Page 31 of Hot Mess

Shit, what had I told her? I was so bad at lying and making stuff up. “She runs a business providing personal assistants to rich people, and a few celebrities. At first, I think I will be working with her directly, and then when she is confident about my abilities, I will then work for one of her clients.”

I think that sounded feasible.

Mom began nodding her head in little sharp movements. She didn’t like what she was hearing.

“A career. Do you want a career? I thought you were good with having a decent little job until you met someone and got married. How are you going to find a husband if you become a career girl?”

“How am I supposed to find a husband working at a store?” I asked.

“You could easily meet someone at work.”

“Men don’t shop much. Not unless they are following their wives around. Mom, maybe I don’t want to find a husband. Maybe I want a meaningful job, a career. You know, something that I enjoy doing and can make a life at. Not some little job I have while I wait until I get married.”

“Fine.” She threw her hands around and let them fall heavily to her sides before gesturing at my packing processes. “You want a career. Is this necessary? Moving all the way to California?”

“It’s where the job is. Maybe if I had opportunities around things would be different. But I don’t. I have to leave.” I wanted to leave. I had been dreaming of leaving for so long. I never thought this would be my way out, running away from my fear.

I climbed off the bed and stepped closer to Mom. She was never much of a hugger, but I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed.

“I love you. But this is something I have to do.”

She shrugged out of my embrace.

I stepped back and leaned against my bed. I didn’t sit back down. “Do you have to leave so close to Christmas?”

“You are always so busy with your auxiliary group. You won’t have time to even notice I’m gone.”

“And what is Amber going to say about all of this? You’re going to just leave your best friend behind?”

I chuckled. Amber wasn’t going to let me leave her. “She’s a little mad at me, but she is a lot excited for me. She’s already asked me to get her a job. She wants to move to Los Angeles with me. And when she does, I won’t be alone.”

“So, you think Amber is going to follow you out there?”

I nodded. I didn’t simply think it, I knew Amber was already making plans. Getting her resume in order so that at the beginning of the new year she could start looking for a job. At least she was being smart about it. She wanted a job before she moved.

Mom rubbed her hands over her upper arms. The house was always on the chilly side in the winter. Even with the sweater she had on, I couldn’t tell if she was cold or nervous. Maybe both.

“Fine. How will you be getting there? When do you leave?”

“Is… Donna said she would make all the arrangements. I need to be there by the eighteenth. She said she’d make sure a car picked me up and took me to the airport.”

“Do you have your ticket yet?”

I shook my head. Isaac said he would send a plane to get me. I think he meant he was sending a private plane. I wasn’t sure. I just knew that someone would be picking me up at the end of the next week and that I needed to pack all the things I thought I would need or want.

Isaac had been very clear about ‘things.’ Toys, mementos, but not household items. He was lining up a furnished apartment for me. And he had been very clear if I needed anything or forgot something, LA pretty much had it all. I’d be able to buy anything I wanted there.

“When is your last day at the store? Or have you stopped working already?”

“My last day is the fifteenth. I’ll be leaving on the sixteenth or the seventeenth.” I needed to make every penny I could so I could start paying off the black mailer.

14

NICK

Two weeks later…

Isat in the back of the car while the driver went and rang the doorbell. I was too tired, and Isaac had been emphatic when he said not to get out of the car.

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