Tonight, we’ve got big, big plans.
Not only are we going to celebrate reaching two million followers on Instagram, but I finally signed the contract between G&G and the cute LA boutique where Liv is going to launch our limited fashion line. It’s a small line, but then again, our YouTube channel was small once upon a time, too, and look at it now. Soon, all the trendy girls and guys in LA will be rocking our styles.
Usually, on the ride home from the city, I’m dissecting every minute of my meetings and today I had tons, from the boutique to Fostering Tomorrow to some other sponsors, but tonight, there’s a certain tall, dark, and handsome man that’s haunting my thoughts.
Grayson.
What is he doing now?
Did he find some other cute girl to take to that fancy French place? Was he just flirting to flirt?
Ugh.
“This is what happens when you fall out of the dating game for so long, Kali,” I chide myself. “You start overthinking things way too much.”
It doesn’t help that I’m a total pro at overthinkingeverything. That habit of mine is part of what’s made Glossed & Glammed so successful. In a way, it’s a double-edged sword, I suppose. It’s made me a great businesswoman, but a not-so-great seductress.
I simply can’t help thinking about Grayson and whether or not I should have pulled the Cinderella-at-midnight act and disappeared.
I don’t like to live with regrets. I’ve been through enough in the past twenty-two years of my life to know that your time on this planet is short and you have to make every second count. But even so, I did the right thing. Didn't I? I mean, our brand is getting so big now and it needs my attention more than ever before.
Still, I guess I could’ve at least said goodbye to Grayson like a normal human being. Maybe even gotten a business card from him.
Too late now. What’s done is done.
As I pull around to the back of the house and into the garage, I can see George peering eagerly out through the window beside it. His sleek tail wags so fervently back and forth that it’s hardly more than a blur. He lets out a single, muffled bark to announce to everyone inside that I’m finally home.
Turning off the engine, I grab my purse and the trays of sushi.
“Georgie!” I call, throwing open the door to the house.
The moment he hears his name, George launches himself at me and I scoop him up with my free arm to hold him close. Soon, he’s going to grow into his huge paws and be far too big for this, so I try and make every cuddle count right now.
“Hey, babe!” Sutton says from where she’s perched in front of her laptop in the living room. She’s sitting on the soft pastel pink rug with Coco in her lap and her back resting against the couch. Her long, dark hair is piled in a bun on the top of her head and Coco occasionally bats at a few loose strands. “I'm just waiting for the video to finish uploading to YouTube now. I made some coffee if you want some.”
She gestures toward the steaming mug in front of her and I barely hide a wince. Some of Sutton’s famous bitter coffee? No thanks. Not if I want my taste buds intact for our celebration tonight anyway.
“I thought we were breaking out the nice champagne?” I ask, noticing Liv as she wanders down the hall with a little gray fluffball hopping at her heels.
Chanel, the bunny, follows Liv everywhere when she’s out of her castle-sized hutch. I still can’t believe Liv managed to hide Chanel in her freshman dorm all those years ago. Thinking of our sweet Liv being so roguish always makes me laugh, but she’d do anything for animals. She’s even been pushing Sutton and me to try her strict vegan diet.
“Hell, yeah!” Liv giggles.
Judging by the language and the rosy glow of her face, someone has already been tasting some booze tonight.
“Did you get the party started without me?” I ask, pretending to be put out, which earns me more laughter from Liv.
“I just had a glass of rosé,” she protests. I don’t doubt for a second that a single glass of alcohol has Liv pink-faced and giddy. She hooks her arm around me and drags me toward the kitchen, George at my heels. “We’ve been waiting on you to pop the good bubbly.”
On top of the granite island, the aged Dom Perignon champagne that we’d splurged on for our intimate celebration sits in a silver bucket of ice, waiting for us. Liv takes the trays of sushi from me and sets them down beside it while I wash my hands. Sutton pads barefoot into the kitchen, lacing her fingers together in front of her on the island and bobs on her toes, eager for a taste of the good stuff. Coco hops up onto a nearby counter and appraises all of us in the same manner a queen would her servants. Judging by her expectant kitty expression, Coco fully expects a glass herself.
“Pop it, pop it!” Liv and Sutton cry together.
Grinning at them, I grab the bottle and slowly twist the cork. It suddenly bursts forward, flying across the kitchen as all three of us squeal at once. Even George lets out an excited bark.
Before any of the luxurious brut champagne can spill on the floor, I pour it into three waiting flute glasses. Sutton, who’d begun filming us on her phone as soon as I picked up the champagne bottle, promptly starts snapping pictures for our socials. When she finally sets her phone aside, we lift our glasses and clink them together.
“To sisterhood,” I say earnestly.
