Sunday, January 30, 2022 - Miami, Florida, United States

Charlie looked at her lovely Suburban. The first car that was truly hers. It had lived a glorious life of forty-eight hours. It had lived more in those hours than most people.

It had peeling red paint and rust spots. The brakes squealed like a motherfucker. There were bullet holes along the side of it. It was beautiful.

She noticed a bullet hole right near the gas cap and wondered how lucky she had been that night.

The inside mats had blood from Tauthe and Adra. Charlie let herself think about Adra for a moment. He wasn’t objectively as good looking as Etana who was absolutely gorgeous and even more attractive by how shy he was. But Charlie couldn’t take her eyes off of Adra when he was around. She knew she was acting like an idiot and didn’t care. And knowing what he was didn’t change anything.

Would they have insect babies? What did an Aqua-blah-blah wedding look like? Was she eleven and daydreaming about a guy like a complete moron?

She came back to herself but she had a bit of a blush and half smile on her face.

She thought about the bullets coming at her. The fact that she had fired back and could have actually killed someone. Ella had. And she seemed okay with it. Which added a whole other dimension to her.

Charlie loved Ella with all her heart. They were sisters in all but name. But Ella was changing and becoming something, and Charlie couldn’t follow that path.

Then Charlie saw some sand on the car floor through the open door. The afternoon beach or the post-club after party?

They had been doused in champagne that night: the sand had gotten everywhere and stuck to everything. When they went to the first after party on the beach, the DJ, a chill dude with leather jacket and amazing hair, had tried flirting with her some but she had blown him off. The reggae had been solid.

Their group had peeled off as they met, even Ella, who was like the most monogamous prude ever had disappeared with some random guy. One that she had picked up! If Charlie had asked, Ella would have made up some bullshit about needing to affirm life in the face of death, but Charlie figured that Ella had just been mad horny.

And then Charlie thought about when Adra had kissed her. Charlie’s hands motioned towards her lips.

She was shaken out of her reverie by a shout from Tauthe, “Come on, our ride is here.”

She looked at the attendant standing next to her. He said, “You’re sure?”

“Yes. Crush it. I paid you plenty to do that and not ask questions.”

The private jet’s hum was calming. Ella sat across from her studying. The others were in disarray, the nerd and the lightweights.

Except Ella was a killer now. And Charlie wasn’t and didn’t want to be. And more, she was sitting there watching Ella study and it all came clear to her.

“Ella, I am dropping out of our PhD program.”

Ella looked up, “Wait. What?” She looked alarmed.

“Hey. Relax. I have been thinking about this for a long time and not thinking about it, you know?”

“No. What do you mean?”

“Well… I was always pretty smart you know. And to be honest I liked math a lot. But you know what I really liked? It wasn’t physics.”

Ella leaned forward but waited quietly.

“I like finance.” Charlie admitted.

“You mean, like your dad?”

Charlie didn’t quite flinch at hearing that. She felt proud about it.

“Well despite my dad maybe is more like it. So… ummm… getting shot at kind of makes things real.” And Charlie saw the alarm on Ella’s face, the big dope, “It wasn’t your fault! I dove in. And it was worth it. Because I don’t know if I would have had the courage to admit I went into physics to avoid turning into my dad.” Or my mom, she silently added.

Ella looked like she didn’t know how to feel. Charlie got up and sat across her lap in the seat and gave her a hug. “You’ll always be my best friend. And don’t even think for a second I am bailing on any of this.” Charlie waved her hand around the inside of the plane but meant so much more.

Ella hugger her back. “Okay. You do what makes you happy. BFF?”

“BFF,” Charlie agreed. And Charlie knew she was going to follow Ella right off this cliff to wherever it led. All the way.

One more quick hug and Charlie went to her computer to start looking at finance jobs. Starting with Ixus Capital.