Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 112884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
“I’ll think about it,” I reply and then Jagger lets out a huge shriek and we both turn to look at him.
Later that night while I’m in bed, wearing my plush robe, I open my laptop and type in the foundation name. The website pulls up right away and I see the mission statement right in the middle of the screen.
Our Mission:
Abuse happens in all different types of environments and in different forms.
Our mission is to help people impacted by this. To help them survive and thrive through awareness and community engagement and education.
I look over at the top where the contact button is and press it, and it brings me to an email page.
I swallow down the lump as my hands fly over the keyboard composing the email.
Hello, Ms. Hayes,
I came across your website and was wondering if you were looking for anyone to help at the foundation. I would like to set up a phone call if you do have anything available.
Please feel free to contact me at any time.
Lexi Petrov
(602) 521-1002
I press send before I can take it back, then shut the top of the laptop at the same time the sound of swooshing ends, telling me the email has officially been sent. “Well, here goes nothing.”
sixteen
Kirby
I sit slouched on my couch, my feet on the coffee table in the middle of the room. The television is playing in the background. One of the shows Jaxon told me is a must watch is on, but all I have been doing for the past hour is sitting down and staring at my phone.
The text app is open to Lexi’s name, and I must have composed about a thousand different text messages in that hour. My eyes read it over and over again before I press send.
Me:
The best part of my day was seeing you. Thank you for the cinnamon roll. I dare you to come over to my house right now.
“You can’t send that,” I tell myself after I write the last part. I go back and erase it all. “Just be natural.”
Me:
Thanks for the cinnamon roll. It was good seeing you today. We should do it again soon.
“Yeah, that’s good, right?” I ask my cat, Jefferson, who is sitting right next to me, but not so close that we are touching, because that’s not the type of relationship she wants. “Should I press send?” I take a deep breath in, looking over at her and seeing her with her eyes closed. I move my hand to rub down her black back and she opens her eyes and gets up to move away, turning around and giving me her back. “Does that mean I should?” I’m about to press send when the phone rings in my hand.
Kylie’s face appears on the screen, her eyes closed as she makes a pufferfish face. I took the picture when she turned twenty-one and she thought she could drink with the big boys. I got her a shot of moonshine and that was the face she made right after. I swipe my finger across the screen and then press the speaker button. “If you are calling me to discuss paint samples again, I’m blocking your number.”
The sounds of her laughing fill the room. “No,” she pants out, “I am calling because we just got an email.”
“Okay,” I say, not sure I’m following what she is saying. “Were we expecting to get an email?”
“No,” she sings out loudly, making Jefferson look over. Then she decides this isn’t her vibe, so she jumps off the couch and starts to walk over to the back door, then turns and gingerly walks up the steps toward the bedrooms. “Total surprise.”
“Are we going to play twenty questions or are you going to tell me who the fuck the email is from?” I chuckle.
“I mean, playing twenty questions will make my night,” she teases. “Especially since you said you were going to be my right-hand man, but the minute that a decision needs to be made, you take off.”
“I don’t give a shit what type of carpet you want in the office or even what color you want to put up on the walls. I couldn’t care less, that is totally up to you. I’ll only be in there a couple times a month.”
“Whatever.” I can hear the eye roll from my side of the phone. “Okay, start with question one, but there is no way you will ever guess.”
“Is this a woman?” I ask her and she laughs.
“It is,” she confirms. “Now you have to choose between one and three point nine billion women. And go.”
“Is this a woman I know?” I ask her and she hmms. “Is this a woman we know together?”
“I met her, yes,” she says, and I think of the next question.
“Is it someone we know from back home?”