Page 128 of Every Broken Piece
“He made it so I could work as a virtual assistant again.”
He pulls his phone out of his pocket and starts flipping it on his thigh, looking thoughtful. “You want to compete against your old company?”
I shake my head. “I want my own clients.”
“Okay. So where do I come in on this?”
“I think I need a website. And...other stuff. To be honest, I’m not sure what I need but a website seems like a good start.”
He stares out the windows for a minute. “I’m not a designer, but I know someone who is. She can help us.”
“I’ll pay her.”
He nods, still thinking, then flips his phone around and starts texting. “She’s a senior and wants to do web design as her career. I bet if you let her use your website in her portfolio she won’t charge you.”
That would work because I have no idea how much a website design would cost. Or how much launching my own company would cost. I’ll start small. Sign a few clients and go from there. Talking about it out loud makes me anxious because what if I fail? But it also makes me excited because what if I succeed?
Pax’s thumbs are flying across his phone screen and he’s smiling as he texts. “Done,” he says. “I’ll help you with the background programming. What else?”
What else? “I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far ahead. I guess I should contact my former clients to see if they’d beinterested in coming back.” What if no one’s interested? This is a stupid idea. I have no clue how to run my own business.
But you have Gabe, who runs a billion-dollar corporation. He’ll help. And Pax and Jack will help with the website stuff.
This is the right decision. This is the only decision that feels right. For the first time in forever I don’t have that feeling of doom, that everything’s going to come crashing down at some point.
With the toe of his sneaker Pax taps the bag at my feet. “This might help. Open it.”
I pull the heavier-than-it-looks bag to my lap and remove a familiar looking white box and a smaller matching box. I eye Pax and he shrugs.
“Don’t look at me. Dad said to get them, so I got them.”
“A new laptopanda new phone?”
“Your old laptop and phone are shit. I bet you don’t even get updates to them anymore.”
I press my lips together because he’s right. They’re old and more than likely vulnerable to any sort of cyber-attack.
“Now you can start your own business since you have the proper equipment,” Pax says. “I’ll help you set them up.”
I run my hand over the cool, metallic surface of the sleek laptop. It’s the nicest gift I’ve ever received. I have to force myself not to tell Gabe that it’s too much. This is a gift, and I’ll accept it with grace.
“You need a business name,” Pax says. “We can’t start anything until we get a business name.”
We spend the next hour brainstorming names, some of them so off the top that we’re both laughing hysterically.
Eventually, SmartDesk Solutions is born.
Me: Can you call me when you’re available to talk? It’s not an emergency
Gabe: Give me two minutes
“What’s wrong?” he asks when I answer his call.
“I said it wasn’t an emergency.”
“Whenever you need me it’s an emergency.”
“You always say the nicest things.”
