Secrets & Lies

Let Me In| 69

I spent the next week drowning my sorrows in ice cream and Netflix. I barely wanted to move let alone leave my house. I'd made Evangeline aware of my state and she tried to come over but I denied any and every one's offer of comfort.

When Monday came I found it in me to pull myself together amidst all the drama. I woke up early and cleaned my entire apartment being sure to pack up anything that belonged to Sebastian. I got dressed and headed to Velucci Tech for my meeting with the execs shortly after that.

"Nyla Carter, id love to be you right now." The COO, Jaime said. "Trust me, no you wouldn't," I replied as I shook his hand. Evangeline stood by my side and shook everyone's hand as well. "Evangeline it's lovely to see you here."

"Yeah, Whatever Johnny." She huffed. "You know it's Jaime."

"Whatever. Let's get started."

"This is basically a formality to judge your competence. Judging by your degrees we know you have the brains for the job. You mesh well with the employees surprisingly Amy of them already know you and are excited to see what you'll do."

The meeting was long and it was all y'all about how things were run, what the company way about, and how I would make a good CEO. When it came time to sign the contracts I stared at the paper for a bit. "I can't sign this." I sighed. "Is there something wrong?"

"I need you to change clause 18 on page three."

:
:

"You were so badass in there telling them to change the contract," Eva said. "Eh, just making sure I don't get myself into anything stupid. Also, I figured I could keep a De La Rosa at my side. You two come in handy when you want. I know you hate all the cooperate shit, but I could use you around for a little while to help me out." I smiled.

"Tempting but I should tell you, I'm thinking of moving back to Seattle."

My eyes widened and I furrowed my brows. "Really?!"

"Yeah, Javier's gone, Kayla's gone, you and Jace are the only reasons I'm really still hanging around. But I think I'm ready to go back. I think I'm ready to leave all of this and all of that bullshit that's happened over the past few weeks behind." She sighed.

"I completely understand. I assume you'll be slipping back into your regular routine soon as you get back there?"

"For sure. But I have a proposition to make." She began. "Oh lord," I said dramatically.

She pushed my shoulder lightly s she giggled. "Come with me." She said. "Wait...you for real?" I asked.

"Yeah! What's keeping you here other than your siblings and Jace?"

I frowned at the thought of that. I guess they were all that was keeping me here now. "I guess you have a point."

"You deserve to get away from all this. Start somewhere new at least for a little while. The second headquarter building is there and not to mention Javier left you his Seattle estates. Everything is practically set up for you already."

I sat there and I really thought about it. Was I ready to leave? Could I just up and go? "You're not wrong."

"I know. Plus you have a private jet now and shit Ton of money. You can come back whenever you want. But you come and be happy and make new friends. You deserve it."

While I knew I couldn't just pack up and leave, I didn't have anything standing in the way. She was right. I deserved to start somewhere new. I couldn't help but feel guilty for even considering it though. I felt like I would be doing something wrong. I mainly felt like that because of Sebastian.

"Okay." I sighed. "Okay?"

"Yeah-"

She squealed in excitement before I could even finish. "But, only for the summer. I wanna get accustomed to the company there and try to gain some normalcy. So just for the summer and I come back in September. Maybe if I like it enough I'll consider staying there full time. As of now, it's a summer thing."

She squealed again and hugged me tightly. "Oh god, I can't wait!"

"Me neither. I'm excited to see what these estates of his look like." I mused. "Trust me you'll love them. He's got Jets in the tubs." She said.

"Oooh."

"Right!!" She And I burst out laughing as we bumped shoulders.

"You know, we should celebrate." She said. "Eh, not really up for a party."

"How about you, Jace, and I go out for dinner?" I offered.

"Sounds good to me." She said.

:::

Later into the next week, I began to pack for my summer away. I wasn't sure what I should bring since Eva told me the weather fluctuated a lot. I made sure to pack a lot of skirts and shorts but more than likely I would be buying a bunch of stuff online as soon as I got there anyway. I mainly focused on packing my absolute necessities. Those filled up an entire mini suitcase. I hadn't realized I used so much skincare, haircare, and makeup until now.

I packed up some clothes and pushed the prepped suitcases aside. Evangeline and I were scheduled to fly out to Seattle on Sunday and I was so excited I decided to pack now on Thursday night.

I settled down on my bed and checked my phone. It had been hours since I last opened this thing. As I scrolled through my notification my heart dropped when I saw one that particularly stood out. It was a text from Sebastian.

'Can we talk?'

As badly as the inner me was struggling to say no, I wasn't going to gave in to the desire to see him one last time before I left for the summer.

'There's nothing to talk about.'

I sighed as I dropped my phone on the bed beside me. I pulled my bonnet on and rolled myself up into my blankets. As soon as I closed my eyes someone was knocking on my door. "I'm not home go away!!" I shouted. The knocking persisted and I was forced to get out of the bed. I mumbled a string of cuss words all the way up the door.

"Who is it?"

"It's me." The person said from the other side of the door. "I don't know nobody named Me, goodnight," I said and turned away from the door to walk away. "Nyla open the fucking door. It's Sebastian."

I knew I should've walked away but I turned and opened it anyway just to figure out what he wanted. "I told you I didn't want to talk to you, so you just show up at my door?"

"I would've just walked in, but you changed the locks." He sighed. "Yeah, I know. You don't have that kind of access to me anymore."

"What do you want?" I added. "To talk." He said as he pushed his way inside. I stood there appalled as he just made himself comfortable and walked to the living room.