Strictly Business

Chapter 4

After a quick pitstop at The Rocky Mountain to pick up my car and then another one at home to drop off my stuff and change into something a little more comfortable – an oversized sweater and cuffed sweatpants as that was just the kind day that I was having – I made my way to our favourite brunch place; Mama Jemima's Pantry.

As far as I was concerned, it was the best brunch place in the city but then again, I was a creature of habit and had been a regular of Mama Jemima's since the first week I officially moved to America for college.

"Sorry, I'm late." I apologised the moment I took a seat at the table, more than twenty minutes late as I may or may not have taken my time in the shower to cry my eyes out.

Glancing around the table, I felt slightly better already just being around my friends, some of whom I had known for years and others, not as long. One thing that I had learned was that it was not the amount of time that you knew someone that defined the strength of a friendship, but rather, the quality of the relationship.

"You look haggard. Did you come here straight from the airport?" Zara asked curiously, glancing at me from over the rim of her glass of wine.

Pursing my lips, I simply nodded my head and made a show of glancing down at the menu. While I had thought that I was ready to face everyone, it was very apparent to me now that I was wrong. Too bad I wouldn't be able to sneak out without anyone noticing or asking questions which I was far from prepared or even capable of answering right now. Not when the despicable truth that I had walked into had yet to sink in fully yet.

"How are your parents? How is your dad doing?" Sophia asked from where she was sat directly in front of me across the table.

"He's doing much better. Just focusing on recovering now." I smiled softly, grateful that I was blessed with a group of friends who when all together, we seemed mismatched and unconventional but when infiltrated, you'd see just how well we all fitted together; all pieces of the same puzzle.

Without my friends, I would be nothing and the fact that they cared enough to ask about the purpose of my trip even after having kept in contact through various forms of social media these past two weeks just made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Too bad I couldn't say the same about my husband.

Sophie especially, who had only been welcomed into the group not even a year ago when we all met her at the last Thanksgiving charity event that we had held where she and her fiancé at the time – now-husband – had been one of our sponsors. From that moment on, we had taken her under our wing.

"And they're in Miami right now, right?" Zara asked, having met my parents a few times over the years.

Out of everyone, Zara was the friend that I had known the longest, having been roommates in Columbia University together for four years. I studied fashion while she majored in English Literature. We had both met our now husbands around the same time and by the end of it, they had started a business together, one which they continued to pursue even after college.

Unfortunately, it all came to a swift standstill when they couldn't afford to continue funding it. That's where I came in.

As Sung was my husband and Frank was both a friend and Zara's husband, it was an absolute no-brainer for me to take part of my trust fund to invest in their business – 49% to be exact – and help get it off the ground. With the funding to hire staff and office space, they were able to start with designing and creating websites for friends, family, and people from college, as well as clients they were able to lure in through the power of online advertising. Now, eight years later, the money was pouring in as they had expanded their business scope I always knew Sung and Frank had it in them.