Chapter Four
Lissa
“Wrong,wrong,wrong,”Lissamuttered, dropping her forehead and letting it thunk on the desk.The brief jolt of pain barely registered, so consumed was she by the overwhelming task at hand.She was going to murder Briggs.That was the only option left: maim, murder, spend her life in jail, and never look at another spreadsheet again.
“Going that well, huh?”
Lissa dragged her head up and gave Daria a withering look.“Funny,” she replied sarcastically.
Daria just shrugged, plopped down in the sagging guest chair, and propped her sandal-clad feet on the desk.She tugged at her jean shorts that covered less skin than most women’s underwear.“Oh, come on,” she complained.“Why haven’t you gotten rid of this awful thing yet?”She twisted in the chair, and the high-pitched sound of bare flesh rubbing on vinyl filled the room.
Pulling her gaze away from her best friend’s exposed thigh, Lissa collapsed back into her seat and shook her head.“We can barely afford to pay the electric bill, and you think we have money for a nicer chair?You’re welcome to sit on the floor.”
Daria eyed the cement floor of the pseudo-office space that had been created by nailing together a few slabs of drywall at the back of the studio.“Yeah, I’m good.You can listen to my ass squeak.”
“Charming,” Lissa replied sarcastically, wishing her friend wouldn’t bring up her ass so much.She hadn’t gotten laid since she broke up with Lexi, and even her completely heterosexual friend was starting to look appealing.
“I know I am,” Daria said, grinning wide enough to show off her perfect white smile.Everything about Daria was perfect though.From her sleek black hair to her unblemished bronze skin to her insanely long, toned legs.Even her Brazilian accent made everything that came out of her mouth sound like music.From the moment she’d walked into Smooth Expressions three years ago, asking about renting a space for her glass fusing business, Lissa had been smitten.
Then she found out Daria wasn’t even bi-curious, and that tossed a wet blanket on her libido.She had a firm no-lusting-after-straight-girls policy.They’d become friends instead, fast bonding over their love of glass manipulation.
Lissa was pretty sure friends were still allowed to acknowledge other friends had nice asses though.
“I can’t make any sense of this spreadsheet Briggs left,” Lissa whined, not even caring how pathetic she sounded.She absolutely was pathetic when it came to math.“I’m a glassblower.I don’t know shit about numbers and cells and columns.If I wanted to stare at a computer all day, I would have gone to college.”
“Fair enough,” Daria agreed.“You are more artistically inclined than managerial.Briggs left you in charge for a reason though.He must have trusted you could handle it.”
Lissa scoffed.“Oh, please.Briggs didn’t give a shit about anything by the end.He sold us to that art conglomerate in Portland and dipped out.He only left me in charge because he wanted to make the business look more profitable by having one of the artists be the manager, and he knew I’d go along with it.They would never have bought Smooth Expressions if they thought they would have to tack on a new manager’s salary.What was I supposed to do?Tell them that wasn’t the truth and tank the deal?If that happened, he would have shut the company down and sold off the building to someone wanting to put in another kitschy tourist shop.”
Daria tapped her chin for a second.“Okay, yeah.You probably are the only one who would’ve agreed to having your contract modified to include that little tidbit.But I still say you were the best choice.You were his apprentice for years, and he knew how much you cared about this place.Who else was he going to choose?Lexi?”
Lissa shuddered at the thought of her ex-girlfriend taking over management of the studio.She would have blown their budget on mojitos before they even had a chance to turn things around.Though it did seem like Lexi was drinking less lately.They had settled into a routine where neither was at the studio at the same time as the other, but there had been fewer “guess what wild shit Lexi did this weekend” stories floating around.She genuinely wanted the best for her ex.Lexi wasn’t a bad person.Just young.
Shit.Lissa was officially becoming one of those thirty-year-olds who viewed anyone in their twenties as a baby.
“Okay,” Lissa conceded.“I guess, given the slim pool of choices, I was the best.Roger is too old to learn Excel, Penny is too sweet to ever lie to anyone, and Becky probably won’t last another year, given the number of times she’s burned herself on the blowpipe.”
“True, but she does make those gorgeous glass pumpkins with the swirly stems,” Daria pointed out.
“Those are some of our best sellers,” Lissa agreed, running a hand through her hair.“I just wish she was faster.I’m dying here, Daria.Ever since that marketing company left us high and dry, it’s been one tragedy after another.”
“I wouldn’t call Briggs selling the studio a tragedy,” Daria said, examining her decorated purple nails.How she managed to maintain a perfect manicure while working in an art studio was a mystery for the ages.“That Art, Inc.company at least kept the lights on.”
“Yeah, for now,” Lissa grumbled.“They were very clear I had six months to get this place to a breakeven point, or they’re going to do exactly what Briggs would have done—sell off the building and equipment.I’ve only got a month left, and if I’m interpreting this spreadsheet correctly, which I very well might not be, then we’re actually bringing in less money now than when Briggs first abandoned us.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah, shit indeed,” Lissa replied, slumping deeper into the chair, inches closer to sliding off the thing altogether.“I spend so much time in this suffocating office that I haven’t blown anything in days.”
Daria snickered, and Lissa rolled her eyes.Of course she would become best friends with a girl who had the mind of a twelve-year-old boy.
“I need a break,” Lissa huffed out, scrambling out of the chair.“Let’s go get coffee.You been to that new place, Mixie’s, yet?”
Daria’s face lit up.“Oh, yeah.Their scones are next level yum.”
“Sweet,” Lissa said, holding out a hand for her bestie.“I need something bad for me.”
“Oh, are we talking about your taste in women now?”Daria asked, taking Lissa’s hand and using it to help peel her butt cheeks off the vinyl.
