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“How to register as an LLC”
“How to file taxes as LLC??? Is it hard???”
“Filing taxes as a sole proprietor”
“What is a sole proprietor???”
I stared down at my laptop as I took in a shaky breath. While I’d announced to Damon that I wanted to start my own business, I honestly had no clue what I was doing. I had a feeling that it was going to be an uphill battle, but I had no idea how uphill it was going to be, the tax situation alone making me want to break out in hives.
Suddenly, an idea popped into my head.
Maybe I don’t have to break out in hives, after all.
At least, I didn’t, if my plan actually worked, which there was no guarantee of that happening. In a few clicks, I put my plan into motion, sending off an email to an old friend.
Jennifer Washington.
She was someone I used to work with all the time when I still worked for Anthony’s website, often pulling all-nighters together trying to get articles finished. She’d got out a lot sooner than I did, moving away to Portland and never looking back. We’d still been friendly with each other online since then, liking each other’s posts and generally keeping up with how things were going in each other’s lives.
But the most important thing about Jennifer was that she was good with numbers. She was good at writing, too, but her brain was like a computer when it came to data and analytics. It was like she was psychic, able to pretty accurately guess how each article would do in terms of views and clicks, based on how previous articles had done in the past.
And if luck was on my side, Jennifer would be free to help me build this thing, taking on the numbers side while I focused on the actual copy.
“Everything going okay in here?” Damon asked as he set a plate of food down in front of me, the smell of breakfast soon invading my nose in the very best way.
“Everything’s going great!” I beamed as I reached for the plate, quickly digging in. “Thanks for making breakfast, by the way.”
“Anytime.” Damon smiled before he took a peek at my laptop screen. “So, what have you been up to? Work stuff, I’m guessing?”
“Work stuff.” I let out a tired sigh. “I was trying to figure out how to incorporate as a business. But I gave up on figuring that out myself, so I just sent out a Hail Mary.”
“A Hail Mary?”
“I emailed an old work friend of mine to see if she wants to help me build this thing out,” I explained. “Honestly, if she wanted, I’d be willing to go half and half with her on everything.”
“Wow. She must really be something, then.”
“Oh, she’s one of the best. The only reason she got out of the business is because she got tired of the shallow celebrity stories way before I did.” I grinned as I spoke. “She’s been working for a small publishing press out of Portland since then. Sometimes, I wish I would’ve gotten out sooner, too. I bet her lifespan is about five years longer than mine because of it.”
“Is working in publishing really that much more relaxing than journalism?”
“You know what? That’s a good question.” I hummed as I took a moment to compare the two fields. “Maybe not. Maybe our lifespans are just about equal—”
Suddenly, my phone rang with a video call.
Jennifer.
“Shit, shit, shit,” I murmured before I took the call, quickly plastering on a wide smile. “Jennifer! Oh, my God! How have you been?”
“Are you seriously striking out on your own?” she started, her familiar ginger curls taking up most of the frame. “Because I need to know if you’re being real with me right now.”
“Why would I lie to you about that?”
“I don’t know! People use everything as a prank these days!” She scoffed. “How do I know you’re not just recording for TikTok or something?”
“Because you called me? Remember?” I couldn’t help but let out a laugh. “If I wanted to record this for the internet, I definitely would’ve been the one to start the whole calling thing.”
“Fair enough.” Jennifer hummed as she sagely nodded. “So, you’re finally getting out of that hellhole?”
