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“I can’t believe this is where I get to live.”
“The place suits you, Dust.”
“Sure it does,” I scoff.
“It does,” she insists. “You’ve worked your ass off for this for a long time. You deserve this. Don’t forget that.”
“Thanks, Em.”
Before I can get too emotional about it all, she pulls me by the hand. “Come on. We’ve got a bottle of champagne to finish.”
I’m floating on a bed of clouds, more comfortable than I’ve ever been. There’s a light ocean breeze and a view of the waves. Ace is wrapped around me. His lips are soft but demanding, his body deliciously hard, just like I remember it.
But he’s fading, like a ghost.
I cling to him, trying to keep him here but he’s disappearing, slipping through my fingers like mist.
No, Ace, don’t go! I’m not from Dallas!
He’s gone and I miss him so much. My heart aches unbearably. Where is he?
My eyes blink open.
God, it was dream.
I’m not at home. Or in my apartment in Austin.
Am I in…Hawaii?
It’s dark in here. Just a sliver of blue light from the small opening between the drawn curtains.
It all comes rushing back to me.
I’m in New York.
My sheets are twisted around me in my new, extremely-plush bed.
I reach for my phone.
It’s 6:59 a.m. My alarm is set for 7 so I turn it off before it rings.
Emma went home around eight last night, to give me some time to start to unpack and to get ready for my first day at my new job.
The only thing I unpacked was my toothbrush, a small make-up bag and the outfit I laid out for my first day. It’s a cute black dress that’s one of my favorites, both professional but also fashionable, somehow in an Austin-meets-New York kind of way.
Showered, dressed and as ready as I can possibly be, I recite Emma’s pep talk in my head as I take the elevator down to the sixth floor, where the Sky Walk is located. I stop to admire the view, looking out through the windows of the glass closed-in bridge, down to the traffic jam below me.
I worked very hard for a very long time and I deserve this. I’m good at what I do. I’m not an imposter. They liked my drive and my vision. I belong here.
The streets and sidewalks are packed with morning walkers and commuters. Standing here in my cocooned, sun-drenched vantage point, I feel separate.
I feel lucky.
I think of my surfing lesson. The wave I caught and the things Lucas said to me that day. Now you can watch your life explode with good energy.
It did explode.
It’s exploding right now.
