Olivia rolled her eyes right back at me. Even at twenty-eight, we still brought out each other’s childish sides. “Yeah, yeah. Wishful thinking, I guess. So, if you’re not getting your lady parts pleasured by some super hot CEO or whatever it is you're into, whatisyour big news?”
I shook my head, my face heating up over the fact that Olivia actually uttered those words in front of our mothers. “I wouldn’t exactly call it news, per se. I don’t even know if I’m going to accept the offer.”
My mom’s head swung around, and she stared at me with her mouth slightly agape. “Offer? As in a job offer? I thought you loved your job.”
“I did. I mean, I do, but this is a huge opportunity. That’s why I didn’t even bother to tell you all that I applied. I never in a million years thought I would actually get the job.”
“Well,” Olivia bounced up and down on the balls of her bare feet and waved her arms around. “Don’t keep us hanging! What is the job?”
This was something I had always loved about my sister. Her life was much more exciting than mine from the time we were kids, but that never stopped her from being my biggest fan and celebrating my accomplishments that others would findboring.
“It’s a data scientist position at VisuSphere, which is a technology company that’s supposed to be fairly similar to Google, but last year, Forbes predicted that they are on track to eventually becomemoresuccessful than Google. The best part is that the CEO is not just a woman, but a lesbian.” I put my hand up when Olivia gave me a look I knew all too well. “Amarriedlesbian in her mid-sixties.”
“Fine. You’re not going to live out the CEO fantasy I have for you, but that still sounds awesome. Not gonna lie, I have no clue what a data scientist does, but I have no doubt that you’ll rock it. Is the company based in Philly?”
My smile dropped slightly at the reminder of my required relocation. “No. That’s why I’m not sure if I want to take it. I’d have to move to New York.” I reached out and squeezed Olivia’s arm, keeping my eyes on her to avoid looking at my moms, who I worried would be upset about my potential move. “But, it’d be pretty cool to be living in the same city as you.”
“Fuck!” Olivia shouted so loudly that half of our family and friends standing in the yard turned to look at her.
“Olivia, what did we tell you about using that kind of language at your grandparents’ house?” our mama scolded. “If your grandma hears that, she’ll have a heart attack.”
I was less worried about my grandma hearing her swear and more worried about the fact that my sister didn’t sound happy about the prospect of me moving to New York with her.
Olivia held up one finger and looked at our mama. “First of all, grandma couldn’t hear a marching band playing outside of her bedroom door. There’s no way she heard that.” She turned toward me and held up a second finger. “Second of all, Ireallywish you had told me that like ten minutes ago.”
Okay, now I was really confused. “What happened ten minutes ago?”
“Quinton asked me to move in with him.”
Even though I was happy for my sister, a lump formed in my throat. “In Philadelphia?”
Olivia nodded, eyes dramatically wide. “We’ve been talking about it ever since he moved to Philly, but I wasn’t ready to leave New York yet. It wouldn’t make sense for him to come to me when my plan was always to move closer to home at some point anyway. It must be all the love in the air, but all I could think about throughout the ceremony was how I didn’t want to be away from him anymore, and it turns out, he was thinking the same thing. He told me he understood if I wanted to stay in New York longer, but he wanted me to know that whenever I was ready to move, he was ready to have me. And I figuredwhat the hell?It’s time. Sure, I’ll be leaving my life in New York, but I’ll be moving closer to not only the love of my life, but also the majority of the family.” Olivia raised both eyebrows at me. “At least, I thought it would be. If I had known about your job, I would have told him I want to stay in New York longer. Hell, I could still tell him that.”
Olivia pointed her thumb in what I assumed to be the direction of where Quinton was and turned as if she were about to walk over to him right then, without any more discussion.
I grabbed her arm to stop her. “Don’t tell him that. You two are clearly ready to take this next step. I think you should take it. I honestly don’t know if I’ll even accept the job.”
The thought of accepting the job felt much less appealing than it had a few minutes ago. The thought of moving to New Yorkwithmy sister there was scary enough. Moving to New York with absolutely no one to lean on was downright terrifying. I didn’t know if any job was worth it, even if this one was everything I had dreamed about.
Before Olivia could say anything, we were interrupted by the sound of an incoming email on my phone. I pulled it out tofind it was the contract from VisuSphere. I told myself I should put my phone away and open the contract later, but my curiosity got the best of me, and I tapped the phone screen. I thought my eyes might pop out of my head when I saw the salary front and center on the first page of my contract. It was even more than I expected.
A choked sound rang in my ear, and I looked over to find that Olivia was now leaning over my shoulder and reading the contract as well. “Is that real? Shit, I should have worked harder at school.” Olivia put her arm around me and squeezed my shoulder. “You have to take the job. I know it sucks that you’ll be leaving when I’m coming, but you can’t turn down an opportunity like this.”
“She’s right,” my mama said from where she was standing now right beside me. “Your mom and I obviously believe that it’s up to you to make the final decision when it comes to how you live your life, but I think you’d regret it if you didn’t take this leap.”
My mom winked at me. “I also vote that you take that leap, but like your mama said,youneed to followyourheart.”
At that moment, my heart knew exactly what it wanted. I could scientifically analyze the pros and cons of taking the job, but I’d always come to the same conclusion—this was what I needed to do.
I took a deep breath and blew it out as I prepared myself to say the words out loud. “You’re right. I’m going to do it. I’m taking the job.”
Olivia screeched loudly, once again gaining the attention of almost everyone at the wedding. “We have so much to celebrate.” She whipped her head around. “Where’s Ronan? We need him. We’re going to do shots as a family. I’ll find him.” She snapped her fingers as if she had just remembered something. “Before we do that, I need to break the news to Jax though. Itwouldn’t be right to keep her in the dark about something that directly affects her.”
Jax Michaels had been my sister’s best friend ever since they met as roommates during our freshman year of college. To this day, the two of them still lived together in New York.
“It’s not like it will be a shock to her,” Olivia continued, as if she was trying to convince herself. “We’ve been discussing this possibility for a while. I’ll just have to help her find a new roommate.” Olivia’s eyes went wide, but this time there was a new light behind them as she looked at me. “Oh my god. You and Jax. It’s perfect!”
“What about me and Jax?” I asked hesitantly.
