“Grab the popcorn!” I shout at Josh, who’s in the kitchen, as I wiggle in between Charlotte and Jack.
We try to have a movie night once a week, where we all get together. We pig out with snacks, drinks, the whole works. But we have been fairly miserable at keeping to the once-a-week plan. This is our first one in, like, a month.
We typically just throw out movie ideas until we all somewhat come to an agreement. But nine times out of ten, we always pick some action or comedy movie. And tonight is no different. We’re watching My Spy, starring Dave Bautista and Chloe Coleman.
The opening credits are starting to play when Josh walks into the living room, finding a spot by himself on the love seat.
I lean over and yank the popcorn bowl out of his lap.
“Hey!” He throws his hands up in protest but doesn’t ask for it back.
Jack and Char shove their hands into the bowl, grabbing fistfuls before I’m even settled back into my spot.
“Stop that!” I lightly slap their full hands away, giggling.
The opening scene begins, and we all hush up, focused on the TV screen in front of us. But shortly after, my gaze drifts to the little boy at my side and then to my two best friends.
How did I get so lucky to have these amazing people in my life? To have a bright son who loves life and laughs constantly. To have best friends who would do anything and everything for me at the drop of a hat. The only thing that could make this better is if my mom were here.
My thoughts continue to drift, finding Alec and my conversation with him earlier. How could he even have the audacity to talk to me after all these years? And on top of that, to do it like nothing had happened.
Why couldn’t he have just gotten all ugly and mean and left me the hell alone? But noooo. He has to be taller, stronger, sexier. And oh God, when I shoved him into the wall of the elevator, I could feel how firm and toned he was underneath. The devil in my mind told me to stop the elevator right there and get some pent-up anger out as he fucked me against the wall.
I can’t even stop the blush spreading on my cheeks from thinking about it.
I should hate and despise him for what he did, but I can’t get rid of the natural attraction we’ve always had for each other. And that will never change.
At some point, Jack falls asleep in my lap, like how most of our movie nights go. Once the credits stop rolling, Charlotte lifts the popcorn bowl off of Jack’s lap, so I can carry him to bed.
Josh immediately steps in to try to help, but I shake my head. I don’t know how many more nights I have left like this with him, so I am definitely not taking a single one for granted. He gets bigger every day.
Soon, he is going to be all independent and not want his mommy carrying him to bed.
Jack’s head suddenly moves, but he stays asleep. He just burrows further into my chest. My heart warms, and the backs of my eyes sting.
Nothing in my life compares to this, to my little Jack.
I lay him down in his bed and kiss his forehead. “I love you, little man. Good night.”
Studying him for a second longer, I commit every freckle and breath of air to memory before slowly closing the door behind me and heading to my room.
I flop back onto my bed, letting out the heavy sigh that’s been sitting in my chest.
I stare up at my ceiling, thoughtless. Scared that if I start thinking about anything, I won’t be able to stop.
Sleep is far away, and it won’t be visiting me naturally anytime soon. I roll over and grab the bottle off my nightstand—my cure for my restlessness, as a white envelope on my nightstand causes a memory to burst into my mind. The day Alec told me he put the first letter in my mailbox. That letter was just the beginning. Because we wrote each other back and forth every single week after that. We took turns dropping a letter off in each other’s mailbox.
We talked about our fears, our hopes, our dreams. Some of our letters were a page long, two pages, or even ten. Just because we wrote to each other constantly, we shared everything in person too. But the letters became tangible things we could hold, read, remember.
I almost wish the letter on my nightstand were from him, and not from a collections agency.
Desperately wanting to push the thoughts of Alec, and of my mom’s bill away, I pop two full pills into my mouth and bite the third in half, putting the other half back into the bottle.
I Googled how much melatonin was too much for an adult. And one article said thirty milligrams was dangerous. I stopped reading after that and just convinced myself that as long as I didn’t go over that, then I’d be good.
I set the bottle on the nightstand and continue to stare at my ceiling.
Eventually, the melatonin kicks in, finally dragging me under.
Char throws a ridiculously sized bag of chips into the cart, which is definitely not on the list. We continue to meander up and down the aisles until we cross every item off our list—with a few extra things.
We turn to head to the checkout and ram right into someone else’s cart.
The words come out automatically. “I’m so sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
A familiar deep laugh draws my eyes up. “You’re all good. I was hoping to run into you again actually. Although maybe not literally. But this will do.” Cam runs his hand along the side of the cart until he’s standing right next to me.
