Page 76 of Screwed
It was crazy.
She had no idea what she was doing. But the thought kept going around and around in her head.
The Realtor unlocked the door and opened it, and they went in.
Callie looked around. The outside was adorable. The inside…well, it was okay, but definitely not what she wanted. She’d need to gut the place and completely redo it.
She knew what she wanted now. She’d been touring a lot of bakeries in the city, seeing how they set up their retail space. It wasn’t that money was an issue. She had her trust fund, after all. Though she did have this other crazy notion that she should try to do this as much on her own as possible, which she’d told Daddy. But she was impatient. She’d always been impatient, and now that she’d been thinking about opening her own little storefront, she wanted it to happennow.
Sure, there was much to be said for starting off online, but she had this feeling that if there was a place somewhere people could just impulsively pop in and buy what she’d created that day, she’d do even better.
The Realtor babbled off some stuff about square feet and electricity and air conditioning, then showed her through to the back area. She didn’t need that much retail space, but she needed a bigger kitchen area, so it would have to be reconfigured. It couldn’t be that hard, though. She’d have to find a contractor, maybe a designer…no, she wanted to design it herself. And she had some design training, so that shouldn’t be a problem. She just needed someone to make her vision a reality.
As quickly as possible.
She had to push back the surge of energy that made her want to jump into things now.
She discussed rent with the agent, tried not to let her excitement show, and sounded noncommittal as they finished their viewing of the space. “I wouldn’t wait too long to decide,” the agent said. “This is a popular area.”
“Yes, I realize that.” She loved the area, and it was perfect for what she had in mind. But she still wasn’t totally sure she wasn’t crazy. “Let me think about it tonight, and I’ll call you tomorrow.”
They parted ways and Callie climbed into her BMW. She sat there for a few minutes, tapping the steering wheel.
She was aware of how fortunate she was. She had choices in life that others didn’t because she’d grown up in a privileged environment, which she acknowledged despite her feelings of never being able to live up to her parents’ hopes for her. She didn’t want to fall into a “poor little rich girl” pity party. She had enough money to make her own hopes and dreams come true, if she was smart about it. And…if she had the guts to go for it.
…
She signed the lease on the shop the next day. Her insides trembled as she did so. Hopefully she wasn’t making a huge mistake. Since it was vacant, they negotiated a deal where she could move in immediately. Then she took the keys, drove to the Village, and walked into her new shop.
“Mine.” She turned in a circle in the empty building and grinned hugely. “Mine to make a success or to royally fuck up. Totally up to me.”
She sucked in a big breath, for a moment overwhelmed. She didn’t even know where to start with this crazy project.
Cash would know. He was a big hotshot electrical engineer, project manager consultant, or whatever. He knew lots about stuff like this. Okay, maybe not convection ovens and mixers. But still.
She pulled out her cell phone and called him. “Okay, I just did something crazy.”
“Oh Christ. Tell me you didn’t get another tattoo.”
Laughter bubbled out of her. “No.”
“A piercing?”
“Not that, either.” She paused. “I just signed a lease on a little shop in the Village.”
Silence. “What? Seriously?”
“Yeah. Seriously.”
“Like, where in the Village?”
She told him the address. “That empty place we saw the day we were here getting sushi. I’m standing in it right now.”
Cash still said nothing.
“Um. You think I’ve lost my mind, don’t you?”
“Possibly.”
