Cammie:That bad?
Cammie: Rosie’s in 10?
I thumbs-up her last text and tuck my phone in my purse. Today sucked, but tacos and margaritas make everything better, right?
Lark
Cammie throws her bright green Goyard tote bag onto the booth’s seat before sliding in front of me. She's dressed in pink wide-leg trousers, a green sequined belt that matches her bag, and a silky white blouse cut in a deep V that perfectly accentuates her tatas. On anyone else the sequins before noon would be a cry for help. On Cammie they make sense.
“Tell me everything!”
Thank god she’s here. Margaritas are a team sport.
“Was there a look book? Did you get to go through alpha scent cards?”
I take a sip. Ice cold. Strong. Exactly how I ordered it.
“No look book. No scent cards.”
Cammie catches our waitress’s eyes and wordlessly signals for a drink of her own. “No look book or scent cards? How are you supposed to find the right alphas for your heat?”
I hold up my phone. “With this.”
“You actuallytalkto them?”
I laugh. “No, thank god. That would be worse. So much worse. There’s an app. We text.”
Our waitress brings Cammie’s drink and a basket of chips to our table. Cammie lifts the salty rim to her lips. “So good. Thank you, Estrella.”
“I made sure you had a strong one,” she says with a smile. “Your friend asked for a floater. We need to get you caught up.”
Cammie’s blue eyes widen. “Oh shit. A floater?” Estrella laughs as she walks away.
I take another sip of my drink. It burns so good. “I needed it.”
Cammie watches me before speaking. “So you have to text them?”
Another sip.
“Yep. All thirty of them.”
Cammie’s eyes nearly pop out of her head this time. “Thirty! Holy shit balls.”
“We, ‘get to know one another’.”
Cammie pours each of us some salsa in our individual bowls, then puts some green hot sauce in my bowl because she knows exactly how I like it.
“So who texts first? You or them?”
“Me.”
“Double shit balls.”
Yep. Not embarrassing enough already, so I also have to make the first move.
She lowers her drink and looks at me. Really looks. "You can do this. You started a company from scratch. Dealt with all your medical shit. Came out the other side of grief when your parents passed." She pauses to dip a chip. "You can text 'Hi' to a hot stranger whose whole job is to make you feel good. Honestly that last part sounds like the easiest one."
I stare at her.
