The Delivery Girl

62. Offer

Julie

Life slowly but surely returned to normal.

Callen shut down the office for a couple weeks to give everyone time off after the incident. Social media accounts and news channels eventually lost interest after Callen, Ivan, and I refused to do any interviews. Callen used his connections at the police department to make sure Rob's name and photo weren't publicly released.

Our relationship came out too.

Interns, staff, and news reporters saw us together outside the gallery that night, and it didn't take a detective to put two and two together. Fortunately, it was quickly overshadowed by the shooting. Compared to an armed threat, the CEO dating his assistant apparently wasn't all that exciting.

The constant stress and worrying had finally been lifted off our shoulders. No more checking every envelope, no more wondering if someone was watching us. I know I should be happy, carefree, but I still feel something weighing me down.

That one email, sitting in my inbox.

–

Mei slides a cup of tea to me across the kitchen island before continuing to scroll through pages and pages of wedding inspiration photos. I find myself not absorbing anything.

At some point, she stops scrolling and looks at me. "There's something on your mind," she says. "And I know it's not the wedding. What's going on?"

"I've been thinking about the future." I gesture vaguely to the screen. "Not this part, but what I'm going to do." I sigh and rest my chin on my palm. "The job at Sterling Studios was meant to be temporary, it always was. Just a way to earn some extra money before graduating."

She looks at me thoughtfully. "I think deep down you always knew it was more than that," she says.

I know she's right. "I feel like I'm choosing between guaranteed success and misery, or risking everything I've worked for, just for a chance at happiness." The words sound dramatic out loud, but they're true.

She raises an eyebrow. "Why do you make it sound so final? You can swap from one to the other, can't you? People change careers all the time."

"Giving up and quitting halfway through isn't something I do," I state firmly.

She frowns and begins to speak, but dad suddenly comes in. He's carrying a bag of groceries to prepare for our weekly dinner together.

After the incident, we decided to start getting together as a family on a regular basis. Almost losing people changes you. We realized how fragile life is, and how easily it can slip away. None of us want to live with the regret of not having spent enough time together.

He looks at us. "Callen mei lai?" [Translation: Callen didn't come?"]

I shake my head. "He has a call with his mom and sister tonight."

"Mm," he mumbles, already having shifted his focus to unloading the bags. I start washing vegetables and Mei takes out a cutting board and knife. Mei has always had better hand eye coordination than me, I can't be trusted to not accidentally injure myself when handling a knife.

"Has Lawrence sent you the job offer yet?" Dad asks.

I knew the question was coming, but I still hoped he wouldn't ask. "Um, yeah," I say. "I'm still reviewing the contract before I sign." It's technically true. I did read the first paragraph of the contract, but the anxiety took over and I closed it.

"Smart girl," dad says with a nod of approval. "Make sure you know what you're getting into before signing anything."

I feel Mei's eyes burning the back of my head. We both see the irony. Dad's right, just not in the way he thinks.