Page 10 of So This Is Love

“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 forLovely 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 wantedLovely Dayto 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.

If her brown skin would have allowed it, Cass would be red in the face from our teasing. A little over a year ago Cass went ona solo trip to Mexico and came back with a fine ass boyfriend, some straight out of a romance movie shit. Cyrus is a pilot and they were long distance for over a year and then he moved here to Rosewood for her. It surprised the hell out of all of us because Cass and spontaneous don’t usually go together, but Cyrus brings out something in her that gives her the safety to be impulsive.

“I hate all of you,” Cass says laughing.

“Notice how she couldn’t even deny it,” Reagan chimes in and we all laugh.

“Yeah, yeah whatever. I’ll see y’all on Monday,” Cass replies, raising her hand in goodbye.

I stay a little bit longer and work on editing the pictures I took earlier in the day and planning out posts for all our social media accounts. I turn up the music in my headphones and get lost in work. By the time I look up again, the sun has set and my eyes burn from staring at a screen so long.

Shit.

I didn't mean to lose track of time like that. I close my laptop and pack my things to leave. I put my snow boots and coat back on and head out of the office, locking the door behind me. As I step off the elevator and out into the cold night air my phone starts to ring. I pull it out of my pocket and check to see who it is.

Mom

With a sigh, I swipe my finger across the screen to answer the call as I walk to the train station. “Hello?”

“You don’t know how to pick up a phone and call your mother anymore?”

I let out a long sigh. “I’ve had a lot going on mom, I wasn’t doing it on purpose.”

“Well I was just calling to check in on you. How are you doing?”

“I’m doing good. I’m on my way home from work right now.”

“That’s good to hear,” my mom replies.

The line goes silent for a few moments as I wait for her to say the real reason why she’s calling me. I know my mother and unfortunately for me I also know that these calls are never just a casual check in.

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