I glanced around the electrical room of my Manhattan office with a frown. I hardly ever got called in. Especially not at two in the morning. It looked like something chewed through the wires in here, shorting the circuits. To most people, they would assume rats were the culprit and move on. I wasn't most people. This also wasn't the first time something like this happened.

I listened closely as the electrician continued talking. "So, it seems like a normal power failure issue. Rats are common with this problem." I see he's most people, I thought as he continued. "We're working with your team to make sure no one tampered with anything here." I retract my last thought.

"You said this happened before?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered with a nod. I slid my hands in the pockets of my black Armani business suit. "Two years ago, another company did something like this in an attempt to get information about my software." I gave the electrician a half smirk. "That company no longer exists."

The electrician raised his brows as he adjusted his hard hat. "Wow, well, let's hope it doesn't come to that."

Indeed. I wasn't in the mood to deal with another corporate conspiracy theory. Not only was this a busy time of the year for me, but it was also the hardest to deal with. As the months went on, the upcoming anniversary of my parent's death haunted me more and more it seemed.

"Sir?" The electrician called, pulling me out of my dark thoughts.

"Yes, I'm sorry. What were you saying?"

"You're free to go. We'll be in touch with you and your team to keep you updated."

"Thank you. I appreciate all your help." I left the electrical room and pulled my cell phone out of my pocket. I opened my calendar and scrolled through the usual work shit. I had countless meetings scheduled for the next two weeks. Not to mention, a very important lunch with the head of Microsoft.

Dread filled me as I thought of having to sit through another meeting talking about data and spreadsheets. I rather be doing anything else. Decision made, I opened my email and sent a message to my assistant, Anne, to cancel all my appointments for the next two weeks. I don't know if I just needed time or a vacation. Whichever it was, I just knew that being here, at work, wasn't going to help me. Not—not now. 

I stepped off the elevator and slid my phone back in my pocket. When I got to the entrance, the doorman had a cab waiting for me already. I've worked here a long time; and one thing I made certain to do when I started was get to know every single person who worked for me. Even the doorman.

"Have a nice night, Mr. Williams."

"Same to you, Tom," I replied. I walked through the door he held open for me before getting into the waiting cab. The sound of Indian music filled my ears as I called out my address to the cabbie, "740 Park Avenue."

"Yes, sir," the driver answered as we started off.

I gazed out of the car window, watching as the buildings whizzed by in a blur. I rolled my neck on my shoulders, trying to ease the tension there. When that didn't work, I tried massaging my aching neck with my hand.

"Rough night?" I heard the cabbie ask with his thick accent.

I dropped my arm and let out a deep sigh. "Try a long seven months."

A laugh came from the driver's seat. "Don't I know it. What do you do?"

"I run a software company," I answered as I noticed a picture of a man, woman, and child taped to the dash. "Is that your family?" I asked curiously.

I saw him smile sadly before he met my eyes in the mirror. "Yes, they are back in India. I'm new here and hoping soon I can bring them."

"That's rough," I replied honestly. I felt for the guy. When my father was alive, I barely saw him. He was always traveling for work to support me and my mom. I couldn't imagine being away from my wife and kids. If I was ever lucky enough to find that.

As we approached my building I reached into my pocket and pulled out my wallet. Tucked away behind my barely used American Express cards was the cash I also rarely spent and two blank checks.

A rule of mine was to be ready for anything. Hurricanes, crazy ex-girlfriends, the apocalypse—anything. It was something my dad taught me. It was the only reason I carried cash on me in this city. In this case, I pulled out one of the blank checks and wrote it out to cash for five thousand. I didn't know how much it costs to bring a wife and child over, but I hoped it would help.

After he stopped in front of my building, the cabbie read me the total of the fare. "Okay, sir. That's $27.50."

I handed him the check, plus cash for my fare, and got out of the cab. 

"Sir," he called through the window, "I can't accept this!"

I leaned down and his face had pure shock written all over it. His eyes were wide. His mouth was hanging open. I gave him a kind smile through the open passenger window. "You bring that wife and kid over here, okay? Then we're square."

The man's eyes watered and he clutched the check to his chest. "Thank you! I will repay you somehow."

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Raj, sir."

I grabbed a business card from my pocket and handed it out to him through the window. "Name's Sean. No more 'sir'. The only payback I need is to see that wife and kid once you bring them into the States. Deal?"

He took the card and clasped both of his hands around mine firmly, clearly feeling. "Oh, yes, sir! I mean—Sean. Thank you, again."

I tapped the door frame twice as I wished him well and headed off to my building. It felt nice helping someone, especially when they needed it more than me. I rarely spent the money I made. I either invested it or put it into savings. Don't get the wrong idea that I was some knight in shining armor or a hero. I wasn't. It may look like that on the outside; but on the inside, I was a fucking mess. 

That was one reason I liked helping people when I could. It seemed to make me forget about all that inner demons shit. For the few minutes that I'm making someone else feel good, or happy, I feel the same way. For those few minutes.

After I finally made it to the top floor of my building, I walked into my loft and went straight to my bed. I fell onto the plush mattress; not even bothering to change my clothes. Christ, I was exhausted.

Chime-chime

I closed my eyes, hoping if I did, whoever was texting me would go away.

Chime-chime

Chime-chime

With a heavy, frustrated sigh, I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I squinted at the sudden brightness when the screen came on.

CRAZY Amy: Seany! Are you up? 2:34am

CRAZY Amy: Please tell me you're coming to The Hamptons this weekend!! 2:35am

CRAZY Amy: I know you miss me... 2:35am

A disgusted groan passed through my lips as I read the messages. Crazy Amy was a very unfortunate drunken mistake that happened over a year ago. We had one night together at a New Year's party. I actually liked her at first. We talked for a few hours and had dinner. We hooked up, gave it a shot for a few months, then...the crazy came out.

She became obsessed with who I talked to, where I was, and what I was doing. I eventually moved and changed my number. Twice. Too exhausted to even think about how she got my new number, I deleted the message and got up to take a shower. I wanted to wash the entire day off of me. Maye it would help.

My original plan was to go to The Hamptons this weekend. After all, for the 4th of July in New York City, that's what people did who lived the lifestyle of the rich and shameless.

Chime-chime

"Fuck it," I said, knowing Crazy Amy is still texting m "I'm going to Atlantic City."

I gripped the steering wheel of my 2019 Audi R8. While taking a sip of my hot Espresso, I glanced at the clock. I groaned when it changed from 3:40am to 3:41am. Two and a half hours to go, I thought as I pushed on the accelerator. I was never up this late. I should have waited until I got some sleep to make the drive to Atlantic City. Unfortunately, knowing my luck, CRAZY Amy would have shown up at my goddamn door.

One reason I chose Atlantic City was because, as a frequent player there, they always had my suite available. Two, only my closest friends would think to even look for me there, and three, it WASN'T the fucking Hamptons.

I merged onto the George Washington Bridge. Thankfully, it wasn't as busy as it normally was. When I got about half way over it, I noticed something in the distance.

"Wait, is that..."

As I got closer, dread filled me and I slammed on my brakes, pulling off to the side as much as I could. The bridge didn't really have the space for parking. 

"Holy shit," I breathed as I stared out of the windshield. There was a woman standing on the side.

And it looked like she was going to jump.