“You have impeccable timing,” I say as I pull my phone away from my face and put her on speaker phone. I switch over to the Ride share app and see there's still no drivers available. “Actually, yeah, I could use a ride. My ride share just canceled on me and there's absolutely zero drivers available to pick me up.”
With Harper still on speaker, I switch over from the ride share app to my text conversation with Josie, seeing that she read my message but she never replied.Great.
That's just what I need, she obviously is annoyed with me because I'm late again because I couldn't get a ride on time… again. I always seem to fuck things up.
“Hello?” Harper's voice snaps me out of my downward spiral.
“Yeah, I'm just standing outside of my apartment now. How far away are you?” A gush of air leaves me, and turns into a cloud, reminding me how cold it is outside. I debate whether or not I should go inside while I wait for Harper.
Just then my best friend pulls up to the sidewalk right in front of me and rolls her window down. Leaning forward she gives a playful smile before saying, “right now, get in, bitch.”
I sigh in relief as we pull into Monty and Josie’s; we got here sooner than I would have if I tried to find another ride. Getting out of the car, I hold the door open and bend down to tell Harper thanks for the ride. When I look in the car though, she’s not there. The car rattles with the momentum of her closing her door. Standing up I watch Harper come around the car and start to head to the front door.
“Uh, babes. What are you doing?” Brows furrowing in confusion, as she continues to walk up the path.
“Josie invited me over last night,” Harper says over her shoulder. Stopping at the door, she waits for me. “She wanted to show me her shop, and try a few facial products that she requested samples of.” Drawing closer, Harper continues into the house.
“You know, like a little spa day – hello! We’re here!” She continues her way into the house as I close the door. I remember Josie talking about how she is a trained esthetician, and had her own shop. I didn’t realize that it was on their property though.
Curiosity gets the best of me and I find myself following my best friend toward the kitchen. The echoes of laughter caress my ears, warming my chest. Growing closer the smell of smokey, bitter-sweet infiltrates my system, and washes over me like a blanket. Finally breaching the kitchen, I’m met with more chatter, as I watch Monty get a to-go mug of coffee ready while telling Harper some story. She throws her head back in laughter as he continues. Josie is sitting close by with a hot mug in her hands as she watches the two of them, contentment written all over her features.
I find myself staring at the way her eyes sparkle with mirth. She brings her cup to her lips, and her eyes connect with mine. There is a change in the way she looks at me. Making me stall in my steps, releasing a silent gasp from me. Her deep green eyes dilate as they travel the length of my body.
“Evie! Good morning!” Monty’s greeting tears me away from the stare off I was having with his wife. Tingles scatter across my skin, sending a pathway of heat to my core. “There’s still some coffee left in the pot for you. I’d love to stay and chat but I gotta get running! I’ll see you ladies later!” Placing a quick kiss on Josie's lips, he heads toward me. Placing a hand on my elbow, he gives it a light squeeze as he passes by.
“Have fun.” He whispers, winking at me before he disappears behind me.
Making myself busy I get my own cup of coffee. My heart feels ready before I join everyone at the kitchen island. We spend the next half hour catching up with Harper. She tells us how Xavier has had the clinic down for two weeks so they can start the construction for his spay and neuter clinic. He didn’t want to shut down for that long but it made more sense than to try and work around all the construction.
I jump to my feet when Hayes begins to fuss, effectively stopping Josie from trying to get up. She still has some restrictions. Restrictions she ignores on occasion if I don’t move fast enough. The woman is stubborn, but I know it’s the caring nature of who she is.
Quickly I change his diaper and meet Josie in the living room in her chair. Josie positions herself as I lean forward, passing off Hayes who has started to cry. I watch as she soothes him while she unclasps her nursing bra, and positions him at her breast. There’s a snort that comes from him before the tell tale sounds of feeding begin.
Harper and I work together to get the kitchen tidied up. Harper begins putting the dish detergent into the washer as I make my way over to Josie.
A soft smile plays on her face as she watches Hayes feed. His eyes are drawing heavy, the pulls becoming sluggish.
“Hey.” I whisper, my eyes focused on Josie’s face. Her eyes connect with mine and her soft smile glimmers. Butterflies dance in my stomach as I fixate on her gaze on me. “Let me take him to his crib.”
Once I have Hayes, I’m quick to get him settled in his room. He fusses a bit, but settles fairly quickly. Allowing me to grab the monitor and make my return.
Josie leads us out of the house, monitor in hand as she sets off toward the garage. I haven’t paid much attention to the garage over my time here, we never had a need to go here. I look at the two door garage, and take it in. The garage is the same color as the main house, there are hedges across the sides of the building. Along the stoned path beside the garage it leads to stairs that lead to the apartment above the garage. Monty had shared how his and Josie’s parents stay there when they come to visit since they both live out of town, when he gave me the tour.
We don’t head up to the apartment, but follow Josie through the side door to the garage, where everything changes.
Inside the garage has me stopping and staring in awe. What I expected was two cars, lots of tools, and toys that belong to Monty. However, what I wasn’t expecting was for there to be a little salon.
Neutral tones are spread throughout the small shop, with pops of pink and black. Along one wall is covered in fake flowers, with a neon sign with Josie’s Heavenly Getaway. There are two velvet blush chairs sitting in front of it with a sleek black coffee table in between, beauty magazines fanned across the top...
Off to the right a nail table is set up. A plastic shelf with an array of colors, the LED lamp angled to the side, a pink mat in between the two chairs that face each other between the tables.
On the opposite side of the room there’s a spa table that’s sleek black with a pink pillow. There’s a cart of waxing supplies with the wax melter. A ring light is set next to the cart angled at the table.
“So.” Josie starts, hands ringing together. “This is my salon– it’s a little cold and dusty. I stopped taking clients at about the halfway mark of my pregnancy with Hayes.”
“This is amazing!” Harper exclaims. “I love the way you decorated everything, I feel so relaxed here.”
Over the next couple hours, Josie spoils us. Sitting in one of the chairs off to the side, I watch as Josie does each step of a hydration facial on Harper. She floats around as Harper relaxes on the table. Josie shares stories of the stupid things Xavier and Monty did when they were teens. I’ve heard a fair amount of the stories of those two, and I swear if Josie wasn’t involved in their lives they would have been arrested at some point for the stupid shit they’ve done.
