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“The building is being acquired by the new owner as we speak, so to be honest, I’m not exactly sure. But after tomorrow afternoon, I’ll be gone as well, and you’ll no longer have access to the building.”
“Do you have the contact information for the new owner? Can I call them and at least extend my eviction notice?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t have the contact information available. I believe it’s a large firm acquiring the building, so I doubt there is a central point of contact for this. If that’s all I really need to be going, Ms. Easton. I have the rest of the day to inform about a dozen other shop owners like yourself, and as you’ve stated, twenty-four hours is not long at all. Plus, I've got plenty of calls I need to return just like your own. I hate to be cold like this, but time is really of the essence. Perhaps you can call a moving company to pack you up and move you out. You’ll have to get creative here. Best of luck to you, Ms. Easton.”
“Thanks.” I numbly pulled the phone away from my ear and the line went dead.
Everything I worked so hard for was in that shop. All the money my parents had given me to get me on my feet with my dream business was about to be washed down the drain. Along with any chance of ever paying them back, I felt sick to my stomach and disoriented. This couldn’t really be happening, could it? Who does that? Twenty-four hour eviction notice. There had to be some sort of law against this. I had already paid my rent for the month; I was owed this.
Plus, I definitely didn’t have the money to hire a moving company with the rush fee that I was most definitely going to have to pay in order to get them down there tonight or tomorrow morning.
What little I was able to save over the last year I had dumped into my sham of a wedding. I couldn’t possibly ask my parents for more money. They didn’t have much to give, and they had already given me everything they could afford to, anyway.
I considered asking for their help packing, but they were far too old to pack and lift up the heavy items in my shop, so that wasn’t really an option either. My mind flicked to Jack, and I quickly pushed the thought away. He would possibly have the money to get me moved out quickly, but I couldn’t bear the thought of groveling and begging him for anything. Maybe I could call Julie and she could get some people together and just move my stuff out.
I quickly dialed Julie.
“Oh, thank God you picked up, Jules.”
“Hey babe, how are you?” There was a lot of background noise on her end.
“Uh, not so great, listen I have a huge favor to ask you. Addy’s Blooms is getting evicted out of the building, and I only have twenty-four hours to get all my shit out. Apparently, some hot shot investor is putting all the small shops out of business. Is there any way you and Daniel could grab a few people and pack up my stuff? I’d do it myself, but there’s literally no way I can get a flight back in time, and I don’t know what to do.”
“Oh shit babe, I’m actually in Cancun…”
“You’re in Cancun, without me?” It caught me totally off guard.
She laughed, “And you’re in Hawaii without me.”
“Fair. I didn’t know you were going on vacation after the wedding.”
“Yeah, me neither. Daniel planned a little trip as a surprise.”
“That was thoughtful. Well, have a great time. I gotta go, so I can figure this out.”
“Addy, are you okay?”
I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. Here it was, back to reality, and it sucked. “No, not even in the slightest.” My voice wavered.
“Aww shit. I don’t know what to say.” Julie said.
“There is nothing to say. My life just blew up in front of my eyes. I had two days of bliss and then it’s back to my life falling apart.”
She perked up at that. “Two days of bliss?”
“I’ll tell you about it later. Listen, I gotta go. I have to try and figure out what to do about my shop.”
“Right. Okay, I’m sure you’ll get it figured out. Maybe they can extend the eviction?”
“Maybe.” I said, feeling doubtful.
“Ok, I’ll talk to you later.”
“Bye.”
I hung up the phone and shook my head. I had one other option, and that was Jack. I walked down to the ocean and sat where the waves gently rolled up the beach. I sat there, contemplating my options as the water ebbed and flowed over my toes. Around me, people laughed and played in the ocean and the beach without a care in the world.
Jack certainly owed me, that was for sure. If I could just swallow my pride, maybe I could save my business. My mind drifted to Damian. I was sure he would help, but that didn’t really seem appropriate. Even if we did have a connection, asking your two-night stand to bail you out of a financial situation wasn’t really a great way to go.
