1. Floating Around In Life

1

FLOATING AROUND IN LIFE

T wo Weeks Later

“Why are you looking for another job?”

Crystal Winston sat in the chair in her room. It was easier to talk on the phone to her older sister, Taylor, here and have privacy from her roommates.

“I’m not making enough money where I am,” she said.

Just one more failure in her life. The last thing she wanted was to be judged for all the poor decisions she’d made or things she couldn’t see through or stick out.

“There isn’t a lot of money in childcare,” Taylor said. “Which is funny when I think of how much I’m paying for it.”

She snorted. Her sister had been a single mother for years. But now Taylor was married to the owner of the construction company she went to work for in upstate New York when she relocated years ago. Taylor and Reed had two more kids and her sister seemed to have the perfect life in her eyes.

Most of her siblings did, and here she was the baby of the family floating around like the airhead they’d all said she was.

“The money isn’t there to pay the staff,” she said. “I’ve been picking up some part-time babysitting gigs while I can. I even have my name on this website for it.”

“That helps,” Taylor said. “Being older, I know I’d consider you over a teenager.”

“It does,” she said. “But I do charge more. I find around here they are willing to pay it. But the problem is, I’m working like sixty hours a week between them both and it’s still not enough for me to get my own place.”

That was the ultimate goal. She didn’t think it was anything extravagant and probably silly to most.

Small steps in life were what she’d been trying to do.

“No one said being an adult was easy,” Taylor said.

“I know, I know. I don’t need another lecture. I get enough of them from Mom.”

Maybe she should have applied herself more for years. Or taken things seriously, but she didn’t know what the heck she wanted to do and was more interested in having fun than finding a career.

Traveling had been on the top of her list too, but she landed in Atlanta and loved the area and wasn’t looking to move anymore.

“When was the last time you talked to Mom?” Taylor asked.

She shrugged. “No clue. I try not to talk to her much. We text and that is fine with me.”

Linda Winston had strict opinions about things in life. All six kids heard them plenty and bit their tongues. Crystal could have a piercing from the hole in hers.

“The way of the world,” Taylor said. “Are you depressed that it’s Friday night and you’re home? Not sure why you are. I thought you went out with friends?”

“I do or try to,” she said. “But I’ve got a babysitting gig. I’ve got to be at their house at eight. Kind of kills the social life.”

“Sorry things are going that way,” Taylor said.

Crystal shrugged her shoulders against her headboard where she was sitting with her feet up. “It’s my own fault. I made these choices. I guess I should have buckled down and finished college. Everyone said I’d regret it.”

Taylor sighed on the other end. “College isn’t for everyone.”

“No,” she said. “But I should have had a better plan in life.”

“You’re still young,” Taylor said. “Lots of time to figure it out. You’re making ends meet and that is all you can ask for right now. It’s more than most your age do. At least you aren’t living at home.”

She never asked anyone for money. Not her parents—who wouldn’t give it to her anyway—or any of her siblings.

She didn’t want anyone to ever think she was as much of a failure as she thought of herself.

If it meant she needed to work three jobs, she’d do it. She just had to figure her life out and Taylor would be the one to listen and give the best advice of all her siblings.

“All true,” she said. “Making ends meet only because I’m working like a horse and, again, my choice. I think the bigger issue is I just want my own place and don’t see that happening.”

“What’s going on with your roommates?”

“Sophie always has man drama,” she said. “Every other month it’s someone else. It’s annoying to wake up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and hear her going at it in her bedroom. If it’s not that, then I’m finding men in the kitchen in the morning.”

“That would be annoying,” Taylor said. “Especially if it’s not a man that you were with. Hope you’re at least dressed. Or don’t men interest you?”

Her sister was laughing. “You know that was only a phase. I didn’t actually have any relationships with a woman. Didn’t even sleep with one. Just because I found women pretty didn’t mean I was sexually attracted to them.”

A few kisses with another woman let her know where she stood in her heart. But if she didn’t try it, she wouldn’t have figured it out.

The story of her life it seemed.

Give it a try so she could at least say she did.

Her heart ended up telling her in the end what she needed and she had to learn to listen to it more.

“That’s your choice,” Taylor said. “As long as you’re happy, that is all I care about.”

“All of you say that, which is nice.”

“It’s because Mom never did,” Taylor said. “So we’ve felt it the same as you. But it’s the truth.”

She knew her sister was trying to be supportive.

“I know. I feel as if I got hit the hardest for being the baby and so scattered. My own fault,” she said, her shoulders drooping some.

“Don’t get so down on yourself,” Taylor said.

“I’m having a pity party and am not sure why. Maybe I’m just hormonal or something. Most times I just shrug it off and move on.” It was probably why she didn’t seem to commit to anything long term.

“You’ll figure it out,” Taylor said.

“I always do.”

Hours later, she was sitting in the living room of the house where she was babysitting for the night. They’d said they would be home by eleven. Sixty bucks for three hours was great when she got to sit in this nice big house and watch TV.

She pulled her phone out and started to look for jobs and nothing was catching her eye.

She went back to her account where she was hired for this job and was going to up her hourly rate when she noticed a posting for a full-time nanny. Hmmm, she clicked on that and her jaw dropped when she saw that housing was provided.

The pay was salary and more than she’d make anywhere else...with benefits.

Holy cow.

Crystal knew the chances of getting the job were slim to none, but she updated her resume on the site and then hit submit.

Take a chance and throw those dice after you kiss them. It’s what she usually did and there was no reason she couldn’t again.