Destiny (The Academy Series Book 1)

by D. D. Larsen

  Destiny

  Destiny

  Book One of The Academy Series

  D. D. LARSEN

  Copyright 2021 D. D. Larsen

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, taping or by any other means, unless given written permission from the author, except in case of brief quotations used in articles and reviews. This is a work of fiction. Names, places, and characters are used fictiously and not based on actual events and people.

  ISBN: 9798590496785

  For all those that need a push to follow their dreams.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 1:

  June 1, 2020

  Adam Ford

  Senior Research Manager

  Amtika

  1480 17th St.

  Denver, CO 80204

  Dear Mr. Ford,

  I would like to notify you that I am resigning from my position as Research Assistant for Amtika, effective June 15, 2020.

  Thank you very much for the opportunity you’ve given me to learn all about pharmaceutical research and new age biological technology. I have genuinely enjoyed my time with the company, and I believe the experience has taught me important skills and given me insight into the industry.

  This will be my official notice. I will be around to assist in any way I can until I leave.

  Best Regards,

  Jamie Carter

  I press send on the email, lean back in my chair, and take a deep breath.

  My dream-job-turned-nightmare is over.

  Since graduation, my path has been lined with mistake after mistake. I need some time back home to get my mind straight.

  My apartment is packed, and everything is shoved into the new Subaru Crosstrek I bought last year when everything was still looking so hopeful. All I ever wanted to do was be successful, put in the work, and make my way to the top. Escape my small town.

  But I’ve blown it. Big-time.

  As I get on the highway to make the hour drive to the small town where I grew up, the tears start to fall. I have failed and it’s all my fault. I’m not even twenty-six, and I feel as if my life is ruined. The hole I have dug myself feels inescapable. This mistake is only my most recent mistake of many.

  I left home because I felt trapped. My hometown has its claws deeper into me then I realized. As the life I have built over the last seven years crumbles around me, my childhood town seems to call me back by promising comfort. I just hope I will be welcomed back after the way I left.

  My tears slowly dry up as the familiar scenery of home surrounds me. My heart comforted by the familiar beauty of the mountains. But not enough. I’m back, but more lost than ever.

  Chapter 2:

  Three years ago, when I landed the job as Executive Assistant to the CEO of Amtika right out of college, I was ecstatic. My college friends weren’t having much luck, yet I had accepted a good job with one of the top biotech companies in Colorado, offering a lot of opportunity. It was everything I was looking for in my first job. With my salary, I was able to rent an apartment in the city and walk to work every day. I’d made it. The hard work had finally paid off.

  Then, I did something stupid.

  I slept with my boss. He made me feel special; he made me feel different—until we got caught in his office. To save face, I got transferred to the research department. This move was in the direction I had original hoped to progress, but it felt like a punishment, not a promotion. And I got dumped, or more like ghosted.

  I had never planned on being an executive assistant. With my Chemistry Degree, I’d planned to work in research, discover the next cure for cancer, or discover something groundbreaking to help save lives. But all the entry level jobs I looked at wanted five years’ experience, which seemed like a total oxymoron.

  During my job search, the Executive Assistant position opened up, and I figured it couldn’t hurt to apply. Somehow, I got it, even though I didn’t have much of a resumé. I was so happy to be part of such a well-known company. I figured it was a stepping stone, since everyone always says that once you are in the company, it is easier to move around to a new positions.

  From day one, I took the job seriously. I’m a very organized person; lists and color coding has always been my go-to for keeping things straight. My boss, Mr. White, was busy; always traveling and rarely stepping foot into the office.

  I didn’t meet him for three months. All our correspondences had been done through email. When he walked in the first time, I recognized him from his photo, but was shocked by his age. He couldn’t have been older than thirty, yet he held an air of authority.

  If I’m honest, the first time I saw him was the beginning of the downhill spiral. His tailored suit that accentuated his ice blue eyes and dusty blonde hair instantly attracted me. And he could tell.

  At five-foot-ten, I am not a petite female. I’ve always favored working out to starving myself to stay thin. I’m not the girl that catches guys’ eyes. My dark brown hair and cool blue eyes make a unique look, but most guys back off once they get to know me. I am very strong-willed. I know what I want, and I ask for it. My parents taught me that was the way to make people respect me.

  Yes, I thought my boss was very attractive, but I never planned on doing anything about it. I continued to do my job and be as professional as I had always been. Over the next month, I noticed him coming into the office more often. Then, he called me into his office. I thought I was in trouble; he had never called me into his office to speak to him before.

  His name was Liam White, and he asked me to call him Liam – right before he bent me over his desk and fucked me. Red flag number 1.

