Chapter Thirty-One
Emery
“Tell me this is worth it,” I said to Jesse when she answered the phone.
Over two miles and I didn’t feel any better. I still wanted to get in that bastard’s face and tell him how I really felt. I knew this project was going to be hard and he had a reputation for being an asshole, but I didn’t know he was going to make me this angry.
“This is only temporary,” she replied. “I want you to take a deep breath and remember why you’re doing this and how much you love what you do and how you’re changing the skyline of the city where we met.”
She was right.
But that was why I had called my wife. I didn’t even have to tell her what had gotten me so worked up. She always just knew I needed and what to say to make me feel right again. And, in this case, she knew what to do to stop me from exploding.
I sighed. “Jess, I almost lost it on him. I was that close to snapping.”
“Whether he deserved it or not, that’s not you and it’s not how you do business.”
I ran my hand through my hair, feeling the beads of sweat fall onto my neck. “You’re right again.”
“Listen to me, Emery. This is stressful, but you’re doing an amazing job at handling it all. You have a solid team, tons of support, and a family who thinks you’re a hero.”
I leaned against one of the streetlamps, still catching my breath, staring at the skyline of the city. I was standing in the place where I’d taken her on our first date. She’d worn a dress that was too big, and her hair stuck to our lips when we kissed.
“I miss you,” I told her, wondering how many times in the upcoming months I would go out for this same jog, make this same phone call, and hear these same response.
“I miss you,” she whispered.
She was so quiet, I almost didn’t hear her.
I closed my eyes, waiting for the calm to come. “This is so fucking hard, Jess.”
“Do you remember what you used to tell me when I was pregnant and miserable and cranky and hot? You’d tell me to take a deep breath and think about what it would be like once our baby was born. And how after the delivery, those months of hell would be completely forgotten.”
“I remember …”
I opened my lids and watched the college rowers practicing in the water in front of me and the cars speeding over the bridge to Cambridge, and the joggers passing on the walkway behind me.
From here, I could see everything and that was why Jesse loved it so much.
“I jogged to our spot.”
“How’s it look?”
I smiled. “The same.”
“Now, how’s the skyline going to look when it has an Emery Black design in the middle of it?”
I could see the space where the tower was going to be built. I could visualize how it would fit between the structures on both sides and how far it would reach in the sky.
My head shook in amazement. “I still can’t believe it.”
“Believe it. It’s happening and you’re going to survive this. I promise.”
Her voice turned quiet again and I checked the screen to make sure we hadn’t been disconnected. When I did, I saw the time. I’d been gone almost twenty minutes and it would take that long to get home. It wouldn’t matter how fast I went, we’d still be late meeting the builder. But at least if I headed to the brownstone now, rush hour would be over, and it wouldn’t take us long to get to his office.
“Jesse, I’m going to run back. I love you.”
Once I heard her say it back, I tucked my phone into my pocket, and I started my jog.