Reed is with him, who is about to pounce on Charlotte, oblivious of me being here. He’d better not hurt her. I would hate to leave Jack without a mother while I spent twenty years behind bars.
Cam clears his throat, pulling my attention back to him. “How are you, Laura?”
Well, my ex-boyfriend—the only boyfriend I’ve ever had—has just temporarily moved back to our hometown. He is pretending like nothing’s wrong and hasn’t even asked about Jack once. My mom is doing worse. Her vitals have been depleting.
But the truth stays behind my teeth as I respond, “I’m doing fine. What about you?”
He wets his lips. “Just getting ready for this big game coming up. But I’m doing good—better now that I ran into you.”
My cheeks can’t resist the warmth from his words.
“That’s good—a-about the big game, I mean.” My words stumble out.
Oh God.
Embarrassment washes over me.
A laugh slips from his lips. “Yeah, are you going?”
“To the game?”
“Well, yeah,” he answers immediately, chuckling.
And watch Alec play hockey again? That’s a step back in time I don’t want to revisit.
“Um, probably not. Sorry, hockey isn’t really my thing.”
Charlotte scoffs, clearly listening to our conversation. I turn to her and shoot her my mean-mom look.
Hockey is definitely my thing. I just stopped when Alec left. Out of sight, out of mind.
She just shakes her head, laughs, and resumes her conversation with Reed.
Cam isn’t stupid. He quickly puts that together. “Well, hopefully, I can convince you to come after all.”
Not happening. “Maybe.” Why the fuck did I say that? There is absolutely no way in hell I will purposely put myself in a room with Alec. “Don’t get your hopes up.”
Reed whistles Cam over, so they can continue shopping.
But before he turns away, he holds my stare, and it’s so intense that I can’t look away. “Too late.”
Char and I watch them walk off before we get into the checkout lane. The cashier rings us out, and we get the bags loaded into her Camry. She talks the entire time about Reed, barely taking a breath.
When we finally pull out of the parking lot, she takes a break from her nonstop gushing. “So, what do you think about Cam?”
I roll my eyes at her. “Nothing to think about.”
She laughs. “Yeah, there are a lot of things to think about. His curly brown hair, his broad shoulders. That gorgeous tan skin. Should I continue?”
I sigh. “I wish you wouldn’t.”
There is nothing—and will be nothing—going on with Cam. Jack is all I need. If and when I put myself out there again, it definitely won’t be with some guy from my ex’s hockey team.
Her shoulders slump. “Why don’t you just try? You deserve to be happy, Laura. It’s about time you get over Alec.”
I look over at her, a tightness in my chest at the mention of him. I’m just not ready yet. “I have you, Jack, and Josh. What more could I want?”
“Oh, I don’t know … an orgasm?”
“I’ll have you know, I am doing just fine by myself. Thank you.” I cross my arms.
She laughs again. “Oh yeah, in what department? The getting over Alec or the orgasms?”
I bite back my laugh as we pull into the garage. “Both.”
She puts the car in park. “Yeah, well, by yourself doesn’t count.”
“Oh, yes, it definitely does.” I point at her, holding back my laugh.
Over the conversation of my sex life, or lack thereof, I get out of the car and load each arm up as much as I can with groceries.
Josh opens the door right before I get to it. “How are you carrying all of that? It looks like it weighs more than you.”
I hastily brush by him, trying to keep the pain from straining my arms off my face. “Maybe I’m just an ant. They can lift, like, five thousand times their weight.”
He laughs, heading to help get the rest of the groceries.
Once we get the car unloaded and our haul put away, I slump down onto the couch. Charlotte joins me, laying her head in my lap.
Suddenly, she shoots up and takes off for the kitchen. “Oh my God, I almost forgot!”
She rifles through her purse and pulls out a sheet of paper, hustling back over to the couch.
She thrusts the paper into my hands. “Look! We have to do it. It would totally beat making pizzas for me, and, well, it’s a job for you.”
Desperately needing any job, I read over the flyer.
Fireflies is now hiring servers. Drop your résumé off to the manager, Mila, digital or paper. On-site interviews.
Working at Fireflies doesn’t sound too bad. But honestly, I would probably take any job I can get at the moment. My savings are dwindling away by the second. At this rate, I’ll be completely broke in a month.
“You really think we should do it? I haven’t been a server before though.”
“Psh, who cares? We just have to kill the interview, and we’re in.” She goes off on a tangent. “Think about it. We would work together, save on gas. We would get to hang out at work and at home, and we’d get to dress up for work in cute outfits and costumes. Give me one con.”
