“It was the least I could do since I made half the mess.”
“Half the mess?” I balk. “You made the whole mess. What are you doing?”
“Packing,” he replies. “We go on a five-day road trip.”
“I know. I work with Lexi and Kylie. They keep a calendar at the office, and I also had lunch with Jaxon today, who was dreading it.”
“Yeah, he’s not the only one dreading it,” he mumbles, taking a deep inhale. “I’ll call you when I get back.”
“So needy.” I make a joke of it and when he laughs it makes me feel a bit better. “Have a good trip,” I tell him and I hang up.
I put the phone on my bedside table, trying not to overthink things. I don’t have a good night’s sleep and when I’m walking into the office the next day, my ass is dragging.
I step into the elevator, pressing the button for the floor the office is on. Stepping out and walking to the left, there are two offices on each floor. We have the one on the left, but the management company has said the person in the other office is not renewing his lease and has asked us if we want to take it over. Since I don’t have an office and the girls feel bad, we are now taking over that office, but it won’t be ready for another two months.
I open the brown door and step into the waiting area. The side has a long green couch with two different shades of pink pillows and two single green chairs facing the sofa. In the middle of the wall over the couch are two words.
The Choice. The ‘The’ is in gold and the Choice is in green. Above the words are what look like green leaves with pink flowers covering the top half of the wall, like you stepped into a garden.
“Good morning,” I mumble and walk over to my desk, right next to the door. Kylie and Kirby started the foundation called Make The Choice, that helps women and children leave toxic and abusive families. It was just Kylie until Lexi came in, and the two of them have already helped different organizations with shelter and clothing for women who have taken the step to make a change in their lives.
“I know that mumble,” Lexi says, coming out of her office, leaning against her door frame as I pull out the chair to my desk and put my purse on top of the desk. “Someone had a wild weekend.”
“Oh please, tell me it was not with Elliott,” Kylie joins in, making her way out of her office and heading straight to the couch area. “He was… something.”
“It was not with Elliott,” I admit and they both gasp.
“I was just shitting you, I thought for sure it was with him.”
“It was not,” I assure them. “It was with this guy I sort of met.”
“You sort of met a guy while you were on a date with another one?” Lexi asks, her eyes are about to come out of her sockets.
“No.” I shake my head. “I met him before; we were talking and then?—”
“You did more talking, but with your vagina.” Kylie laughs.
“It was also with my mouth.” I point to her. “But anyway…”
“Avoidance,” Lexi notes. “I did that when I was falling for Kirby.”
“Okay, no one is falling for anyone. It’s just sex,” I clarify and avoid looking at them. “Anyway, are we having our Monday morning meeting?”
“Oh fuck,” Lexi swears, rushing back to her office and coming out with the folder in her hand. “I’m ready.”
I laugh at them as I open my laptop, ready to take notes. “What are you working on?” Lexi asks me.
“So, I was thinking.” I lean back in my chair. “The community garden you guys did was amazing.” They look at me. “But what if we did the same thing but with the church after-school program.” Lexi’s eyes light up. “They have a playground area that has seen better days,” I tell them. “The play structure is half broken. There are no benches.”
“I love that idea,” Kylie says. “I think if we start doing social media”—she points to me—“it’ll make it open to more people who need help but didn’t know they could go there.”
“Exactly,” I agree.
“Why don’t we go and visit it this afternoon and take some pictures? Then we can see what we can do,” Kylie suggests and I smile.
“Road trip.” I clap my hands. “The dream team is taking it on the road.” They shake their head at me as I open up our social media page and get to work.
sixteen
