“So, what are you gonna do now?” My friend, Mariah, asked me as we were standing in front of the guest house that just burned down in our sight.
“I have no clue,” I stated while shaking my head.
I thought I had it all figured out. Going to study law at Harvard was something that was planned out for me from my early teens and after not finishing my studies, I knew everybody - especially my dad - was disappointed in me. But the truth was, I didn’t want to study law in the first place, because I had an interest in other things. Since getting a well payable job was very hard for me, I came up with a brilliant idea to start my own business which went from buying a guest house in Louisiana to building it up into a hotel to getting into a fight with our neighbours and ending up with a burned one. I guess it could be worse than this, right? Right.
“I mean, its renovation will take even more money and you don't have a cent felt in your pocket, Chris," Mariah said to me, leaning on her car and crossing her arms.
"You're right," I replied to her, not getting my eyes off the house. It had a huge balcony and a garden that I wanted to do wonders with, but my dreams went down to the toilet within a day. "So I'm moving back home to Minnesota because there are no other options since I can't afford anything at the moment."
"I can get you there," she said to me with a small smile.
"Thank you," I thanked her as I took my bags and sat in the car. The police and firefighters finished their job and left the place at the same time as we did and suddenly I felt like I was hit by lightning. "Truthfully, I think there's something wrong with me."
"What do you mean?" Mariah asked after she started to car.
"I'm cursed," I said, pointing a finger at myself.
"What?" Mariah laughed.
"Leaving Harvard was the right choice, but I think it brought me here," - I pointed at the house that was ruined now - "because I was selfish."
"I don't think this is what happened here," Mariah continued laughing. "Sometimes, mistakes are there to teach us something and you're definitely not cursed."
"How can you be so sure?" I asked, feeling tears running down my face. I was an emotional wreck and it annoyed me to the core. "I tried my best and it didn't work out and I'm left with nothing but a few pieces of clothing and an empty bank account."
"You'll get through it," Mariah said to me, squeezing my shoulder as she was driving. "You take a few days - weeks if needed - off from all of this and get yourself up again."
"How on earth would I do that?" I stated, letting out a loud and nervous laugh. "I don't even know what I'm supposed to do!"
Mariah smiled at me. "Maybe ask if your dad has or knows someone who can get you a solid job for some time."
"I don't want to ask my dad's help in this," I said to her.
"Are you proud?" she asked, turning to the main road.
I bite my upper lip before replying to her. I wasn't proud to ask for his help, I just wanted to find it on my own time and terms. It's part of adulthood, right? Right.
"No, I'm not proud!" I assured her.
"Then what is it?" Mariah asked. "You're going to see him anyway, so there's no harm in asking."
"Actually, I was planning to not tell my parents about my current situation... at least until I figure out how to fix this," I answered her, looking out of the car's window. In all honesty, I didn't want their pity or questions about what's my plan for the next week or so because life throws difficulties like this at you almost every day and you just need to learn how to deal with them.
Mariah shook her head and smiled. "For what's best, you can enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas with your family as for me I need to swim in my office work for a few months."
"You got this!" I said, smiling at her. "You can come to Minnesota once you're done. I'm sure they'll love to have you there."
Mariah nodded and parked her car in front of the airport. "You need to call your mom first and I'm gonna go and buy you a ticket."
"Alright," I sighed as I took my phone out of my handbag. It took a few seconds before she finally answered and she sounded way too happy to hear my voice.
"Hi mom, it's Chris,"
"Hi, honey! Are you okay?"
"I'm good!" I said and stepped out of the car, taking my bags with me. "I'm perfect, but I called to tell you that I'm coming home for the Holidays."
"Thanksgiving is a few weeks away, Bella," she said, sounding a little worried. She called me Bella only to tease me as she knew I preferred Chris, but I choose to not argue with her and just leave it.
"I know, but I thought I would come early," I said as I closed the car's door. "So we can have a mother-daughter time."
"That's lovely, Bella," she replied. "What time do you arrive?"
"I'm buying a ticket right now, so I'll let you know once I get it," I said and ended the call.
This is going to be a lot of fun, I thought to myself, standing next to the car, holding both of my bags and watching my friend going into the airport to buy me a plane ticket to Minnesota. I knew I had to lie a lot to not let them know what really happened and it can be very hard since I'm not good at lying, but I guess this is where you end up with very high expectations and excitement to do something different that you normally would. So yes, I was either very blessed in a weird sense or cursed and I didn't know which one sounded worse.
