Page 109 of As a Last Resort
“Nature calls.”He pushed his barstool back and disappeared down the hall toward the bathroom.
I stayed frozen, gripping my beer bottle, watching a single drop of water slowly slide down the side of the glass.Was this why Sam wouldn’t talk about work?
Was it possible she knew the resort planned to incorporate afive-hundred-passengerferry into its design?
Five hundred guests at a time.
Every hour.Every day.
The numbers swirled in my head as the drop of water fell to the bar top and vanished underneath the bottle.
Once that thing started running, I’d be out of business in less than a month.
33
SAMANTHA
When I was assigned to a new project at Goodrich, the first thing I did was walk around the city to see where my feet would take me.I’d watch where people would go, what stores or parks they gravitated toward.I’d let my mind wander.I’d start seeing things in my head played out like a movie.Community gatherings, parades, parks with signs announcing festivals, balloons floating in the air and ice cream dripping down kids hands, blankets spread out across the ground with dogs catching Frisbees, weaving in and out of people.The details would bombard my brain.
That hadn’t happened here.Yet.
But I finally started to see it in my mind.It was still fuzzy, but it wasn’t dictated by pool bar sales and occupancy rates.I saw families on fishing charters, and generations taking a family reunion picture on the beach.I saw small stores with hand-painted signs at local business fairs.Sunday morning markets with fresh flowers and smoothies.Kids riding resort bikes with seashell-filled baskets all over the property mid scavenger hunt.Things were starting to click into place.I just needed a bit more time to pull it all together.
I was on the couch and had just turned my phone back on when Austin walked in the door.
My phone began dinging back to back with notifications pouring in.
“Busy day?”he asked as my phone chimed again and again.
When I looked down at my phone, the room hollowed out.
IVY:where r u
IVY:answer ur phone
IVY:pick up ive called you 10 times
I didn’t want 2 send over txt but ur not answering
i dont want u to hear it from him first
Robby got the promotion its official
pls call me when u get this
“You okay?”he asked.
The room tilted.
“Yeah, it’s just stuff for tomorrow,” I lied as I got up from the couch and made my way to the front door.“I just need a sec.”
I held my breath as I dialed her number.I knew this was coming, but to actually hear it severed the thin string of hope I still had with a blowtorch.
“God, where have you been?”she yelled at me.“I’ve been trying to get ahold of you.I was trying to get you to come back today.”
I was in a fog, my insides still like Jell-O from her text.
“It’s a mess.Glenn fast-tracked his decision, got the board’s approval, and announced it at the staff meeting earlier, that you, for some reason, weren’t signed on for.”
