39. Annabelle
Annabelle
When I get back to Ann Arbor, I go straight to Bethlehem Cemetery to visit my Nana.
We talk for a long time. Well, I talk anyway.
Nana can’t hear me, but pretending she’s listening really, really helps.
I talk about my cards, and Truly Penrose, and Western Greetings.
I tell her about Echo Creek, and about my new friends, and about Grant.
I have a lot to say about Grant.
“I’m going to keep looking,” I tell her before I leave. “It’s not too late. It’s never too late to find someone. You taught me that. Somewhere, there’s a man capable of loving me.”
Kat books me a salon appointment. She says I need a cut and highlights and a bonding treatment. I tell her I’m basically broke. She says it’s her treat. She also clears her calendar for next weekend so she can drive me back to Echo Creek to help empty my apartment, because Kat is the best.
She’s also busy. She took on a bunch of Jacqueline’s clients, and she’s got a new girlfriend. I feel like I never see her, even though we’re living under the same roof since I’m sleeping on her couch again.
I’m in the salon, waiting for my highlights to process while gossip swirls around me.
The new receptionist is sixty, and obsessed with her first grandchild.
Paulette is going on and on about the high thread-count sheets she found at TJ Maxx.
Bernice is on a diet, which she says is “so healthy” as she lists the foods she can’t eat.
The door opens. I turn my head, expecting to see someone I know. Which is stupid. Ann Arbor is a town of over a hundred thousand people. Why would I know them? I sigh and go back to my phone. Maybe I’ll feel better when I’m back to doing craft shows.
I should be doing research in that direction.
What shows are coming up? Who still has tables?
Instead, I’m scrolling through my Instagram.
Nice people are complimenting my work, and I like reading that.
A few other celebrities have gone through their mail, found my cards, and thanked me publicly.
I have a DM from Rebel Wilson that I’ll treasure forever.
A girl’s got to get her dopamine hits where she can.
I’ve had two new job offers. Papyrus was courting me for a hot second, and so was Bergen Place. I had zoom calls with them, but it was Western Greetings all over again.
When I think about going it alone, I think about all the things I need but don’t have—warehouse space, shipping logistics, and most of all, money to get started.
I’ve made a hundred different spreadsheets, and they all lead to the same place.
So instead of dealing with any of it, I’m getting highlights and looking at Instagram.
A DM pops in from Ted Ender. It’s another offer on my building, higher than the last one. Since I blocked his number, he’s found me on social media.
Annabelle: What about my tenant?
Ted Ender: What about him?
Ted Ender: …
Ted Ender: He can stay six months
Annabelle: One year, and no rent increase
Ted Ender: I’ll send you a contract
I give him Kat’s address. What else can I do? I don’t know if I’ll take Ender’s offer or not, but I have to sell the building to someone, and nobody else wants it enough.