4. Laila
Laila
I only make it a few steps into the loft before I pull off my heels and leave them right there by the front door.
I hang my purse on the hook and pad into the kitchen, turning on lights as I go since Zara isn’t home yet.
Zara and I have lived together since we were freshmen in college, first in the dorms and then in some really shitty off campus apartments.
Now we live in a gorgeous loft that has everything we were looking for: modern updates, open floor plan, close to the train, and floor to ceiling windows with a pretty view.
In my room, I take off the clothes I wore to work in favor of something more comfortable.
I pull on a pair of pajama pants and go into my closet in search of a hoodie.
With work being so busy, I haven’t kept up with laundry so a lot of the hangers are empty.
I shuffle through my remaining hoodies until my eyes land on the one that’s been in the back of my closet unworn for the past three years.
Impulsively, I slide the hoodie off the velvet hanger and pull it over my head to put it on.
It doesn’t smell like him anymore but the buttery softness of the fabric is still the same.
I’m not sure why I even kept it for so long since seeing Sonny again was never something I even thought would happen. Hell, seeing Sonny the first time was something that wasn’t supposed to have happened.
My stomach grumbles, bringing me out of my thoughts and reminding me that I haven’t eaten since the late lunch I took at work.
I leave my bedroom and go to the kitchen in search of food.
I take a quick glance through the fridge and cabinets and come up empty for anything that wouldn’t require way more effort than I’m willing to put in right now.
Looks like I’m definitely ordering something.
I grab a handful of Oreos to snack on as I lean against the counter and scroll through my food delivery apps. Tacos from a local restaurant is ultimately what I decide on and I start to place my order when I hear the jingling of Zara’s keys at our front door.
“Heyyy!” Zara calls out as she walks into the kitchen.
“Hey I’m about to order tacos,” I reply. Do you want something?”
“Ooooo yes,” Zara replies. “Steak tacos and a large horchata please. I’m starving.”
I add what Zara asked for to my order and schedule it for delivery.
“Did you have a late client tonight?”
Zara leaves the kitchen and heads to her room but because of the open space of the loft I can still hear her when she replies. “Yeah, one of my regulars needed a later appointment, which was fine, but I had back to back clients all day and barely had time to sit down or eat.”
Zara is a barber and hair stylist, one of the best, so her books are always filled up weeks in advance. A few minutes later Zara comes back changed out of the black cargo pants and cropped shirt she was in and into a sports bra and pajama shorts.
Zara sits down on the couch and wraps one of the blankets we leave laying on it, around herself.
“Soo since you’re home so early I guess it didn’t go well?” Zara asks.
I join Zara on the couch. “It's not even that early, it's like 8 o'clock.”
“Yeah, but if it would have gone well then drinks would have led to more and you wouldn’t be sitting there side eyeing me,” Zara replies with a laugh.
“You would be side eyeing too if you had to endure spending time with that man!”
“Girl it could not have been that bad.”
“Z, he talked for an hour about the stock market and how everyone needs a Roth IRA. Don’t get me wrong I know the importance of savings and all that, but I was not prepared to have an in depth conversation about it on a first date.
Instead of ‘how was your day’ it was all ‘so what does your investment portfolio look like?’. ”
Zara cringes. “I swear he seemed nice and normal when I met him.”
“Yeah well that’s going to be my first and last date with Jason,” I reply. “And I’m not going out with anyone else you set me up with either. No more coworker’s baby mama’s second cousin twice removed, or whoever the hell they are.”
My exaggeration makes Zara laugh but I am so serious. I’m so over dealing with men right now.
When our takeout comes Zara answers the door to retrieve it and we sit on the couch eating our food and rewatching one of our favorite shows until way too late at night.
***
If I never had to see snow again I’d be a happy woman.
That statement is so dramatic, especially since I have lived with snowy winters my entire life and should be used to it by now.
But the half a foot of snow that accumulated overnight has brought out the drama.
