2. Cooper
2
Cooper
M y soon-to-be sister-in-law has been a total godsend. No wonder my baby bro fell in love with her; Luna is truly incredible. They both came up from Boston to stay a couple of weeks with me in preparation for the new bookkeeper to start on Monday.
Theo had to run into the city this morning for some work meeting regarding building permits. I don’t know, really, but it’s given me the opportunity to have some one-on-one time to get to know Luna better.
It’s been great having my brother around more, too, and having Luna encouraging that means so much to me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my brother this happy and focused.
He started working with Luna’s sister and her husband restoring historic, luxury homes along the New England coastline. It’s something new for him, but he has always been a natural leader and enjoys working with his hands.
Listening to him talk about the projects and seeing his face light up when he does makes me not worry about him so much. It’s Luna’s turn to take care of him now and she seems to be doing a better job at that than I ever did.
I’m just grateful he is finally earning some clean money and seems to have fallen in with a much better crowd. He’s even talked about getting his real estate license.
Luna’s been good for him and he seems good for her, too. I guess it’s true what they say about the power of a good woman.
Now if only I could get my own shit together.
“Is it blinking?” Luna asks, her question dragging me out of my thoughts as she fiddles around with the document scanner underneath the counter in the back office of my tattoo shop.
“No, it’s still not blinking,” I answer, getting frustrated because the damn device is absolutely impossible. “Maybe we just need to go get a new one.”
“Coop, we don’t need a new one.” She huffs, crawling out from under the counter. “Maybe the cord is wrong or maybe there is a spot on the other side of the PC where it’s supposed to be plugged in.” She shuffles to the other side to look.
I was fighting with this damn scanner when I first met her and here we are, nearly three months later, and the damn thing is still giving me issues.
This is exactly why I need a bookkeeper. I have very little patience for stuff like this. I’m ready to smash the damn thing against a wall while Luna tinkers around with a hopeful smile in full investigation mode, determined to solve the issue.
However, according to the letter I got in the mail, I can’t just flip the bird to the IRS anymore. They want full, documented records of all my business’ earnings and deductible expenses. So here I am, calling in the big guns to help me fight the battle that is my messy ass finances, in the midst of my first audit.
I’m just lucky I had an in with Theo, stealing the bookkeeper’s heart and setting me up with Stella. Her firm doesn’t typically take on businesses like mine, but my revenue puts me over her minimum threshold. Plus, with my connection and a new, local bookkeeper, I was able to bypass the wait list. That Stella chick is a pretty high demand lady.
“Hey, it’s blinking!” Luna bounces on her toes as she gives me a high-five.
I’ve never had a sister, but I kind of like it. She’s so stinkin’ adorable.
“So, what now?” I wonder out loud, now that the damn scanner finally decided to play ball.
“Now we scan all your receipts and documents. The device should save them directly onto the computer where we can then upload them into the accounting software.
I will show everything to the new bookkeeper tomorrow. The only thing you need to do is pull all your receipts here.” She points to the little letter tray she labeled with her label maker.
We went out shopping yesterday and she organized my entire back office space. I won’t lie; I think she went a little wild with the label maker, but it actually looks great back here.
Organized chaos, as she calls it.
Regardless, the system she created is so easy; I don’t have to do anything more than actually put things where they need to go. Even I can manage that. Allegedly, the new bookkeeper will do the rest.
“So, are you nervous or excited for the new girl to start tomorrow?” She asks, and I shoot her my best I’m cool look, making her laugh.
“I wouldn’t say excited or nervous, just more curious. It’s weird having someone come in here and poke around the most intimate parts of my life. I’m weird about money, I guess,” I admit.
Money is one of those taboo topics like politics or religion. It’s there, but no one ever really talks about it.
“I know what you mean, but more people need to have conversations about money in order to become more comfortable with it. That way, people can learn how to manage it better,” Luna explains.
I know she is right, because this chick is wicked smart, especially when it comes to money. As she should be, since she comes from boat loads of it.
For Theo and I, money is something totally new and foreign to us. We never heard about it growing up, because for us, there wasn’t anything to talk about. Our mother worked two jobs to support us. She worked hard to keep two boys fed with a roof over our heads all by herself. We weren’t well off, by any means, but if we struggled, she never let us know it.
It looks like that is finally changing for both of us. My shop is doing great and I even travel a bit, doing conventions and events around the country. I’ve worked hard to get my art out there, even if I keep everything other than my business name fairly private.
These days, people come from all over the world to get tattooed by the mysterious pirate. I guess it is time to start treating my business more like a real business and get over my imposter syndrome.