The Neighbour

Chapter 17

*Unedited*

Time went by faster than Brianna could keep track of it and soon she found herself with only two weeks left to her vacation. She had spent her days with Brittany, Jackson and her mother and her evenings and weekends with Brian and Bailey, with the exception of the nights Jackson would carry her out. She found herself settling into a comfortable lifestyle with her family and soon the idea of living any other way seemed unfamiliar.

It was the weekend and her mother and Brittany had just left to catch a flight across states so that Brittany could visit her college campus and familiarize herself with the environment. Brian and his fiancé Erica were outside on the lawn playing with the dog. Brianna looked to the left of her and saw that her sister was buried in her laptop reading through her emails. Smiling to herself, she realized how far she was coming from and how much she had changed.

"Do you remember how you'd tell me that I work too much?" she teased her sister who finally looked up at her.

"That's because you do. All your life, you've been working. It's only since these past few weeks that you've become a bum," Bailey mocked her and Brianna laughed, "Somebody has to pick up the pace around here, get the bills paid."

"Funny."

"No but really, I'm happy to see you relaxed, Bree, and happy," Bailey told her sister who only grinned back at her. She cuddled into Brianna's side, leaning her head against her shoulder for a short time before she leaned back into the couch and refocused on her work.

Brianna grinned to herself, soaking in her sister's words. She was also proud of how relaxed she had really become. Bonding with her family made her happier than going over photoshoot details with her team and movie nights with Jackson seemed more important that video calls with her business associates. She had actually spent most of her vacation enjoying her family rather than working like everyone expected.

It was the ringing of her cell phone that jolted her out of her thoughts and without looking at the screen, she answered the call and pressed the phone against her ears.

"Hey," she greeted happily.

"Brianna, there's been a fire," Jasmine's words cut through her peace of mind like a knife.

"What?" Brianna felt the world stop spinning and fall beneath her altogether, "What do you mean?"

"There was a fire at the office," Jasmine spoke the words slowly.

"Was anyone hurt?" she pushed aside everything in her lap and pushed herself out of the chair she had been seated on.

"Everyone is safe and unharmed, thankfully, but there is extensive damage to the building. Everything was on the system which should be recoverable but all of this month's edition was already printed and in storage-"

"Which means that it all burnt," Brianna barely mumbled the words feeling them slowly kill her inside. She couldn't believe this was happening to her, "I'll be there as soon as possible."

"Bree, I think I can ma-"

Brianna ended the phone call and searched for her laptop. She found it on the kitchen counter and it wasn't long before she had secured a flight back home. She quickly shut down her device and rushed to her room, forcing everything in her eyesight into her suitcase.

"Bree what's going on?" she almost missed the question Bailey had repeated for the fifth time. She finally paused, took a deep breath and turned to her sister, feeling her tears beginning to overflow.

She had built her business into her home from the moment she left college. It meant everything to her; her stability, her love and her passion. She could feel herself growing more anxious and worried as she thought over the phone call she had just received. There's been a fire. Her entire life burnt to the ground in one day, despite the years it took to build up. Extensive damage...Her office was basically her bedroom and it was probably all gone.