I laugh. “Wow.”
“Try it.”
I mimic his roar.
“There you go. Feels good, doesn’t it?”
“Um... Well, actually, I think my roar is a bit premature. I’ve got a crap-ton to figure out before I decide if I’m actually gonna do it or not.”
“Why wouldn’t you do it?”
“Because I don’t know what the heck I’m doing. I know PR, but I don’t know anything about running a business. I’m only twenty-four, for crying out loud. I’m a wee little baybay, Joshua. Waaah.”
He scoffs. “I started the L.A. office of Faraday & Sons at twenty-four and I didn’t know a goddamned thing. But I kicked fucking ass and took names, anyway—like the wise and powerful man I am. I learned on the job and so will you.”
“Yeah, but I don’t have a brother and uncle working with me in case I don’t know something—it’s just me, and I don’t know the first thing about a million things.”
“Like what?”
“Well, like whether my company should be an LLC or S-Corp or which billing software I should use. Plus, I’ve got to figure out a logo and website design and—ohcrap—what if I wanna hire an actualemployee? I don’t have the first idea how to set up payroll or—”
“Whoa, slow down, High-Speed,” Josh soothes. “You’re stressing methe fuck out.” He chuckles. “I’ll help you with all that stuff. Piece of chocolate cake, little baybay.”
“Josh, no, you can’t help me with that stuff—I have to learn it, that’s the whole point of starting my own thing.”
“No, doing everything by yourself is most definitelynotthe whole point, you fool.” He makes yet another scoffing noise. “The point of owning your own business is being your own boss and getting to do the thing that makes you a fucking beast—which in your case is being a PR phenom—it’s definitely not setting up billingsoftware and payroll. And, realistically, you’ll probably be a one-woman operation for a while, so getting you up and running will be easy-peasy. Don’t stress it, babe. I got you.”
“Yeah, but I still don’t know how—”
“Ssh. I tell you what I’m gonna do, baby,” Josh says smoothly. “I’ll line up whatever you’re gonna need to get your business off the ground—an accountant, bookkeeper, IT guy, website designer, whatever. I’ve got all those folks sitting on my contacts list already, so just a couple of quick phone calls and,boom, you’ll be all set.”
I’m positively swooning right now. “You’d do that for me?”
“Of course, I would. I’d do anything for you, Kat.”
Holy shitballs. Josh tossed out that last sentence like he was simply stating the obvious, but I’m floored. “I really didn’t mean to imply I was expecting you to—”
“Oh, I know. I never thought that. I just wanna help.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“You know you don’t have to—”
“Dude. You’re pissing me off. Just say ‘thank you.’”
I smile into the phone. “Thank you.Very much.”
“My pleasure.”
I feel light-headed. “So does that mean you’re gonna be, like, an investor?”
“No,” he says quickly. “I don’t want an ownership stake—I’m not making a long-term commitment here. I’m just offering to help you get your baby off the ground, that’s all—no strings attached.”
There’s an awkward pause. He said all that a lot more emphatically than was necessary, I do believe.
“Okay,” I say slowly, my heart beating wildly. Did he just tell me in code he doesn’t want a long-term relationship with me?
