Read Online Annihilate Me by Christina Ross - Free Book Online Page B

and her eyes filled with tears.   “I think I’m going to lose you,” she
said.
    “What
are you talking about?”
    “Jennifer,
if you take this job—and I think you should—you’ll be making half a
million a year.   I can’t compete
with that.   You’re not going to want
to live here.   You’ll be out of here
ASAP.   I’m sorry if this sounds
selfish, but I am going to miss you terribly when you go.”
    “Who
says you’re not coming with me?”
    “Oh,
Jennifer.   Come on.   You’re on the verge of having a
boyfriend now.   You’ve gotten what
you’ve fought for—a high-paying job doing exactly what you want.   If you want it, and I know you do.   I write about zombies, for Christ’s
sake.   I’m getting by, but I am so
far from your level now, it’s not even funny.”
    “And
when I was almost on my last dime, who was there for me?   You were, time and again.   During that period, I had the same
concerns.   I thought that if your
new book hit, which I pray to God it does, you might leave me because I
wouldn’t be able to afford the lifestyle you’d want.   And who could blame me?   Who in their right mind would want to stay
in this shithole any longer than they had to?   I was worried sick that you’d hit the
list again and want a better place.   Maybe one of your own.”
    “You
know I’d never do that to you.”
    “And
you think I would do it to you?   Seriously?   What’s the
difference?”
    That
shut her up.
    “We’re
a team,” I said.   “We’ve been one
since we were kids.   Do you really
think I’d leave you behind because of any of this?   I want you to enjoy this with me.   I’m
going to take the job, we are going to get out of this dump, and we are going
to find a killer apartment where we can live together.   Two sweet bedrooms.   Two beautiful bathrooms.   We can afford that now.”
    “I
think you’re being naïve.”
    “How?”
    “Because
he’s going to want to be with you in your apartment.   It’s just natural.   He’s going to want to come over and
spend time with you in your space, not ours .   And when you fully give yourself to him,
which will happen, he will want to spend the night with you alone , not with me there.   Don’t you see that?”
    “You
are my family,” I said.   “You have
been since the fifth grade.   Alex
has a lovely space.   When we want to
be alone, we’ll just go there.   Occasionally, we’ll all meet at our place and have dinner together.   Oh, and by the way, he wants to cook for
you.”
    She
wrinkled her nose at me.
    “That’s
what he said about an hour ago,” I continued.   “He wants to get to know you.   He wants to cook dinner for both of
us.   He knows how important you are
to me, and I think he instinctively knows that no one ever will come between
us.   If Alex and I want to be alone,
big deal.   He has a home for
that.   It’s not rocket science.   This is nothing for you to worry about,
so please don’t.   In a hot second, I
would give up him and this job before I ever gave you up.   And don’t think I’m joking.   You mean everything to me.   You know that.”
    “I
don’t want me and my zombies to hold you back.”
    “Your
zombies are going to change your life after this next book.   And the next book.   And the next.   Who are you kidding?   You’re already on your way.”
    “Jennifer,
I might have hit the list once, but nothing is certain.   I could fail the next time.   It happens.   In fact, it’s been over four months
since the last book came out, so it’s unlikely that it will happen.   Readers of ebooks want one book per
month from writers, and that is nearly impossible for anyone to do, unless
you’re just writing shit or a novella.   I’m an independent author.   Yes, readers liked the first book a lot.   Yes, the book was a best seller.   But fans want the next book now, not
next week.   On my Facebook fan page,
they’re already grousing