by J. J. Bella
“Right, well I think a lot of people saw this coming,” one of the news anchors said to the other. “With the claims they made and no sales to back it up, I’m not surprised this has happened.”
“A lot of people thought this was a smart move,” the other anchor said.
“And a lot of people lost their money.”
“Dad, what are they talking about?” But before he could answer, she saw the scrolling feed across the bottom of the screen. “TechWise locks doors, files for bankruptcy.”
She sucked in a gasp and moved closer to the TV.
As she kept listening, the story came out. TechWise couldn’t sustain itself. Too much money spent, a few failed products, poor management. Everything was lost.
“What does this mean?” she said after a minute.
“It’s all gone. All our money is gone.”
She sat down on the bed hard. Gone? How could millions of dollars just be gone in a matter of weeks? How could this be happening?
“But… but…”
“I’m sorry, baby.” She could hear that he was crying. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault, Dad. We both thought this was a wise investment.”
“I brought you into this. I lost all your money. All our money. We’re broke again!”
“No, not totally. We still have our assets. Think of that. We’ll be okay. We’re not broke. Not like we were.”
He sniffled a few times. “I better go. I need to figure things out with your mom. Call us later, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah. Are you?”
He took a moment to answer. “Yeah. I need to call Chuck, but yeah. We’ll be okay.”
“I love you.”
“You too.”
She hung up, but when she set down the phone, her anxiety level sky rocketed. No wonder her dad had said he needed to call his sponsor. She wanted to get drunk herself.
She tried to think through all this would mean. She had to sell the house. Even though she’d put a lot down on it, the monthly mortgage was sky high. Nothing she could afford now. Gavin would get his way after all. She’d have to leave. The dog was already paid for and she didn’t think she could cancel that contract. Hopefully, owning Miles wouldn’t cost more than she could afford. Her new car could be sold. Much of her new furniture and clothing could be sold. It was all like new.
If she sold the house, even taking a loss, she could afford to buy a decent house in a suburb. Just like Gavin had said. She was more than a little pissed off that he’d been right. He’d been right about everything. The investment was bad. He’d said she’d lose all her money, and now she had. He’d told her to move back to the suburbs and now she would be. Well, it would make him happy. She’d be gone from his life. No more running into him around the neighborhood. It wouldn’t be her neighborhood anymore.
She sat down on her bed and picked up a notebook. She started to write a plan of all the things she’d sell, cancel, or change. She got a few lines down before the tears started. It was settling in. She had lost it all. Those millions were just gone. Her stomach turned and she broke into sobs.
She picked up her phone again and called Sarah. When she answered, Molly could barely talk.
“What’s wrong?” Sarah asked.
“It’s all—gone.”
“What is?”
“Our money. Gone.”
There was a long pause, then Sarah asked, “What do you mean?”
She had to breathe for a few moments before she could answer. “We made a bad investment. The company folded and the money is gone.”
“Whoa. We? Your parents, too?”
“Yes.”
“Whoa. That sucks so hard. What does that all mean? Like, are you going to be okay?”
“I think so.” She wiped her nose with a tissue. “I’ll have to sell the house, my car, and a bunch of the furniture and stuff like TVs. But I should be able to buy a smaller house with it. I’ll have to get a job, but I won’t be homeless or anything.”
“And you’re still better off than you were before, right? You’ll get to keep some of the fancy clothes and jewelry and stuff?”
“Yeah, I guess. Some of it.”
“Man.” Sarah blew out a long sigh. “Easy come, easy go, I guess, huh?”
“Yeah.”
They talked for a while longer, and Sarah helped her figure out where to start with selling things. She even offered to come over and take photos and help her post stuff online.
By the time Molly went to pick up the dog—something she’d been looking forward to all week—she was heartbroken and feeling depressed. She got the dog, and he helped her feel a little better. But she wondered what kind of life Miles would have if she moved. She’d just have to make sure her new house had a good yard.
8
The next day, Molly called the realtor who sold her the house. She figured that she was already familiar with the property, so could hopefully sell it easier. She explained what had happened and why she needed to sell quickly. She managed to hang up before the tears started again. There had been a lot of tears lately.
After meeting with the realtor, Molly needed to get out of the house. It was time to take Miles for a walk anyway, so a walk around the neighborhood seemed like the way to go. Who knew how many more times she would have the chance.
They started their walk by going past Gavin’s house. She looked up at the tall structure, but all was quiet. She wondered what was going with him. Why had he never bothered to text her back? He must’ve heard about TechWise going under. Surely, he would have at least texted to gloat.
She put him out of her mind and tried to enjoy nature and her puppy. Miles was full of energy and nearly bounced when he walked. He wanted to smell everything, and stopped to leave his scent often.
A neighbor came walking the opposite direction with her dog. A terrier close to the same size as Miles.
The dogs approached each other for the usual sniffing, and Molly smiled at the woman.
“Hi there,” Molly said.
