Welcome to the world of having an unstable woman as your boss: you never know what you are going to get from one day to the next.

FORREST

“What do you mean we don’t need to know where you are going!” Flynn yells across the office at me. “Harper is in danger, and you are just going to go off-grid and don’t give a fuck. I don’t understand you, Brother.”

“Calm down, Flynn, and let him talk.” Nic pushes Flynn into a seat while I just stand in front of them all with the emotion of a stone.

“Rem has her covered, and he’ll contact me if anything changes. I’m not going to be without my phone. I just can’t be here right now. I can’t see her all the time and watch her hurting.” My voice is flat and devoid of any feelings.

“What about you, you’re hurting too. Look at you.” Flynn throws his hands in the air in frustration at me.

“I’m a big boy and can look after myself. I don’t need your permission to be on my own. Harper needs space, and so do I.” Walking over to my brother who I know is only acting like this because he cares, I place my hand on his shoulder and squeeze it. “I’m not like you, Flynn, all full of noise and bluster. I need time to lick my wounds and regroup. I’ll be back, because like I said, she can have time to clear her head and overanalyze every damn single thing that happened between us, but nothing will have changed. She’s still the woman for me, and there is no way I’m giving up without a fight.” He is frowning at me, and I know it is probably just at the words I used to describe him.

“In the meantime, I’m relying on you and Felisha to keep her safe at night when she is on her own and frightened. Felisha will know what to do, she’s been there before. I just don’t know how bad it will get without me there. But I can’t worry about that now. In order to be the man she needs me to be, I have something I have to do first. Promise me one thing, though.” I wait for him to look me in the eye. “If she needs me, and not just a little bit but really needs me, you know, deep within her soul that she feels she can’t breathe without me, then you tell me, and I’ll be here. But until then, she’s yours to protect for me. If I can’t trust my brother and best friends, then I have been wasting my time all these years putting up with your three ugly faces every day.”

They all nod at me with that certainty that they won’t let me down.