Not yet.
Normaldoesn’t include the spotlight. Not for now.
I’m buzzing sky high as me and the girls take a shopping trip together – the kinky trio ofNaughty. Eb has a Christmas gift list as long as her arm for her kids and her nieces and nephews. Even her neighbours. Hell, she even wants to grab a token gift for the postman, and a big box of pamper goodies for the teachers at her kids’ school.
As for me, I’m out to grab gifts for all my loved ones, and it’s a shame I won’t be spending Christmas with my parents this year. I’d love to hang out at their poolside and have crazy divebomb fun with my dad. But this year we’re going to be at Josh’s massive lunchtime gathering at his parents’ place. A huge turkey and lots of cheers, especially for Carly as her baby bump keeps getting bigger.
Damn, she has me babied up. I keep picturing the sweet little face of the newborn when I first get to hold it in my arms. I can’t wait to see the proud smile on Josh’s face as he looks at the tiny treasure. Carly deserves it, even though she started out being a spoilt little bitch when I first met her.
We all learn.
We all grow.
We all change, eventually.
Luckily for her, her life is on the upward path.
She still has the urge for a celebrity lifestyle, so who knows on that score? Maybe I’ll be able to give her a leg up one day, even just a token one. Maybe she’ll even make it onto my social media presence. It’s another thing that’s rising again from the ashes – much to my parents’ freakout.
I’ll be ok, I assured them, even though I was still humming with nerves under the surface.If it’s not, I can just hit deactivate and disappear.
It was a big decision to reactivate my social media accounts, as Ells E, not my full name. I’m not quite that brave yet, and I’ve got no desire for the blue tick of authenticity, showing my hooker identity to the global audience.
Maybe that will come with time as well? Who knows what lies ahead?
As long as it doesn’t interfere with The Agency and cause any fallout, I’m down with riding the waves.
More imminently, what lies ahead is present buying and a festive brunch. Eb might have a shopping list as long as her arm, but mine isn’t all that much shorter. A lot of it will be a supermarket style sweep at one of the mother and baby outlets.
Once again, who knows what the future holds?
I may be visiting the mother and baby stores for my own bump one day. Josh and I have talked about it a few times over the past twelve months. We reckon it’ll be an obvious development in our romance down the line. But not for now. Now is all about The Agency, and racking up the cash, and having fun.
We also haven’t accounted for the beautiful Heath Mason.
The journey he is taking with us is still an uncharted road, but he might want to be babied up along with us. Hell knows, one day he might even want babies of his own.
Gah, gah, gah. I need to stop it. Live in the now and stop whirring the cogs.
I point out babies and kids in Christmas hats wherever our girly trio turn, giggling at the grins on their faces. Eb does anawwwwhenever I do it, but Tiff doesn’t. She looks hungover from hell today. I guess she had a pretty major proposal last night, taking a Christmas party banging to the tenth degree.
“Let’s hit the next mall,” Eb says as we walk down the bustling street. “It’s a good one.”
I’m disoriented since my vision is focused on merry families and not our location, so give a nod when it comes into view. It has a huge inflatable snowman at the entrance, and I point at it with another grin. It’s an impressive one. Its carrot nose is amazing.
“Christmas is the best,” I say, squeezing Tiff’s arm to try to bring her back from her hangover. “Look, look! That’s amazing! And look at the little boy there. Awww. Oh my God. He’s so cute.”
We walk past yet another happy family and I give them a wave.
Tiff sighs, and her mood seems to lighten ever so slightly. She gives a decent smile as we reach the doors.
“Let’s go, girls! Ho ho ho!” she says.
Ho, ho, ho. How apt for three Agency workers.
The mall is mega busy, which is hardly that much of a shock since it’s a Saturday. There are shoppers everywhere in a gift buying frenzy. I check out the wall of stores lining up the sides of the foyer, and my stomach flips. Hard.
“Wait a second, I know this place,” I say and pull away from Tiff to do a spin.
