Page 106 of Yours, For Now

"The thing is, Lina is as busy as I am, and we were on the same page when we first… got together. We knew we really didn't have a life where we could be together and continue with everything the same. She has goals that matter as much to her as mine matter to me. She might not want to sacrifice them— I don'twanther to sacrifice them. But if I don't know how to help her figure that out, if she were even willing… I don't know how to do that for myself, either."

I took a deep gulp of air. "I need to find ways to make more time for myself, and the only thing I can think of is giving up soccer. I think I might have to ask Jake to help me with a few things, but I want to know if you think that will put me at risk with the board, because I can't risk that."

It was only after I'd finished, most of the air gone from my lungs, that I noticed I'd pressed the palm of my hands against my thighs, pushed, and kept pushing. Enough was up in the air that I'd needed to ground myself somehow, and my legs had been where I'd moored myself.

I released the tension in my shoulders and rubbed my hands on the rough fabric of my jeans.

I pursed my lips. "I don't know what to do. I don't want to break up with Lina, but I also don't want to fail you."

My parents frowned simultaneously.

Dad spoke first. "Fail us? What are you talking about?"

"The transition to CEO, Dad. You want to retire and I need to convince the board to let me take over. I don't take that lightly. The stadium deal is going to do a lot for me that way, but I still have to prove I deserve the role. I'm not going to risk any of it, not your dream of early retirement nor me getting the CEO role like we all want. I just don't know how to do it all. If I drop soccer and I rearrange a few of my responsibilities, maybe I can—"

I made to grab the folders I'd left on the empty chair next to me, but my dad waved a hand to stop me.

"Wait, Gabe. No. First of all, you can't fail us. We're all together in this. We're all here to help you in the transition; it's a team effort."

"But if I want to be good for the role and earn the promotion— if I want to be able to walk in your shoes and deserve it— I need to learn how to manage it all, like you did."

I pressed my lips together, the vibrations from my vocal chords traveling from my throat down to my lungs, leaving an electrical charge in their path. Anything could flip the switch, and it would be hard to breathe.

"Oh, hijo." My mom brought her hand to me again, her love and warmth blanketing the section of skin where she touched me.

"You think I manage it all?" Dad's eyes searched mine.

"I know you do. You did everything I'm trying to do and more. You had a wife and two kids while you built this up. Ihaveto figure this out, too."

"It's never been me alone, Gabe. Now I have your mom, you, Vi, Jake, and our whole team."

"And what about back then? It was you and mom alone. I know the toll it had on you both. I know you were stretched thin."

I didn't need to remind them of those times. If I had one salient memory, I was sure they had many more.

"We were managing a much smaller company back then, and don't be mistaken, hard work is part of success, but it's not all of it. Plenty of people work just as hard and don't get the same opportunities we did." Dad leaned forward, elbows on the table and hands linked. "We have a lot of privilege and we had a lot of luck. Let us use it to help you. You're putting too much pressure on yourself. That time was hard, but I don't need to pass that on as part of your inheritance. I don't want you to feel like you need to sacrifice your happiness for anything, not even the company."

"We had each other, Gabe." Mom squeezed my arm. "If you can have that with Lina, then we're happy you're trying to figure it out. You could never disappoint us for trying to have that."

"But your retirement…"

"I'm still young, hijo. Working an extra year or two is perfectly fine, if it means you have a chance at finding something good with someone special. Those years were hard but, you know what made it possible?" He took my mom's hand, and gave her an adoring look I'd seen him give her many times through the years. My mom smiled back at him with the same kind of love. "Having your mom by my side."

Fondness for my parents rippled through me, a comforting tide moving across every corner of my being. They continued to gaze at each other with deep affection, and it echoed in my DNA, each gene they'd given me recognizing what mattered. Love mattered. Oak-sized and mature like theirs, or a tender sprout from an acorn, fighting to take root in the ground, like what I felt for Lina.

Mom turned to me, her eyes sparkling. "Our family as a whole— we don't have to work. Each one of us could live off the interest we get for our investments alone, and live a grand life. Yet none of us chooses to do so. Why? Because we all get something out of the work we do. I love that I get to run foundations and social assistance projects, and disrupt conversations at the club, when I say we should all be giving more money away." She smirked.

"And I love to funnel money to her," my dad laughed. "And do things right, rewriting the narrative for companies like ours. You have that, too, Gabe— don't lose sight of that. You couldn't fail us, okay? Jake and I and the rest of the team will help. We will make it work— We. Together. So don't break up with Lina… not for this."

My hand still hovered over the folders, my fingertips barely touching the hardened plastic cover.

I smiled as I pulled away from them. My eyes skipped back and forth between my parents. "I have always looked up to the two of you. If I can be half as good as you are, I'll have achieved every dream I've had. I love you both, so much."

"And we love you." Mom squeezed my arm one last time. "If Lina makes you happy, then I hope you make her happy, too."

"I'll try my hardest to get her to stick with me. You're itching to adopt more of my people, aren't you?"

My parents laughed, and I grinned, and with their love blowing wind at my back, I finally had permission to give my love for Lina a chance.