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I could feel my blood boiling.
Charlie cleared his throat. “It looks like the building may have some historical value. We may have to work around this.”
“There is no working around this. Everything hinges on this. We’re widely connected across the city, and you’re telling me you can’t pull a simple permit?”
“I uh, it’s in process. I’m doing everything I can.”
“I’m disappointed. This isn’t like you, Charlie.”
“I’ll be in touch when I have another update.”
I hung up the phone.
Fuck.
Maybe I really would have to replace Charlie. I didn’t have time to woo the investors and deal with the day to day of the upcoming demolition.
As I sat in my leather chair, I found myself not really reading my emails, but instead drifting back to Carter's words, ‘If you don’t call her back, some other schmuck will’, they echoed in my head like a threat.
It had been a mere day since I’d seen Addy, and she was like an itch I couldn't quite reach, occupying the space in my brain. We hadn’t exchanged contact information, nor had she indicated that it was something she was interested in. I knew the gig. She was heartbroken and needed a replacement for a few days. And that was the role I had very successfully played for a few days, the role of consoling her, and distracting her from her reality. It wasn’t me she had a connection with; it was the being withanyonerather than no one. It was her avoiding heartbreak that had her clinging to me like a desperate baby bird. And I knew that, even if my cock didn't, which was now straining against my zipper at the mere thought of her.
Even still, I found myself regretting not getting her contact information. Not that it would be difficult to do so. Mike could easily track down her information if I asked him to. He was quite adept at tracking down any information I needed; whether it was leverage on an investor, or the phone number of the woman I’d fucked on every surface of my hotel room. He was always up for the task.
I hoped Rebecca would get someone with half a brain in here tomorrow, otherwise the next few months would be a pain in my ass.
13
ADDISON
I steppedout onto the busy sidewalk and into the sunshine with a feeling of accomplishment. I had nailed that interview. In fact, it had gone so well that the woman who’d interviewed me had offered me the job on the spot. I started tomorrow, which was incredible because I desperately needed a paycheck, and fast.
After getting home from Hawaii, despite my better judgment, I had quickly maxed out my credit cards and booked a moving company to pack up Addy’s Blooms for me, and I had rented the storage unit on credit as well. And with the mountain of debt building up on me, I wasn’t sure if I had made the right decision. Even if it wasn’t a wise decision, I couldn’t bear the thought of losing everything I had worked so hard for, and everything my parents had sacrificed for me. Even if it was getting shoved into a tiny storage unit to never see the light of day again.
Even though I didn’t really want to work in a corporate job, I figured it would at least pay the bills; it was stable, and hopefully it would allow me to chip away at some of the school loan that was looming over my head in addition to my business debt. Maybe if I played my cards right, I could save up enough to start my business back up again someday.
I pushed through the swarm of people at the intersection crosswalk as I walked a few blocks to one of my favorite restaurants, Sapore E Sorsi, a little Italian eatery.
While I walked went over everything. No, this job wasn’t my dream job, but I was thankful for it, and thankful I had landed something so quickly. The last few days, I had applied for everything under the sun, just hoping to get something lined up as quickly as possible. When she’d offered me the job on the spot, I’d accepted it on the spot, because I knew I’d take just about anything. I just needed to get a paycheck as fast as possible.
This is a good thing.
I pushed open the door to Sapore E Sorsi and was quickly seated at a table with a red and white cloth checkered tablecloth in one of the front windows and waited.
While I waited for Julie, I pulled up my phone and started doing some rough calculations, trying to figure out with my new pay, how long it would take to save up enough money to reopen my shop.
If I lived extremely frugally, I could possibly save enough in roughly six years. I huffed a big breath of air out, feeling utterly defeated. I would have to scrimp and save like my life depended on it for the next few years. And even if I could save enough, there was no guarantee that I could get my flower shop profitable, and I might just end up back in the same hole I was in now. The thought was irritating. Why was it so difficult to do what you loved and get paid for it?
I saw Julie stride up the sidewalk through the window. She walked around the corner and came through the glass door, quickly spotting where I was seated.
She rushed over to me and before I could stand up; she was leaning over me giving me a huge hug.
“Are you alive? Are you functioning? Are you hungry?” She said with a laugh, “I’m starving! I didn’t get to eat lunch today.”
“Yes, to all those things.” I laughed.
We ordered a large pizza, half with pineapple for me, half with mushrooms for her, and I got a bloody mary and she got a lemon drop. And as the server brought my bloody mary with a measly pickle and cocktail onion skewered into it, I smiled, thinking of the giant bloody mary I had ordered in the airport lounge with Damian.
When I looked up, Julie was watching me intently. “You’re awfully chill for everything going on. It’s like you’re in la la land or something.”
