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Ididn’tknowmylife could get any busier than it already was, but after taking on work with Neils, time seemed to go even faster.
I still kept Libby as my top priority, taking her to school and picking her up after, as well as spending as much time with her as she wanted. But, during the hours she was at school, my days were now filled with helping Neils with all of the edits he needed done.
It was my dream to be working in the writing field, so being able to do this with my free time meant the world to me. It was as though my life had finally fallen perfectly into place, and I couldn’t have been happier.
I wished I could hit the pause button and stay in this period of time for the rest of my life.
Everything was perfect, and I was happy.
Libby was happy.
And even Neils appeared genuinely happy every morning when I walked out of my room to have a cup of coffee with him before Libby got up.
As I lay in bed thinking about the things I had to do the next day, my phone rang, and I was glad to see it was Krissy calling me. I hadn’t been able to keep up with our phone calls as easily here in Florida, so I was always eager when she called, and I had the chance to talk.
“Hey stranger,” I said when I answered.
“Wow, you do still have a voice,” Krissy said. “I was starting to wonder if I was ever going to get to hear your voice again.”
“I know, I know, and I’m sorry,” I told her. “I don’t mean for so much time to pass between our calls, but it gets crazy here. I’ve been helping Neils with his book now when I’m not with Libby, and it just makes it hard to have the time for much else.”
“Wait, you’re now working on the book, too?” she asked. “Is he paying you for doing that on top of paying you for what you’re doing with his kid?”
“Of course, he is,” I lied. It wasn’t like me to lie to my friend, but I knew she would have a whole new set of questions if I told her he wasn’t paying me. And I wasn’t sure I wanted to go down that path with her yet. The fact that I hadn’t even told my best friend about this relationship I was having with Neils was extremely unusual for me, but I just hadn’t found the right words or the right time to tell her.
“Damn,” she said. “Look at you, going and getting your summer job that pays well enough you can just go ahead and retire.”
I laughed. “I would go crazy if I retired at twenty-four. I’d have to find something else to do that would take up my time.”
“Passively watch his daughter until she graduates,” Krissy said. “Just think of how you can raise your prices when she turns thirteen, and again when she’s sixteen. I bet if you play your cards right, you can wind up with several million before she’s out of school.”
“Obviously I’m going to charge extra if I can get her through high school without getting into any kind of trouble. Bonus points if I can get her through school without a boyfriend, too.”
Krissy laughed. “You should put this in writing now so when the time comes, you can start waving around the paperwork and charge him for breaking the contract.”
“I don’t know if you should be in the music industry, or if you would be better off in debt collections. Or maybe even being a telemarketer,” I teased. “You know how to get every single penny out of someone, don’t you?”
“Loan shark, that’s what I’m meant to be,” she said. “I should head to Vegas or something and make my riches there. Then you and I can move to some island somewhere and say fuck it to the rest of the world.”
“God, doesn’t that sound great?” I replied. “But you know, you might just want to move down here if you ever get the chance to come visit me.”
“I know, I know, I hate that I keep saying I’m going to come, but then something happens before I get there, and I have to put a pin in it and wait. I mean, you could go crying to your boss and see if he would pay for a ticket for me to come down there. I’m not above asking for charity.”
“Wow, tell me how you really feel, why don’t you?” I asked. “You might not mind asking for charity, but you’re not the one asking if I’m the one who does it for you.”
“I know, but shit, with what you’re making, maybe I should just come to you for a loan and pay you back when I get the chance,” she said.
“I’ll figure out something,” I assured her. “I want you to come see me. But I do need to talk to Neils and make sure he’s okay with you staying here.”
“Ew, you have to ask permission? What, is he your dad now, too?”
“Shut up,” I said. “It’s not my house, so I can’t just say that you can stay here, but I’m sure he’s not going to have a problem with it. I just have to make sure.”
“That’s fair,” she said. “I’m going to have to get the time off work, too, though I’m not too worried if I can’t get it. I can get another job just as easily in like a week if I have to.”
“Some things never change, do they?” I teased.
“Hey, when I get famous and get out on the road, I’m not going to be worried about the job I’m working. I pick the kind I can get out of pretty easy for a reason,” she retorted.
