"Marie!"
I swung my brown fur coat over my shoulders with haste, and barreled toward the private corridor. There was no time for useless chatter. I was a day behind schedule, set to deliver the opening speech at a convention that commenced tomorrow, and I hadn't even begun the twenty-hour drive to Miami.
"We've had this conversation before, Jenna. Everything will be fine."
"This is the wrong time to be going on any kind of trip. You know that," she argued.
"You'll be fine. The executive team will be with you. You're the general manager. I reassure you, you are more than qualified to take over while I'm gone."
She tugged on my sleeve. I turned to acknowledge her, trying to suppress my growing annoyance.
"What is the matter, Jenna?" I complained.
"I'm not worried about that. I'm worried about you," she pressed.
I laughed incredulously. "Why on earth would you need to be worried about me?"
"You're not well-liked among our kind, you know that. If you were, you would have been comfortable with flying."
"I'm liked enough to be called to speak at a convention."
"Of course they like you. You've been going to that convention for thirty years. What about the people on the street, who can't afford a ticket, who'll see you as you walk in wearing that fancy dress, surrounded by cameras?"
She said that as if I wanted to dress that lavishly, or have my every waking moment filmed by the paparazzi.
I turned to my assistant. "Riley, Andrew's here, go ahead of me."
"Yes, Mrs. Linwood," the teenager replied, and squeezed past me.
I wished Riley would ditch the formalities. At this point, I was everything short of her mother. My attention returned back to Jenna, my mind battling offense. In the past weeks, my legendary patience had been lacking. This disagreement was not helping.
"What are you implying?" I demanded.
"I'm saying it's not safe. You know the kinds of crimes that have been happening to immortals the past couple years," Jenna said.
"They've been happening right here in New York City. Miami is no different."
"What if you get ambushed? Shot? What if the building gets bombed?"
"What does it matter if I get ambushed? I'm a hybrid immortal!"
"Andrew and Riley are not. What are you gonna do about them?"
"I'll protect them. None of that would ever happen. I've been going to that convention for twenty-nine years. This year won't be any different."
"And what happens if something does?" Jenna jabbed, "you forced Andrew and Riley to come with you. Do you want to get sued?"
"I didn't force them to do anything!" I argued, outraged.
"You gave them a fifty-thousand dollar advance and a five percent raise. Who in this economy would turn down that opportunity?"
I resumed my sprint down the hallway. If I entertained her accusations any longer, I risked making a rash decision I couldn't reverse. I pressured Riley to come with me because I couldn't bear the fact that Riley would go hungry all week. The second she turned eighteen, her parents shoved her out of their lives. She would have been dead if it weren't for me.
"Marie, you haven't been yourself for weeks. You're not thinking clearly, you've been having night terrors and dizzy spells," she whined, "you don't need to go anywhere."
"Oh my God, I told you, it's just stress. Now, I really need to get out of here," I said.
I zipped up my coat and stepped out into the snow infested city. Spring couldn't come fast enough.
Deep within my heart, I knew a half-immortal shouldn't be plagued with night terrors and a whirling head, but what was I supposed to do? I couldn't cancel on everybody now. I had one opportunity a year to teach young minds how to beat the system and come out of poverty. I was not prepared to waste that. No matter what crossed my path, I wouldn't die.
Andrew stood outside the door, standing in the February air, his arms exposed to the cold.
I ran to him. "Oh my God, Andrew, you don't have a coat? Your hands!"
"I spent the advance you gave me on my wife and children, I didn't want them to be cold."
"When we get to Miami, I'll buy you a coat, from wherever you want," I vowed.
A twinge of guilt hit my chest. The burden of the second depression always held a place in the back of my mind, considering I spent the majority of my childhood suffering in the first. I tried so hard to help this time, but apparently, my efforts weren't enough. A chunk of the public wished I'd shut my hotels and throw away all the money. I would have if they were truly mine.
"The bags are in the car, Marie. We don't need to stop by the mansion, we can just drive straight there," he said.
"Oh, Andrew, you didn't have to do that."
"I know, I just wanted to take some of the stress off."
I leaned against the black, leather seats, enjoying the gentle hum of the heater as Andrew prepared to drive off. I didn't understand why Andrew was so kind. I was taking away from his family for an entire week.
Jenna emerged from the hotel, as if she were trying to pursue me. I didn't want her to draw attention to me.
Andrew drove off into the city. The first ten hours of the journey were covered in boring darkness, each minute passing by like an eternity. I cashed in my weekly slumber last night without thinking, and now had to endure endless boredom.
But then again, maybe the boredom wasn't so bad at all. My life was full of action, a raging machine that never stopped for anything.
A van was moving full-speed ahead on the left-side of the intersection, just as the traffic light turned green. It wasn't going to stop, and it came directly for the driver.
I threw myself on top of him, pinning him to the seat.
"Andrew!"
The force of the van's impact shattered the driver's side window, a few shards flying into my arm.
I tumbled off of him as the airbag deployed, my ankle twisting in a direction it hadn't in years.
But that was alright. I would recover. Andrew wouldn't.