Knowing that I don’t really have an option, I reply, “Okay, I’m in. When?”
She rips the flyer out of my hands. “It says they are hosting the interviews today and tomorrow from noon to four p.m.”
I slap my hands down on my thighs. “Well, I can’t tomorrow. I have to go visit Mom at the hospital and take care of some payments. So, we’ll have to go today. What time is it?”
She flips her wrist, checking her Apple watch. “One forty-two p.m.”
I stand up, already feeling anxious, and pull her up with me. “Okay, let’s go get ready.”
After an hour of hair and makeup and digging deep in my closet to find the tightest jeans I have, we finally head to Fireflies. I have my résumé on Google Docs on my phone, so I’ll just send it to her when we get there.
We pull into the Fireflies parking lot at 2:57 p.m. and head inside. It’s so weird to see the place with the lights on. It’s a completely different vibe.
There are people running around with decorations and lights—prepping for the night, I assume. One girl runs past with her arms full of blue cutouts shaped like waves. And another has fake seaweed. Under the sea, if I had to guess the theme.
Having no clue what Mila looks like, Charlotte and I just awkwardly stand there, waiting for someone who looks like a Mila.
I nudge Char with my shoulder before whispering to her, “Did the flyer say where to go? Are we just supposed to wait here?”
She doesn’t say anything, just shrugs her shoulders. A door opens to the right of us, and three people step out. They shake hands, and two of them go on their way out the door.
One remains—a woman dressed in high-waisted trousers, a tight knit tank top, and stiletto heels.
Talk about intimidating.
She walks over to us, confidence flowing off her in waves. “Are you guys here for the interviews?”
I reach out to shake her outstretched hand. “Yes. Hi, I’m Laura.”
She gently shakes my hand and then moves to Charlotte.
She reciprocates. “I’m Charlotte. I’m guessing you’re Mila.”
She casually tucks her hands into her trouser pockets. “That’s me.” She turns, continuing to talk to us, “Do you guys have a résumé with you? If not, don’t worry; it’s not a problem. Right this way.”
We scuttle after her, trying to keep up with her stride. This woman is a power walker.
We step through the doorway to an office. It has a large desk in the center with papers stacked every which way. She takes her seat behind the desk and gestures to the two chairs in front of it.
She rapidly types stuff out on her phone before stowing it away in her desk drawer. “Let’s get started. Why don’t you guys tell me a little bit about yourselves?” She gestures her hand out to me to start.
I clear my throat before my professional voice instinctively kicks in. “It’s great to meet you. My name is Laura. I’m twenty-two years old. I grew up here and have been to Fireflies a couple of times. It seems like such a fun place to work.” I look to Charlotte to show that I have ended my introduction.
She takes the cue and settles into the chair, crossing her legs. Her bubbly voice is ready to shine. “I’m Charlotte. I’m twenty-two. I grew up here as well—with Laura in fact.” She flashes her award-winning smile at me. “We were here last weekend when you guys had the fae theme. It was so fun, and the energy was insane. We would love to be a part of this.”
My attention returns to Mila. She continues to ask us a few questions about our previous work. She also asks us more about ourselves. I like that she seems like she genuinely wants to get to know us instead of it being some dumb interview where you don’t even crack the surface.
After what feels more like having lunch than sitting in an interview, she says, “All right, ladies, well, I think you both would be an incredible fit for the team. You’re young and fun, you seem quick-witted, and you’ll be a catch with our crowds.”
After going over paperwork, pay, and expectations, Mila offers her hand to each of us to shake. She gives us a sheet of paper with the next five dress-up themes, which we’ll need to get costumes for. She doesn’t like doing matching ones because she wants everyone to feel comfortable and be able to show their own style.
I know I haven’t even started yet, but so far, so good. And now, Char and I have a shopping trip in the near future, which is something I’m actually looking forward to. Hopefully, we’ll find some good sales.
Our first shift is this upcoming Saturday. The club doesn’t open until nine, but we have to be here at seven to go over some training and help prep.
When the door of the club closes behind us, we finally celebrate, and Char aggressively pulls me into a hug.
“Oh my God, we did it!” I squeal to her.
She thrashes me around with her continuous happy dance. “Let’s go celebrate at home!” She turns on her heels and takes off for the car, not looking back.
I laugh to myself and chase after her.
Fireflies annoyingly reminds me of Alec.
He will be leaving soon enough anyway, so I just need to push him to the back of my mind and keep him there. Out of sight, out of mind.
If only it were that easy.
