17. Free Falling #2
Ugh . I rub my face with my hands, disgusted that I still have no idea what comes next.
I’ve always known I was born lucky. Aside from selfish parents and a lonely boarding school upbringing, I was born with a silver spoon I had no hand in forging.
Like I told Vance, technically, I don’t have to do anything. I can live the Richie Rich lifestyle and spend my days in a mansion with a butler and a pool boy.
And true, I did party it up with Houston’s young socialites for a while. The same crowd that took Flynn down the wrong path when he was younger.
Hashtag troubled youth.
But after a while it all seemed so… meh. I saw it for what it was—a cop-out. A life devoid of all meaning. And I do know one thing I want for the future—I want my life to mean something.
And when I met Jackie, Jules, and Trish and saw their drive and determination, it simply solidified my decision to be better. Do more.
Yet here I am, the world at my fingertips, not sure what it is that I should do more of.
Gladys comes by, nearly taking out my head with her potted Boston fern. “Sorry!”
I drum up a smile for her. “No problem.”
She places the fern on a nearby windowsill and moves on to water a ficus, humming happily as she goes.
Maybe I should be a plant lady.
I tap my phone screen. Nothing.
I’m probably just missing Vance right now because when he’s around, I don’t worry so much about my next step or fixating on all the things I should be doing or becoming.
When he ran me to ground at the Whiskey River saloon, I thought he’d make for a brief distraction.
But now, with him going AWOL on me, I realize he’s more than that.
Vance calms something inside me. Makes me feel like it’s okay to just be me. That I can stop and take a breath. That I don’t have to do everything at one hundred miles an hour to prove my worth to everyone—including myself.
And I like hanging out with him. Even, dare I say, without the sex. Though the sex is good.
Praise Jesus, the sex is good.
He’s fun and unassuming. Sweet to his nephews and kind to his sister, though it’s obvious she knows how to push a few buttons (said as a fellow button pusher).
“Ugh.” I slide my computer to the side and drop my head onto my folded arms next to my lemonade. Brass Tacks’ butterfly lemonade is topped with antioxidant pea powder that turns the drink blue. It is as delicious as it is ridiculous.
I stifle a yawn. As delicious as it is, though, I probably should’ve sprung for the dirty chai latte. My energy of late is flagging . I didn’t realize how much the end of the semester was taking out of me. And my current emotional roller coaster.
My phone dings, and in my mad scramble to pick it up, I knock over my lemonade. Blue, sticky liquid runs over my keyboard, and the screen goes black.
Well, shit. Good thing I have everything backed up in the cloud.
Throwing a napkin at the dead machine, I light up my phone with a touch, expecting a text notification from ‘Old Man.’
Nope.
Group text from the girls. Which is just as good. Better even.
I ignore the bite of disappointment.
Trish: What time should we be at the ranch this Saturday?
Jules: Laser tag! Laser tag!
Me: 10 a.m.
Jules: Laser tag! Laser tag!
Trish: * eyeroll emoji
Me: Y’all told the boys to fuck off, right?
Jackie: Work phone.
Me: You told the boys to bang off, right?
Jules: I told Holt to go do manly stuff with Flynn and Ian.
Me: So what, they’re going to bake cookies?
Trish: Probably *laughing emoji
Jules: * middle finger emoji
Jackie: Work phone!
Jules: You’re just jealous that my man bakes orgasmic cookies.
Me: Dude. Brother, remember? *vomit emoji
Jules: *gif of Britney Spears rolling her eyes
Me: *gif of woman riding a cow like a bronco
Jules: *gif of a stripper falling off her pole
Me: *gif of a woman falling off her motorcycle
Trish: Are you two done yet?
Jules: *gif of Alan Rickman as Professor Snape yelling ‘Silence’
Jackie: WORK PHONE!
Jules: Hooker, please. This is also my work phone. And as I haven’t been picked up by the NSA, I’m pretty sure we’re good.
Trish: Anyhoo… West Ranch at 10.
Me: Leave your heels at home, Shortstack.
Jules: *gif of people dressed in camo Army crawling under barbed wire through mud
Jackie: I’m pretty sure laser tag isn’t that involved.
Me: Then you don’t know laser tag.
Trish: *gif of Ryan Reynolds sighing
Me: *gif of Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool air banging
Notification that Jackie has left the group text
Jules: * gif of The Simpsons’ Mr. Burns evil laugh
As usual, the girls put me in a good mood.
My pre-graduation laser tag girls’ day is going to be fabulous.
My brothers insisted on throwing a party at the ranch next Saturday, but this Saturday will be all about the girls and me.
I make a mental note to stock up on Baileys, edible glitter, and shoe polish.
Smile on my face, I slide my sticky laptop and notebooks in my backpack and head out.
It’s time to see a brother about automotive clear-coating a glitterized KitchenAid mixer.