Page 33 of The Rebound
“Quadfecta.”
“No, that sounds made up.”
“Let’s just say I’ve come full circle.”
“At least you tried,” she says. “The farthest I ever got was here.”
“There’s always time.”
“Nah, I’ve decided to lay down roots. Plus, I can’t do long-haul flights. I get headaches. I will make an exception for New York however. Especially now I have a floor to crash on.” She winks. “That was me inviting myself over, by the way.”
“I’d love to have you. Unfortunately, I have no floor to crash on.”
“What do you mean?”
“I had to give up my apartment. I had to give up everything.”
“Everything?”
“Everything but what I brought in my suitcase.”
Her smile fades. “You’re joking.”
I hesitate, realizing I said too much, but Beth picks up on it immediately.
“To be clear, I brought you here so I could get you drunk and pry into your life. You are falling for my plan perfectly.”
I laugh. “I didn’t mean to bring the mood down.”
“You’re not,” she insists. “Tell me about the apartment. What happened?”
“It’s less dramatic than it sounds,” I say, uncomfortable. I think about changing the subject, but she just waits, folding her hands on the table. “I’d started renting from MacFarlane a few weeks before it went under,” I explain. “On top of my salary and my savings, it was a perfect storm.”
She’s not quick enough to hide her shock. “They kicked you out of your home?”
“It wasn’t mine,” I say. “It was theirs and they could do what they liked with it.”
“So when you say everything…”
I nod. “And I was one of the lucky ones. Some people had kids and college funds, houses… some lost millions.”
“Millions?” Beth stares at me, her eyes wide. “How much did you lose? Wait! Don’t answer that. That is such a rude question, ugh. Look.” She pushes up her sleeve, showing me her bare arm. “I’m breaking out in hives just thinking about it.”
“I didn’t have millions to begin with,” I assure her. “I wasn’t that high up. I wasn’t even close. I mean, yeah, I was doing okay the last few years, but…” I push down the queasy feeling inside. “Sorry. I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this.”
“It’s because I asked,” she says. “And because people tend to tell me things. I think it’s because I tell them so much. Also this is like fourteen percent, so bottoms up.”
I watch with a smile as she takes an impressive gulp. “I spent my money at the start,” I tell her. “I used some early investments to pay off student loans. I gave some to my parents. Plus New York isn’t cheap. But everything I did have I lost. MacFarlane encouraged us to put our entire lives into their hands. The more we gave, the more they promised to give back. It sounds so financially irresponsible now but everyone was doing it.”
“Then maybe it’s a good thing you got out. They sound awful.”
“They do,” I agree, rotating the glass slowly. “We all knew we weren’t working for UNICEF. We took rich people’s money and made them more money. That was our job.”
“You make it sound so worthwhile,” she jokes.
“I know. And I know how it sounds but I’d give anything to go back to how things were. I feel like I’m lost without the work.”
“Can’t you go somewhere else?”
