Page 16 of Hitched to my Boss (Viva Las… Oh, Sh!t #2)

NATALIA

T he Atlanta skyline should feel like coming home.

I stand in my downtown apartment, staring out at the city lights that once represented everything I'd worked for.

The view from my floor-to-ceiling windows showcases the financial district, the gleaming towers that house the kinds of clients I'd built my career serving.

This apartment, this view, this life, it's everything I thought I wanted when I was starting out.

So why does it feel like wearing clothes that no longer fit?

"You look terrible," Maya observes from my kitchen, where she's making coffee in the machine I'd forgotten I owned. "When's the last time you slept?"

"I slept on the plane." I settle into my desk chair, opening my laptop to the stack of emails that have accumulated during my week-long absence. "How are my plant babies?"

"Alive, but judging you for abandoning them." Maya brings me a mug, studying my face with the scrutiny of someone who's known me for eight years. "Nat, what happened up there? You look like someone died."

"Nothing died. I just came to my senses."

"Your senses tell you to leave your husband after a month of marriage?"

"My senses told me to remember who I was before I got swept up in playing house with a mountain man.

" I take a sip of coffee, noting how it tastes different than Jason's.

Weaker. Less substantial. "Maya, I lost a major client because I was too distracted to do my job properly.

David Chen dismissed me as a serious professional because I'm 'dealing with personal complications.

' I was disappearing into a relationship, and that's not who I am. "

"Okay, but you're also miserable."

"I'm readjusting. It's been three days."

"You've checked your phone forty-seven times since you got here. And don't think I didn't notice you wearing his flannel shirt under your blazer."

I look down, realizing she's right. The soft flannel that still smells faintly like Jason is underneath my professional armor, a comfort I hadn't even consciously chosen.

"It was clean," I lie.

"Uh-huh." Maya sits across from me, her expression serious. "Nat, I love you, but you're being an idiot."

"Excuse me?"

"You found something real. Something that made you happier than I've ever seen you. And you threw it away because it didn't fit into your five-year plan."

"I threw it away because it was destroying my professional reputation."

"Your professional reputation will recover.

You're brilliant at what you do, and one missed client doesn't erase ten years of success.

" Maya leans forward. "But when are you going to find another man who looks at you the way Jason looked at you in those Vegas photos?

When are you going to find someone else who makes you light up from the inside? "

I don't answer because I can't. The truth is, I've never felt about anyone the way I feel about Jason. The depth of connection, the way he saw past my professional armor to the woman underneath, the feeling that I'd found someone who understood parts of me I'd never shown anyone else.

But understanding someone isn't enough if you can't build a sustainable life together.

"It doesn't matter how I feel about him if the relationship requires me to sacrifice everything I've worked for."

"Does it, though? Or are you just scared of figuring out how to have both?"

Before I can answer, my phone rings. Rebecca Martinez's name appears on the screen, and my stomach clenches with familiar anxiety.

"Rebecca, how are things going?"

"Better, thanks to the new consultant I hired." Her voice is polite but distant. "Natalia, I'm calling because I heard you were back in Atlanta. I wanted to let you know that Morrison Industries has decided to retain Hartfield Communications for all future crisis management needs."

My stomach drops. Hartfield Communications is one of my biggest competitors, and Rebecca was supposed to be a long-term client who would provide steady income and referrals.

"I understand," I manage. "Rebecca, I want you to know how sorry I am about the way I handled the SEC situation. My absence was inexcusable."

"I'm sure you had your reasons. But Natalia, I need consultants who can be available when I need them, not whenever it's convenient for their personal lives." The disappointment in her voice cuts deep. "I thought you understood that."

After she hangs up, I sit staring at my phone in silence. Maya watches me with concern.

"Bad news?"

"Rebecca just fired me. Permanently." I set my phone aside, trying to process the implications. "She's moving all her business to Hartfield."

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I'll rebuild." But even as I say it, I'm not sure I believe it. Rebecca wasn't just a client; she was a connection to a network of pharmaceutical executives who trusted her judgment. Losing her means losing access to an entire sector of potential business.

I spend the next four hours trying to focus on work, but concentration feels impossible.

Every email reminds me of something Jason would find interesting.

Every crisis management strategy makes me think about how he'd approach a wildlife conflict with the same methodical patience.

The silence in my apartment feels oppressive after weeks of his quiet presence filling the spaces around me.

I'm reaching for my charger in my travel bag when my fingers close around something that wasn't there when I packed. A folded piece of paper with my name written in Jason's careful handwriting.

My heart stops as I unfold it.

Natalia,

If you're reading this, you made it back to Atlanta safely, and I'm probably somewhere over Colorado trying not to panic about flying to a city.

You were right about everything. I have been asking you to sacrifice everything while I risk nothing. I've been expecting you to fit into my life instead of building something new together. That's not fair, and it's not love.

Real love means meeting each other halfway, even when halfway is terrifying.

So I'm coming to you. I've booked a flight that lands at 6 PM today.

