I was stood at the opening for the Brighter Future academy. Nate and Kaitlyn were either side of me.
"I'm sure you've all had enough of me talking so I'd like to hand over to Gabrielle Carrington. CEO of Brighter Future." The mayor said. People started clapping. I walked up to the podium and looked around. I saw Fallon, Sam, Monica and Jeff smiling at me. Then I noticed Dad and Cristal.
"As the mayor said I'm Gabbie Carrington. When I was sat trying to write this speech I went to my sister for advice. She told me to start with the beginning. Then it left me with the thought where did it start." I said.
"Well, I was seven, eight years old. I told my dad I wanted to be an engineer. My sister told him the same thing years prior and well he said "but an engineer works for someone else not themselves" so little seven year old me wasn't interested in running the business like my sister decided but I went to college for a business degree. 1 semester in and I was miserable as hell so when I got the call from my sister to come home with her and my brother. I came home. Realised I was gonna be a mechanic so I dropped out of college." I said.
"I went back to college but this time doing something I wanted to do. I felt passionately about it. Turns out even in 2019 there's still more guys in engineering than girls. I'm the only girl in my engineering classes but I give the boys a run for they're money. It was then I decided I was ready to do something. To be the change. Then the Brighter Future Academy was created." I said.
"Think different. Think brighter future." I said. Everyone clapped. The mayor stood next to me.
"Citizens of Atlanta I give you the Brighter Future Academy." The mayor cut the ribbon. Reporters fled in. I got off the stage and Sam tackled me into a hug.
"Congrats, Gabs." Sam said.
"Thanks Sammy." I said. He rolled his eyes at me.
"Hey. Well done." Fallon said hugging me. Jeff and Monica hugged me. Fallon turned me around to where Dad was stood with paparazzi. He was smiling.
"He looks proud of you. He hasn't stopped smiling." Fallon said putting her hands on my shoulder. "And he's not the only one that's proud of you. We're proud too."
"Let's go out for breakfast." Sam said.
"Yeah. I just gotta grab something first." I said.
"Alright, we'll text you the restaurant." Fallon said.
"Okay." I said. I went to a peanut stand that Sterling and I used to go to everyday after school. I grabbed a bag of them and drove to the restaurant.
"So where did you go?" Sam asked.
"Nowhere special." I said sitting down.
"So where are you sneaking off to this weekend?" Jeff asked.
"Meeting up with an old friend nothing more." I said. Kaitlyn laughed.
"Lies. You're gonna get laid every night." Kaitlyn said.
"Dude shut it." I said.
"Yeah I don't like this conversation anymore. Let's not talk about my little sister's sex life." Fallon said.
"Get fucking laid bitch." Sam said to me.
"Stop projecting your horny lonely boy feeling onto me." I said. "The person I'm hanging out with is just a friend."
"Yeah for now." Nate muttered.
"Nathaniel. Shut it or I'll slap you." I said.
"Who are we talking about?" Jeff asked.
"Sterling Wells. Belgian player." I said as we started eating.
Timeskip
Fallon dropped me off at the airport.
"Have fun and don't get pregnant. If you do I'm godmother got it." Fallon said.
"Yeah sure whatever." I said hugging her.
"Don't get drunk." Fallon said.
"I won't." I said.
"Bye." Fallon said as I got on the jet.
"Miss Carrington, can I get you a drink?" A stewardess asked.
"I'll have a cola please." I said. The stewardess nodded and walked off. I sat with my laptop answering emails and checking how everything was running at the academy.
Timeskip
I got off the jet as Sterling hugged me.
"Gabbie, it's been a while and damn you grew." Sterling said.
"God you got hot Sterling." I said.
"I've always been hot and look at these." Sterling said lifting his shirt to show off his abs.
"Damn." I said.
"Let's go grab some food." Sterling said as my cases were loaded into his car.
"Great. I'm starving." I said. Sterling opened his car door for me. We drove to a café and sat eating.
"So how's mr rich man doing?" I asked.
"Mr Rich man is doing very well. And my account never looked so good." Sterling said. We finished eating.
"Come on. You can show me some of the beauty's of Belgium." I said putting my jacket on.
"Well if you look in a mirror that's one of the beauty's in Belgium at the moment." Sterling said.
"Your still a sweet talker huh?" I asked.
"Only for you Carrington. Only for you." Sterling said as we walked to the park. After the walk in the park we went back to his apartment and watched movies.
Timeskip
I was sat at the breakfast bar answering emails when Sterling came out of his room shirtless.
"You hungry?" Sterling asked.
"I'm always hungry." I said. Sterling laughed going to the fridge. He made breakfast for us and then I went with him to a meeting.
We were sat in the conference room with his agent Howard.
"Gabbie?" Dad asked walking in with Culhane.
"What are you two doing here?" I asked.
"Business." Dad said sitting down. Sterling was holding my hand under the table.
"I flew a long way to meet with you and your agent, Sterling. Private, of course. Which is what you'll be flying if you commit to my expansion team. Oh, hell,
you can just buy your own plane." Dad said. Sterling seemed unimpressed and so did Howard.
"He already flies private." I said.
"Do you have numbers for me, Blake?" Howard asked. Dad handed him a card.
"Now, that's guaranteed. It's a monster deal. It's worth more money than any American soccer player's ever made. Sports apparel companies,
athletic drinks... they are gonna be kicking your
door down for endorsements. If... you come back to Atlanta." Dad said while Howard showed Sterling the card.
"You have more than that in your change wallet." I said.
"My client already makes a great deal of money." Howard said.
