Page 90 of Her Marine
“Now that Aryah and I are twenty-five, we have access to the insurance money we received from Mom and Dad.” Journee nodded.
When her parents passed, they both had significant insurance policies, and she and her sisters each received three hundred thousand dollars, but their grandmother was their trustee and wanted the money to sit in a savings account until they were twenty-five.
“I was thinking about using some of it to start my own business. Don’t get me wrong, I love working at the makeup studio I’m currently at, but because the aesthetic of it is still in the past, I get most of my clients through Instagram for birthday parties, events, and those sorts of things.”
“And you figure it’s better to pay for your own space and be able to use it than pay for space somewhere else, and it isn’t being used,” Journee supplied.
“Exactly,” Aariah agreed with a nod. “Right now, I’m meeting them in their houses, which I don’t mind doing, but starting my own business gives me the space to have them come in and possibly employ new talent.”
“Do you know how much you want to put into starting your business?”
“Yes, but I want to do it the way you did when you startedAscent Events.”
Journee nodded, understanding. When she started her business, she couldn’t access her insurance money since she was only twenty-two. However, she’d gotten a loan, using part of the savings account as collateral. It gave her the funds she needed and allowed her to build her credit. Aariah taking that route was a smart idea, in Journee’s opinion.
“I plan on taking the interest earned and putting it into a separate account to use as collateral. Then use that to lease a building and buy all the necessary equipment, supplies, and decorations, but I want to file for my LLC before I go to the bank.”
“That’s pretty simple. If you get on the state website, you can complete all the paperwork there. I’ll help you if you need me to.”
Journee squeezed the lemons into the pitcher before grabbing a knife and hulling them out, allowing them to drop into the pitcher. As she added the sugar and water, Aariah went to the cabinet, took down two cups, and grabbed the strawberry puree from the refrigerator.
Once Journee finished mixing everything, she poured them each a glass, Aariah adding puree to hers and handing it to Journee to put up along with the pitcher.
They went into the living room, and Journee asked Aariah if she knew what kind of building she wanted. As she listened to her little sister describe the structure she would be looking for and her vision for her studio, Journee knew it wouldn’t be hard to find. There was nice commercial property available, and Aariah could get Nova to help her find one. Their friend might even have some listed.
The two discussed a few more of Aariah’s ideas before they decided to find a movie to watch. They were halfway through it when the front door opened. Killian came into view at the living room threshold.
“Hey, baby. How was your workout?”
“It was good,” Killian responded, turning his attention to her sister. “Hey, Aariah.”
“Hey, I’m impressed,” Aariah responded.
“Why? You aren’t identical twins,” Killian replied.
“Yes, but most people don’t know that from looking at us.”
It was true. According to doctors, her sisters were fraternal twins, and if you knew them, you could tell them apart. However, when someone first met them or was only around them occasionally, they wouldn’t be able to tell. Hell, a lot of their extended family still couldn’t.
Killian shrugged. “I’ve had to tell your sister before. I’m not most people.” Journee rolled her eyes playfully at him while Aariah laughed. “I’m going to shower,” Killian stated before heading down the hall.
Journee and Aariah turned their attention back to the television. She knew she had time to finish the movie since Killian had told her what time they were going out that evening. So, there was no need for her to rush her sister out. She also knew her sister well enough to know that she would dip after the movie. They were never ones to cockblock one another.
«-•-•-•-•-•-•-»
Killian rolled over slowly, pulling his arm from under Journee. His phone was vibrating, and it was the third time now. He’d ignored it the first two times, deciding to check who it was in the morning. However, now that it was ringing again, he had a sinking suspicion. He picked up his phone, looking at the screen, unknown flashing across it. He glanced at Journee before getting out of bed.
He stepped out of the bedroom, closed the door behind him, and went down the hall as he answered his phone.
“Hello?”
“Major Stoll.”
His suspicions had been correct. Killian assumed it was an assignment from the frequency of someone trying to reach him, and when he saw the unknown name flash across the screen, it solidified what he thought.
“Commander,” Killian responded.
“I hate to do this to you, son. I know you’re using some of those well-earned vacation days, but I need you to come in.”
