Page 58 of The Lovers
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” Her hand drops to my shoulder, holding firm. I root in place, huffing.
“Make room for play.”
It’s not what I expect her to say, so it catches me off guard. “I’m on the job, on the clock, on someone else’s dime. I can’t make room for play if circumstances don’t allow it.”
“Circumstances will never allow it,” she says, smiling. “Can I give you a piece of advice?”
I brace for something totally batshit, as is her typical MO.
“When I started Coco’s Intimates, I was terrified to delegate any responsibilities to my team. I wanted to be cc’d on every email, called in to look at every swatch, meet every shipment, oversee wholesale orders, manually check online orders.” Shemakes awhat the fuckface, totally embarrassed by past Coco’s failings. “It was a mess—I was a mess. I had a small team, all women, everything made in LA, and I could see it unraveling under all the pressure I was putting on it—on them. I wanted it to grow, but I didn’t want to let go.”
There’s that phrase again.Let go.Like it’s the first step in a wellness program.
I roll my eyes and she releases one hand to smack me on the ass. I sidestep the move but she doesn’t give up, getting me on her second try. “I am offering pearls, and you’re acting like a swine.”
“Sorry,” I snort. “It’s just, letting go—come on, that’s just slowly losing.” Her face drops into a frown.
“You can’t control everything.” She winks. “Make room for play. It’s the Coco’s Intimates office motto for a reason.”
She turns down the path that leads back toward the bachelorette party bungalows.
And I’m left wondering if for once I should listen when someone tells me tolet go.
?I arrive at the kitchen to find that the chef has locked himself in the dry pantry, refusing to come out.
I rap my knuckles on the door. “Javier.”Rap.“This is Julia Kelley. We’ve been corresponding through emails.” He’s a new vendor for Love, Always, but he came highly recommended.
Zoe hands me one of theoffensive to vegansempanadas.
“What’s this?”
“Delicious,” she says, biting into another one. “Maybe a few compliments will get him out of the pantry and back to work.”
“Does he even have time to start over from scratch?” I ask, sniffing the crusty dough parcel. It smells spicy, with just the right amount of cumin. Zoe shrugs.
“T-minus six hours,” she says. “Tight, but plausible.”
I bite into the empanada and my taste buds are immediately flooded with flavor. The beef is tender, mixed with tiny russet potatoes and cilantro, seasoned with spicy chilis. I roll my eyes in ecstasy. “Yum.”
“I know,” Zoe replies, shoving the rest of the empanada in her mouth.
I turn back to the pantry door. “Javier, we understand the freak-out. But we can’t let that stop us from problem-solving.” I hear him whimper through the door. “I mean, have you met the groom and his merry men? They could clear a hundred of these babies easy and still have room for more.” I pause. “They won’t go to waste.”
“But they only ordered three batches of the potato and beef, and explicitly wanted a vegan option. I had one all prepared,” he cries.
“Correct.”
“And when I left the bakery this morning, I was certain I had grabbed the cart of black bean and corn. I don’t know how I did this!”
I turn to Zoe. “Why can’t he just go back to LA and get the vegan dish?”
“They’ve been sold as beef and potato to unsuspecting buyers at The Grove kiosk.”
I stifle a laugh.Oh dear.I turn back to the door. “Javier, the kitchen here at Celestial Sands is equipped with most of the itemsyou need to make something just as spectacular, if a little more rustic.”
“Corn?”
“Uh, I believe—”
