16. Ivy
16
IVY
I walked around the small store front that overlooked the bay, and I loved it. The spacious offices were way more than enough room for me to make my plans, though the storage in back would be tight, but it had designated parking in the lot out front and the view of Lover's Bay out the window was to die for.
"It's hideous," Kevin grumbled. "You'll have thirty grand in repairs and upgrades to even make this place usable." He turned up his nose to this one too. Every single commercial property up for rent that we'd visited today either completely turned me off or made Kevin cringe. I was starting to get upset with him over every comment he made.
I winced and avoided eye contact with Ms. Pratt, the realtor who'd been showing us around for the day. She was a pleasant woman, but even I could tell that Kevin was pushing her patience to its limits. She had several more properties for us to check out, though I'd have been satisfied with a few I'd already seen. It almost made me wish I hadn't brought Kevin along.
"I don't know. It's got charm," I said, already picturing the new flooring and window covers. The storefront could host portfolios of all my previous events and examples of my decorations. Besides, it was far enough away from Mike that I didn't have to worry about overlap and competition.
"Green Bay is far better. You've got to know that." Kevin folded his arms over his chest, and I noticed the relator scowl before she turned away.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" I hissed under my breath, and he rolled his eyes.
"What's wrong with me is that you're purposefully self-sabotaging." The way he spoke to me sounded a whole lot like the way Mike used to speak to me, and I didn't like it at all.
"I like this place," I said in a whisper, and he shook his head.
"It's not move-in ready. It's got no store space, and no storage. And it's not central. Look out that window?—"
"It's called a view," I spat and huffed. Then I squared my shoulders and turned to Ms. Pratt. "I think we can move on to the next one."
She nodded at me, avoiding even looking at Kevin, and said, "Come this way…" She led us back out to her cute little BMW convertible, and we climbed in. The heat was cranked up, but I was so frigid. Between Kevin's cold treatment and the chill in the air five days until Christmas, I wondered if I'd ever warm up again.
"So, where is the next one?" I asked, purposefully ignoring the way Kevin sat in the back seat sighing loudly. He was pissed, but he wasn't in charge. I bet he hated that too, that he had no say. Mike never gave him any say, but up until now, I'd let him push me around. I let both of them do that. But this money given to me by James had to go a long way. Two million sounded like a lot, but with rent priced at three to four thousand a month, I needed to ensure my space was perfect and able to start making me a profit immediately.
"Oh, it's on the south side closest to Door County. You're going to love this one." She smiled at me and pulled her car into traffic, and I heard Kevin snort before he scoffed.
"South side? You’re trying to get even farther away from the center of the real business?" I winced at his comment and felt like telling him off right there in front of her. He was being so rude and I'd had enough.
"Well, I'm going to buy a van, anyway. I need one. I can't keep using Mike's." I kept my eyes trained on the road as Ms. Pratt drove and cringed when Kevin started in on me again.
"You know Ever After didn't buy a van until the third year. What are you trying to do, fail on purpose? Ivy, you have no clue how to run a business and?—"
"Shut up!" I shouted, and I watched Ms. Pratt bite back a smirk. I gritted my teeth and blinked back tears of anger. Then I turned over my shoulder and glared at him. "Ever After started with five grand and struggled to get off the ground. Event Queen is starting off with millions in the back in capital, and I'm going to start out strong."
He scrunched his nose up and pulled his head back so his neck wrinkled up and then made a gagging face. "That's the name you're going with? Event Queen? Are you insane?"
Tears welled up, and I turned to Ms. Pratt. "Please stop the car," I told her, and she nodded at me. It took a few blocks, but she found a parking spot and pulled into it and I turned over my shoulder. "You can get out now, Kevin. I don't need your help anymore."
He scoffed loudly, and Ms. Pratt covered her mouth with her hand to hide a smirk again. "You can't do that. Do you have any idea how much an Uber back to Green Bay will cost from here?"
"Apparently, it's the cost of our friendship." I clenched my jaw shut, and he scoffed again, but he climbed out and slammed the door.
Ms. Pratt didn't immediately pull away, and the tears came hot and fast. All I wanted was for someone to believe in me, and it took the kindness of a complete stranger to make me break.
"Are you alright?" she said softly, touching my elbow as I wiped tears from my eyes. She reached into her glove box and pulled out a brown paper napkin.
"Yeah, he's just really awful sometimes." I blew my nose, and she sighed.
"Let me take you home. We can do this again another day. I'll find more properties that will be perfect for you." She smiled softly, and I nodded.
The ride was quiet and she was patient with me. I was humiliated, but I knew I’d go back to her. I did love a few of the properties, and I could see myself setting up shop there, even if Kevin thought Green Bay would be better for me than Lover's Bay. And I knew I could be successful because James's help wasn't just financial. He was going to coach me through the whole process.
Which was the only reason I had enough motivation to get my room cleaned up and finish a bit of last-minute decorating around the Carver Estate. I had to show him how seriously I was taking his investment into my future. I couldn't let Kevin ruin this for me.