Miles sniffed her dog’s butt and the woman made a face. “Control your dog.”
She yanked her dog away and hurried off, looking offended.
Control her dog? Because he was being a dog and sniffed another dog’s butt? Wasn’t that just what they did? Maybe leaving this neighborhood wouldn’t be such a bad thing. It seemed like everyone was rude all the time, no matter what the circumstances.
She turned down the street to head home. A few hundred feet ahead, she saw her new “For Sale” sign waving gently in the breeze. And standing beside it, with a smug expression on his face, was Gavin with his dog.
She didn’t smile and she didn’t pull Miles back when he went to town sniffing Zane. “So you are alive, then,” she said.
“Are you?”
“Breathing.”
“Finally took my advice, I see.” He rested his hand on the sign’s top post. “You’ll be much better off with people more like you.”
“What, broke people? Yeah, I guess so.”
“Ahh, come on. I know it sucks when an investment goes bad, but you can make it up.”
“How in the world can I do that?”
“By making better investments next time. The ones that do well will out weigh the ones that fail. I lose millions a year, but I make many more.”
She shook her head. “I don’t have any more to invest.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, it’s all gone. I put everything in TechWise.”
“You put all your money in one investment?”
Tears returned to her eyes, and she looked down so he wouldn’t see her cry.
“Good God, Molly, didn’t you learn anything about investing before you went about sending off your money? Does the term ‘diversify’ mean anything at all to you? Never, never put everything in one place. You do that and one bad investment will wipe you out.”
�
��Yeah, I kinda figured that out. Thanks for the advice.”
“I’m sorry. I just… I thought that was basic knowledge. I thought you’d at least be smart enough to know not to put everything into something, even if you didn’t listen when I told you that TechWise was a bad decision.”
“Okay, I get it. You know everything, I’m a total idiot. Now I have to sell my house and move, so don’t worry about it. You’ll never have to see me again.”
She tugged on Miles’ leash and unlocked her gate.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I know I’m an asshole. I’m sorry. Look, I can help you. I know something about this stuff, you know? Let’s take a look at what you have, and we’ll figure out a way to improve things. Money can always be made or lost.”
“No thanks.” She shut the gate, leaving him and Zane on the other side.
“Just overlook the asshole in me for five minutes and let me help you. Even if you only have a little money left, we can do something with it. It’ll take time, but you can bounce back. I promise.”
“I don’t want anything from you. I don’t need your advice, and I don’t want your help.”
She turned and stormed to the house, Miles happily jumping along in front of her. She didn’t look back to see if Gavin had gone.
The last thing she wanted was to sit down and tell him just how bad it was. Admit that the total amount of money she currently owned had dropped to only five digits. If she didn’t sell this house fast, she would have to go into foreclosure. There was maybe enough left to cover a few month’s worth of bills. Selling the car and furniture and other things would likely get her enough to make it a few more months. But if the house took six, seven months to sell, it was all over. She’d be back at City Styles making $12 an hour, living at home in her parent’s tiny house. If they could even afford to buy one.
Her phone rang a few minutes later. She saw Gavin’s number and ignored the call. After he called back the third time, she finally answered.
“What?”
“Look. I know I’ve been a total jerk, okay? I’m sorry I upset you. I’m sure this must be a very difficult time for you and your family. But I meant what I said. I will help you in any way I can. If you don’t have enough to invest, I’ll loan you some money. I’ll hire a lawyer and go after the scammers that convinced you to invest in TechWise. There are lots of things we can do to get your money back and set you up so you keep making more.”
Her anger toward him faded a little, but she still felt the burn of shame hot on her neck. She didn’t trust him enough to be that vulnerable around him. “I appreciate your offer. But I have to figure this out on my own. I got myself into this mess, and I’ll get myself out.”
“Okay. I’m not going to beg you or anything. But the offer stands anytime you change your mind.”
“Thanks.”
9
There had been exactly six showings on the house and exactly zero offers in the first week. Her realtor told her the most action came in the first few weeks, and often houses sold within days in this area. The fact that hers hadn’t yet wasn’t a good sign. When she’d bought the house, there had been another she had her eye on, but waiting a few hours to make a call about it meant missing out. That’s why she’d only seen her current house once. She had to put in an offer on the spot. They went too fast. Except this time, apparently, when she really needed it to sell.
The car had been easier. She’d sold it back to the same dealership who sold it to her. Of course, she took a huge hit on the price, but at least it was gone with its payment. In the place of her brand new Lexus now sat a used Honda, fully paid for.
The other items were going slowly. A dresser had sold, a few outfits, one of her TVs. It felt good to put money in the bank each time, but seeing the total balance still made her want to throw up.
Her parents were doing okay. They were doing similar things to recoup some money. Her dad was having a hard time letting go of his sports car, though. He’d dreamed his whole life of owning a souped up Mustang, and now he had exactly what he wanted. Her mother was trying to talk to him, but it wasn’t doing much good.
