Page 236 of Broken Brothers

“New York City,it’s been real,” I said as I looked out the window from my apartment. “But it’s time for me to go after what I want.”

I turned around and saw Morgan, who had taken off work early, to come and see me. He had his arms crossed, a bemused smile on his face, and an expression that couldn’t believe what the fuck I was about to do.

“So, let me get this straight,” he said. “You’re going to get a rental car, follow Layla to Chicago, and then… you two are going to make it work?”

“Yes,” I said, as confidently as I had ever said anything in my life. “I know that Layla may find this crazy. But I truly believe that she thinks my words are shallow right now, or, rather, she needs something deeper to believe I’m serious about making it work. I know Sarah will miss me in New York, but honestly, she’s the furthest thing from my mind right now. I’ll tell her to come to Chicago if she needs to see me that bad. I’m just ready and willing to show, not tell, Layla that I love her.”

“Goddamn,” Morgan said with a laugh. “Buddy, I told you I didn’t like her at first, but if you’re willing to move to Chicago to try and make it work, then I’m not going to question your decision. You know the board will expect you to resign.”

“Oh, about that,” I said with a smile. “I already sent an email to everyone. I’m surprised you didn’t see it. I’m resigning effective immediately.”

“Goddamn!” Morgan repeated with emphasis, leading us both to laugh. “What are you going to do for work?”

Interestingly enough, I already knew the answer to that much more firmly than I knew the answer to if Layla and I were going to work out.

“I’m going to start doing service work for orphans,” I said. “I saw my real parents on Monday. I never knew my biological mother was also an orphan until then. I’ve been lucky to land in the spot with you guys; she didn’t have such luck. I know that not everyone is going to wind up in a billionaire family. But if they can just land in a stable setting, well, I’ll do what I can to help. Besides, I don’t need to do shit for money. I need to do shit to help the world.”

“Good enough,” Morgan said. “Well, brother, I am not going to hold you up any longer. You’ve got a woman you need to go and get back, and I’m only in the way. So bring it in.”

I smiled, headed over to him, and embraced him in a tight hug.

“Thank you for everything, man,” I said. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Chance,” he said, pulling back and patting my chest right where my heart was. “Although, I do figure I’ll see you real soon?”

“Yeah, probably going to have to make a return trip to either rent out the place or just move back,” I said. “But I’m leaving with the intent of only coming back to move my shit.”

“I hear ya,” he said. “Don’t forget us Yankees, now.”

“You know I never will,” I said with a smile. “I’d never abandon you.”

With that, I grabbed my luggage with one week’s worth of clothes, walked out the door, and left Morgan to take care ofgrabbing whatever he wanted for himself. I headed down the elevator, smiling at myself.

This might have been the most audacious, boldest move I had made yet. It was the greatest risk I’d taken yet.

But it was the chance I needed to take.

Half an hour later, I was in a small Prius vehicle, one almost too small for my size, driving across the George Washington Bridge and toward Chicago. I had no idea how far removed I was from Layla; she had only told me that she had left around ten in the morning and that she wished me well. I pretended that I was wishing her goodbye, but I wasn’t that far behind. It was only eleven, and I was willing to speed.

I also had the advantage of the day needing to take two days, unless Layla was willing to drive twelve hours, which I somehow found incredibly doubtful. I just needed to figure out a strategy for catching up to her; it would have really sucked to have not known how far she was or where she was stopping and to overshoot her.

For the first four hours, I just drove down the road, thrilled at the prospect of this audacious move working out. I was a little scared it might not work out, but I truly, sincerely, honestly believed that this would be a winning decision. I knew Layla too well; I knew what we’d been through and overcome. Her taking a job in Chicago was nothing if I was willing to move there and be with her, especially since it really showed what I was willing to do.

Around three in the afternoon, though, I knew that she’d probably stopped to eat. I suspected that she had only stoppedfor fast food, maybe even had gone through the drive through window, but if she had chosen to rest her body and her mind by getting something more, I had to know. Otherwise, I’d make a pit stop in Cleveland when she had only gotten to Pennsylvania.

I took a deep breath and tried to figure out how best I wanted to word this. At this point, I was just driving down Interstate 80, having passed an exit for some small town named Lewisburg in Pennsylvania. I found my phone, quickly found her contact, and called her. Like most things in life, I figured I’d deal with the details as I went along; one could not be both audacious and planning in a situation like this.

“Hey, Chance, what’s going on?”

Layla sounded surprised to hear me. I’d imagine she would be even more surprised when she heard me on the bluetooth of a vehicle.

“Oh, nothing,” I said. “Just wanted to hear how your car ride to Chicago was going. How far along are you?”

“Umm, well, the car ride is good,” she said. “I just stopped for a brief stretching break. Nothing really crazy has happened yet, but I think that’s the goal. Why?”

“Oh?” I said. “And where did you stop for a break?”

“Umm, just at some rest stop in the middle of Pennsylvania.”