Page 59 of Baby, It's You
“I can’t believe this,” I tell her.
“I know,” she whispers back.
“I'm happy for you.” I force a small smile, and she gives me ayeah rightlook. “Seriously, I am. I’m just surprised, that’s all. I didn’t even know you were looking for a new job.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry for not saying anything. I just didn’t want to mention that I was applying places until I knew for sure what I was doing. I know you’ve been dealing with so much already; I didn’t want it worrying you. My life just feels stagnant right now and honestly, I want to start over somewhere new.”
I listen to her as she describes the new bridal boutique in Atlanta and scrolls through their Instagram, listing off the designers to me. Her excitement is so palpable that I try to bury my feelings of self-pity and celebrate Ivy’s accomplishment. I know I will be devastated once she leaves. I barely have Jane anymore, my maternal figure, and now I’m losing the only best friend I’ve ever had. I don’t even realize I’m in a trance while she talks until Ivy sets her phone down and takes both my hands.
“I have kind of a crazy idea.”
I wait for her to keep talking.
“If, for some reason, and I preface this by saying I really hope this doesn’t happen,” she quickly adds, “but if for some reason you’re not able to buy the bar from Tripp, I want you to move to Atlanta with me.”
I pull my hands back from hers. “I’m not leaving Clairesville. This is my home, and the bar isn't going anywhere. We’re raising the money; we’ve almost hit the goal.”
“I know.” Ivy nods, agreeing with me. Then, more gently she adds, “I’m just saying. If it doesn’t work out, consider starting over with me. Just think about it.”
“Okay,” I tell her. “I will consider it. When do you move?”
“September first.”
“That’s in two weeks!”
“Yup. I’ve been going through my shit all morning. I’m trying to purge most of my closet. I’m going to be a classy broad now,” Ivy jokes. “I get to wear heels every shift. Actually, it’srequired.”
“Your poor feet,” I tell her.
“I know. Good thing I can soak them in all the money I’ll be raking in,” she jokes. I laugh and then we hold eye contact, our faces turning sentimental. Knowing each other's thoughts so well, I can see that she feels as torn up at the thought of leaving me, as I do of losing her.
“I’m really going to miss you,” I say.
“I will visit you all the time. I promise. I will only be nine hours away. That’s basically one audiobook of a drive.”
“Okay and I will visit you, too, if I can ever get Barney to be reliable.” I roll my eyes and Ivy snorts.
“I would love to see Barney take Atlanta; she deserves a joy ride.”
“I will just need to have AAA on standby. She’s one drive away from exploding.”
“Our girl would never. She would possibly die a dramatic death in the middle of traffic so everyone would have to stare at her as they angrily passed, though. Barney would love the attention.”
“Who else am I going to talk to like this?” I sigh.
“I will just be a phone call away,” she tells me.
I nod as she sits up quickly. “I’ve been so wrapped up in figuring out what I’m doing recently that I completely forgot to ask you how it’s going with the video series!”
I start to tell her about everything Hunter and I have filmed recently, feeling myself smile as I think about the adventures we have been on so far.
“What’s his YouTube channel?” Ivy asks, pulling her phone out of her back pocket. “I can’t believe I haven't watched any of them yet. Sorry, I’ve been a horrible friend.”
“It’s fine, I get it, you've got your own stuff going on.” I laugh and tell her his channel name.
I scoot closer to her as she clicks the first video, the one that features Rob’s voice and shows the bar. Then it’s the clips of Sonjia and her bees. Ivy says “aww” as it continues to play. Finally, it cuts to the final moments of the video. It’s Hunter sitting in his room, explaining the purpose of the video series. Suddenly, Ivy drops her phone like it’s on fire.
“What the fuck!” she says and picks it back up, blinking like she can’t believe her eyes.
