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Hell, he wasn’t particularly tied to any area.
If they suggested wanting to open an office in the northern-most tip of Alaska, he’d say yes to it. If it meant securing his future, he’d go wherever they asked him to.
His mother was still here in North Carolina, but she was about five hours northeast of Charlotte, in the same small town he grew up in. He went home to visit occasionally, but it wasn’t a place that held any good memories for him. In the last ten years, whenever he and his brothers got together with their mom, it was a neutral location. But that was mainly because his middle brother was a pop star who was seemingly always on tour and his baby brother was playing football in Wichita. They all led very busy lives and spent more time on Zoom calls with one another than actually sitting in the same room.
Unlike the Montgomerys.
It didn’t matter that he’d been working for them for almost four years; it still boggled his mind a bit at just how close they all were. It wasn’t just that the four Montgomerys he worked with were close—although how they could all want to go on vacation with one another after working together every damn day was a mystery to him—but the entire extended family. The Christmas he got snowed in with them in Asheville, there were over fifty of them in the house— and all they talked about were all the things they enjoyed doing together. Shuddering, Noah pulled into the Wegman’s parking lot while mentally making a shopping list.
It took a little over an hour for him to walk through the door of his condo with his arms loaded with bags. He was somehow both energized and exhausted, but more than anything, he was starving. Placing the bags down on the granite countertop, he kicked off his shoes and strode into his bedroom to change into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. The place was a little on the small side—only one bedroom, one bathroom, and an office—but he didn’t need a lot of space. The location was fantastic, and it offered a concierge, fitness center, clubhouse and next-day dry cleaning services.
It was a single guy’s dream, even if it was a little too quiet for him sometimes.
Six months ago, the girl he’d been dating for almost a year broke up with him. She said he worked too much, was never around, and basically was a huge bore.
Noah shrugged it off. He hadn’t been in love with her and even though he’d cared about her, if she didn’t understand what he was trying to accomplish, then it wasn’t meant to be. Some day he hoped to get married, but not until he was financially secure and firmly settled in his career. Only then would he feel confident that he could put the required time into a relationship.
“So maybe I’m a little rigid,” he mumbled as he walked back out to the kitchen and began putting groceries away. “There’s nothing wrong with that. I would never tell anyone I was involved with that they had to work less just so they could hang out with me. A good work ethic is important.”
And apparently…boring.
Okay, that one stung, but it was just bad timing. Plus, he was still trying to prove himself at Montgomerys. In a month from now, he knew he’d be able to breathe easier.
“And it’s gonna feel great.”
Once everything was away and the countertops wiped down, he grabbed the steak he’d purchased as a bit of a celebratory thing and placed it under the broiler. Next, he grabbed the ready-made side of mashed potatoes and green beans and heated them up. Looking across the room, he spotted a bottle of merlot that would go great with the meal and decided he deserved that too. He’d have only one glass since he had to work in the morning, and he was going to savor it.
When the food was ready, he carried his plate and glass into the living room and put them down on the coffee table before going back for silverware and the salt. When he finally sat down on the sofa, he turned on the TV to CNN and got caught up on the day’s news.
Another hour later, he was pleasantly full and utterly bored. It was only eight o’clock and he was sitting alone with nothing to do.
“I should probably see if there’s anything going on downtown this weekend,” he said as he cleaned up the dinner mess. Maybe he’d call a few friends and see about going out for drinks or something. For the next month, he was going to be busy with work and doing everything he could to make a great impression on his bosses.
And maybe after that, he’d look into getting out a little more and perhaps finding a hobby.
Not that it was helping him right now.
For now, he sat back down on the sofa with his iPad and scrolled aimlessly until it was time to go to bed.
It definitely was a solitary life, and he was okay with it.
At least…that’s what he kept telling himself.
He liked things neat and orderly, quiet and uncomplicated. He’d grown up in an extremely chaotic environment, and always swore that as soon as he was old enough to move out, he’d embrace the peace and simplicity of a normal life.
And he’d found it.
He was living it.
But as he climbed into bed and turned out the light, a strange thought hit him.
Am I really even living?
TWO
It waslate Thursday afternoon when Lily turned onto the long driveway leading to her parents’ house. She was practically bouncing in her seat and couldn’t wait to see the look on her mother’s face when she walked through the door. No doubt she was going to be shocked. Then she’d cry because her mother always cried whenever she came home, and then she’d…
“What the hell?”
