My mouth falls open. “Excuse me?Ewes? In? Lamb?” I squeak incredulously.
“Aye.”
“Um, I am your beautifulhumangirlfriend!”
“Aye.” He kisses the very edge of my mouth so he doesn’t mess up my lipstick. “I don’t want you to worry though. We’ll see.”
I suddenly feel guilty. “I’m sorry I haven’t taken the test yet.”
“It’s fine, sweetheart. Just don’t push yourself too hard today, okay? Take a break if you need to.”
I nod, and I’m not even lying. Gone are the days where I insist on working myself to exhaustion to keep up with everyone else. I actually take breaks now. Sometimes, anyway.
Lulu calls to me, and I’m about to rejoin her when I see a hunched shape by the edge of the field. Cameron is sitting on the gate, watching me. I extricate myself from Alec and flit through the daisy-filled grass towards him.
“Hey,” I say breathlessly. “Are you okay?” I know Cameron doesn’t like having a lot of people here. I feel a bit bad for bringing a camera crew into his home. “We’ll be done soon. You don’t have to watch, if you don’t want…?”
“Of course I’m going to watch,” he grumbles. “Go on. Sparkle at them all.” He shoos me away. I give him a huge smile that makes him roll his eyes, and run back to join the other models.
Three hours later, we’re done with the photoshoot. I hang back as everyone packs up, taking a quick behind-the-scenes video to post online. My throat is tight with emotion.
Six years ago, when I startedToo Much?,I was so sure it would flop. I really thought everyone would hate my clothes. But my first collection sold out within a week, and my second within a day. We had to scramble to get more clothes produced because people were complaining they couldn’t order fast enough.
Too Much?has now grown into a very popular ethical boutique brand. We’re in several brick-and-mortar stores, and we recently had to expand to a larger production facility. It’s difficult to keep up with sometimes, but I have Lulu to keep me on track, and a team of people working marketing and finance and customer service. And when it all gets too much and my brain gets too loud, Fraser takes me for a swim, or Cameron plops me down in a field with the animals, and it’s all okay. It might be messy, but it’s okay.
I quickly edit the video on my phone and then throw it up onto theToo Much?Picturegram page. I still do a bit of social media, although it’s a much smaller part of my job than it used to be. It’s mostly behind-the-scenes snippets and teasers about what I’m working on. My most popular posts are usually the ones where I talk about balancing ADHD and owning a business.
It’s funny. I spent my whole life hiding the way my brain works, but people love when I talk about it. Whenever I mention it online, I get an influx of DMs and comments from people saying I’ve reassured them that they can be successful. I finally accepted the offer to be an official ADHD Voices rep, and a percentage of all my sales go straight to the charity.
I’m really proud of myself. I’m actually doing good.
“Okay, I gotta dash,” Lulu says, appearing at my side and rummaging through her bag. “I’ll email you later about the influencers I want on board.”
“I won’t see it,” I remind her, and she rolls her eyes.
“God, yes, I know, you’re going off-grid. I don’t know how you do nothing for three whole weeks. I’ddieof boredom.” She glances past me to where Alec, Cameron, and Fraser are helping clear up the camera equipment. “Although I suppose you have plenty to keep you occupied,” she concedes.
“I do,” I admit.
She squeezes me in a quick hug. “I’m proud of you,” she says in my ear. “Enjoy your holiday, okay? I just need to quickly talk to the photographer about editing… Lachlan!” she yells.
The photographer grabs his bag and literally runs away from her. She stomps after him, while I go to join the three men.
“You finished, honey?” Fraser asks, stretching out his neck. “Bags are all packed, and we should be good to go.”
“Yes, I just need to say goodbye to?—”
“BAAA!”
That’s all the warning I get before a woolly tank runs into my legs, and I’m knocked onto the ground. I burst out laughing as Crumpet stares down at me, her dopey face inches from mine. “Hi, baby.”
“How does she keep escaping?” Fraser hisses. “She’s literally massive.”
“She just wanted to say bye,” I insist, stroking Crumpet’s velvety cheek. “You have to stop jumping at people though, Crumpet. You’re huge now.”
Crumpet just shoves her head happily into my shoulder, nuzzling me. She lives out in the paddock with the other sheep these days, but she never quite got over the idea that she’s my pet. It’s not at all unusual for her to appear at the farmhouse or my studio and beg for attention.
Ed, one of the temporary farmhands, appears next to us. “Sorry,” he huffs, face red. “I don’t know how she did that. I looked away for half a second, and she just took off.”
