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CHAPTER THREE
Laura
After every single wedding, without exception, and the minute Iwalked into my home, Ibacked up the event’sphotos to my cloud. Ididn’teat, drink, or even look at my phone.
Idid the exact same, lifesaving routine the night after Zach and Iinitiated our fuck-buddies agreement. As tired as Ifelt and as much as my bed called to me, duty and being aprofessional called louder. Because sleep wasn’tworth it if someone burglarized your home and stole the camera and anight of memories along with it.
It didn’thappen to me, fortunately. Ilearned the hard lesson, not the hard way, when it happened to the photographer Iapprenticed with and he lost alot of clients for it, not to mention the tarnishing of his up-until-then immaculate reputation.
That moment traumatized me, and Iswore I’dnever let that happen. My clients were precious to me, and Ibuilt my reputation and their trust from hard labor. Ialways aimed to give them the best wedding experience with me, and having their photos protected was one of the many things they trusted me with.
And so Ihit theuploadbutton, poured myself aglass of iced tea, and waited until the photos were safely guarded in the arms of the cloud.
While Iwaited for the internet to do its thing, Iscrolled through my phone. Two texts were from two of my favorite people, Erin and my younger sister, Olivia. The rest of the numbers were either my clients for the usual calls of moral support and advice, or unknown callers which were usually potential leads.
Even though Ihad no free spot for the next six months and Iedited all of my newlyweds’ albums, Ididn’thave apersonal assistant to handle these kinds of calls. In my business, Iacted as the boss, assistant, and manager of client relations. Iwas responsible to return each and every call and never trusted anyone to follow through with future clients or give the ones that were signed with me the attention they deserved.
My clients had me, the woman who promised and delivered. Ilisted down the numbers in my journal for the next day, including anote to return Olivia’scall, and then dialed Erin’snumber.
“Laura,” she answered after the second ring, not even yawning. “How did you know Iwas up?”
Ismiled, lay back on the couch, and let my eyes rest. “When are you not up?”
“Oh, Iget my beauty sleep thanks to my Superman of ahusband.” She chuckled, content. Calling him Superman was nothing short of the truth. “The last few nights have been hard, so the both of us are awake to either soothe Violet or Rowan. Not adull moment with these two.”
“Yikes.” Iflinched. Islept between four to five hours anight, but at least Islept.
“Not yikes at all. Worth it.” Iheard the smile in her voice. She loved being amother more than anything, sleep or no sleep.
Right on cue, one of the babies started crying in the background. “Thomas, give him to me.” Iheard her rearranging herself.
“What’sRo-Ro doing up?” Imissed the two rascals. We only lived acouple blocks apart, and yet my schedule kept me from seeing them as much as Iwanted to.
“My itty-bitty Rowan needs his mommy, doesn’the?” She cooed at him and Iimagined her rocking him from side to side. When his cries simmered down, she whispered, “Icalled to apologize again for last night. Iheard you got stuck with Zach.”
Stuckhad an interesting ring to it. Zach and Igot stuck indeed last night, and were likely to get stuck together more in the future.
“Like Iwrote you yesterday, no need to apologize. Shit happens.” And sometimes shit turns to gold. “Besides, it was nice to actually be out and not in aworking environment. Don’tfret about it.”
The line went silent and Ilooked at the phone to check the call wasn’tdisconnected. “Erin?”
“Was it nice, nice?”
Yes, yes, it was nice, nice. Even the awkward part was nice. It made him human, and it eventually ended in an even nicer compensation of sex. The pain from the collision woke him up to outdo both himself and many of the other men I’dbeen with.
Zach had unearthly kissing skills and amagic touch. He turned me into melting lava with two of the best orgasms Ihad ever experienced. Iaccepted, hell, even thanked him for the awkward kissing with grace.
And that intense sex brought on awave of exhaustion. My eyes drifted shut, and Icouldn’tbe bothered with analyzing why the walking and talking machine that was Zach kept to himself, or why he didn’tsay something inappropriate and funny like,Laura, you’ve got great tits.
Didn’teven notice it.
So Ifell asleep.
And that was our version of being stuck together. One Icould’ve never told Erin about.
“Laura?” she still whispered, yet the victory in her voice prevailed. “You did, didn’tyou?”
“Sorry to disappoint, but we did nothing other than talk.” And have crazy sex. Ibit my cheek, hiding the smile that Erin would’ve picked up on in seconds. Fuck Zach and his incredible orgasms.