She got a text from Gavin a few days after she’d talked to him. “Read this article,” it said.
It was about someone else who lost a lot of money with TechWise and had hired a lawyer to get most of it back.
“I’ll find a shark to go after them. We can get back your money and your parent’s money,” he said.
She didn’t bother to respond. Though it was tempting to do it for her parents, she knew they wouldn’t be happy about turning to a 20-something stranger for help after the mistake they’d made.
They’d lived their whole lives with nothing, and now they would return with a little more. It was still an improvement, as Sarah had pointed out. They were still better off. Maybe Molly would go to college after all. Get a better job, and find a way to climb the corporate ladder and make good money that way. They got to enjoy the rich life for a time, which most people don’t get to do. Even if it only lasted for months, at least they had that.
Molly was finally falling asleep without crying for a while first, but she still wasn’t sleeping well. When she heard the gate buzzer go off in the middle of the night, it took her a while to realize she wasn’t stuck in a nightmare. Someone was at her gate, wanting to come in.
She got out of bed and squinted at the video feed of the gate’s intercom. It looked like Gavin. But the time said it was almost 2 a.m. What in the world would he be doing here in the middle of the night?
He pressed the buzzer again.
“Gavin?” she said.
“Molly, please.” His words sounded slurred. He stumbled, then stood and looked toward the house.
“Are you drunk?”
“Umm. I might be? Please let me in.”
She wasn’t about to turn him away in this condition, especially if he was coming to her for help. She pressed the buzzer to open the gate, and walked outside to meet him.
He walked crookedly and grinned when he saw her. “Molly.” He walked straight to her and wrapped her in a tight hug. “Thank you.”
“What’s going on?” she asked. He leaned on her a little too heavily and he wreaked of whiskey.
He stood up to look her in the eyes, then he lurched forward and pressed his mouth to hers. She was so shocked that for a moment, she didn’t do anything. Then she pushed him back and stepped away from him. He almost fell when she did.
“We need to get you inside,” she said.
She let him half lean on her to walk to the door, but her head was spinning. He had just kissed her. They had just kissed. Of course it was a drunken kiss that didn’t mean anything, but still. She could say that she had been kissed by Gavin Rowe.
She sat him down in her living room and got him some water.
“What’s going on?” she asked again. “When did you start drinking again?”
He let his head fall heavy. “After that night.”
“Which night?”
“The night we saw Eva.”
“That was weeks ago.”
He nodded and rubbed his face. “I drank that night, and I thought that would be it. But, you know how it goes.”
“You start to think you can handle it, so you do it again until you can’t stop.”
He nodded. “I’m a mess. I feel like a complete loser.”
“You’re not.” She sat beside him and put her hand on his shoulder. “It happens all the time, you know that. People relapse, then they get back to sobriety. Don’t beat yourself up over it. You’re here now, and I’ll help you.”
“Thank you, Molly. I don’t deserve your help after the way I treated you.”
“I won’t hold it against you.”
He forced a smile. “Thanks.”
“What was it about seeing Eva that made you want to drink?”
“She just gets me so twisted up. That’s why I broke up with her. She plays games all the time. Always finding ways to use my weakn
esses against me and get what she wants. She was only after my money. She never loved me.”
“But you loved her.”
“Like an idiot,” he said. “I should have known better.”
“Love blinds you. People have written whole songs about it and everything.”
“Yeah. I guess.”
“So you got jealous? Was that it?”
“Partly,” he said. “She’s dating someone who screwed me over so many times I can’t even count. He used to be my best friend.”
“Justin Wells?”
“Yeah. She told me just to upset me. Like now he has one more thing that was mine. He stole something else from me. And he’s a prick, too. Will treat her like crap.”
“That’s on her, not you. I know you love her, but—”
“Whoa. No I don’t. I did love her. I can’t stand that bitch now. I never want to see her again.”
She wasn’t sure how true that was if he was acting so jealously, but she wasn’t going to argue the point. “Okay. Well, either way. What she chooses to do isn’t your responsibility. Maybe she’ll get hurt by this guy and realize what she lost in you.”
“They deserve each other, honestly.”
“So you got drunk that night. Did you drink alone?”
“Yes. Stopped at a bar and got a bottle. Went home and finished it off. She just kept saying how weak I was because I couldn’t even handle one drink.”
“You wanted to prove her wrong.”
“But I guess I didn’t.”
“Gavin, it takes a lot of strength to do what you did when you got sober. The first time you admitted having problem? That takes a ton of strength. It’s the weak people who hide who they are, who stay sick and ruin their lives because they’re not strong enough to ask for help. But you did. And you are again. Its because you’re strong. Not weak.”
He turned his head and looked at her a long while. “I severely misjudged you. I thought you were some naive kid with all this money who didn’t have a clue. But I’m the one who doesn’t have a clue. What good is having a ton of money if all it does is bring me people that mess with my head? I don’t need that. I don’t want to be alone forever, but I don’t want someone who just wants my money.”
