London put up one finger as she continued chewing. She swallowed, then said, “The hobby search is . . . Yeah, it’s going nowhere. I tried Googling hobbies, but when I typed theHin the address bar, my previous search on hepatoblastoma came up, and I got distracted.”
“Who has to Google hobbies?” Taylor asked.
“Me,” London said. “How about if I make sitting on Samiah’s couch and drinking wine my new hobby? I’m so good at that.”
“Ha ha,” Samiah deadpanned. “Joke’s on you, because that’s actually close to one of my suggestions. I just read about this shuttle that takes you from Austin to several of the wineries in the Hill Country. We can make a weekend of it and stay at one of the cute bed-and-breakfasts out there. Should I book it for next Friday?”
“Wait! I can’t!” Taylor blurted. Sweat instantly pebbled along her hairline. “I—” She briefly closed her eyes. “I’m not sure I can go on vacation right now. I have to consider my clients.”
“Can’t you reschedule?” Samiah said. “It’s just a couple of hours away.”
“I just . . . ” Taylor started.Shit.This conversation had taken the wrong damn turn. “The truth is, I’ve hit a bit of a rough patch. Financially.” Understatement to end all understatements. “I honestly can’t afford to do anything extra, even a short weekend.” She shrugged. “I’m trying to look on the bright side. I could be living out of my car,” she said with a shaky laugh. “Of course, there’s a pretty good chance Iwillbe living out of my car if I can’t pay my rent this month.”
London’s fork stopped halfway to her mouth. “What are you talking about?” she asked, leaning in closer to her computer screen.
“That’s my question too,” Samiah said.
Well, this had gone sideways in a hot-ass second.
Taylor massaged her temple with her free hand. Was there anything she regretted more than making this phone call? Maybe stealing Skittles from the commissary back when they lived at Baumholder Army Base in Germany. Or that time when she used bleach to dye her own hair when she was in the seventh grade.
Okay, so she’d made her fair share of effed-up decisions in the past, but this group call definitely ranked up there.
Yet . . .
If her friends were willing to play the part of sounding board, why not go ahead and let them? She was tired of shouldering all of this on her own.
“Taylor?” Samiah said.
“I’m broke,” she admitted. “That’s it in a nutshell. I made a bunch of dumb moves while trying to find new clients, and now I can’t pay my rent.”
“What kind of dumb moves?” Samiah asked.
“And exactly how broke are you?” London added.
After weighing each question, she determined Samiah’s was the least demoralizing of the two. Addressing that one first, Taylor told them about the discount coupon site she’d signed up for in an attempt to drum up business for Taylor’d Conditioning.
“I use those websites all the time,” London said. “It’s how I discovered my favorite bakery.”
“Yeah, well, those deals work just fine for bakeries because people like cupcakes and scones. They’re more likely to become repeat customers. Most of the people who bought my coupon were the same people who join a gym on New Year’s Day and stop going by the second week of January.”
“Guilty,” Samiah said with a shrug.
“I’d hoped to keep at least afewon as clients.” She shook her head. “Instead, I’ve been working my ass off for seventy-five percent less than my normal fee, and I haven’t been able to make a dent in the mountain of debt I’ve been sitting on.”
“I’ll ask again, how broke are you?” London said.
“If I say it out loud, I’m going to throw up.”
“Come on, Taylor,” Samiah said. “I have some money put away. I can make you a loan.”
“No. No way.” She shook her head. “I knew you would say that. I amnotborrowing money from you. From either of you.”
“I didn’t offer any,” London said. She put both hands up. “Not that I wouldn’t. I just have to make my student loan payment first.”
“It doesn’t matter, because there will be no loans,” Taylor said. “Seriously, who goes around offering to loan someone they met just a few months ago twenty thousand dollars?”
She clamped a hand over her mouth.Shit.
