Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 132464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
I stare at my phone. I’ve never thought about it that way. Holy shit. I think Jonas might have a point. I was Dad’s golden boy, his heir to the Faraday throne, and Jonas and I both knew it. All these years I’ve felt guilty to have garnered so much of Dad’s favor and attention—but did I actually draw the short straw, after all?
“You might have a point,” I write. “I never thought about it like that.”
“I’ve got more than a point. I’m right as rain. I’m the smart twin, remember? Never doubt me.”
“You wish.”
“Hey, I’m not the one who didn’t tell my hot girlfriend I’m moving to her city,” Jonas writes. “DUMBSHIT.”
I scowl at my phone. Jonas knows I’ve got no comeback to that. “Yeah, I fucked up,” I write.
“So did Kat break up with you when she found out?” Jonas writes.
“No, but almost,” I write. “I salvaged it. I made her play Scrabble with me until she forgave me.”
“Scrabble?” Jonas writes.
“Fun game, as it turns out, if you get creative with your words.”
“Hmm. I see what you mean. I’m already thinking about all sorts of four-letter words I could play.”
“There you go.”
“So everything’s good now?” Jonas writes. “Kat’s happy again?”
Typhoid Joe coughs violently across the waiting room and I momentarily look up from my phone. Fuck me. I hate not telling Jonas what’s going on with Colby. I never hide stuff from Jonas. But there’s no fucking way I’m gonna throw a dark cloud over the biggest day of my brother’s life.
“Everything’s great,” I write.
“Good. Don’t fuck it up again, Josh. Kat’s a great girl.”
“I’ll do my best. The question is whether I can avoid fucking it up when I don’t realize I’m fucking it up?”
“I feel you. Just think, ‘What Would Dad Do?’ and then do the opposite,” Jonas writes. “That’s pretty much my true north.”
“Good advice.”
“Hey, so what’s up with the MacKenzie deal for F&S?” Jonas writes. “Last loose end. Dying to make that fucker go away.”
“Dude. I don’t give a shit about the MacKenzie deal or anything else relating to F&S,” I write. “That place can burn to the ground as far as I’m concerned. Sayonara, fucker.”
“I’d agree if it weren’t for Uncle William. We can’t leave him hanging. Plus, the payday on the buy-out’s gonna be sweet if we set it up right.”
I pause. Jonas is right. The MacKenzie deal itself isn’t that rich, but we each stand to net close to half a billion in cash in the buy-out of Faraday & Sons by a huge conglomerate if we leave the company on strong legs, everything in place. “Okay,” I tap out. “I’ll work up the MacKenzie deal this week and put it to bed.”
“Thanks,” Jonas writes. “I’d do it myself but Sarah would kill me if I worked while we’re in Greece.”
“No. Don’t do a fucking thing. Just get engaged and bang your new fiancée every which way for the rest of the trip. I’ll handle it.”
“Roger that. Thanks, Josh.”
“Now get some sleep, bro. You’ve got a big day tomorrow.”
“Today, actually. I’m ten hours ahead.”
“Oh yeah. Well, get some sleep, either way,” I write.
“I don’t sleep, remember? Sarah says I’m a droid.”
“Man, she’s got you pegged.”
“In more ways than one.” He attaches a smiley-face emoji.
I roll my eyes. “Try to sleep for a bit, Jonas. You gotta be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when you bore Sarah to fucking tears at the top of Mount Olympus.”
“I’m not gonna bore Sarah to fucking tears at the top of Mount Olympus, motherfucker—I’m gonna bore her to fucking tears on the shore of the Aegean down below.”
“Either way, you need to rest up so you can bore her to fucking tears EXCELLENTLY, wherever the fuck you do it.”
“I sense mockery in that all-caps word.”
“Correct, sir.”
“Oh man, I’m so excited,” Jonas writes. “I’m about to become the happiest asshole-motherfucker alive.”
“So you keep telling me, Jonas. Over and over and over.”
“Sorry. I’m just so happy. It’s a new feeling for me. I don’t quite know how to handle it.”
I grin broadly at that. “I’m happy for you, Jonas. It’s pretty crazy. I never thought I’d see the day when either of the Faraday boys would ask a woman to be his wife. You’re shocking the hell out of me, actually.”
“I’m shocking the hell out of myself. It’s awesome! Hey, you think maybe you’ll shock the hell out of us, too? And maybe soon?” He adds a winking emoji and a cat.
“Hell no. Asking any woman to be my wife isn’t in my life plan, dude—even a woman as awesome as Kat. You’ll just have to represent for both of us.”
“With pleasure,” Jonas writes. “I can’t wait to call Sarah my wife.”
I roll my eyes again. “Good night, Jonas. Have fun tomorrow (today). Text me right after you ask her. I’ll drink a shot of Patron in your honor.”