The older we get, the bigger the problems, and the more time we spend together trying to forget how much life sucks.
“Things can’t be that bad.” I’m not surprised by Tracy’s response. She married her high school sweetheart, works for her mom, and has a perfectly charmed life.
I’m not saying I’ve had the worst life, but it’s never been as easy as hers. Tracy doesn’t have to deal with a revolving door of stepparents, like Amber, an alcoholic mother, like Christina, or try to keep up with the impossible expectations of a high achieving family like mine.
“Listen, I’m about to lose an important case. If I do, my dad will fire me.” Amber glares at Tracy as she points at Christina. “Her mother showed up during a rehearsal—drunk.” She looks at me. “And we haven’t even heard what the fuck happened to you this time.”
“Let’s see…John Hopkins and Columbia closed the applications for their cardiology fellowships. My parents and brothers are—” I tilt my chin up the way Mother does when she’s upset, “—Extremely disappointed by my lack of drive. They can’t understand why I didn’t apply—again! I can’t continue working in the ER. I need to do…something with my life.”
“That’s nothing new,” Amber says.
I raise my index finger. “That’s the first. The four phone conversations were as painful as the emergency extraction from a patient's colon.” I glance at the three of them. “You don’t want to know what I had to fetch. I lost a patient. Another threatened to kill me, while choking me, and security took way too long to get there.”
I unwrap the silk scarf around my purple neck.
Tracy sighs and says, “I hate to agree with your parents, but you have to quit the ER.”
I rub my neck, nodding a couple of times. “The best part was when I arrived home and found Joan screwing Frank…By the way, I broke up with Frank, and I need to find a roommate because I can’t afford to pay rent otherwise.”
“And Nathalie wins the gauntlet!” Amber yells. “Extra shots for the queen of suckdom. You need 10 cc’s of happy juice STAT…or some shit like that.”
The table next to us shushes us. Amber glares at them and we all laugh. She can be scary.
“I can’t believe you’re not crying,” Christina mumbles.
“If you need to move to my house…” Tracy says.
The waitress appears, and we ask for another round of drinks.
“Bring two margaritas for her.” Amber points at me.
I wave my hands, signaling no. “I don’t need more tequila.”
“Yeah, you do.”
“Bad things happen to me when I drink tequila.”
Amber rolls her eyes. “Name one.”
“I slept with Brad Ruddenford. Then, there was the time when we were in Cancun, and I ended up in jail because I destroyed private property—my parents still won’t let me live that one down.”
“You were trying to redecorate the room.” Christina laughs. “Who sledgehammers a wall of a hotel with a nightstand?”
“I was watching too much HGTV. I owe that to tequila. If I drink anything else, my brain doesn’t break.”
“Calm your tits. We’ll take care of you,” Amber promises.
“Uh-huh, like the time I ended up swimming in the fountain of Washington Square Park?”
Amber waves her hand, dismissing me. “You know what your problem is?”
“Tequila?”
“No. You behave like a nun all the time. You never go against your parents’ or your brothers’ wishes. You follow every rule. Tequila just brings out all the shit you keep bottling up inside you. I bet there’s something you want to do, but you refuse because your family wouldn’t approve.”
Amber isn’t wrong. Everything I do is to…I don’t even know what I’m trying to do anymore. Make my parents proud? Keep them off my back? Something in between?
“Frank is the result of your mother’s pressure to date someone who’s good enough for the Brennan family. You never loved him,” Amber says.
I feel like I’m on trial. “Not the point.”
“When was the last time you did something for Nathalie?”
I grin. “When I’m under the influence of tequila, of course. By the way, did I tell you that Grampa’s partner called?”
“Who?”
“Dad’s father had a practice in this small town—Luna Harbor. When he died, he left me his share of the practice. His partner is retiring, and he wants to know what I want to do with my half.”
“Wait, wasn’t your grandfather a neurosurgeon?”
I laugh and shake my head. “That’s from my mother’s side. My father’s dad was just a family practice physician,” I whisper. “My parents would have kittens if I moved to Luna Harbor and took over his old job.”
I grin as I imagine Mom’s head exploding after discovering that her daughter is thousands of miles from home—in a small town.
I raise my glass. “I’m leaving.”
“What?”
“I’m serious! Tomorrow I’m quitting my job. Goodbye, dangerous shifts and shifty men.”
Amber grins and clinks her wine glass against mine. “To new beginnings.”
Chapter Two
Fisher
Know your place. If you’re not number one, do the impossible to become number one.
That’s my father’s advice for everything.
Everything.
Murphy Hannigan believes he’s a gift to Hollywood and the entire world. I can name at least a hundred actors who are not only better, but more famous than him. He’s mediocre at best. But I doubt anyone will ever tell him that he’s not Murphy the Great, as he likes to call himself.
But I’m sure you don’t want to hear about my father. I bet you’d rather hear about me. I’m Fisher Hannigan. My friends call me Fish. I’m part of Too Far From Grace, the best punk rock, alternative band in the world—which is currently on hiatus.
I work for a high intelligence security company—we’re also on hiatus.
Okay, so my whole fucking life is on pause.
You heard right. Fisher Hannigan—musician, Casanova playboy, and heartbreaker—is on hiatus.
The last time my name came up on social media, someone mentioned I was in some obscure country trying to get clean. That’s what happens when you’re part of a famous band and the son of two problematic actors. Everyone makes up shit about me.
Mom’s a C-lister, but she loves to have her name plastered on the tabloids. Dad’s no different, but his PR company knows how to spin the story. People like to speculate about my life. The band hasn’t performed in two years. Beacon, our front man got into an accident a year ago and almost died—they swear he was drunk and has an addiction problem. My girlfriend has been seen with other men.
I’ll let you in on a little secret. Laura and I aren’t exclusive. We’re not even official. The last time I saw her was almost a year ago at an award show. The band is on hiatus because Beacon had some family problems at first. Then, he was in an accident during a mission. He wasn’t drunk. He’s not in rehab battling an addiction.