I don't know anything about Atlanta or cities or how to live anywhere that isn't my mountain, but I'm willing to learn.

I'm willing to stay for three months while we figure out how to make this work for both of us.

Maybe we alternate between your world and mine.

Maybe we find somewhere completely new. Maybe we just take it one day at a time until we figure out what home looks like when it's built by two people instead of one.

I don't know if you'll want me there. I don't know if I've already lost you by waiting too long to prove I can be the man you need me to be. But I have to try.

I love you enough to leave my mountain. I love you enough to be scared and do it anyway.

I love you.

Jason

P.S. If you've changed your mind about us, I'll understand. But please let me know before I spend three months wandering around Atlanta like a lost mountain man.

The note trembles in my hands as I read it twice, then three times. Jason was coming here. Today. He was stepping so far outside his comfort zone that he'd probably be physically sick with anxiety, and he was doing it because I'd challenged him to prove he could meet me halfway.

I check my phone frantically. It's 7:30 PM. His flight would have landed over an hour ago.

But my phone shows no missed calls, no texts, no sign that he'd tried to reach me. Which means either his flight was delayed, or...

Or he'd gotten to the airport and changed his mind. Realized that leaving his mountain sanctuary for a woman who'd walked out on him was more risk than he was willing to take.

The thought hits hard. Jason had been brave enough to get on a plane, to come to my world, to prove he could sacrifice for love the way he'd been asking me to sacrifice.

And I wasn't even here. I was sitting in meetings, taking calls, too busy rebuilding the career I'd prioritized over our relationship to be available when he needed me most.

Just like with Rebecca's crisis. Just like with every other time, my professional obligations had taken precedence over the people who mattered.

Maybe he'd waited. Maybe he'd called and I'd missed it during the Rebecca conversation. Maybe he was at a hotel somewhere, wondering if I'd gotten his note, wondering if I wanted him here.

Or maybe he'd taken my absence as an answer. Maybe he'd realized I wasn't worth the risk after all and gotten on the next flight back to Nevada.

I'm scrolling through my phone, looking for any sign that he'd tried to reach me, when the text comes in.

My phone buzzes with a text from an unknown Nevada number.

Unknown: This is Marcus Hartwell. I got your number from Jason's emergency contacts. Are you still his wife?

The irony hits like a knife to the chest. Emergency contacts. Jason had been coming to Atlanta to prove he could meet me halfway, and instead of being here to welcome him, I was going to get a call about an emergency.

Me: Yes. What's wrong? Is Jason okay?

Hartwell: There's been an accident. He's at Regional Medical Center in Las Vegas. You should get here as soon as possible.

The phone slips from my hands, clattering to the floor as the full horror of the situation hits me. Jason never made it to Atlanta. He'd been on his way to the airport, probably terrified but determined to prove he could sacrifice for love, and something had happened.

The accident happened because he was coming to me. Because I'd challenged him to meet me halfway, and he'd been brave enough to try.

And I wasn't even here to know he was coming.

I can't finish the thought.

Maya picks up my phone, reading the message with wide eyes. "Nat, what do you need me to do?"

"I need to get to Vegas. Now." I'm moving before I fully process the decision, grabbing clothes and shoving them into my suitcase. "Can you call the airline? First available flight to Las Vegas?"

"Already on it." Maya is scrolling through her phone. "There's a red-eye that leaves in three hours. I can get you to the airport in time."

I'm packing with shaking hands, my mind racing through worst-case scenarios. What kind of accident? How badly is he hurt? Why didn't I answer when he probably needed me most?

"Natalia." Maya catches my hands, stopping my frantic packing. "He's going to be okay."

"You don't know that."

"No, but I know what you’ve told me about Jason. He's too stubborn to let anything permanent happen to him before you two figure this out." She squeezes my hands. "And I know you. You're going to get there and take care of him and remember why you fell in love with him in the first place."

"I never forgot why I fell in love with him." The admission slips out, raw and honest. "I just got scared of how much I loved him. And Maya, he was coming here. Today. He wrote me a note saying he was getting on a plane to Atlanta to prove he could meet me halfway."

"What do you mean he was coming here?"

I show her the note, watching her face as she reads Jason's careful words.

"He booked a flight. He was going to stay for three months while we figured things out.

He was leaving his mountain, Maya. For me.

And instead of being here to welcome him, I was sitting in meetings trying to rebuild a career that feels meaningless without him. "

"So the accident happened..."

"While he was probably on his way to the airport. Or maybe he'd already landed and was trying to figure out how to reach me." My voice breaks. "Either way, he was doing exactly what I'd challenged him to do, and I failed him again."

"Natalia, you couldn't have known."

"I should have been here. I should have answered my phone.

I should have been the kind of wife who's available when her husband is brave enough to cross the country for her.

" I'm crying now, tears I've been holding back for days.

"He must have thought I didn't want him here.

That I'd gotten his note and decided not to respond. "

"Or maybe he got hurt before he could even try to reach you," Maya says gently. "Either way, beating yourself up isn't going to help him now."

"Then stop being scared and go get your husband."