Keep the Faith (Bulletproof #1.5) by J. L. Baldwin

it herself and a huge part of me hopes she feels proud of what her big sister has done. She was always the writer in the family, always so creative and vibrant. Me, being the academic overachiever in our family, never had such skills. Jayde would always tell me how envious of me she was. I had the academic brains where she just had the creative ones. Even though I assured her time and time again how damn lucky she was to be able to create something out of thin air and have people enjoy it as much as they do.
    So channeling her during this difficult time isn’t easy. She has always been there when I needed that creative boost of confidence. Smiling to myself, I do a once-over of the article then email it over to the editor, Henry, so he can work his magic on my less than impressive article.
    A half hour goes by and as I’m fiddling around looking for new articles to put out, Henry walks up to my desk and is holding some papers in his hand.
    “Hey, what’s up?” I ask, looking at the papers curiously then back up to meet his gaze. Once I do, he doesn’t look away. I can tell in his gaze all the feelings he felt while editing that article.
    “This article. I must have read it a hundred times. It’s like Jayde could have written it herself,” he says in disbelief. “So I’m assuming that’s a good thing? I hoped that was the vibe I was going for.”
    Henry nods then hands me the paper with only a few red markups. I glance over it and notice there aren’t too many mistakes, a few comma misplacements but nothing else much past that.
    “You did a fantastic job writing this piece. Jayde would be very proud of you,” Henry says, squeezing my shoulder gently in comfort. I smile. No wonder Jayde loves her job so much. Everyone here is so friendly.
    “Thank you, Henry. It means a lot to me to hear you say that. I just want to do right by my little sister and help her out as much as I can.” Henry nods in understanding. Quickly changing the subject, I grab the bottle of water and quickly down the remaining liquid then discard the bottle.
    “So, Henry, do you have any siblings?” I ask, trying to shift the conversation elsewhere other than on Jayde.
    “Yes I do,” Henry answers. “Two older brothers and a sister. Guess you can say I’m the baby in the family.” He chuckles as he returns to his desk which isn’t too far from mine, so I can still hear him.
    “I grew up in a very large German family. My mother, bless her heart, came over here when she was just sixteen. She met my father about a year later while he was being shipped all over the nation in the Army. We would take vacations to Germany every year to visit my mother’s family. It’s my second home, outside of Charleston, and it’s something I would never change as long as I live.” The phone to Henry’s desk rings just as he finishes his story. He holds up one finger as if to say “excuse me” then picks up the call.
    With that distraction, I tend to this article Henry returned back to me. I cringe at the words of my sister’s name on the front cover. Diving into these edits will be a difficult feat, but one I must see through to the end.
    Anna is sitting at her desk, clicking a pen as a nervous tick. She’s staring off into space, probably thinking. Lord only knows what she could be thinking about.
    “Will you stop with the damn clicking? It’s annoying as fuck,” I say which makes her stop immediately. I’m not normally one to drop the F bomb but when I do, I mean business.
    “Damn, what’s gotten into you?” Anna asks, sitting her pen down and turning her full attention to me.
    “Nothing, it’s just I can’t concentrate when you’re sitting there click-clacking away on a stupid pen. Whatever you’re thinking about, let’s hear it. That annoying as hell sound is too much,”
    Anna smiles slyly at my remark then stands up and bolts over to my desk.
    “Gwen has super sexy twin brothers. Meaning there’s another Ronan walking