  I know it was wrong. He didn’t make me do it; he didn’t have to. I already wanted to. The entire month since he first walked into the office, I had been fantasizing about him doing just that. He was built and tall, and just my type.

  The next month went by and neither of us mentioned anything. By this point, he was in the office almost every day.

  One night, I went out for my friend’s birthday and I saw him at the upscale bar we were going to end our night at. He was sitting in the back corner and his eyes found mine the second I walked in. We left together and returned to his apartment.

  Over the next few months, he wooed me. Taking me to fancy restaurants, trips, and spending a lot of time at his apartment. It was always just the two of us. When we went out we always traveled outside the city. Red flag number 2.

  At the office, we kept it professional – at least mostly. Occasionally, I snuck into his office for a quickie, but we kept it quiet. Nobody knew about our secret love affair.

  Yes, love. I fell fast. I fell hard. He was everything I wasn’t supposed
to have. I was everything I told myself I would never be. This was not who I was as a person, but I was determined to be different than the other girls who slept with their bosses.

  I had been working for Amtika for two and a half years when I got promoted to research assistant. Or moved to, after I got caught in a compromising position with my boss in his office. I was so excited to finally be working in a lab that I didn’t even think about what it would entail.

  Hours upon hours of pipetting materials and cleaning glassware and equipment. I buckled down and suffered through it, knowing I needed to pay my dues before I could rise in the ranks.

  Even in my new position, I kept seeing glimpses of Liam around the office. It had been two years since we started, in my mind, dating, but I learned he had a different idea of what we were doing. Just as I thought we were heading towards the next step, he completely cut things off. I figured it was because of us getting caught. He wouldn’t return any of my messages. In my head I knew it was over, but my heart wasn’t ready.

  Four months after I switched positions, I confronted him. I needed a final answer as to where we stood.

  That was the day I realized that I had never been more than a convenient fuck.

  I was determined to not let it affect me. We were just fuck buddies, so why did I care?

  But it did affect me. A lot. I thought I was in love with him. He asked me to meet him for dinner to further discuss, but I said no. I couldn’t keep torturing myself.

  Three years after I started my perfect job, I was miserable. I was doing a job I thought I would love, but actually hated. Every time I stepped into the building I thought of Liam.

  Home held a mixture of feelings for me: my lost brother, friends I had alienated, and an underlying feeling I could never seem to brush aside. It was time to return.

  My car slows as I crest the last hill on the windy road leading to my town. The snowcapped mountains frame the town, descending into mountainsides of lush, evergreen trees. Something gleaming on one of the hills, towering over the buildings below, catches my eye—The Academy.

  As my car crawls along, I know I am trying to push off my arrival home, if even by a few minutes. I’m home, but with that comes painful memories.

  Two rights and a left and I find myself pulling up in front of my parents’ house. A few flowers peek out of a pot on the wood porch wrapping around the front of the house. Everything looks the same, but I feel like something is different. Something in the air is putting me on edge.

  I brush it off as nervousness since I have avoided home for the last seven years.

  As I walk into my childhood house, I let out the breath I feel like I’ve been holding for months. The smell of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies drifts from the kitchen, engulfing me in comfort.

  Before I can set my bags down, I’m charged by my dog, Moon, who stayed with my parents when I left for college. Through the excited barks and sloppy kisses, I pet her white, furry head. I remember begging my parents to let me get her as my senior year of high school was winding down. I needed her. I knew I would be leaving for college at UC Denver in only a few, short months. A part of me thought my parents could use a dog. With everything that had happened with my brother, a quiet house would have been too much to handle. My plan was to bring her to live with me once I moved out of the college dorms, but by then, she had adjusted to the mountain lifestyle and it would have been unfair of me to make her live in my small apartment. And, I liked the idea of my parents having a dog around.

  My parents live on fifty acres on the outskirts of town. Moon, a beautiful white husky with blue eyes, had grown accustomed to roaming the forests at her will and would have hated living in the city. My parents don’t admit it, but Moon turned into their child when I left, even if she is still my dog when she does something bad. I’ve missed her a lot and am glad I’ll be spending some much-needed time with her.

  Moon’s happy yips are so loud, I know they’ll alert my parents to my arrival.

  They know nothing about Liam and me. I never really told anyone, which should have been an obvious red flag. The past can be so clear, yet we have no option to change it, so it’s better not to live there. My parents think I need a change of pace, which is true. I just didn’t tell them all the details.

  Sure enough, my mother rounds the corner and brightens when she sees me. Wearing black jeans and a blue flannel, she looks exactly the same as the last time I saw her. Except for her eyes, they looked worried and concerned. When she pulls me into a tight hug, I feel more of the tension leave my body. It feels good to be home.

  Letting go, I look around and ask, “Where’s dad?”

