Returning Red

#41: Blueprint.

he will always have my back

Isabella

Everything was easier said than done. With Ryan's absence as he was flying to Frankfurt, I netted how little everyone on the board and the agent's team were aware of this. My entire day was depleted while I explained the blueprint to everyone through a Zoom Meeting. That too was easier said than done. 

By the time the team got the hang of it, it was almost time for sunset. The restaurant vibes bored me, and they also kicked me out because they had dinner arrangements to make. But nevertheless, I shifted my workspace to the beach chair for a little mind refreshment. 

Edgar Francis West was coming tomorrow to get Austin's signatures on the Steinem documents so he could submit them to his official team and begin the paperwork for the company's transfer. A lot was going to go down tomorrow. Since May let the worm inside my head, there's been an unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach. 

What if it doesn't go as planned? What if you don't make it out? 

Most of that thought renders to be bullshit because the only two people getting inside the ballroom for the meeting with Edgar are Ryan and me. The FBI is going to be in disguise as they cover the room from all the corners. The CCTV camera is going to live display and record the happenings as they telecast it to the board of Safford's legal team. Edgar's guards will be arrested well before he finds out. Nothing can go wrong. 

The sun dips behind the layer of the ocean. The sky is still orange and bright, the remnants of its rays. Four years later, we're finally here. I exhale a lungful of air as I look at the sky and let the breeze calm my seething mind. It's all going to end tomorrow. Life after tomorrow will be different. Everyone will be happy and things will go back to the right kind of normal. 

My eyes snap open when I feel a warm presence beside me. "Hey you," He says wrapping his hands behind his back. 

"Hey you," I mouth as my hands reach his shirt but he skips a step and moves away. 

"I have a surprise for you," he says folding his lips. 

His tousled hair gives me the warmth that my body craved but his words put a chill down my spine. I dislike surprises. A surprise for him can be a shock to me. I hate when I have to expect something when the person opposite to me clearly knows it. It puts me in a powerless position. 

Nevertheless, I nudge him to give it to me, eyeing his tied-up hands behind him. He waits until my eyes settle on his gaze. He tilts his head to the resort and I follow his gaze. 

No, he did not. 

I instantly stand up and spin around to get a proper sight of what waited for me. My jaw is wide open and I gasp, because that's all I can manage to do. She covers the distance between us in five jogs before her hands wrap around me. My eyes burn as I wrap my hands around her and pull her as close to me as I can. I don't know about Lily, but I sure as hell will drown in sobs if she doesn't stop hugging me like this. 

"I'm not a sappy person but I missed you so much, Bee." She says as she pulls away. 

I see the layer of transparent tears in her eyes. I pull her cheeks and give her a long forehead kiss until we've exhausted the clinginess and we take three steps away from each other.