A small reminder of her on my skin for hours. Plus, it usually tasted like cherries. She catches me staring at her lips, so I take a long chug of my drink and wince. Aspen had made them a bit too strong tonight. She was a surprisingly good bartender for a sober person, but every once in a while she would over pour since she wasn’t drinking them herself.
“So, how did you end up working for Ellie?” I ask Cari, hoping to change the subject.
“Oh, well, I was in need of a job, and Gus knew a model that Ellie works with a bunch. They got me an interview, and it just worked out for the best. I really love working for her,” she says proudly.
“That’s cool, she must trust you a lot. I don’t see too many assistants running photo shoots,” I admit.
“She knows I have a background in social media curation, and her account wasn’t hitting the right people. So she hired me to take over completely, and that included the photo shoot. We’ve been teasing the photos for weeks now, and the account just jumped twenty thousand followers.” Cari smiles.
“Holy shit.” That was impressive.
“It’s on track to hit a million by the end of the year. But we’ll see.” She shrugs, but I can see behind her nonchalance is pride.
“I’m sure you’ll do it.”
“How’s it going for you? Any brands you’ve been excited to work with?” she asks.
“Nah, not recently. I’m hoping once the spring starts, I’ll be outside more and traveling to more things,” I admit.
“Maybe Ellie will want to use you again, she was so happy with how the photos came out for the ad campaign. I’ll mention it to her.”
“You want to work together again?” I raise an eyebrow.
“Come on, it’s not like we can be strangers. Our best friends are married, plus it would be stupid to ignore how talented you are.”
“Well, thanks.”
This version of Cari is so different from the one I saw the last time we were in this house. She’s calm and happy, the same as when I saw her in DC. It wasn’t a one-time facade she was putting on to keep her cool at work. She is actually just like this all the time now. I thought it would pass, but talking to her is like seeing her in a new light.
I sip my drink, making a mental note to switch to soda after this. Cari excuses herself to help River with the food. Rae ordered sushi and needed help setting it up. I watch her from the kitchen, laughing with River, her lips shiny and pink. Her body is covered in a green silk dress that looks similar to the one she was wearing in DC. Maybe something from Ellie’s brand?
“Here, I stole you some salmon skin rolls. They only sent three, and I brought you two, so eat them quickly,” Cari whispers, handing me a napkin covering the hidden sushi.
I take them, turning around and shoving them both in my mouth. Which is a terrible idea because I almost choke trying to eat them both. I try to chase it with my drink, which is even worse because then I almost choke again on the warm liquor mixing with the crispy salmon. Cari is laughing the whole time, the light sound the only thing making it worth it. At least I got to make her laugh again. God, I forgot how bad I missed doing that.
“I said be cool, not make a scene,” Cari teases as she hands me a cup of water.
I take a huge gulp and finally choke down the last of everything. “I don’t know why I did that.”
“At least you kept them down. For a moment there, I thought they were coming back upstream,” Cari teases.
“I’m no quitter, I’ll choke and die before I let them win,” I joke.
“What a way to go, choking on sushi and rum.” She laughs.
“Eh, it would be worth it.” I bite my bottom lip, looking at her. God, has she always been this beautiful? I know the answer is yes, but there is something about her tonight.
I try not to make a fool of myself for the rest of the night. Somehow, Cari and I find ourselves together all night. Eventually, Cari is one of the first to go, needing to get up in the morning for work, so she excuses herself with a round of goodbyes. After an awkward exchange and landing on a friendlyhug, I’m stuck staying behind, smelling like her cherry lipgloss. It makes me wonder if I’ll ever get to taste it again.
I step into the foyer of River and Aspen’s apartment, closing the door behind me so no one can hear me. I take my phone out of my back pocket and dial Cari’s number. She had left with her phone in her hand, so I’m hoping she’ll pick up. Unless she’s already on the subway. Shit, what if I have to leave a voicemail? I don’t know how to leave those. It’s not 1992 after all.
“Hey?” Cari sounds confused, which, truthfully, I don’t blame her.
“Hey,” I say before going quiet. Shit, I should’ve thought out what to say.
“Did you mean to call me?” Cari asks hesitantly.
“Yes. I had a really good time talking to you tonight. I was wondering if you would want to hang out sometime this week,” I ask.
