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“It’s not,” Uncle Joe chuckled. “You can’t even move your legs right now, kid. What are you going to do at the station?”
I ignored that question too. Being placed on leave made me more furious than being on bed rest. More furious than seeing mom in her drunken state. More furious than anything I've ever been angry about in life. My job was my life. I worked hard to get where I was.
“I got the cabin fixed up for you.” Uncle Joe put the keys to his cabin onto my lap. “You’ll stay there until you're healed and ready to go back to work. Don't worry about Beck, I'll have a talk with him, but I suggest you do some real reflecting, kid. You don’t want to ruin your life dabbling in nonsense. It's time to truly grow up and shift all of your anger into power. Before it’s too late.”
My uncle Joe’s cabin was one of the many highlights of Big Bear. He was a billionaire CEO of one of the largest luxury car dealerships in the world, and ended up branching off into owning his own hotel chain as well. He had it all. When I was younger, he would allow me and my buddies to camp out at the cabin and we’d throw wild parties and stay up until the sun rose.
But, after getting into an accident that got my best friend sent to prison, my days at the cabin came to an end.
Chapter Two ~ Mia
“Top one hundred again! You are killing the charts, Mia.”
“It’s so surreal. I can’t believe I'm doing exactly what I set out to do.”
Tasha, my agent, and I were at our hundredth book signing when the reality of my life finally hit me. I was a successful author with books skyrocketing all across the board. I had fans all over the world and more money than I could count. But there was still this empty void in my life.
As I looked around the room and saw all the smiling faces there in support of me, there wasn’t a single person I knew. Except Tasha. I was grateful for all of the support and for those who were eager to have me sign their copy of my book, but I was saddened too. I wished my family were there. A boyfriend. Someone.
“Mia! Mia!” fans screamed from every direction. “Sign mine!” they shouted out.
In the depths of my soul, I wanted to cry. But there was no time for tears. I had to put on a smile, grab my pen, and make the best of the life I wanted so badly.
“To whom should I make this one out to?”
“Oh my goodness! Thank you very much. You can make it out to Tabatha. That's me!”
The woman stood in front of my table of books with her hands clasped together like an excited child. Her cheeks were rosy with excitement and joy. That made me smile a genuine smile. The praise was exhilarating to say the least.
“Here you are, Tabatha,” I gleamed as I handed her back her signed copy. “Thank you for being a fan.”
One after the other, I autographed each book in the venue. By the time I got to my last supporter, my hand was cramped, and my pen’s ink was halfway out. It was a long morning that bled into the afternoon, but I pushed through.
“Damn girl,” Tasha said once all were gone, “I thought you would never get through this crowd. This one was even bigger than the last venue we booked.”
“Whew!” I sighed. “I’m happy to be finished for the day.”
“Yeah, but are you ready for this trip back home? It's been a long time since you’ve gone back to Big Bear.”
The truth was, I wasn’t ready to return home to Big Bear, but I felt like I needed to. The more I elevated my own life and career, the heavier the burden from back home became.
“I’m not,” I said. “But I have to. My mom and baby brother are there, and I need to find out what prison the state has my older brother housed in. It's been so long since I've spoken to him, I’m afraid he won't even remember me.”
“Please!” Tasha scoffed. “As much as Trent loves you, I'm sure he finds a way to keep up with what you’ve got going on. But yes, a trip home is needed. As hard as it is, I think it’ll give you some kind of closure.”
My family weren’t the only loose ends in Big Bear. Brayden was there as well. After what happened with him and Trent, I told myself I never wanted to see him again. But as much as I couldn’t stand him, that couldn’t have been further from the truth.
My flight wasn’t set to board until late that night, so I decided to go for a drink with a fellow writer and do some catching up since we were both in New York. Todd was a guy I met on the road after my first book was published. Our books fought for the top spot which I occupied in the end.
He was great about it. He even let me treat him to dinner one evening to celebrate. Ever since then, he and I remained close and helped each other out whenever one of us had writer's block.
“Another Top Shotter, huh?” He stood for a hug as I approached where he sat at the bar. “How are you?”
“I’m good, thanks.” I smiled and hugged him, taking in the scent of his YSL cologne. “How about yourself? Feels like it’s been forever since we’ve been in the same place.”
“I know right? I took a break from writing for a while. Got too wrapped up in healing and figuring out my personal life.”
Todd was a man of many women when we first met. He was charming and handsome, smart and funny. Although he had the biggest crush on me and never let the opportunity to show me pass him by, he and I never crossed the lines of friendship. I was still stuck on my past relationship with Brayden after all those years, so dating someone new wasn’t on my to-do list.
