Page 82 of Hate You Later
Hope she’s healing well. No more Band-Aids?
It’s healing fine.
Any chance I’ll see you anytime soon, Cookie?
What do you mean, Furball. You know how I feel about cats.
Well, I was wondering if maybe you’d make an exception,just this once. I believe that your owner is coming to tour the event space in my building later this week?
It appears she can’t get out of it.
Well, my owner would love it if your owner brought you along to see the space. It’s quite pet friendly.
We’ll see.
I promise to be on my best behavior.
Whatever. I mean, I could probably take you.
I’m sure you could. One more thing, Cookie? If youdon’t mind my asking a small favor?
Dude, you bought us a phone. We owe you.
Do you think you could still help both of us out with our costumes for the masquerade?
Actually,I think I know JUST the thing for you and your owner, Furball. Prepare to dazzle.
No rhinestones,I say.
We’ll see.
Suddenly, I’m afraid. But also, as is my custom whenever speaking with Georgia, slightly turned on.
We end the conversation with our usual sign-off.
Later, Hater! Xoxo, C
Hate You Later! Xxoo, O
georgia
Ephron’s warehousedistrict is a light industrial area with many aging warehouses, some that have been converted into workshops by artists and tradespeople. There’s The Grumpy Stump, a few auto body shops, a tattoo parlor, and a totally creepy self-storage building.
Easy access to the river and to the train tracks has historically made this a natural place to build warehouses. But times have changed, and many of the old warehouses are empty and decaying. There’s graffiti on the walls, and not the artsy kind. We pull into a parking lot that is sprinkled with trash and weeds. It’s in stark contrast to the new construction across the street.
“Wow!” Kenna marvels at the sleek, modern structure across the street. “Remember when we were in high school and this whole area was like thewrongside of the tracks? Like the forbidden forest?” She waggles her fingers ominously to punctuate this statement.
“So forbidden.” I laugh. “That was pretty much my liberal mom’s only rule. Stay away from the warehouse district!”
The Farm & Holm warehouses were the largest ones in the district and located closest to the waterfront. Apart from a section that used to house the shelter, the building has been empty for a decade. My recollection of the structure was a façade full of boarded-up, broken windows and flaking billboards.
Not anymore.
Looking at the building now—really looking—I’m struggling to put together which parts remain from the original. It’s hard to tell where the old construction ends and the new begins.
The street-facing, block-long façade of the building is fronted with glass and metal. Its dramatic and vast open interior on the ground level reminds me of an urban art gallery. The polished cement floors gleam.
I know, from the development’s website, that the plan is to set the space up as a communal workspace. A place where people can work from home without being at home.
