“The air from New York is making you crazy,” Thomas says. “When are you coming back?”

I shrug. Do I want to come back?

Twenty-Five

Miller

One Year after Claire left…

A moment.

One decision.

One move.

It doesn’t take much to define a person’s future.

There’s a reaction to every action. Dad repeated that every time I did something, like using the stairs to skateboard and breaking Mom’s expensive figurines. Playing baseball with my friends inside the house because it was raining outside.

“There’s always an effect,” he said while lecturing me. “Before you do something, think this: Can I live with the consequences?”

I like to say that in the past, I always thought before I acted. Ninety-nine percent of the time I made sure I could live with the outcome.

Except that one time. The one when I screwed up my life and my entire future.

I made the biggest mistake of my life, and I can barely live with what I did.

It was one moment. I made the wrong decision and didn’t think about what could happen afterward. Since then, my life is divided in two: before Claire Solis and after her.

My life changed in a matter of days and I didn’t notice until she was gone. It was impossible to continue without her. I’m still having trouble living without her.

She's changed me. There are some people who come into our lives for just a second and transform it in ways you don’t notice until one day you wake up and don’t recognize the person in front of you.

So, after Claire left, I became the boss she wanted. The guy everyone wants to work for, and my company is now one of the top advertising companies. I can’t complain about my professional life.

The rest sucks. The problem is, I’ve been having a hard time breathing because she’s not with me. I’m not interested in anyone else.

Am I still an asshole? Maybe.

But it's just with those who piss me off. She made me a better person. Now, I ask more than just one question. Can I live with the consequences is one? The second is, how would this affect those around me? The third and most important one, would Claire approve?

23 Media Inc. is a different concept. I made several changes after I almost lost my common sense and several clients.

It all began the day Thomas kicked my ass but not hard enough to kill me. I tried to do it myself by drinking enough to destroy my liver. I came to work drunk and didn’t give a shit about the company. Who cares about it when Claire isn’t part of it anymore?