Chapter 1
San Diego
Twenty minutes before the party, Janie examined herself in front of the purple floor mirror next to her dresser. She smiled as she felt Kevin’s hand on her waist.
He put his cheek next to hers and admired her cobalt blue slim mini dress sparkling with sequins. It revealed almost no cleavage, but it showed quite a bit of her toned long legs. She’d paired it with elegant tanned stilettos that weren’t too high.
“Doesn’t it piss off the models when the fashion designer is hotter than them?” He said, wrapping his hands around her waist. She had a pretty good idea where his head was at, and she didn’t mind one bit.
She turned to face him. “You are looking quite dashing yourself.”
He did. He looked sexy in anything, and his combo of dark blue jeans and a white T-shirt under a well-fitted blue cotton jacket was no different. She traced her hand through his long, sun-bleached dark blond waves. Taking her hand mid-air with a mischievous glint in his eye, he kissed her. As they both gave their all to the kiss, he made sure they’d land on the bed.
As he lay down, he swiftly pulled her towards him. She let out a laugh and mentally congratulated herself on having picked a wrinkle-proof dress, one of her own designs. She knew her audience. She bit her bottom lip as he came on top and kissed her neck, avoiding any teeth action that could form a hickey. As much as she wanted him, she had to put a stop to this.
She took his face in her hands, grinned, and rolled them both over so she was now on top. “We’re going to be late.”
He placed his hand on her thigh and seductively slid his hand upwards. “You helped them find a house. You helped them unpack, and you helped with the guest list. You can be a little late.” He had a point there…
After a long, breathless make-out session where a lot of hand action was involved, she held his hands and pinned them down on the bed.
“Except, for what I planned for us tonight, babe,” she said in a purposefully sultry tone, “we need a long time.”
That did the trick. He shot her a sexy grin, rolled over her once more and leaped to his feet. Then he gave her his hand and helped her up. “On the other hand, Andy and Sarah are dear, dear friends of yours, and they would want us there sooner than later,” Kevin said.
“Thank you,” she said as she smoothed down her dress, but she was having a harder time with self-control than she let on. She had played the part of the considerate friend/cool-headed party invitee well enough, but it wasn’t just him who couldn’t take his hands off her. She was positively glowing with happiness, and she knew it showed.
She absolutely loved that they were still like this nine months into their relationship. Considering he was her downstairs neighbor in the same building, they practically lived together. And yet… well, she’d knock on wood if she were even slightly superstitious.
*
Ben slept in his bed soundly. He was face down, in his towel, and under the covers. He had partied from yesterday evening into the early morning light today. After a hearty breakfast at a diner with his fellow model friends, he had come home, taken a shower, and floated into dreamland pretty much immediately.
*
Janie and Kevin crossed the hall from her apartment and rang Ben’s bell. As Kevin knocked on the door and yelled his name, Janie kept calling his cell. Finally, a sleepy and confused Ben appeared at the door in his towel, with his hair all shaggy. He was trying to figure out why his two neighbors/friends were standing in front of him, all dressed up.
“You know, some men can pull off bed hair,” Janie said to Kevin, while still looking at Ben with a mock critical eye.
“He’s not one of them,” Kevin said, squinting.
“He’s not.”
“What’re you…” Ben tried to ask.
“But usually, that hair isn’t literally just getting out of bed and doing nothing,” Janie said.
“I think you’re supposed to at least put a hand through it or something,” Kevin agreed. Janie and Kevin were entertaining themselves with Ben’s confusion.
“Shit! The party!”
“There he is,” Kevin said.
“Give me a minute.” Ben rushed inside without even closing the door.
“Sixty seconds, and I’m gone,” Kevin called after him.
“That’s fair,” Janie said.
It made sense that they went to the party together since they lived in the same building, but she didn’t intend to wait long for Ben either.
Inside his bedroom, Ben hastily put on dark jeans and the first clean and wrinkle-free shirt he found. He sprayed his armpits with deodorant and almost fell down in the attempt to wear his sneakers. Just as he was about to dash to the door, he remembered his hair and sneaked a look at his dresser mirror. Yikes! They weren’t pulling his leg for nothin’!
He pushed his head forward, shook his hair up a bit, and looked up. Yep! Now he looked like he came out of a shampoo commercial shoot. He didn’t know if he got his lush and easy-to-style hair from the Cuban or German side of the family, but he thanked his ancestors just the same.
*
Ben emerged with two more seconds to go.
“Not bad,” Janie approved.
“Can we get some coffee?” Ben asked as he closed and locked his door. Janie ignored him and walked ahead.
“What? There are like a hundred coffee shops on the way.”
Kevin ignored him too and caught up with Janie.
*
Linda positioned herself in front of her laptop ready to go at a moment’s notice. She wore a figure-hugging black knee-length skirt and rainbow stripe tube top. She’d combined them with strappy flat red pumps, which were the same shade as the red in the rainbow stripe.
