Page 80 of We Met Like This
I shifted, moving the laptop I’d been holding for the last several hours to the coffee table. I’d been composing and recomposing social-media posts announcing my agency. Nothing sounded right. Oliver was on his way over to show me the finished website, but until I could direct people to that, I couldn’t post them anyway.
“Hello,” I answered, trying to infuse my voice with the proper amount of penitence.
“Hi,” she said. I couldn’t tell from that single word how she felt.
“Hi,” I parroted. “How are you? I mean, how are you feeling? The baby okay? The boys?”
“We’re all good.” Okay, that response was clearer. She wasn’t happy.
“I’m sorry for not being completely honest with you about my job and my promotion.”
“Completely honest?” she said. “You lied, Maggie.”
“I know. I was embarrassed. Everything you touch turns to gold and I feel like the opposite happens for me. What’s the opposite of gold? Horseshit? I have a life full of horseshit right now.”
She snorted out a laugh. “You don’t.”
“I really did start my own agency. And it might be nothing right now, but I think it can be something. I have a website and everything.”
“You do? I’d love to see it.”
“It’s not quite ready, but it will be.”
She sighed. “You’re a teddy bear, not a shark.”
“You don’t think I can do this?”
“You can’t start your own business on a whim. That’s something you do after months of preparation.”
“That ship has sailed, Audrey. I can’t turn it around.”
“You can always turn it around.”
If she knew one of the reasons I couldn’t, she’d be even more disappointed. “I’m not going to.”
“Then you need to activate your fighter.”
This was her way of saying no, she didn’t think I could do this, which scared me. If my sister didn’t think it would work, maybe it wouldn’t. She knew business. “I’m trying.”
“If you need any advice, help, I’m here.”
Considering she’d been avoiding my calls for days, I didn’t feel like that was true. But I wanted it to be. I needed it to be. “I watched your channel three times this week to see what was going on with you.”
“My channel isn’t my real life.”
That was the first time she’d ever admitted her channel was highly curated. “I know. I just wanted to see you.”
There was some mumbling in the background that sounded suspiciously like my mom.
“Would you like to come for dinner next Sunday?” Audrey asked. “We’re barbecuing.”
I swallowed hard, sure Mom had made her ask. But at the same time, I hadn’t seen my family since the T-ball game several weeks ago and I missed them. “Yes, I would love to come. Can I bring something? A side dish?” My bank account was dwindling and my credit card was rising and the other half of my rent was due in a week. I shouldn’t be offering to buy food for the barbecue, but I already felt like I’d let my sister down. I wanted her to know I could contribute.
“No, that’s okay,” Audrey said.
“Come on, Audrey. Let me bring something.”
“I’ll look over my list and send you a text with what you can bring.”
