Page 104 of Lady and the Camp
The next morning, I got the call. They wanted me to come out for a second interview.
Colorado. The dream. Everything was coming together.
I waited to feel excitement. Instead, panic set in.
I needed to do…everything. Book a flight. Hotel. Rental car?
If I got the job, then what? Where would I live? What about my stuff? How would I get it there?
I grabbed my laptop. “Cool it, dude. Just book the flight.”
After searching three travel sites for hotel and flight options, I couldn’t decide on anything, so I opened a new tab and pulled up a map of the surrounding towns by the expedition HQ. Took a peek at rental listings. Yikes. Expensive. I returned to the flights. Also, expensive.
That’s fear talking.
I didn’t know a soul in Colorado. I’d be starting from scratch. Completely.
My cousins and friends, all thousands of miles away.
Make new friends.
But Hudson…
I clicked out of the browser. My thoughts ran sideways. So I did what I usually did when I had a problem I couldn’t reason out. I called Marcy.
Chapter 35
Hudson
Ispentmyfirstweek back in California thoroughly cleaning my apartment and working on my plan.
Subleasing options: in motion
Resume: updated and approved (by Noah, Jillian,andMarcy)
Jobs: searched and bookmarked
Relationship status: single and not-at-all ready to mingle
I intended to return to Michigan to stay with Marcy. I gave myself a deadline for job hunting. If none of the options that interested me panned out by the date I set, I’d take a less exciting offer for a steady paycheck.
Those jobs may or may not end up being in Michigan. The world was open to me. I could go anywhere. I knew I didn’t want to stay in Los Angeles, so I had that figured out at least.
My plan progressed quickly. I found a subleaser for my apartment. With several options to choose from, I picked the person who needed a place soonest. They even accepted my offer to buy my couch and bed, as neither would fit in my car. My other odds and ends furniture I scheduled for a pick-up from a charity outlet who would donate the furniture to recently relocated refugees.
I checked their website for open positions to flex my job-hunting muscles. No dice.
Since I needed my car, I planned to drive it across the country to Michigan. Now with a set move date, I let Marcy know she could book her flight to L.A. She came up with the brilliant idea to fly out one way and drive back with me. She’d take up valuable space in the car but her company? Priceless.
While I hadn’t decided the true fate of my Beauty Butterfly accounts, I’d been cleared to post so long as I continued to avoid mentioning anything related to Kristoff or the ongoing case. I’d been provided a new sample statement, which I ignored. Okay, I read it. I wouldn’t post it.
I’d been away long enough that returning to my usual scrolling habits felt strange. Online life had continued without me while I’d played camp counselor in the backwoods. I scrolled mindlessly, still unsure of what I’d post as my comeback. Whatever my comeback looked like.
Bored with Instagram, I switched over to my camera roll. Only three pictures existed of my time with Lucas where he appeared in the frame. Two taken during the weekend with the Mavens and Marcy’s brothers, and the selfie of us by the wildflower field.
That one was my favorite.
Lucas smiled in every photo. He didn’t look miserable or grumpy. I’d glimpsed first-hand his ease with his cousins and friends. A snapshot of Lucas without the pressure of running the camp.
