Twenty-Two
Lola
The following morning, instead of waking up to the strains of the Rocky theme song, I woke up to a call from Mystic Seaweed.
“Hey, Lola. It’s Charlene. This a good time?”
I sat up so fast I nearly blacked out. “Yes. Of course. What’s up?” I rubbed sleep out of my eyes and Justice looked at me questioningly.
“You are not going to believe what I’m about to tell you.”
I held the phone away and checked the time. Five-thirty in the morning. “Why are you up so early?”
“Oh, I forgot you’re in California. Sorry about that, it’s already eight-thirty here in New York. Anyway …” Her voice became conspiratorial. “You know that hot shot in-house designer I told you about?” She strung the news out so slowly that I wanted to reach through the phone and strangle her. “She was caught embezzling money.”
“What!”
“Sh! Don’t tell anybody, okay? So, here’s the deal. I convinced the design team that all this anorexic stuff for models who never eat more than wheat grass and tofu all day is bullshit. They said they’d take another look at your designs.”
I bounced up and down in bed, a huge smile on my face and Justice slowly lifted himself on his elbows. “That’s fantastic!”
“Nothing is certain, but I’ll do my best to push your designs through. Can you email me more sketches today?”
“Fuck yeah!” I clapped my hand over my mouth. “I mean. Yes.”
She laughed so hard I thought she’d put something in her morning coffee. “I’ll have an answer soon. Couple days max.”
We hung up the phone, and I flew out of bed, raced to my laptop, hit the power button, and jumped up and down while I waited for the icons to load.
Justice stood behind me, rubbing my shoulders, his voice thick with sleep. “Everything okay?”
I bounced up and down. “Come on, come on, hurry up.”
Justice pulled on briefs, sat at the little table next to my laptop and gazed at me with sleepy eyes. “You’re awfully excited. Did you just win the lottery?”
I smiled and crossed my fingers. “Mystic Seaweed’s looking at my designs.” I gripped his biceps and squeezed. “If I get in, it could mean big bucks.” I put my hands in prayer position and gazed skyward. “Please, please, please.”
“What kind of big bucks?”
“Ten grand last time we talked.”
The icons loaded and I quickly maneuvered to my design folder. I opened the folder to show Justice my bohemian designs. I clicked through several renderings of my best designs. Swirly patterns in blues, pinks, and yellows. Fringed suits in lime green, purple, and orange. I even had my version of a “Hello Kitty” suit featuring a likeness of my kitty cat Dexter’s face on the bikini bottom with a girly bow in front.
“Whoa,” Justice said. “They’re gorgeous.”
I attached the folder to an email, typed out a note to Charlene, and hit send. I made like I was rolling imaginary dice. “Come on, baby!”
This was my dream. Working at the bank paid the bills, and I was good at it. Always on time. I worked hard and understood the value of a dollar. But I was a creative at heart.
Justice stood up to get the coffee started, but then he whirled around and looked at me. He stood over me with a gleam in his eye. “Dang, Lola. This is fantastic. Think you’ll get the deal?”
I crossed my fingers tightly. “Fingers crossed.” My stomach gurgled with anticipation. “This could be my big break.”
He gave me a knowing grin. “Mystic Seaweed’s top of their game in surf wear. They’d be crazy not to buy your designs. So, when’ll you know?”
“Couple days at the most.”
He threw his arms out in an expansive gesture. “Tide’s turning, babe.” He lifted up on his toes as he emphasized his words. “You are going to be a star!”
My face flushed with happiness and I wanted to jump up and hug him.
“You sit and I’ll bring your coffee.” He extracted two mugs from the kitchenette and placed one in front of me with a flourish. “One black coffee and two spoons of sugar coming up.” He kissed me loudly right on the cheek and bounced back into the kitchen whistling a happy tune. “Can’t wait to see those suits on the catwalk!”
I looked down at myself and laughed. In all my excitement I was still naked. I got up to pull on panties and a T-shirt.
The coffee machine gurgled, and the aroma wafted into my nostrils. Justice busied himself with the brew, and I allowed myself to enjoy the fantasy of the two of us playing house. I sidled up behind Justice and snuggled my arms around him pressing my breasts into his back inhaling his scent. My voice was hoarse. “Thanks for being my number one fan.”
He spun around, and his lips were on mine in a tender kiss. “I’ll always be that to you, Lola.”
We smiled at each other. “We’re going to win the contest,” I said.
“Damn right we are.”
The coffee pot hissed its readiness and Justice filled our mugs.
We sat at the table, held up our cups and clinked glasses. “To another kick-ass day of training,” I said.