"My watch costs more than my parents' house. Crazy, right? I paid off their house, by the way. And bought them matching watches." Sterling said . Culhane and I laughed.
"Yeah, I like to buy nice things, too. And if you accept this deal... there won't be one single thing on this planet that you won't be able to buy. Now, that's power. I have that power, I love that power, and I want you to have that power, too." Dad said.
"I love playing soccer, man. I got enough power that I don't have to be treated like a pawn by some rich dude who just needs a face to launch his new team." Sterling said. I smiled.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Dad said.
"Hey, why don't you give me five. Alone." Culhane said to Dad.
"Howard, why don't you and me step outside and dig into specifics." Dad asked standing up. They left.
"That guy's a jerk." Culhane said.
"Which one?" Sterling asked.
"I played outside linebacker at Decatur High School a couple years before you got there." Culhane said.
"Yeah? Go Bulldogs. Ain't that right Gabbie?" Sterling asked. I nodded.
"Hey, I was killing it in college, on track to go pro, but then I blew out my knee. That dream died hard." Culhane said.
"Damn. That's tough." Sterling told him.
"Yeah. My greatest memories are my mom, my dad and my baby sister at every game. I could see them cheering me on." Culhane said.
"That's cool." Sterling said looking at me.
"Yeah, it was like the whole city embraced me. It was the best. So, yeah, having an amazing career abroad is killer, but you know what's even better? Being the king at home. Like when LeBron won a ring for Cleveland. Let me show you something." Culhane said pulling out a briefcase.
"Nah, man, you're just like the Carrington clown. I don't want to see your money." Sterling said. Culhane pulled out a bag.
"What? Boiled peanuts from Hickabilly Hank's?" Sterling said
"You're not gonna find those in Brussels." Culhane said.
"My mom and I used to go to that stand after every practice. She knew as long as I was popping peanuts in my mouth, I was an open book. Yeah, we had a lot of good talks because of these. And we used to go to this place ever day after school." Sterling said.
"Yeah it was great." I said.
"Have you got any part in this team?" Sterling asked us.
"I don't currently." I said.
"Same here." Culhane said.
"I'll sign with your dad's team as long as both of you are owners." Sterling said.
"That's great. I'll let Blake know. Gabbie I'll see you when you get back to Atlanta." Culhane said walking out. My phone started ringing.
"What's she want?" I asked answering my phone.
G: Hey, how's your ski trip?
F: Dreadful Liam's moved on with this girl and she's a bitch. You told me he loves me.
G: He does Fal. But let's be honest you put him through hell and back. Everything you asked he did without fail. He helped you sell a 50 billion dollar company after you chose to not be with him.
F: How's Belgium?
G: Belgium is lovely, nice views and Sterling says hi.
F: Hey Sterling. Are you sure those nice views aren't his dick?
G: Fuck off. I'm hanging up now bye.
Call Ended
"Was that your sister?" Sterling asked.
"Yep." I said. "She thinks I've spent the whole week screwing you."
"Now that would of been a better way to spend this week." Sterling said. "I missed you Gabbie and I missed us."
"Sterling I just got out of a relationship." I said.
"Yeah, but now that I'm coming home to Atlanta we wouldn't have to long distance and we can take it slow." Sterling said.
"Okay. We can take things slow but right now I'm not saying anything to my parents cause they're psychotic." I said.
"Now how about we go find your sister and crash their trip." Sterling said.
"They're coming home in the morning. So how about we go back to your apartment and cuddle then we can fly home tomorrow?" I said.
"Mmh okay." Sterling said taking my hand.
Timeskip
I was walking to Fallon's room and saw her sat on the bed upset.
"Wow. This is an uno reverse card." I said. Fallon looked at me.
"What do you want Gabbie?" Fallon asked.
"I brought you ice cream that I'll leave here for you." I said putting it on her dresser. I turned to leave.
"Hey, come tell me about Belgium." Fallon said.
"Wow, you're inviting me to stay in your room longer than needed. I feel honoured." I said.
"You are needed. So shut your mouth and tell me about Belgium." Fallon said.
"It was great. I enjoyed it up until Dad decided he wanted Sterling to play for the new team but hey I got part ownership of the team out of it. I guess your blabbering on about business pays off." I said.
"So you and Sterling?" Fallon asked.
"Would you keep it down? Dad would freak out. I think he almost heart failure when he saw me in Belgium." I said.
"So you are together?" Fallon asked.
"I didn't think you would want to talk about relationships since uh you know." I said.
"Are you happy?" Fallon asked.
"Still a work in progress but I'm hustling. I've decided I'm going back to college full time. I'm gonna fast track my degrees and be done by the summer." I said.
"What happened to you?" Fallon asked.
"When I came back home last year I didn't have a goal. I didn't plan anything. Now I've got a goal and I'm gonna get there. I know what I want and how to get it." I said.
"I know I don't say this enough but I really am proud of you. You know that right?" Fallon asked. I smiled.
"Thanks. But I need your advice." I said.
"What's wrong?" Fallon asked.
"It's professional advice I need." I said.
"With what?" Fallon asked.
"Investing. So the money I got off Grandpa is in a trust that I can't touch until I'm 25 but then I've got money from the CA sale and I don't know what to do." I said.
"So you could buy companies or invest shares with them or real estate. Buy them and rent them out but that's a pain in the ass or you could buy properties that have been undervalued and fix them up selling them for more. You can do a lot but do your research." Fallon said.
"Alright thanks. Enjoy your icecream." I said walking out.