Sherelle Green - Waiting For Summer

“I understand that,” she said trying to remain reasonable. “But my bedroom and bathroom share a wall with your condo, so every time you play the music that loud, the picture frames in my bedroom shake and things fall out of my bathroom cabinet. A few of my accent pieces have even broken from falling off my dresser.”

“Superglue and permanent adhesive.”

“What does that mean?”

He groaned in frustration. “Superglue and permanent adhesive.” He said it slower as if it would suddenly make sense to her.

“Maybe I should just call management.” She was about to head back to her condo before he explained himself.

“I suggest you buy some superglue and adhesive to stick all of your important belongings to your dresser so that they won’t fall.”

“Excuse me?” Who was this guy? If he weren’t so rude, she’d compliment him on his voice. The words he spoke were normal, but the tone of his voice sounded as if he’d walked out of a Shakespearean play.

“And while you’re shopping for glue and adhesive, you should get a better cabinet, too. I’ve known current management since they were babies in diapers. Family-owned business. If you need their number, you can find it on the bulletin board of the first-floor foyer. I also ask that you refrain from knocking on my walls and door for the rest of the night. It disrupts my euphoria when I’m listening to my music.”

The door slammed in her face before she could say anything else. “Unbelievable.” She walked back to her condo even more annoyed than she had been before she’d knocked on Mr. Higgins’s door. She’d only met her other neighbor once. The dancer had claimed that Mr. Higgins was a piece of work, but had assured Summer that he’d grow on her.

“Ha!” It was hard for him to grow on her when she could barely hear herself think. She contemplated heading to her boutique to get some work done there, instead. After showing Aiden the idea she’d had for the boutique a couple of days ago, she’d gotten even more fired up to turn her decor visions into a reality.

She sat in her plush round chair next to her bedroom window overlooking the beautiful city of Miami. She needed to hop in the shower, but she couldn’t stop her brain from going a mile a minute. Summer had always handled stress well, but as of late, she couldn’t seem to stop her brain from overthinking everything she had to do. Usually she compartmentalized her feelings into categories so that she could tackle one issue or area at a time.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of her lavender notebook and favorite ballpoint pen. She’d often used them to jot down her thoughts back when she was living in New York.

She’d enjoyed her career working at a top fashion public relations firm. The firm had allowed her to split her time between their New York and Miami offices. However, she’d known it was time to move on and pursue her ultimate dream of opening up a Bare Sophistication lingerie boutique in Miami.

Aiden...

Her mind drifted to him, as it often did. With his current company having a New York office and her previous company being in New York, she found it surprising that with the exception of that random reunion moment, the only time their paths had crossed was a couple of days ago. Not that surprising, since you were the reason he kept his distance.

Just as she began jotting down decor ideas for the boutique, her iPhone rang.

“Hey, Danni, is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine. Zumba was great, but Aaliyah was in a bad mood throughout most of the class. After the workout, we went out for veggie and fruit smoothies and she told Nicole and me that she just lost a big client.”

“Please tell me it’s not the cosmetics company she was excited about. The one with the new organic makeup releasing in two months who wanted her to capture photos of the entire line for their website.”

“That’s the one,” Danni said with a sigh. “She’s really disappointed so I wanted to see if we had a few hours tomorrow night to spare to take her out and hopefully cheer her up.”

“I think that’s a great idea. We can always spare time for her.”

“Thanks, Summer! I’ll let the girls know.”

Summer was still thinking about Aaliyah minutes after she disconnected the call. All of them were in the fashion and beauty industry and even though they had established careers, each of their careers was still a work in progress and ever evolving. Their work wasn’t easy, and every day Summer thought about how she could highlight her friends’ talents in Bare Sophistication instead of just utilizing their help with getting the shop ready for the grand opening.

Without focusing too much on what she was drawing or writing, Summer began to let her pen flow across the current page of her notebook. She thought about the Chicago lingerie boutique and the unique way her sisters tapped into the bachelorette and bridal business by incorporating masquerade lingerie parties into the boutique’s services. She then thought about Aiden’s idea to feature Bare Sophistication in his photography exhibit to represent the sexiness of Miami—and the exposure they would receive if everything went as planned.

Rubbing her locket with her left hand, she let her right hand do most of the work, further thinking about the beauty trade shows she’d attended throughout the years. She leaned over to her small bookcase and pulled out her tablet to view the details she had regarding her budget and photos of the layout of her shop. It wasn’t until her hand stopped moving that she noticed the music on the opposite side of her bedroom wall had actually gotten louder than it was before.

She stared at the wall as if it were a mirror staring back at her. Glancing back down at her notebook, she looked at the preliminary plan she’d present to the girls tomorrow.

There was no guarantee that they would be interested in her plan, but if they were, there was no doubt in her mind that Bare Sophistication Miami had just found its niche in the industry. “Well, well, you crazy old man. Guess your opera music served me well tonight.”

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