“Hey,” Kira’s voice rang out. “You’re back early.”
I was still in a daze, so my response didn’t come immediately. “Yeah…I just had to sit through a couple meetings, then your father told me to come home and get some rest.”
I untied my shoes and walked to the living room, still immersed deep within my thoughts. When I sat beside Kira on the couch, she leaned in and kissed my cheek.
“What’s wrong?” she giggled. “You look like a deer caught in the headlights.”
Basically, that was how I felt.
She lowered the volume a bit and then turned to face me again. “Did something happen?”
I didn’t even know where to start. “There’s something that we need to discuss, and I want you to be completely honest about how you feel.”
Curious, she cocked her head to the side. “Okay, you have my word.”
I blew out a breath and broke it down for her the way our father’s had broken it down for me. “Things with the company are going really well. So well, in fact, that they want to expand.”
Her eyebrows lifted when the news impressed her. “Well, that’s good.”
“Yeah…but I don’t know how long you’re gonna feel that way.”
She continued to watch and wait for me to explain.
“They want me to be over the Eastern division, Kira.”
Her eyes lit up when she clasped her hands together, turning her body on the couch to face me full-on. “Oh my god! Are you serious!” Her arms wrapped around my neck. “That’s amazing, babe!”
“In…New York,” I added, still embracing her.
In my arms, she stiffened. In that second, the celebration was over. Kira backed away slowly and her eyes were trained on mine. “New York? But I thought –“
“They’re moving the facility from Fairfax to New York…which would mean that we’d have to be in New York,” I interjected.
She ran her fingers through her hair, looking like my revelation had knocked the wind out of her. It probably did. That’s how I felt too.
“Wow,” she eventually sighed. “Like…when? A month? Six? A year? When would we have to leave?”
My stomach sank, hearing that none of her estimates were even close to the short amount of time we’d have to pack up everything and go. It would only make things worse when I revealed that we’d have to have an answer by morning.
“Actually…they want me there by Monday.”
“Monday!” She shot up from her seat and started to pace. “AJ…I have a job here, too!”
I nodded. “I know. That’s why I said I want you to give this some thought. Don’t just think about how it’ll affect me. Think about how it’ll affect you, too. You’re living your dream right here in DC,” I replied calmly, despite the elevation in her tone.
She cursed under her breath and stood in front of the window, arms folded over her chest, probably wondering how this was all happening so quickly.
“Whatever you decide, I’m cool with it,” I added.
“Whatever I decide? AJ…you can’t put something this big all on me.” She turned in my direction with a bewildered look in her eyes.
I sighed and let the reality of what Mr. Tanaka and my father were offering me sink in. My salary would more than double, the housing allowance would cover our living expenses for the first year in the city, and the bonus was big enough to buy my Bentley…twice. But more than the money, this promotion was an opportunity to hold an executive position like I’d always wanted within my father’s company – an opportunity I thought I’d lost out on when things went south when he messed things up all those years back. This opportunity was a chance to have the life I was supposed to have back. But was it okay to tell Kira all of that? Would it sound selfish that I wanted this so bad? She’d have to walk away from her dream to follow me while I chased mine.
“What’re you thinking?” She asked. “I mean…honestly.”