no cell phone. That was the company phone, so they took it back when I quit.”
He chuckled slightly. “Talk about going off the grid.”
“I know. I feel a little naked without it.”
“Well, we can always have Joe tattoo a cell phone on you.”
“Right,” I chuckled. “No thank you. Besides, he hasn’t been around much. I doubt he would even have time to give me a tattoo.”
“He’s a prospect for a biker gang now. I doubt he’ll have much time for any of us.”
I sighed. “Who knew our little brother would become a tatted biker?”
“If Andrew joins him, I’ll have a fucking heart attack.”
“No biker gang would take Andrew. Not with his purple shirts.”
Eric’s brows furrowed. “You know, I haven’t seen him wearing any lately.” He leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. “You know, come to think of it, he got his hair cut too.”
“No shit?”
“Yeah, like a normal haircut. Do you think we should be worried?”
“Nah,” I said, shaking my head slightly, but the more I thought about it, the more I wondered. “I’m sure it’s fine.” But Eric didn’t look convinced either.
“Right,” Eric stood, slapping the table. “I’m off to bed. Do me a favor, don’t do anything rash.”
“You know me, always with a plan.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of.”
I smirked and watched as he headed upstairs. My life was definitely changing, but I had a good feeling about this. It was about time I struck out on my own. It was actually Anna’s idea to begin with. It only took her walking away for me to have the courage to try.
Anna
You know what sucks even more than not having a boyfriend on New Year’s Eve? Sitting at home alone with no friends to hang out with. Sure, it was only eight o’clock in the morning, but I knew how this day was going to go. I would sit around