CHAPTER 11
Emma
It’s beenover a week since quitting my glamorous-sounding, chaos-inducing job. I’ve gotten very little sleep over the last few nights, overthinking my rash behavior and researching everything I need to do to set up my new business because I’m an entrepreneur now.
When I told Sadie I quit and that I wanted to make Dream Space a reality, she was one hundred percent all in. We both agreed she would still go to New York for the summer internship, both for the contacts and experience, and I would get our business set up, with her doing what she could from the East Coast.
I keep vacillating wildly between grief and excitement, regret and determination, fear and hope. I’m scared about the change, yet it feels like the right step.
But I’m also queasy with nerves at the idea of facing Sebastian when he gets back to LA. He left for a movie festival in Germany the day after I quit, so I haven’t seen him. Thankfully, Iwasn’t scheduled to attend the event. That would have been one uncomfortable plane ride.
The messages flying back and forth are awkward enough.
He alternates between pretending I didn’t quit and trying to get me to stay.
On Monday, the day after I gave notice, he bribed me with more money. I told him no.
The next day, he told me I could take Fridays off. He said it would give me more time to pursue my “hobbies, like starting a business.”
A hobby.The jerk. I told him where he could stuff his offer.
Then he promised I didn’t have to be on call anymore. That he’d never bother me on my days off.
I turned him down.
Finally, he offered me the carriage house on his property. He explained I wouldn’t have a commute. And I’d have privacy in my own home on the estate.
Maybe that was a little tempting. But only because I love the space, with its whitewashed woodwork and soaring view of the Pacific. I can imagine myself working there, setting up my business with that inspiring backdrop. But despite Sebastian’s promises, I’d probably still be an overworked assistant. An image of me running around, sourcing socks and handkerchiefs and planning Sebastian’s wedding to Allegra had me replying NO. In all caps.
Plus, this isn’t just about me anymore. Sadie is counting on me as well.
“I wish I’d seen Sebastian’s face when you quit,” Sadie says with a wide grin.
It’s eight on a Friday night as we sit at the tiny table I somehow squeezed onto my balcony. It overlooks the parking lot, but it’s still nice to be outside. I found the white wrought-iron table and two matching chairs on a secondhand, local message board. If I squint, I could almost pretend it’s charming.
If I squint hard. Because the paint on the railing is cracked and peeling. And I learned the hard way that it was precarious when I almost fell four stories down after I made the mistake of leaning on it one day.
“We’re really doing this. I’ve already started pulling a branding kit together and designed a logo. And you, my clever business partner, already have a lead on a client!” She pops the bottle of a fancy champagne that I got for free at one of Sebastian’s industry events and have been saving to celebrate her graduation.
She officially moved out of her dorm today. Her internship starts soon. So we’re celebrating both our brand-new lives.
I pull a light wrap tight. My dress is thin, and the summer night is surprisingly chilly.
“It’s a long shot,” I say, not wanting to get her hopes up too high.
But a frisson of excitement moves through me. Our potential client is a woman Daisy knows who is going through a divorce. She’s about to get a substantial settlement because her very rich husband replaced her with a newer model. So she wants to revamp her entire life. With four young children, she’s struggling with the transition. If we were to land her as a client, I’d organize the move and set her up in a new home, with Sadie consulting from New York on the design.
If she hires us.And that’s a big if. We still have a lot to do to set the business up, and most of it will fall to me since Sadie will be in New York. I’ll have to come up with a full range of packages and pricing, social media, a website, an accounting system, marketing, and on and on. I’d prefer to hold off on taking clients until I tick off some of those items and Sadie returns toCalifornia, but I only have enough savings to float me for about three months.
Starting a business, even one with low overhead, is expensive. I need to pay for my health insurance, an eye-watering cost. We’ll have all the normal business expenses. There’s not even a question of renting office space, so I’ll have to work from home.
Not for the first time, I wonder what Sebastian would make of my shitty apartment.
Maybe I should have taken him up on his bribes to stay. I could work for another year, build up my savings, and launch my business then. That would be what practical Emma would do.
But practical Emma seems to have left the building.
“Em, don’t spiral. We’ll be fine.” Sadie hands me a glass of champagne, which I take gratefully.
