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"Have another one," David said, shoving a plate with a shot glass filled with tequila, a salt shaker and some limes toward me.
I
waved him off. "No more for me. I have an early meeting with my contractor to inspect the renovations at the building on Fifth Avenue."
Despite the fact Michael was my contractor and would be meeting me bright and early at the building, he didn't seem quite as reluctant to get drunk as me and raised his glass.
"You can stay sober tonight. I'll be fine tomorrow morning. To success."
"To success," David asked, glancing between the two of us. "How's the renovation going, by the way?"
"Great," I said. "We're getting close. I've already moved the Chronicle staff out of the old building and into the new space but renovations aren't quite done."
"It'll be strange seeing the business operate out of a different building," David said.
"I know, but it'll be mine, not Dad's. No disrespect, but you know what I mean. It'll be completely mine."
"I get it," David said. "Get out from under the old man's shadow. That's why I never bought into the whole family business thing. I want to be my own person. I know Dad never approved of me, but he's gone now and I have to keep living."
"He was proud of you," Michael said, leaning over to clink glasses with David. "Dad's proud of anyone who's a success, and you most definitely are a huge success."
"Amen to that," I said and clinked my empty glass against his. "You are the man."
I watched the four of them drink down their shots and sighed, wishing I felt more like partying with them, but I didn't. I felt like driving to the Hampton beach house and spending a couple of weeks there, decompressing from everything, but I had a business to run. Maybe once the office renovations were finished and we'd finished getting the place set up, I would take some time in the Hamptons, but that wasn't going to happen for at least three months.
I really hated it but I needed access to that first twenty-five million dollars and then twenty-five million every year after. If I was going to find a wife soon, I had some serious work to do and it was work to me.
Marriage and family was the very last thing on my mind.
Chapter Five
Ella
I stood in the doorway of the Airbnb short term rental, my suitcase and backpack in hand, and glanced around. The room had a single Murphy bed that, when opened, dominated the space.
"This is it?" I turned to Liza, the woman who managed the Airbnb apartment. "This is a one bedroom?"
Liza handed me the key with a huge grin on her face. "Welcome to Manhattan."
"But it's a closet, not an apartment!"
"It's a room with one bed. It's a one bed room." She shrugged like she was helpless. "Did you really think you could rent a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan – in Chelsea – for what you're paying?"
"It's twice what I'd pay in New Hampshire."
"This is the Big Apple, sweetheart. Get used to it."
I rolled my eyes, but at that moment, I had nowhere else to stay – and besides, I had already paid in advance. I couldn't afford the insane hotel costs, so until I picked up the key to my long-term rental in Chelsea next week, it was this room or nothing.
"There's clean linen in the cupboard and there are dishes and a hotplate. No visitors after eleven. Call me if you need anything."
"Is there even a table? I'm a writer. I need something to put my laptop on and my notes."
"You can sit on the bed and work. This is the table," she said and folded down a piece of white-painted plywood on a hinge. "You can use this for a table or desk."
She smiled brightly and I looked on the rickety tabletop. "Will it even hold my laptop?"
"It's a laptop. You could use your lap."
