Page 22 of Breadwinner

A distraction.

A challenge.

Someone who demanded nothing more than what Sarah was willing to give.

Her phone buzzed in her hand. A single text.

Nell 10:05 AM

Safe travels, Sarah. —N

Sarah read and reread the simple text, letting the words linger for a moment, before she typed out a reply.

Sarah 10:07 AM

I haven’t decided yet.

Nell 10:07 AM

You will. —N

Sarah turned toward her gate, the boarding pass firm in her grip, the hum of the airport swelling around her.

She didn’t know what she had expected when she’d stepped onto that jet yesterday. Now she just needed to decide if she was all in or not.

The week passed in a blur of meetings, calls, and emails, and by the time Thursday evening rolled around, Sarah was exhausted.

She stood on her deck overlooking the water, surrounded by a backdrop of evergreens and mountains. The Seattle skyline was a distant twinkle across the water in the dark of night. The warm summer breeze swirled long strands of her hair as she breathed in deeply, methodically laying out Nell’s proposition before her bit by bit to dissect.

She was due to give Nell an answer the next day, but something had been nagging at her all week. An answer to a question Sarah needed to know before she either accepted or rejected the offer.

One hand rested on her hip, and the other gripped her phone as she pressed it to her ear, listening to the steady ringing on the other end. It felt as though her heart beat harder with each unanswered trill.

She wasn’t sure why she was calling when a text would have sufficed. No, that wasn’t true. She knewexactlywhy she was making the call.

She wanted to hear Nell’s voice. The way she turned even the simplest words into velvet.

Sarah wasn’t the kind of person who sat around waiting for clarity to present itself. If there were questions, she sought answers. If there were boundaries, she wanted to know exactly where they were.

And if there were stakes, she needed to know exactly what she was playing for.

I’m following the rules. Nell said to use my voice. I’m perfectly within my rights to ask more questions, she rationalized. But her thoughts were cut off abruptly as the ringing stopped and there was a pause long enough to make her wonder if the call had gone through. Then that velvet tone filled her ear.

“Sarah.”

Not a greeting. Just a simple acknowledgment.

Sarah exhaled through her nose, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. “This arrangement you proposed. It’s very... controlled.”

There was a quiet hum on the other end, and Sarah felt her stomach clench at the sound.

“You sound surprised.”

Sarah’s grip tightened around her phone, her gaze shifting back toward the darkened skyline. “I’m not.” She stopped pacing and pressed a hand against the cool deck railing. “I just want to know where the boundaries are.”

Nell met her with silence—something Sarah was quickly discovering was Nell’s favorite tool for negotiation—but it wouldn’t work. Not today. Sarah would simply wait her out. She needed answers.

“You mean, you want to know what control I expect to have?”