Page 14 of Ruining Hattie

HATTIE

“ Y ou what?” Taylor screeches, her mouth dropping open on the phone screen.

It’s been a couple of days since I agreed to move to Seattle to work for Bastion, and I’m still wrapping my head around it. “I got laid off from my job here, so I accepted a job in Seattle.”

Taylor’s stunned and frozen face stares back at me. “You’re actually going to leave the roost. I thought I’d never see the day.”

I narrow my eyes. “I don’t live with my parents.”

“No, but close enough. This is so exciting! But how the hell did you find a job out of state so quickly?”

I inwardly cringe at hearing her use the word hell. It’s not like I’ve never heard people use it or the Lord’s name in vain, but it’s especially jarring coming from Taylor since we grew up in the church together. It still seems weird to me even though she left religion behind years ago.

I tell her all about Bastion—how we met and struck up a friendship and then met up for the next several weeks. The longer I go on, the more and more narrow her eyes get.

When I’m finished, she says, “I’m going to table the fact that over the past month, you’ve not once mentioned that you’re off meeting with this handsome, older stranger every week. And I’m just going to ask if you’ve lost your goddamn mind?”

I ignore her using the Lord’s name in vain because I’m so shocked by her reaction. “What do you mean?”

“You accepted a job across the country in a city where you know no one from a man you hardly know. How do you know his real name is even Bastion? What if he’s a human sex trafficker or something?”

I roll my eyes. “He’s not a sex trafficker.”

“How do you know?” Taylor crosses her arms and looks at me pointedly.

“I don’t know, I just do.”

Taylor shakes her head at me. “Sometimes you can be so na?ve, Hattie.”

“You’ve never met him. He’s not a trafficker. He’s a successful businessman. I can’t believe you of all people are reacting like this. You’re the one always telling me to take more chances.” I throw my hands in the air.

“Something about this doesn’t sit right with me. This guy shows up out of nowhere, you share a few coffees, and suddenly he’s offering you a job you can’t refuse.”

I actually thought this would be the conversation with my parents. I thought Taylor would be singing my praises and giving me an “atta girl.” This, I didn’t expect, and it makes me wonder if I am actually too na?ve. Could Bastion not be who he said he is?

“If you met him, you’d know you have nothing to worry about.”

“Hattie, I love you, but sometimes you’re not the best judge of character.”

She doesn’t have to say Rich’s name for me to know what she’s referring to. Her comment stings more than it should after all these years.

“This isn’t like Rich. I’m not romantically involved with Bastion.”

“Maybe not, but I think perhaps you’d like to be.”

I scowl at her through the screen. “What are you talking about?”

“I can tell by the way you talk about him that you’re crushing pretty hard.”

“You’re wrong. He’s a nice man, but there’s nothing between us.

” I don’t bother to say that’s because there’s no reason a successful, attractive man would ever go for me.

And I leave out the little amount of sexual tension I’ve felt the last two times we met up.

“It’s a great opportunity for me, and at the first sign of trouble, I’ll leave, okay? ”

Taylor sighs. “Just be careful, okay?”

“Always.”

“And text me every day. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll fly out to Seattle myself to track you down. And this Bastion is going to be in a world of hurt.”

I laugh. “Agreed.”

“What do your parents think of all this?”

I bite my bottom lip.

“Let me guess. You haven’t told them yet.”

The truth is that I’m nervous about telling my parents.

Not because I think they’d try to stop me.

They’ve always been supportive of whatever I wanted to do with my life.

But I’m afraid to see the look of disappointment on their faces when I tell them I won’t be living close to them anymore.

It’s been the three of us for as long as I can remember.

But I’m twenty-four years old now. Maybe it’s time to start building a life for myself.

“I’m going to tell them.”

“When?” She gives me a look as though she thinks I’m full of it.

“Tomorrow night when I go over there for our Friday night dinner.”

“Do you think they’ll have a shit fit?”

I shake my head. “No. I think they’ll have concerns, but in the end, they’ll be supportive.”

Taylor nods slowly. “How are you going to go about finding somewhere to live?”

“Bastion owns some rental properties, and one of his tenants just vacated, so he’s going to let me move in there.”

“How convenient,” she says, making it sound the exact opposite.

“Taylor, stop. I’m lucky he’s offering me this job. I could’ve ended up in fast food, barely able to pay my rent. It’s not like this is a thriving metropolis and there are all kinds of jobs up for grabs.”

She sighs. “I know. I’m sorry. I’m just worried, that’s all, and I hate being so far away while you’re going through all this.”

I frown. “I hate it too.”

“When are you leaving?”

“Bastion left it up to me, but I figured the sooner the better, right? For both of us. So I’m going to fly out on Monday. Use the weekend to pack up what I want to take. He said that works well because things are usually quieter on Mondays.”

“And what exactly does he do?”

“He’s in the entertainment industry. He gave me the name of his corporation, but Google isn’t much help. I think maybe he deals with a lot of celebrities or something because he’s pretty tight-lipped about it.”

Taylor frowns. “I don’t love the sound of that.”

“Stop. Listen, I’ll text you as soon as I’m in my new place on Monday, okay? You can interrogate me then.”

“All right. But listen, be careful. I love that you’re trying something different and taking some risks. Just keep your eyes open and trust your gut, okay?”

My chest warms because despite her misgivings, I know it’s only because she cares. “I promise to be careful. At the first sign of trouble, I’ll come home. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“If you say so.”

We chat for a while longer, and Taylor brings me up to speed on what’s going on in her life.

After we finish the call, I grab the boxes I picked up at the moving depot a few towns over earlier today and pack a few of my things.

My personal belongings will come with me in suitcases, but I’m going to ship some boxes to the address Bastion gave me to arrive after I do.

After I’ve packed the first box, I glance around my apartment and wonder if I’ll miss it.

I don’t think I will. I’m nervous, sure, but excited at the same time.

It’s my first real adventure.