20
Adley
I saw the caller ID and my heart dropped. Everyone knows it wasn’t really serious until they call. The attorney had been emailing me to schedule a meeting, but I never responded. I thought it wasn’t something too serious. Just another form or something for my grandmother. I hadn’t accepted it fully yet so that was why I avoided walking into a conversation about her.
But it wasn’t that at all.
I answered the call and knew I couldn’t listen to any more in front of them. I couldn’t dump my problems on Tate and Levi. It wouldn’t be fair and it wouldn’t be right. So I kept it to myself and left before I really freaked out. I called him back and continued the conversation in the safety of my hotel room.
“Hello, sorry I was in a place with bad service.”
“That’s all right. I just wanted a chance to explain this so you would understand.”
“What—what is there to understand? What’s wrong?” My voice shook.
I couldn’t imagine anything being more wrong than my grandmother being gone, and me being alone with no job. I thought I wasn’t really alone, but this wasn’t Tate and Levi’s problem for me to just include them.
“Well, Adley, it’s about your grandmother’s estate.”
My breath hitched. I felt my body go cold and my face grow hot at the same time. I sat on the floor at the edge of the bed and tried to steady my breath, and keep my voice even.
“Is there a problem? The house is being repaired and it passed inspection. Did I miss something?”
There was so much that went into keeping a household running and getting it back on its feet. I thought maybe I missed an inspection or hadn’t done something I was supposed to.
“Well, no. It isn’t something like that. Listen Adley, a lot of fees have gone into this whole process. And there was a long list of things to take care of after the fact. That number I gave you was a good amount at the time, but after everything…I’m afraid it’s run out.”
“Run out?” I nearly shouted. How the hell did a hundred thousand dollars run out that fast?
“Yes. Um, nearly. After calculating what is left to get the house in good shape, it will be gone. And not all of the costs for the construction will be covered.”
“I don’t understand! Sorry, I don’t understand.” I lowered my voice. “They told me they cut costs everywhere they could. I thought everything was okay, and I haven’t spent any of the money on anything else.” My hotel fee was it, and that was minimal.
“I know. It isn’t your fault. I’m afraid it is just bad luck.”
I scoffed. It wasn’t just bad luck. It was the story of my fucking life. I couldn’t believe the hand I was being dealt, yet again. How was I supposed to get through this?
“What…what do I do?” I asked calmly.
“If you want to stop the construction now you’ll have a few grand left. If not, there won’t be enough to cover the costs and I don’t know if they have financing plans or anything like that, but I can find out.”
“Oh. Okay.” I sighed. I really wanted to finish her house. I wanted it to be perfect, the way she would like it. I didn’t want to fail her again.
“I know it is a tough decision, and I don’t need an answer right now. Just call me back tomorrow morning and we’ll come up with a plan,” he said kindly. He was kind. I didn’t feel pushed around by him at all. I knew he was just trying to do his job; I just wished I had known things could turn this way in the beginning.
“Okay. Thank you.”
“No problem. And of course if you have any questions don’t hesitate to call. I know how hard this process can be and I want to make things as easy on you as I can. I wish I had known about this sooner, I could have helped you more.”
“That’s okay. I know you did your best.” I assured him.
“Thank you. Call me tomorrow, okay?”
“I will. Thanks.”
“No problem. Talk soon.”
“Yeah.”
I hung up and collapsed against the bed post. I tossed my phone aside, kicked off my shoes, and climbed into bed. I didn’t care that it was the middle of the day. I had to turn everything off; I had to turn life off and just wallow in my own head.
I felt like I had just pulled myself out of this funk and now I was back again. One of the jobs I applied for had emailed me back for more information and a supplementary application. It was a step forward. But now it was like I hopped back to the very beginning when everything was shit.
Not even the thought of Tate or Levi helped me feel better. It only made me feel worse because I wished I could talk to them, but I knew I couldn’t. I didn’t know how to tell them all of this and I didn’t know if I even wanted to. This was my drama, my mess that I had to clean up. And now it affected their business too.
How the hell could I tell them I didn’t know if I could finish paying their company for their work? Even if I did decide to press forward with the project, where would the rest come from to finish it off? I barely had savings and every day in this hotel was taking more out of it. There wasn’t enough time left on the project for me to work and make up the costs.
I used to bartend at parties at night, and could make a few grand at once if I did big events. But that was so long ago I didn’t even know if I had those contacts. I racked my brain trying to figure out where I would get the money from. I could sell stuff, a lot of stuff. Who needed furniture?
I realized it wasn’t a decision I could make on my own. But I was too embarrassed to reach out for help. I knew the professional thing to do would be to call them both and explain my situation, feelings aside. But I didn’t want to mess things up. I wasn’t happy with how I left them in that café, especially after they cut their day short to be with me.
God, I was such a fuck up. I was treating them like they didn’t matter, and it was wrong of me. I took out my phone and decided to text them.
I’m sorry for leaving like that. I just have a lot going on right now.
I figured that was good enough. I wished I could say more but it wouldn’t have been appropriate over text. I told myself that when I felt better, I would call them and try to explain things. Or meet up with them. I didn’t know. I just wanted to stay in that bed for a little while longer and ignore the world.