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“I have to go soon, anyway. But not before saying this,” she warns. “You’re too hard on yourself,” she scolds. “You moved in yesterday. You have one hundred bikes, and God knows what else to unpack and organize. I can just imagine the mountain of bubble wrap you’ll end up with.”
Alice and I spent all afternoon yesterday and today unpacking, but it seems we haven’t made a dent. Since she was on the verge of exhaustion, I sent her home. Levi is meeting with a vendor for drinks and dinner tonight, so instead of waiting for him in his huge house, I decided to keep at it. Speaking of huge house, we’ve been living together for two weeks now. He would scold me for calling it his house as opposed to our house. Truthfully, I still can’t wrap my head around it. I had a moment of hysterical deafness when he suggested the crazy idea because he was moving at lightspeed. In the end, I’m thrilled I accepted his offer. I doubt I’ll call it our house any time soon, but waking up in his arms is a dream come true.
“There’s no time to waste,” I say. “I have two weeks to get this place in tiptop shape and hire a handful of new employees before I have to devote all my time to the crowdfunding campaign.”
“You can’t wait to crack the whip, huh?” Syd winks.
“I have a lot of deadlines to meet,” I correct.
“You, my friend, are officially sounding like a boss lady.”
I toss my hair with a dramatic flair, owning the title.
We dissolve into giggles.
“On a serious note,” Syd starts, “we’re being silly and juvenile, but I can’t tell you what it means to me to see you smile again. You haven’t sounded this lighthearted in so long, I almost forgot the sound of your laughter.” Her words tug at my heart.
Just like that, I go from elation to sadness, as the weight of the last nine and a half months washes over me.
“It’s been a long road out of hell,” I say.
“But look at you, rising from the ashes.”
“I never thought the day would come where I would stop stressing over Dad’s business. Gone are my constant anxiety attacks. I knew it was never Daddy’s intention, but there was so much out of my control.”
“And here you are fighting back like the heavyweight champion of the world.”
“Yeah, I’m still throwing the punches,” I agree. “In a little over a month since bumping into Levi, I’ve had to pinch myself daily just to make sure I wasn’t sleepwalking.”
“This is as real as it gets.”
I nod, emotions making it hard to speak.
“I only have a few more minutes left on the clock, babe.” Sydney breaks the silence. “Before I go, show me what I’m supposed to transform into a little oasis.”
“Oh, yes!” With quick steps, I cross the office, enter the warehouse and head to the back of the building. I exit and walk the short distance to a patch of land attached to the building. “I was hoping to create a cool little seating area with greenery over here for my mighty team,” I say before turning my phone.
“Move your phone from left to right so I get a better view,” Sydney shouts.
I do as I’m told.
“That’s totally doable,” she says, her words dripping with confidence. “That shouldn’t take more than a weekend of work with a small crew.”
I turn my phone so we’re looking at each other. “Really?”
“Yup!” she confirms. “I’ll come by to scope things out first. Trust me, I’ll make it really nice for you and your employees.”
“You’re the best, Syd!” I exclaim.
“You deserve this, Jules,” she says. “Okay, I have to go. Thanks for the virtual tour!”
“Talk to you later!” I blow her kisses through the phone.
She does the same.
“I should also get back to work,” I mutter to myself when I end the call.
I tuck my phone into my back pocket and return to the warehouse.