  My mom motions for me to come back into the kitchen with her. “He got called into work about an hour ago. Apparently, there was an issue with an elk and a tourist. I swear those tourists must be blind to all the signs and warnings. What’s so hard about the concept that you should keep your distance from a wild animal?”

  My father is a park ranger at Rocky Mountain National Park. He deals with everything from keeping track of the number of the animals in and around the park, to the onslaught of ignorant tourists that travel here each year. I know the town’s main industry is tourism, but sometimes I wish we could just keep this little slice of heaven to ourselves.

  Accalia is a medium-sized town that has everything a person could need, from a grocery store, to clothing shops, schools, and even a full hospital, but only about a quarter of its residents live here year-round. During the summer months, the town is flooded with seasonal visitors and tourists that don’t want to brave the snow of the Colorado mountains in the winter.

  I sit at the table in the kitchen as I watch my mom give Moon a beef stick from the treat jar. That dog is so beyond spoiled, but I am glad they have her. Having a dog seemed to lessen the blow when I left for college.

  My mom places a plate of cookies and a glass of milk in front of me. I smile, because it doesn’t matter how old I am, I’m always my mom’s little girl.

  Taking the seat next to me, she asks a question I know has been gnawing at her since I mentioned I would be moving home a few weeks ago. “Jamie, is everything all right?”

  It’s really not, but I’m not ready to get into the details yet. Some things are better left unsaid, especially the fact that I was sleeping with my boss for over two years. But I know I am not going to get away with saying nothing, so I decide to give the PG version.

  “I just felt like I needed a break to think some things through. I worked so hard to get the job I have always dreamed about, and then I hated it. At least when I was working as an assistant, I had a window, and I got to run out and do errands. I couldn’t stand being cooped in the labs all day every day.”

  As I spell it all out for my mom, I cringe at how miserable I was. I tried so hard to make it work, but it wasn’t just Liam. I really hated the work.

  My mom places her hand on mine. “Sweetheart, it sounds like you made the right decision to close that chapter of your life. Don’t try to rush back into things. Stay here as long as you need until you figure out your next direction.”

  I had been feeling as if I’d let my parents down, but now I know that my mom just wants me to be happy, wherever that may take me. They have been nothing but supportive in all my endeavors. I put a lot of pressure on myself to be perfect because they’ve already gone through so much with my brother. I don’t want them to have any worries with me.

  My brother, Jacob, was eight years older than me. When he was eighteen and graduated from high school, he and his friends went camping in the park to celebrate. They were attacked by wild animals and there were no survivors. Such attacks are rare, but they do occur in areas with a lot of wildlife. To this day, it’s the only bad thing I can ever remember happening in our small town.

  I was young when it happened, and my parents tried to protect me from the details, but as any young child would do, I used the internet to fill in as many gaps as possible. There were few pictures as mo
st were too gruesome to be published, but there was one of a bloody paw print on the tent that still haunts me to this day.

  My parents were devastated. Who wouldn’t be after losing a child? Because of the age gap, my brother and I weren’t very close, but I still felt a part of me died with him. No matter the situation, losing a sibling is never easy. I never got a chance to really know my brother.

  For years we all struggled, my mom most of all. Nobody could figure out what exactly happened and many people in town seemed to have forgotten it even occurred after a few months. My brother was here one day and mysteriously killed the next. It’s always felt like unfinished business, but nobody likes to mention it.

  As I take a bite of the still-warm cookies, I try not to think about the incident. I came here to relax and become grounded, not to dig up old memories from my past.

  I look at my mom when I say, “I think a few weeks of fresh air will do me a lot of good.”

  She smiles at me as I eat my cookie in silence, thinking about how much has changed since I left my hometown seven years ago.

  After moving my stuff out of my car and into the house, I decide to go into town. While the town looks familiar, there are multiple new businesses. I haven’t spent much time here since high school. It feels surreal to be back. Since I’ve been gone, I’ve been feeling a pull toward the mountains, but for the first time in years, that feeling has disappeared.

  It’s the middle of June so the town is bustling with tourists enjoying the warm 75-degree temperatures. As I drive down Main Street, I pass families window shopping along the sidewalk as their kids enjoy a variety of sweets from the various candy and ice cream shops on the street.

  As I approach the end of Main Street, I pull into a dirt parking lot. The lot is shaded by trees and is situated right next to a creek. Instead of heading toward the street, I follow the short dirt trail along the creek to my favorite coffee shop.

  The store is a converted old house, hidden in the trees. It doesn’t have a name, it just is. Run by an older widow, the coffee shop, combined with books and trinkets, had always been a favorite spot of mine since I was a young girl. Not only is it a great place to get lost in a book, something about the store feels magical. I haven’t been here in years, not since I left for college.