Page 22 of Billionaire Grump
“Never going to happen.” He blinks at me and goddamn it, I want to cry.
“Please, Josh. Please put it back. Promise me you’ll put it back. I’ll pay for the plane ticket. I’ll put some money in your account for Fort Lauderdale. I’ll pay for the laptop.”
He leans down to kiss my cheek, saying nothing. “Later, Ive.”
“Okay? Josh?”
“I said it before and I’ll say it again. I’ll do the right thing.”
“Do it now. Get the screen up and show me.”
“I’m afraid I’ll miss my flight if I do that now.” He’s infuriatingly blasé about this. He seems…happy.
“I want to see the restored statement of the bank account by the time you get back.”
“Sure thing, Ive.”
“You will?”
“If that’s what you want, I will show you the restored bank statement by the time I get back.”
“Okay. Good. Good. Thank you.”
He grabs what looks like a shiny new phone and shoves it into the pocket of his baggy new jeans. He heads for the door. “Have a good weekend, Ive. See you on Monday night. I think I get in at around three.”
“Make sure you—” He slams the door and I feel the vibration in the pit of my stomach.
Shit.
Shit.
Shit.
6
I spend the rest of the afternoon mired in the zone of the powerless, pissed-off parent. I send Josh a bunch of texts, but I keep it light and vague, so nothing incriminating can be found on either of our phones. In case they get seized or something.
He ignores every message. I get one text that confirms he made it to Florida, he’s alive, and he’s going to be busy partying, so he might not be able reply to my messages right away. He tells me to “chill.”
The little fucker.
I should be enjoying my alone time. God knows I don’t get much of it.
I open a few of the mountain of boxes that have been sent to me by companies wanting me to advertise their products. We keep them stacked along the wall by the door and they’ve become part of the furniture.
There’s a forest green sports bra and matching bike shorts, wrapped with tissue paper. A note reads:
Ivy, we love your Insta! We hope you enjoy this breathable fully-organic yoga outfit, made with 100% sustainable fabrics. We’d love to work with you!
And a sweater.
Hi Ivy! We’re so excited to present you with this luxurious and one-of-a-kind cashmere crew-neck, weaved from the wool of free-range, hand-reared Kashmir goats here in the gorgeous Catskills region of Upstate New York! We hope you might consider working with us on some product advertising. We’re in awe of your platform! We’d love to meet with you via Zoom. Please get in touch xx
I’ve got a reputation as working mainly with ethical companies who do their best not to destroy the planet.
My phone rings.
I pick it up, thinking it might be my walking cybercrime of a brother. But when I see the name on the screen, I do a double-take.