Chapter 54- Something New
Stella
The quiet sound of a notification ding form my laptop catches my attention. I stand in my family’s kitchen, boiling water inside a kettle for some tea, and I turn in the direction of the sound. I quickly make my way over to my laptop, which sits on the table just a few feet away from me, and pick it up.
Adrian: Tracer, I would like to hire you for a new job. It is of the upmost importance and I need nothing short of the best. Can we talk?
An immediate feeling of anger settles into the bottom of my chest. The smile that once sat on my face has since disappeared. I slowly lower myself into a seat in front of the laptop and begin to type.
Tracer: No. I will not work with you. Please do not contact me ever again.
I move to set my laptop to the side, wanting to desperately go back to my tea kettle and forget that Adrian even messaged me, but am quickly thrown off my rhythm when another notification bell sounds off.
Adrian: Please allow me explain. I need the best of the best and you’re it. I promise that the project is worth it.
I sigh, watching as his messages flood into my laptop’s screen. The tea kettle screams from inside the kitchen and I leave my laptop behind.
If he truly wants to explain himself, he will. Adrian has never been the kind of man who stops because someone didn’t give him permission. If the project truly is meaningful and is worthwhile, he’ll continue to message me. After that, I’ll decide if it is good enough or not.
I pour myself a cup of tea. The teabag floats inside the ceramic mug, the warmth of the scalding water seeping through the material, warming my ice cold fingers. I slowly step back towards the table, looking down at the mug of tea before sitting down in my spot.
My messages with Adrian have changed. He has taken the opportunity to explain his project. I hesitate to even look at it. The urge to click the exit button and to block him has never been higher.
I catch his mother’s name in the message though. I set the cup of tea down, the scent of ginger leaving my nose, as I pick up the laptop and move it back onto my lap.
Adrian: The project is inspired by a woman named Lilian. She suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and fell into a years long coma. Her absence has left the people in her life reeling and wondering how they could have prevented it.
Has Adrian been feeling this way the whole time about his mother? I had originally thought that he only cared about Clara, putting his mother on the back burner as he dedicated every second of his conscious life towards the woman. He even put his mother in a nursing home, allowing her to be in the care of others while he dotes on his so called beloved.
Adrian: The project I am working on aims to prevent cases like this. It will give people data with real time. predictions of their conditions. They won’t have to be in the dark anymore about their health and the conditions that they unfortunately have to live with.
It’s admirable, really. I did not think that Adrian had it in him to care about others outside of Clara. Who knew that he has been able to possess a caring side of him this whole time?
It sure would have been nice to see that side while I laid in the hospital as the life was slowly being drained from my body.
Adrian: Please help me. I will pay you however much money it is that you want. I just need to make for sure that the patient’s files and information will be protected from cyberattacks like the one you helped me out with a few
months back. I will make worth your time, I promise.
Working with Adrian is not something that I want to do. If am to be honest, it is one of the last things that I wanted to do after our argument on the beach. His project, though, is admirable and it helps people who will need it the most.
Lilian slips into my mind. I remember the day that I got news of her hospitalization. It rocked both Adrian and I’s world, reminding us of just how cruel life can be.
My fingers hover over the keyboard as I formulate a response inside my head. I have to tell myself to be as neutral as possible as to not throw Adrian any reason to come after he or have any reason to suspect that it is me behind the Tracer alias.
Tracer: Thank you for explaining. I think your project is meaningful and will bring a lot of good into the world. I will work with you, yes. I’ll be in contact soon.
I close my laptop and sigh. I stand from my chair and walk down the hall, my fuzzy socks slipping against the smooth wooden floor as I find myself knocking on the door to the office that Dominic usually works out of.
“Dominic?” I call out his name and poke my head inside the office.
“Stella, hi,” he warmly greets me and looks up from the desk. “How can I help you?”
“I was wondering if you can help me set up a cybersecurity company as my official lawyer,” I walk towards him and set my laptop on the desk, sitting down in the chair in front of the desk.
“A cybersecurity company?” He repeats my words and I nod. “I can do that, sure.
”
He slides away the papers he currently works on. I notice my name and Adrian’s that sit on top of the pages. A pang of guilt washes throughout my body.
I’m always asking him for help. First, it is my divorce with Adrian, and now I am asking for his help with starting my own company. Dominic deserved to go to a fancy resort this past weekend, not me.
Dominic and I slowly move through the process of setting up the company. As he fills out forms and handles all of the technical aspects of the start up, I focus on the website and branding, quickly making a website that will offer my services to those who need it.
As time moves on, a few of our family members slip in and out of the room. Our mom brings us fresh tea and snacks while our brothers try to distract us.
Silas sits on the couch while cleaning his many blades. Luca has found himself asking Dominic useless questions about the law while Matteo cleans around the room. Sebastian is the last one to enter, taking his place in the seat beside me.
“So,” he begins, his voice just loud enough for only me to hear, “you’re starting your own company?”
I nod, a small smile spreading across my face. I turn my laptop to face him, watching as he reads the information displayed on the screen. He turns to me with an impressed look on his face.
“Cybersecurity,” he nods, “I’m impressed. Can I be your first official customer? My finances need protecting.”
Sebastian’s charining smile fuels a feeling of pride inside my chest. I nod, neglecting the fact that he’ll technically be the second. It’s something he doesn’t need to know.
“I’m proud that I get to call you my first customer,” I comment, “of my new company.”
It feels so good to have something that is my own, to be able to say that I built it from the ground ground up. It also feels nice to be able to work outside of the shadows.
This is the start that I needed. This is exactly what I neededo do to begin my new life away from Adrian
