Chapter 2
Ian had finished the first book before his taxi ride was halfway over. He started regretting not bringing the other two. Amy's book was so good. She was such a talented writer, taking the Hunt for the 39 Clues and changing things so that nobody would recognize it unless they knew about it and were there. He spent the rest of the ride thinking about her and all the things they had ever said to each other. Just before he got out, he went online to the website of the news show he had been watching last night and bought a ticket to Amy's live interview at the news station next week. It would be his second to last day in Boston, so if things went bad or were awkward for him and Amy, he would be able to leave the next day and not have to deal with it. Ian paid the driver, got out of his taxi, and walked into his meeting.
"So my sister becomes rich and famous, and I'm stuck at home being the loser kid. Just what I always wanted," Dan joked to Amy. He took her out to lunch to celebrate her return to Boston after spending most of her time at various Madrigal strongholds or in the country to write. She finally got homesick and wanted to go back to living in the city.
"Dan, you're not the loser kid, you're just…not a bestselling author."
"Yeah, and proud of it! No offense, Amy, but who would want to spend their life writing? It's like being sentenced to doing homework for all eternity," Dan said. He didn't have the same appreciation for literature that Amy had. Dan was more of an athletic guy, and he had opened his own martial arts school "The Cahill House of Ninjas" which Amy said was an immature thing to name it, but Dan didn't care. He'd always be a kid at heart.
"Not for everyone, Dan. I personally would kill myself rather than own 'The Cahill House of Ninjas' so there."
Dan gasped, "You have disgraced the family! You must commit seppuku."
"Dan, if I had a nickel for every time you said that…"
"I know, I know, the old 'Grow Up, Dan!' lecture…"
"Actually, no, Dan. I was wondering if you wanted a ticket to come to the live interview I'm doing on the news next week."
"Well, that's not off topic…I'm afraid I won't be able to make it. Business stuff going on."
"What kind of 'business stuff'?"
"There are…important people coming in from out of town who were interested in coming to teach the classes for the next week or two."
"Who are these 'important people'?"
"Uh…remember during the hunt when, um, we were, you know, with the, yeah…"
Amy knew what he was talking about and said, "Okay well that's fine."
"Yeah, I was going to record it anyway." Then his phone started ringing. "Oh, sorry Amy, I have to take this."
"It's alright, Dan. I have to go anyway. Bye."
"Bye, Amy."