Evan
I returned to my apartment.
I gasped when I saw my Sister standing in the Living Room.
We hugged.
We were sitting on my couch.
Emily had her arm around my shoulders.
"It was all so horrible."
"Yeah. I can't imagine. But Mariana will pull through this. And so will you."
"What am I gonna do about Bulk Beauty?"
"You know, Mariana had no right making you proxy without your permission."
"But she did."
"Yeah."
"H-- How can I go back to that place? I mean... None of those girls are gonna take me seriously as interim CEO."
"You know, you don't have to go back to Bulk Beauty. Evan, you're under no obligation to do this."
"I'm not?"
"No. Absolutely not. Just tell her Lawyer you don't accept."
I nodded my head.
"You're right. Yeah. Okay. That's what I'll do."
"Okay."
Later
I was sitting in the chair in Mariana's hospital room.
The monitor beeped steadily.
"Why did you make me your proxy?"
"I guess I trust you."
I looked over to the corner of the room again.
It was Mariana.
"You won't."
I shook my head.
"I can't do this."
"What?"
"Run Bulk Beauty. I mean, I don't even know why you made me your proxy. You didn't think that I should be in charge at Speckulate."
"You can do anything you set your mind on. And you'll have my back. You know I don't trust some of the people I work with."
I nodded my head.
"Great. So, you want me to walk into hostile territory?"
"Oh, that's a problem for you now?"
I looked down.
"I wouldn't be laying here if it wasn't for your stupid decision to go into hostile territory at the farm. So whether you want to be my proxy or not is beside the point because you owe me."
I looked back at Mariana.
Later
"Hey." Emily greeted as I walked into my apartment.
"Hi."
"So, did you talk to Mariana's Lawyer?"
"Yes. I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna be Mariana's proxy."
"Why?"
"Because I owe her."
"You know, it was her decision to go to the farm with Jenna."
"Yeah. Because it was my stupid decision to go there in the first place."
"Hmm. I'm not gonna argue with you on that."
"Says the person who got in a van with a pimp."
"Yeah, I was 17. And you're a grown adult making decisions based off of who you're sleeping with."
"Excuse me?"
"Yeah. I know that you're screwing Jenna."
"Screwing? What is this? The 1950s?"
"Yeah. That's why you went to the farm. To help your girlfriend."
"She's not my girlfriend. And-- And we weren't screwing anymore."
"Why? Cause you're still in love with Mariana? Isn't that why you're agreeing to go run Bulk Beauty? God. Evan, can you just make one decision that doesn't involve your feelings for a girl?"
"You practically moved to London to be with James."
"No. I had no idea that he was moving to London. And I didn't get James shot."
I sat down.
"I'm sorry. That was a low blow. I didn't mean it."
I shook my head.
"It's true."
Emily got up from the desk.
"It's not."
She sat next to me.
"It's not."
Emily sniffled.
"That could've been you. You know, you could be the one in that bed, hooked up on machines, fighting for your life."
I shook my head.
"Or worse, I could've lost you."
"I wish it was me instead of Mariana. That way, this guilt wouldn't be eating me up inside. Look, I-- I know that you think that I have a choice but I don't. If-- If I don't do something, if I don't make amends somehow, I'm just gonna crumble under the weight of all this guilt. So, please just either support me in this or leave. Again."
"Okay. Okay. I'm sorry."
She wiped my tears away.
"Hey. If you need to do this, I will support you. Of course."
Emily lowered her hands.
"Alright."
She cleared her throat.
"So, the first thing we need to do is we need to call Mariana's Lawyer and just get you up to speed on everything that's been happening at Bulk Beauty."
We nodded our heads.
"Yeah. So, you can just walk in there as prepared as possible."
"Okay."
"Okay."
"Thank you."
"Yeah."
I sighed.
"I'm sorry."
We hugged.
"I'm sorry. That was mean."
"That was way too soon."
"That was so mean. I'm sorry. It's just-- You scared me."
