I stand with him. This is it. “So Clyde told me to drop by next time I was in town.”
A smile breaks across his face. “You know Clyde, man? I just saw him over at Hidden Hemp.”
You don’t say? “Is he in the same place? Frederick and Clayton?”
“No way, man, he left there two years ago. He’s north of Buena Vista now—over the coffee house.”
Two years ago, as in right after my shit went down. “Thanks…”
“Arlo.” He holds up his hand, palm facing me. “It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy.”
“See you around, Arlo.”
“Stay beautiful, Turtle-man.”
He wanders off in the direction of the ocean, and as soon as he’s out of sight, I take off jogging back towards the bus stop.
Buena Vista is a smallish park east of here. I have no idea which coffee house he’s talking about, but I’m pumped. I’m ready to get justice.
Hope
“You were in her room, mask off, sampling her cosmetics…” Yarnell stalks around the living room like she’s so astounded.
“I wasn’t sampling her cosmetics!” I’m on the couch, hiding under a blanket, where I’ve been since I fled the hotel. “My mask was off because I was scenting her colognes.”
“Watching Netflix, going through her stuff, not making the beds…”
“She really overreacted.” I recall the scary woman with the Cruella de Vil hair screaming like I had a gun on her. “People are so on edge right now.”
“You stole her body spray!”
“I didn’t mean to steal it! She kept calling me a thief and yelling for security. I panicked.” Pulling the blanket tighter around me, I sink lower on the couch. “She was like a scary witch.”
“That scary witch is married to one of the richest real estate developers in California.”
“Then I don’t know what her problem is. That body spray is only twenty dollars.”
I looked it up, thinking I’d mail her the money.
“That’s not the point, and you know it.” Yars shakes her head. “You’re lucky Sonny likes me as much as he does. He’s not going to dock your pay. He said you can come back to work after she checks out tomorrow.”
“I don’t know, Yars.” My nose wrinkles. “I don’t think I’m cut out for that job.”
I think about having to make beds and clean toilets and vacuum.
The vacuuming part I didn’t mind, actually. It was sort of gratifying to watch the little bits of dirt or paper or whatever being sucked up by the machine, leaving the dark floors shiny and clean. It took my mind off thinking about JR all the time.
“Not cut out for the job,” Yarnell huffs. “The point is it’s a job. You need a job, remember?”
“I need to update my business plan and salvage what I can from the restaurant before my lease expires.”
“Then you ran into Mr. Hastings’s room.” She goes to the kitchen and pours a glass of wine. “You’re really lucky he didn’t complain. He’s the richest venture capitalist in Manhattan.”
“That’s what he said.” Pressing my lips together, I remember how arrogant he was, like whatever he decided was the law. “He was like a king.”
“He’s about as close as you can get in this country.”
“He said he might help me.” Pulling the body spray out of my pocket, I give it a pump, watching it rain over my legs. “I think this stuff is my lucky charm. If I hadn’t sprayed it at him, he might not have started asking questions.”
“You sprayed Brazilian Crush at Stephen Hastings?” She takes another, bigger chug of wine then drops to the couch beside me. “I need to lie down.”
“What I really think is it was cosmic karma.” I push the blanket back and get on my knees beside her. “All this bad stuff happened right as my dream was coming true. That weights the scale too far to one side. It had to be corrected!”
“You’ve been listening to your dad too much.”
“I need to check on Dad.” Walking to where I left my small bag of clothes, I drop the body spray inside. “I’m going to head back tonight. Please tell Sonny I’m so sorry for everything.”
“What will you do?”
“The only thing I can do.” I shrug. “Chase down my second chance.”
Driving back to the beach house, anxiety and optimism twist together in my stomach.
In front of me is the chance to reclaim what I’ve lost, but it’s not guaranteed. I have to decide if I can still see my dream, but see it in a way that has changed, at least locationally. It’s only a small change, right?
Sometimes in the waves of change, we find our true direction. I don’t know who said it, but could Monterey be my true direction? Dad says, if you really want something, don’t hold it too tightly. You have to believe in it, then let the universe take over.
It’s a terrifying concept.
The universe has not been very nice to me lately, and I’m not sure I trust it. Oh, God, I’m so afraid. Instead of Hope Eternal, I’m back to the Eternal Hill.
Blinking away the heat in my eyes, I park Metallicar in front of the beach house for the first time in weeks. I sit in the car studying the weathered wood boards, and I realize it’s not just my dream changing, I’ve changed.
The last time I was here, I was sad, discouraged, drunk… Now I’m awake, and I know what I want so clearly. Why does it have to be across this scary chasm?
Taking out my phone, I check the time before dialing his number. Not too late…
“Hey, sunshine, what’s on your mind?” My dad’s warm voice eases the fear in my chest.
“I’m back at the cottage.” Dropping the car keys on the island in the kitchen, I head out the back door to where the wooden porch overlooks the ocean far below. The sound of the waves is a soothing hush and the scent of salt water and brine takes me back to being a little girl here, safe with my father.
“I thought you were working with Yarnell?”
“I kind of decided that wasn’t for me. I’m a terrible housekeeper.”
He chuckles in my ear. “Housekeeping at a big hotel is not easy. People take it for granted.”
“I’m so lonely, Dad.” I haven’t told him about JR.
I should because if anyone would understand a broken heart, it would be my dad. Still, I’d be lonely here even if my heart weren’t broken.
“I know, sweetheart. It’s going to get better. Remember that saying about that which doesn’t kill us?”
“I remember.” My voice is quiet as I gaze up at the black-velvet sky.
The cottage is so far from any other homes or businesses, the stars are brilliantly visible at night. A million points of light against an inky black expanse.
“There’s no moon tonight.”
“How many stars can you see?”
It’s a question he used to ask me as a little girl, before I was big enough to understand estimation. “All of them.”
He chuckles in my ear, and it helps me smile. “The stars are our loved ones looking down on us when we can’t see them.”