The Underwriting by Michelle Miller Read Free Book Online Page B

international correspondent for the Associated Press. She knew that his rugged tan skin, shaggy hair and green eyes that captured the intensity of his intellect must be attractive but intimidating to other girls. She assumed that, along with his constant movement, was why he’d never had a serious girlfriend. But she saw through his serious demeanor. To her, Charlie was the goofy older brother who let her put makeup on him when she was seven, the one who taught her how to raise just one eyebrow and, when she got older, sneak down the fire escape at night without anyone hearing.
    He was her best friend, her number-one confidant and fan. Which is what made it so hard to know she was about to let him down.
    â€œWhat did you decide?” he asked as soon as she came on the screen.
    â€œHey,” she said. “Where are you?”
    â€œIstanbul,” he said. “What did you decide?”
    â€œI’m going with L.Cecil,” she said. “I just signed my offer letter.”
    Charlie didn’t say anything. He hated Wall Street.
    â€œAnd I’m happy with my decision.”
    â€œWhy?” he asked.
    They’d already been through this when she accepted the banking internship last summer: was he really going to make her do it again? “Because I’ll learn a lot. And I’ll be around smart people. And it’ll open a lot of doors. And I’ll do things that matter.”
    As soon as the words came out of her mouth she regretted them.
    â€œDo things that
matter
?” His eyes flared up on the screen. “Helping rich corporations get richer? That
matters
to you?”
    â€œI don’t want to go work in Syria, Charlie. I’m sorry if you think that makes me a bad person.”
    â€œI don’t want you to work in Syria, either. I just want you to do something that’s meaningful.”
    â€œIt can be meaningful,” she said. “Corporations need money to—” She stopped herself, knowing she’d never win that argument. “It’s not like I’m doing it forever,” she said instead. “A lot of people only stay for a couple of years, then go do other things. And at L.Cecil I’ll get good training, and meet influential people, and then if I don’t feel like I’m making a difference, I can go to Africa or whatever and have more impact than I could now anyway.”
    â€œDo you know how many people say that? They suck you in, Kelly, and then all of a sudden you’re fifty and you’ve given your entire life to some firm that—”
    â€œI’m sick of being poor, Charlie,” she interrupted.
    Charlie stopped. They’d both gone to school on scholarship, and she knew he’d been as self-conscious about it as she was.
    â€œWell at least now you’re being honest,” he finally said.
    â€œI’m not going to change, Charlie, or get sucked in. You don’t have to worry about me.”
    â€œI’m your brother. It’s my job to worry about you.”
    â€œMaybe you should find a girlfriend to worry about.”
    â€œThere aren’t exactly a lot of eligible ladies for atheist American men here.”
    â€œWhy don’t you come back, then?” she asked carefully. He’d been in the Middle East permanently since 2010. She’d understood at first, but not anymore.
    â€œThey need me here, Kelly,” he said.
    She nodded at the camera, letting go of the hope that he’d come to California for her graduation.
    â€œI better get going,” she said, checking the time.
    â€œHot date?”
    â€œGoing to a concert.”
    â€œBe safe.”
    â€œSpeak for yourself, dear-brother-who-works-in-Syria.”
    â€”
    S HE TOOK OUT her journal—it was a big day and felt like it deserved to be recorded. Later she pulled up a dance playlist on Spotify and got ready for the night. Her phone buzzed with a text and she hurried to finish glossing her lips, taking