The hassle that snow brings to life never feels worth it, even if it is beautiful to look at when it's pristine and untouched.
I would have opted for a work from home day but since I was in meetings all day yesterday I wasn’t able to finish all of the things I needed to. So here I am trudging through the cold and snow after waiting on a delayed train, until I finally reach the Lovely Day office.
I interned at Lovely Day my senior year of college as a part of my graduation requirements, but I fell in love with the business. So much so that after graduation when Cassandra, the owner, offered me a full time marketing position I jumped at the opportunity.
Attending the nearby university introduced me to Rosewood and once I was here I fell in love.
Rosewood is a suburban city bordering Chicago and Lake Michigan.
Decades ago it was in a state of desolation, lacking necessary care and funding after many people left the area for other places.
Rosewood is a place built by the Black community, for the Black community.
Long time residents banded together, pouring time, money and resources to help Rosewood become a thriving town again.
They laid the foundation for the flourishing Black community that it is today.
Even though Rosewood is not a small town, it is very close knit.
I use my keyfob to get into the building, stomping off the extra snow stuck to my snow boots as I walk in and take the elevator up to the office.
The office consists of Cassandra’s personal office, a large open space where we all usually sit to work or have meetings, a small kitchen and the warehouse where we store all of our product inventory.
I change out of my snow boots and into a pair of sneakers I brought with me in my bag and walk over to the conference table to get ready for our morning meeting. Cass is already there, as usual, typing away on her computer. I sit in my usual spot at the table and pull out my iPad and laptop.
“Good morning.”
“Hey, good morning,” Cass replies with a smile. “Stella is here and Reagan said she’s on her way and will be here in a few.”
“Okay, sounds good.”
Though Lovely Day has grown, we are still very much a small operation of just four women.
Cass works as CEO and handles all of the overhead.
I focus on social media and marketing. Stella and Reagan are in charge of operations and handle the ins and outs of shipping and inventory.
There are things that we outsource, but for the most part it's all us.
When everyone is settled, Cass starts off the morning meeting. She gives an overall debrief and then each of us have a chance to talk about what we have been working on individually.
“We have almost all of the inventory we were waiting on for the new collection,” Reagan says. “There’s just one more pallet but it's supposed to be delivered tomorrow and another that’s being delivered next week.”
“Laila, when are you doing the product pictures?” Cass asks.
“I’m going to take some teaser pictures of the new products today, but I have a full photoshoot scheduled for next week.”
“Okay, that should work perfectly.”
The meeting continues with everyone talking about what we have going on and the plans that we have coming up for Lovely Day . Once everything is discussed Cass tells us that she has one more thing that she wants to talk about.
“So as we all know, Laila did a great job with the investors yesterday and they agreed to give us what we were asking for,” Cass says. “With that funding, things are looking good for the possibility of expansion this year.”
My eyes go wide with surprise, I had always known that Cass wanted Lovely Day to grow into something more, but I didn’t realize how real of a possibility it was becoming. “Wait really?”
Cass nods and shifts her long knotless braids over her shoulder.
“We would need our sales to keep being consistent, but if all goes well then new products and more inventory and maybe even more staff, can all be a reality. And of course a bigger space because we’re already bursting at the seams here. ”
“That’s amazing!” Reagan replies.
“Nothing’s set in stone, I haven’t even gone to look at locations yet. But it is something that is very real for this new year.”
“Let’s make it happen then,” Stella says with determination in her voice.
The morning meeting ends and we all break off to work on our own things. I go into the warehouse to pick out some of the new products and then spend the rest of my morning and into the afternoon taking pictures and handling messages and comments on our social media.
We place an order for lunch from a restaurant down the street and Stella goes to get it for us. After lunch Cass comes out from her office to tell us she’s leaving for the day.
“Since tomorrow is Friday, I’m going to work from home,” Cassandra says.
“Because it's Friday or because Cyrus is back from a trip?” Stella jokes.
“She wants to go see her man,” Reagan says in a sing-song voice.