Total pages in book: 198
Estimated words: 186242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 931(@200wpm)___ 745(@250wpm)___ 621(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 186242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 931(@200wpm)___ 745(@250wpm)___ 621(@300wpm)
There was definitely hope in her voice as she asked, “You’re happy then?”
Yuki, like my aunt and uncle, had seen me at my worst. I’d stayed with her for a month immediately after I was told my relationship was over. Partly because she lived down the street, but mostly because she really was one of my best friends. She’d been going through her own breakup at the time, and that month I’d stayed turned out to be one of the most productive periods of my life. And hers.
We’d written a whole album together in that time . . . in between listening to Alanis, Gloria, and Kelly so loud I was pretty sure we’d both lost some hearing.
But it had been worth it, obviously.
“Yeah. I got a job with a friend I used to have when I lived here.”
“Doing what?”
“Working at an outdoor outfitter.”
There was a pause on her end. “What’s that?”
“They sell camping and fishing equipment. Stuff like that.”
There was another pause, and then she asked slowly, “Um, Ora, no offense but—”
I groaned. “I already know what you’re going to say.”
Her crystal clear laugh reminded me a lot of her singing voice. It was beautiful. “What are you doing working there? What do you know about any of that? How long have I known you? Twelve years? The most outdoorsy thing you’ve ever done was . . . was hanging out in tents at festivals.”
I laughed, but really, I cringed because she had a point. “Shut up. Who was going to go camping with me? Kaden? Could you imagine his mom? You?” I cracked up, and she started laughing hard too, imagining it.
Mrs. Jones, his mom, was notoriously high-strung as hell, which was funny because I’d seen the house he had grown up in. His dad had been a plumber with three kids and a stay-at-home wife. They had more money than I’d had when Mom had been around, but they had never been rolling in it. But over the last ten years, since his career had taken off, she had turned into a snooty monster that scoffed over hamburgers unless they were made of Wagyu beef.
“Good point,” Yuki agreed after she’d stopped laughing.
“But seriously, I don’t know anything about anything in there. I’ve never felt so stupid in my life, Yu. Customers ask me so many questions, and I just look at them like they’re talking ancient Greek. It’s the worst.”
She went “aww” but still laughed.
“But my friend needed the help, and it’s not like I can give references to get a better job.” And it wasn’t like I even knew what I wanted to do in the first place. This was just . . . something. Until I decided. A step.
That got her to stop laughing. “Use me. I’ll tell them you’ve worked for me and about how you’re the best employee I’ve ever had. And actually, it wouldn’t be a lie. You have worked for me, and you’ve been my MVP. I did pay you. I’m going to keep paying you.”
Her record label had insisted on giving me credit for my work so that I wouldn’t sue them in the future. They were going to be wiring me money every quarter. If they don’t pay you, they just make more money, Ora. Take it. And she had a point. Better me than the record label.
Honestly, I hadn’t thought about doing that once: asking her to lie for me. But now that she mentioned it . . . it wouldn’t be a terrible idea to have that on my resume once I found something else to do that I wasn’t awful at.
But even thinking about leaving Clara made me feel terrible. She really was overwhelmed, and I wasn’t sure who would help her once Jackie went back to school. I needed to get better and learn more before the teenager did leave. But this was all just in case. In the future. I wasn’t planning on leaving anytime soon.
“Are you sure?” I asked her.
She sighed dramatically. “You need a spiritual cleansing, teddy bear. I think Kaden might have rubbed his dumb off on you.”
I snickered. “You’re dumb.”
She laughed.
“If it comes to it, I’ll take you up on it. I hadn’t even thought about it.”
“Right. Because of the dumb. I’ll send you some sage.”
I cracked up and heard her sigh.
“I miss you, Ora. When are we going to see each other again? I wish you’d move back and live with me. You know, mi casa es tu casa.”
“Whenever we meet up somewhere or you come here. I miss you too. And your sister.”
“Ugh. Nori. She needs some sage too now that I’m thinking about it.”
I snorted. “I think she needs it more than I do. Speaking of people who need cleansings, guess who emailed me?”
She literally choked. Like there was anybody else. “The Antichrist’s spawn?”