Chapter 64 A Mile Too Far

Chapter 64 A Mile Too Far
(Trish's POV)

And so, we were all done. The exams, the sweat, the lockers slamming shut for the very last time, it was all behind us.

We were officially graduates in waiting, with exactly one week left until that peaceful Friday night when we’d walk across the stage in our caps and gowns.

I was downstairs in the living room, curled up on the sofa with Miss Britney and Joseph. The TV was humming with some mindless sitcom, and for the first time in months, the air in the house didn't feel heavy with the scent of textbooks or unsaid secrets. It felt like a family.

Joseph and I headed to the kitchen to bake some bread. We were having the time of our lives, tossing flour at each other until we were both dusted white and smeared with butter.

Then, my cellphone started screaming from my bedroom upstairs.

I excused myself, jogging up the stairs to escape the noise of the TV. I reached my nightstand and checked the screen. My heart did a slow, heavy roll in my chest. It was her.

"Hello? Trish speaking."

"Trish! It is so wonderful to hear your voice again," the woman’s tone was bright, polished, and unmistakably 'Big City.' It was Ms. Sterling Vance, the senior scout from the New York Writers Project who had first discovered me in the school library. "I have some monumental news for you."

I sat on the edge of my bed, my breath hitching. "Ms. Vance? What is it?"

"First, I am thrilled to announce that I have been officially assigned as your Personal Advisor. I’ll be handling both your professional trajectory and your personal transition into the city. But more importantly, Trish... your debut manuscript has officially entered the pre-publication and marketing phase. The buzz is already incredible. We are formalizing the star-author project in exactly one week."

"One week?" I whispered. A wave of joy surged through me, my words were finally becoming a physical reality. I was going to see my name on a spine. But that joy was instantly dampened by a cold realization. "Wait, you mean I have to be there?"

"Precisely," Ms. Sterling said. "You sound... hesitant, Trish. What’s going on?"

I looked at the open door of my room, then down at my hands. "I... I don't want to leave them, Sterling. My family. The project is a blessing, it’s everything I ever dreamed of, but New York is hundreds of miles away. It feels like I’m abandoning them right when they need me most."

"Trish, listen to me," Ms. Sterling’s voice softened, turning from executive to mentor. "Opportunities like this are like lightning, they don't strike twice. You have to be in the room when the doors open. If you don't catch this wave now, you might spend the rest of your life wondering 'what if.' Can you commit to this? Can you be a professional?"

I closed my eyes, the image of the 5.5 million dollar debt flashing in my mind. If I didn't go, I couldn't save the house. If I didn't go, I was just a girl with a dream and a pile of debt.

"I have graduation next Friday," I said, my voice trembling. "Will this encroach on that? I need to be there for my class. For Joseph."

There was a brief, painful silence on the other end. "Trish... I’m so sorry. I checked the schedule. To make the press junket and the formalization ceremony, you have to be in Manhattan by next Wednesday."

My heart broke. "Wednesday? But... that’s two days before graduation. I’ll miss it. I’ll miss everything."

"It’s the price of the life you’ve chosen, Trish," Evelyn said quietly. "Will you be on that flight? Yes or no?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat, the weight of my future crushing the breath out of me. "Yes," I choked out. "I'll be there. I'll move to New York on Wednesday."

I hung up the phone, the silence of the room suddenly feeling deafening. I turned toward the doorway, intending to go back downstairs, but I froze.

Joseph was standing there.

He was leaning against the doorframe, his face pale, his eyes shimmering with unshed tears. I realized then that I’d left the door wide open. He’d heard everything, the move, the date, the fact that I was leaving before we even got to say goodbye at graduation.

"Joseph," I breathed.

He didn't move. He looked heartbroken, his usual 'Golden Boy' armor completely shattered. He’d just started to be happy again; we were finally on the same page, and now I was turning the leaf and closing the book before he could even finish the chapter.

He didn't say a word, but the slight groan of the floorboards under his weight felt like a sob.

"You're leaving," he finally rasped, his voice thick with a pain that made me want to scream. "You're leaving before the walk. You're leaving... me?"