Jessie glanced at her hands and turned them over. Being alone was so hard, but she'd given everyone at her company two weeks off so they could spend the holidays with their families and recharge. The decision increased her popularity, though most still said she would take their souls in return.
Who was she? When had se become someone to be feared for being mean out of all things? Yes, she'd taken the company by storm and laid out a lot of new rules, but that didn't make her ruthless, didn't make her a bad person. People were hired to work, not browse Facebook.
But now that she stopped to think about it, maybe it wasn't her work ethic that silenced people when she walked by. Maybe it had something to do with her stance, her gaze. The serum. She could never forget how frightening Jimmy and Kyle became when they were upset. What if she did too, without realizing it?
She needed them so much. At the moment, she felt like a tiny boat in a massive storm, barely holding out. With no friends, no one to talk to, of course the effects of the thing were horrid.
But what if she was just exaggerating? What if there was no serum and she was just looking for an excuse for her misery when the reason was obvious? She'd tried everything: tested her strength, her stamina, her tolerance to alcohol.
Alcohol made her slightly nauseous when she tried it, but she wasn't sure if she wasn't nauseated my the stress in the first place. As for ther physical prowess, her evolution had been smooth, so she couldn't tell if her strength, speed and stamina were normal, due to her training, or the serum had contributed in some way.
She was stuck.
I hate this. I hate this so much. She'd never felt more caught in a loop. And even if she knew she shouldn't, she gave up on her hands and turned on her laptop to Google her friends and catch up with the news.
The moment she typed their name in the search box, the first headline made her gag.
"No..." she whispered.
Freider Grant's death at the hands of Snitch Gravel. New details surface in a mysterious case of murder.
No way that had happened. No way had it happened and she'd missed it.
Jessie avidly read news article after news article. Not only had it happened weeks ago, but she'd missed the funeral, she'd missed Jerry getting a new girlfriend, Sam being sighted with someone else too...
She'd missed everything. So much had happened in their lives and she'd been stuck here playing fucking CEO. A hook lodged into her heart and started pulling, as if trying to drag her into the magical world inside her laptop.
That was where she belonged. Not here, in the cold sterile world.
She closed the lid of her laptop, panting, still unable to process everything. She had to call Jimmy, she couldn't leave things like this. Burning bridges was a lie. She should've been there for him. For Kyle. For all of them.
With a shaky hand, she grabbed her phone. She still had Jimmy on speed dial. Reality seemed to tremble before her eyes as her protective bubble threatened to burst.
"Hey, this is Jimmy. Leave a message. I actually listen to them."
His voice mail... The sound of his voice froze her as her heart beat to burst and her mind tried to catch every inflection in every syllable. It had been so long since she'd heard his voice. She was tempted to hang up and call again just to hear those random words one more time.
But no. She'd been pathetic long enough and now had to... What? She had no idea what to say. Seconds ticked on and she stayed silent.
With a painful swallow, she said, "Hi, Jimmy. It's-- It's me." Brilliant and eloquent, but fuck it. "I'm sorry about your dad. I know it happened like a million years ago... Well no, I'm exaggerating, but I should've been there." She sniffed, trying to clear her airways. Her head was starting to hurt. "I should've been there for you no matter what. I should've..." Tears clogged her throat. "It's just been so crazy, I lost myself in it. The revenge, the secrets in my family... And then it was so easy. Or at least it is in the daytime. There's not one second that I don't think about you, or about not thinking about you. All of you. I miss you so much. I need you so much..." Shit, what was she saying? "Anyway, sorry again and..." And nothing.
YOU ARE READING
Lose Control (The Jewel Project #5)
Adventure"It's never going to end, is it? The rivalry, the hatred, the madness. Not even now. Not even after so many years." It has been three years since the last jewel was recovered, and the Agency seems to have put the project to rest. They have a new tar...