She had done her long, dyed-black hair in a loose but gorgeous ponytail. She was making the most of the video chat with her musician boyfriend Rick before they left for the stage.
“It’s not fair that you look like that while I’m miles away,” Rick said, currently calling in from Seattle. They’d be in White Center two nights later.
He talked on his phone from a corner sofa in their room backstage. His long brown hair had been blow-dried and looked fantastic. No lie; it was fun dating a guy whose hair was as pretty and well-cared for as hers.
Linda grinned. “Yeah, I wanted you to feel the pain.”
“I’m so counting down the days.”
“Same,” Linda enthused. Rick was coming home in less than two weeks from his first tour with his band, and she couldn’t wait. “Just how tired are you right now?” She asked him.
“Not the best pep talk, babe,” Rick teased. “Plus, I can ask you the same thing about training several groups of people on the same day. Touring is not more tiring than Zumba. I know, I tested.”
Linda chuckled. “You did Zumba? On tour?”
“I missed you. I needed cardio. So, I watched one of your class videos you sent me. And I’m telling you, even watching it increased my heart rate.”
“Was it the moves, or were you excited to see me?”
“We better not get the conversation there two minutes before I take the stage,” Rick said.
“Oops. My bad. Go and rock their pants off!”
“Will do.” He sent her an air kiss and a killer smile before disconnecting the call.
And as expected, her phone rang. “Hi, Greg. On my way.” The man’s punctuality was unrivaled.
She got up and turned off her computer. Grabbing her clutch from the table and her black lace cardigan from the back of the chair, she whistled as she left the room.
*
Linda got in her best friend’s black Jaguar and shut the door. “Rick says hello.”
Greg flashed a wide smile with his perfect teeth. “It can’t be a coincidence you got to video chat with him in that outfit.”
“Of course not. He can’t think I sit around in my sweatpants missing him,” Linda said, and Greg smirked. “Fine. He knows I miss him, but the sweatpants stay a secret,” she said with a glint in her eye.
“Fair enough.” He hit the gas.
“It kind of feels both weird and comfortable going to a party where we know like eighty percent of the guests,” Linda mused.
“The party is to welcome Sarah and Andy to their new city and help them meet new people,” Greg reminded her. Sarah and Andy were Janie’s oldest friends and had relocated from Vancouver to San Diego two weeks ago. “Expanding your social circle or mine wasn’t probably on Janie’s agenda.”
It might be so, but expanding Greg’s social circle was definitely a part of Linda’s. “I also invited some of my favorite people from the gym,” she said.
“Fellow trainers?”
“Trainers. Clients.” Linda could see Greg sensed where this was going and didn’t like it one bit.
“Let me guess. They are all single pretty women.”
“And what do you have against single pretty women?” Linda asked, feigning innocence.
“Linda!”
“There will be single eligible men at the party.”
“Linda.”
She finally decided to spill the beans. “These women are nice, fun, and accomplished. And they deserve to meet men who are nice, fun, and accomplished.”
Greg sighed.
*
Los Angeles
Ian listened to pulsating fast music from his phone in his UCLA dorm room and absent-mindedly tossed clothes into the duffel bag on the bed. His ringtone interrupted the music. He checked the caller ID: Mom. He rejected the call and kept packing for the summer break.
*
San Diego
That night, Michelle and her boyfriend Adam toured the charming beachfront house for the second time this week. They had seen it first in daylight. Adam had fallen in love with the house, but he didn’t try to persuade her. She was the one buying, and she appreciated he wasn’t rushing her.
She looked at her phone and her face fell. Ian wasn’t answering again. Adam understood what happened from her expression and gently gave her shoulder a squeeze.
Adam and Michelle had rekindled their romance a few months after Adam reentered her life, and Michelle had beaten agoraphobia for good. She had recently put her apartment in Kevin and Janie’s building on the market and was looking for a fresh start.
She had stayed with Adam at his smart and customized condo during the process, but she wanted a place of her own. As much as they loved spending time together, she longed to enjoy a house of her own with floor-to-ceiling windows and loads of outdoor space after six long years of being trapped in an apartment. Said apartment was a fancy and roomy two-bedroom in a fine neighborhood, but the majority of her memories were accompanied by anxiety, panic attacks, and extreme discomfort. She couldn’t even use the oversized balcony, which could be counted as a room in its own right.
She hadn’t bonded with or even met most of her neighbors, which was a shame because Ian thought they were interesting and cool. Still, the prospect of fun neighbors didn’t appeal to her nearly as much as the fresh start.
When the realtor finally stopped singing the beach house’s praises, Michelle had missed most of her speech.
“It’s lovely,” Adam offered.
“Isn’t it?” She turned to Michelle. “What do you think? Isn’t it gorgeous 24/7?”
“I don’t know… It’s quite wonderful, but I’m still not sure.”
“You’ve been on the market for a while. You know houses like this are snatched up before you can blink.”
Michelle nodded absent-mindedly.
