“He just got back home. His uncle and his dad helped him in, but he was walking on his own.”
“Oh, good.” She made a sound before saying, “You said it was your neighbor, didn’t you?”
I snorted, the loneliness already ebbing away with just the sound of her voice. “Yes. The son of the guy renting me his garage apartment.”
“Ohhhh. My assistant ordered a crystal for him. I’m sending it to the PO box address you texted me the other day. Tell him to put it on his left side. I hope he gets better.”
See? The best heart.
“So, how are you doing? Are you settling in? How’s Colorado?”
“I’m okay. I’m settling in. It’s really nice out here. It feels good.”
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 or Kobe 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.