Page 113 of Levi

CHAPTER27

Jules

Sydney and I are ona video call, and judging from the sparkle of excitement in her eyes, she’s as giddy as I am.

“Oh, my God, your new office is amazing!” Syd exclaims. “Love, love, love the wrought iron on the large window!” A hand waves all over the place. “When I’m not working in the boonies, we’re totally going to have to savor a bottle of expensive champagne at my place. A French charcuterie board and a French dessert board are a must!”

I couldn’t wait to show her my new space, but since her and Austin are trapped working on the landscape of a ritzy estate located near El Matador Beach, this is the next best thing. I just stepped back into the building. So far, I’ve only showed her the exterior, and she’s already jumping for joy. I can’t blame her.

“Champagne and fancy food boards? Isn’t that a bit much?”

She shakes her head, a strand of red hair falling in her eye. She brushes it behind her ear. “You’re stepping into the big league! We have to up the celebrations.”

“I have to be honest though, I’m still a little nervous, Syd. Fingers crossed everything goes better than planned,” I admit.

This space is far more expensive than the other location, and since Levi is footing the bill for now, there’s a lot of pressure.

“It will,” she assures me. “Your father left you something precious. It was just a question of findingthe rightbusiness partner... I guess in your case I should say, partners.”

“And kicking the old useless partner to the curb!” I piggyback.

A devilish grin curls her lips. “It’s about time you no longer have to carry that monkey on your back––I mean, I’m so happy you no longer have any financial ties to Hillary Twatt and her bratty offspring.”

“Free at last! Free at last!” I raise my hand, waving over my head as if I’m in the front pew at church, praising the Lord.

We laugh.

Levi was right. With the help of a home staging company—they quickly removed Hillary’s fake masterpieces from the walls—and a few cosmetic touchups here and there, we were able to sell the house in a blink of an eye. Once the bank was paid on the second mortgage, Hillary and I split the rest. Once the bank took their share, there wasn’t much left for me. I’m okay with that because I don’t have to see Hillary ever again. The landlord to the old office space was happy to get paid, even though we had vacated the space. As for Hillary, I made sure to keep her guessing. I didn’t wire the money to buy her out until the last hour. Devious, I know.

“New boyfriend. New partners. New zip codes for your home and your business. You’re on a roll,” Sydney says.

“I never dreamed of living in Venice Beach. As for Culver City, it’s such a departure from the old location. That area was heading south fast. I’m glad to be out of there.”

“Thank God for Levi!” she says.

“Thank God for Levi,” I echo.

That man is my lifeline.

“Austin is going to kill me if I extend my break too long. Even with the team we hired for this colossal job, we have so much to do. That said, no way can I go back to work until you finish the tour.”

“Okay!” I love her enthusiasm.

“Check out the rest of office,” I move my phone around the workspace to give her a panoramic view.

“Sweet!” she shouts.

“Let me show you the warehouse.” I navigate through my new office with my phone extended in front of me. You got to love technology. “It’s a bit of a mess, but you get an idea,” I say, turning the phone around so we’re looking at each other. I frown.Shit.

“Is everything okay?” Syd asks.

“My battery is running low,” I tell her. “I have to plug it when I end this call.”

“I have to go soon, anyway. But not before saying this,” she warns. “You’re too hard on yourself,” she scolds. “You moved in yesterday. You have one hundred bikes, and God knows what else to unpack and organize. I can just imagine the mountain of bubble wrap you’ll end up with.”

Alice and I spent all afternoon yesterday and today unpacking, but it seems we haven’t made a dent. Since she was on the verge of exhaustion, I sent her home. Levi is meeting with a vendor for drinks and dinner tonight, so instead of waiting for him in his huge house, I decided to keep at it. Speaking of huge house, we’ve been living together for two weeks now. He would scold me for calling ithishouse as opposed toourhouse. Truthfully, I still can’t wrap my head around it. I had a moment of hysterical deafness when he suggested the crazy idea because he was moving at lightspeed. In the end, I’m thrilled I accepted his offer. I doubt I’ll call itourhouse any time soon, but waking up in his arms is a dream come true.

“There’s no time to waste,” I say. “I have two weeks to get this place in tiptop shapeandhire a handful of new employees before I have to devote all my time to the crowdfunding campaign.”