The realtor walked them out through the porch and Michelle breathed in the ocean air.
“I’ll give you a couple of more minutes and let the view seduce you,” the realtor said. She stepped away from the couple and got to work on her tablet.
“This house is gorgeous,” Michelle said.
“But you wish Ian could see it.”
“I mean… It’ll be his after I die.”
“Come on, now,” Adam objected.
He was right. They were healthy, fit, and only in their forties. She shouldn’t be talking about wills and stuff just yet.
Michelle continued, “You know what I mean. Plus, obviously, it will still be also his home when I’m around, and I want us to spend quality time together. It’d be great to find a place he also loved.”
“I hear you, but no one can dislike this view,” Adam said. This made Michelle smile. “You deserve a fantastic place. And I’m sure he will love what you pick.” He put his arms around her waist, and she snuggled closer.
She smiled and hoped he was right about Ian. “OK. Let’s do this. This is the one.”
She had a sneaking suspicion her young adult son’s lack of communication frequency for the past few months hadn’t been just about being a busy student who transferred to UCLA at the beginning of the term. Luckily, she knew the right person to get the intel from.
*
Andy found his wife Sarah in the kitchen looking at the couple kissing in the corner of their balcony.
“You know it’s a good party when you have people making out,” Andy observed, which made Sarah sneer. “Okay, you know it’s a party,” he corrected himself.
She drank a glass of water to take a breather and then headed to the sumptuous living room alongside Andy. Kissing couples or not, the party was a success so far. The music played at an optimum volume, allowing people to dance and chat however they wanted.
The two waitresses hired for the occasion did a solid job of keeping everyone’s glasses full and their stomachs sweet with the mini chocolate desserts that Sarah baked.
All tables and countertops were filled to the brim with salty snacks including chips, various kinds of sliced cheese, nuts, and biscuits.
Sarah’s eyes searched for Janie and found her at the mercy of Kevin’s dance moves, which he was practicing as Greg showed them on the happy but slightly giddy Linda.
Janie laughed heartily when she and Kevin pulled off a tricky turn and lift. Kevin was a capable dancer, but this was the first time he was trying this move. Greg and Linda applauded, and Janie and Kevin responded with a dramatic bow.
Sarah was happy they were having fun. But she couldn’t help but let out a sigh.
“Worried about the video?” Andy asked.
“Aren’t you?” She asked as scanned the crowded room. Being the hostess was somewhat taking her mind off their secret, but it wasn’t enough.
“Are you kidding? I’m tempted to never give it to Janie,” Andy admitted.
“That’s not an option, is it? Lenny would haunt us for all eternity.”
“I think we can safely assume ghosts don’t exist. He can’t have been too happy about us sitting on the thing for two years.”
Sarah shuddered at the thought of disappointing Lenny, her best friend since birth. Heck, she considered him her brother.
Sarah met Janie in high school after Lenny’s father had whisked his family away from Los Angeles to New York for work.
And she even met her husband Andy through Lenny.
The boys had bonded in college and trained their butts off to become Formula 1 drivers. Sarah reunited with Lenny in LA, where the four of them became inseparable. Janie and Lenny were close friends for a while before they got together.
His sudden and violent death two years ago had shocked them to their very core. They had all lost a big chunk of their souls, really. Sarah had realized she could only ever imagine surviving such a loss in a different country.
Andy, the loving husband that he is, had supported her decision. He had even quit racing just so she wouldn’t worry, even though Lenny hadn’t died during a race. But when you moved abroad a month after your best friend lost her love, leaving her all alone with her pain…you just wouldn’t know how to deliver Lenny’s birthday present to her. Especially considering what it was.
Their well-meaning plan was to give it to her when she was feeling better. But the more they waited, the harder it became. And before they knew it, it had been two whole years.
Andy watched their friend smile and chat with Kevin, Linda, and Greg with a sad smile. “The plan was to wait until she was okay. At least she’s doing great. She’s happy. She has found someone… These thoughts will warm my heart as she disowns us and never talks to us ever again,” he said. “I don’t even want to think how furious she will be.”
Neither did Sarah. She took a deep breath and grabbed two new flutes of champagne from one of the waitresses. She gave one to Andy and chugged a healthy amount from hers. “She’ll kill us. Our bodies will never be found, and we will have deserved it.”
Andy sighed. “Let’s just enjoy tonight.”
“Because we might never get Janie and her new friends back here again?” Sarah completed his sentiment for him. They knew each other too well.
“Kevin seems like a fun dude,” Andy said. “Shame we might never get to bond.”
“OK, this is depressing. Like you said. Let’s enjoy tonight and keep worrying after.”
“Deal,” Andy said.
Together, they approached Janie and smiled as their eyes caught hers. Andy thought how it was a shame he would probably never get to bond with Kevin.
We hope you are enjoying the book so far. To continue reading...
Copyright © 2024 All Rights Reserved
Please log in to recommend or discuss...
