“We got in.”
“You mean...”
“We got into Ignite.”
Lauren’s mouth fell open. She studied his face to make sure he wasn’t just messing with her. Another surprise about Landon was his love of practical jokes. “You aren’t fucking with me?” He shook his head. “Holy shit...we got into the incubator,” she whispered. She let out a loud whoop and jumped, nearly slipping in excitement. “We got into the incubator!”
He grinned widely at her and grabbed her by the shoulders. “You know what this means, right? Like, nearly all the companies that come out of Ignite have made insane amounts of money.”
“I know,” she smiled.
“But we’ve got a metric shit ton of work ahead of us to get there.”
“I know.” She closed her eyes and tilted her face to the water.
“Your parents are going to flip out. Ali is going to have a meltdown.”
She cleared the water from her eyes and flicked it at him. “They don’t even know what an incubator is.”
He grew serious and pulled her close, his deep brown eyes intent on hers. “No, but they’ll understand your success. You’ve done something really special here, Wren. Your life, their lives, just changed forever. I’m so, so proud of you.”
Squeezing him tightly, face pressed against his chest, she hoped the shower would mask her tears. After a moment, she said, “They aren’t going to be too impressed if we miss our flight. Go on. We can talk about all this on the way.”
Landon stepped out and caught her eye. “I love you.”
With a laugh, she shook her head. “I love you, too.”
As she toweled off, she wiped a spot clear of fog on the mirror. Even when she met her reflection, she still couldn’t believe all this had happened to her. She was still the same Lauren, right? The same girl from MIT who grew up in the middle of nowhere. She gazed into her eyes, waiting for the answer. Of course I am, she thought. I just reached a little higher than anyone expected, including myself.
Just as she was about to turn around to dress, she paused. With her index finger, she quickly scrawled a message in the steam.
“Wren, we really gotta go. The car is here!”
“Coming,” she replied. She read the message one last time with a smile before switching off the light.
I did it. I did it for them. I did it for our future.
January 24th
I think I might as well give up on journaling consistently, huh? I managed to find a calm moment to myself and felt the urge to open this up and write.
Where do I start?
Parker refuses to go away. We’ve actually taken to calling him herpes because it’s apparently impossible to get rid of him. The last two months have seen Charlie Sheen-level meltdowns. He’s throwing accusations at me right and left, blogging AND vlogging his ridiculous rants, all in an effort to grab whatever media attention he can. Worst part is, I can’t even respond because we’re in the middle of suing him for defamation, slander, and a bunch of other stuff. Even his father wants him to go away quietly but it’s not happening. Such a train wreck.
Anyway, enough about him. Christmas was amazing! We landed right before a huge storm hit and got over a foot of snow during the night. Landon was such a kid. He’d bought all new winter clothes before we left and jumped into it the second we woke up. We made snowmen, had snowball fights...I don’t think I’ve had that much fun since I was little. All Christmas day we just ate and drank and slept, lounging around in our new pajamas and stoking the fire. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.
Damon and Faith are taking things slow but she sounds so happy. I’ve made her managing director of StyleSpur, a long overdue promotion. I haven’t heard much from Damon, but he did send a present just before we arrived...a copy of The Art of War. Although I’ll miss New York, I’m glad I get to speak to them all the time.
I just moved into my new apartment last week and Ali is flying in tomorrow. I’m staring at a pile of her boxes as I write this. The place is substantially smaller than Landon’s but I can’t wait to make it our own. We’re only a few blocks away, but I think the distance will be good for now. Everything happened so quickly between us, I want to make sure we take our time moving forward. As for us...it’s amazing. I couldn’t ask for a better partner, both in business and in life.
I guess that’s it for now! The incubator starts in a little over a week and the next chapter in my life begins. It’s all still so surreal but I wouldn’t do a thing differently. Can’t wait to see what happens next!
I wanted to extend my gratitude to my wonderful husband. Thank you for embracing this adventure with me and never complaining when I type more than I talk!
I also want to give a big thank you to all my fantastic readers! It’s always so difficult to say goodbye to characters you love, but if you really can’t get enough of Lauren, Landon, Damon, and Ali, let me know!
If you enjoyed the series and have a spare minute, I’d love to hear what you think. Amazon, Email, Facebook, however you’d like to get in touch, I can’t wait to hear from you!
Look for my upcoming books on Amazon and thank you so much for reading!
Love,
Adele xx
The entire series:
Playing with Power - Book 1
Playing with Power - Book 2
Playing with Power - Book 3
Playing with Power - Book 4
Playing with Power - Book 5
Playing with Power - Book 5: New Adult Office Romance Page 14
