Page 136 of Every Beautiful Mile

I nod.

“How was school?”

“Fine.”

She flips through a book I can’t see on the screen.

“I’ll be home tomorrow.”

“Sounds good.”

“Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

I hang up with a tired sigh. I’m exhausted and doing a shitty job of managing everything. The work is fun, but the logistics are complicated and foreign. After a lifetime of shifts of work where I just showed up at the same place at the same time, this is a problem I hadn’t thought of.

Marin is right. I need help.

Despite being exhausted, I open my computer. While it powers up, I tap the screen of my phone.

Me: Hi.

Ethan: Hi.

Me: I’m wondering if I’m supposed to feel like I’m drowning 24/7?

Ethan: Every entrepreneur would say yes.

Ethan: Anything I can help with?

I swallow hard as I read and re-read the question.

Yes. Fly here. Call me.

As usual, I write anything but.

Me: A warning would have been nice.

Ethan: It’s more fun this way.

Fifty-three

Nadine is a part-time college student who wears thick glasses, has frizzy black hair, and is possibly the most organized person on the planet. The day I hired her, she showed up with color-coded schedules and spreadsheets that changed my life. She is an organizational superhero.

“I got your travel booked for the next few months.”

Nadine’s perky voice comes through the phone on our now daily call.

“What are we looking at?”

“Next week, you are in Atlanta for a single day of training, then off for two weeks for the holidays if you want to squeeze in one of the local requests we have. January, I have you booked for three days in Charleston, South Carolina, then the initial meeting for an ongoing gig with an owner in Bangor, Maine.”

My pulse skyrockets. “Maine? What’s that one?”

I click the pen I’m holding furiously.

“Umm…” I hear Nadine click through screens on her computer. “Sounds fun. It’s someone who is considering a restaurant in the city but isn’t sure how it could stand out against what’s already there. Very early stages. They paid the full fee already. Basically, she has a building and some ideas but nothing else. They want to get an idea of what you think would work in the environment, yada yada. Name is something Donalds.”

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