I felt slow and mechanical as I left the airport. Hunter was gone. I had lost him.
Lizzy was standing next to the Mustang, arguing withthreepolice officers. “What’s going on?” I asked.
“The plates are expired,” Lizzy said. “By about forty years. They won’t let us drive it home. They’re going to tow it.”
“Oh. Just my luck.”
She must have known from my face that I was unsuccessful. We filled out the police paperwork and then took an Uber back to Lizzy’s house. She got changed for work, drove me back to my house so I could do the same, and then we carpooled to the brewery.
“Are you sure you want to go?” she asked. “You could take a sick day. I’ll vouch for you with Charlie.”
“I need the distraction,” I said numbly while staring out the window. “If I stay at home, I’ll just cry the whole time.”
“As long as you don’t cry at work,” she said with a forced laugh. “Although you might get a lot of sympathy tips.”
I grunted a response. A cold sensation was slowly taking over my body as everything sank in.
Hunter is gone.
“Hey! What about your gemstone company?” Lizzy asked. “Hunter’s YouTube channel has a couple million subscribers. You’ve probably gotten a crap-ton of sales.”
I pulled up the app on my phone. “I’ve gotten two sales today. Those, plus the first one I got from the lady in Dayton, makes three total.”
“Oh.” Lizzy was silent for a moment. “Well, two is better than none. I guess people who watch car videos aren’t the kind of people who buy jewelry.”
“I guess not.”
We parked at the brewery and went inside. Charlie took one look at me and asked, “You all right, Erica?”
“No,” I said numbly. “I’m kind of dealing with a breakup.”
Charlie was a blunt and abrasive boss. He usually rolled his eyes at workplace excuses and had an attitude of:suck it up, buttercup. But today, he surprised me by awkwardly coming over to the bar and giving me a hug. From him, the gesture meant a lot, and I very nearly broke down in tears right there.
“You can take a day, if you need it,” he told me. “I’ll cover the bar with Lizzy.”
“No, I’m fine,” I said, even though I was the furthest thing fromfine. “I’d rather be working.”
He grimaced, nodded, and then left us alone.
“What about the Facebook ads?” Lizzy asked after we had served a few customers. “You were getting ready to ramp those up, right?”
“Right. I’m increasing the daily ad spend tomorrow.”
“I’m sure those will do great. By this time next week, you’ll have so many orders you won’t know what to do with yourself!”
I didn’t share her enthusiasm. Now that I knew the marketing plan had been developed by Carmen, I was suspicious of it. If I was in her position and Hunter was asking me to help his new girlfriend’s business, I don’t think I would be mature enough to give it my full effort. I would probably give intentionally bad advice in order to sabotage it.
The whole thing left me feeling rudderless. I didn’t know how to proceed, and my business only had three sales.
It was a start, but it wasn’t the quick-out-of-the-gate start I had hoped for.
“It’s notover,” Lizzy said, dragging the subject back to Hunter. “Eventually he’ll answer his phone and you can tell him how you feel.”
“But what do we do next?” I asked. “We’re kind of at an impasse. He’s in Portland, and I’m in Columbus. It will be months before I can go through all of Mom and Dad’s things. And of course there’s Brad to worry about. Right now, we’re splitting the mortgage. When I leave, he’ll have to find a roommate.”
“And that’s your problem, why exactly?”
“He’s my brother. He’s the only family I have left. I’m not leaving until I make sure he’s settled.” I sighed. “What Hunter said yesterday was right. Weareall adults, and Bradshouldbe more mature about this. But he isn’t acting that way, especially after we lied to him and fooled around under his nose. I don’t want to damage the relationship with my only family just to chase a guy in Portland.”