I took a seat in a ratty plaid chair with my heart still hammering.
“Alexa, how do you feel you did in my class?”
“Well—I feel I did well up until a few months ago.”
“Interesting.” Isabella inspected my final project photos, which were neatly lined up across her desk. “You do realize how incredibly talented you are, correct? You probably have more natural talent than half the students in my class combined.”
“Well, I don’t know about that. I mean, I think I’m good, but not that good.”
“There’s no need to be modest. I knew from day one you had a gift, Alexa.” She continued to review my work. “These photographs from your final project are amazing. I’ve never seen anything like this from a first-time student.”
“Thank you.” I coughed to try and clear the lump forming in my throat. “I worked really hard on it.”
“I’ll be honest. There are five agents out there interested in meeting with you.”
“Five?”
“Yes, but I discouraged them.”
Once again, I had allowed my hopes to get too high. “What do you mean?”
“I discouraged them because I want you all to myself. I want you to work with me.”
I thought I was hearing things. “Pardon me?”
“I want you to be on my team,” she said, “as in, I want you for my intern.”
My face flushed when I asked, “Are you serious?”
“Yes, of course,” she said. “And it would be nice if you would accept my offer—or I could always ask another student.”
“No. Of course I accept.” I looked down at my clasped hands in wonder. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
Isabella rummaged through her desk and pulled out a thin folder. “We do need to talk about one thing. It’s obvious that your life had been turned upside down since your mother’s death. I need to know that if anything should happen in your life that alters your state of mind, you’ll let me know before you let it affect your job performance.”
My mind was practically bouncing off the drab walls. “This is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I would never think of blowing it or letting you down.”
“Fantastic. In that case, we are ready to proceed.” Isabella pulled out a document from a folder and slid it over to me. “I need you to sign a few forms before you leave.”
When I glanced at that legitimate binding contract, it was as if all the grief I had experienced during the past several months suddenly evaporated into thin air like an answered prayer. With a shaky hand, I signed on the dotted line.
“I’ll be calling you to discuss further details,” she announced.
For the first time in years, I walked out of that building feeling blessed.
***
I waited with great anticipation for Scotty to come home that evening as the unpredictability of the day continued to unfold. When he finally stumbled in the doorway, I remained patient until he was settled in.
“Something amazing happened today,” I finally announced.
“Oh yeah? I’m sure anything will beat the day I’ve had,” he replied, loosening his tie.
“You know today was my last day of class, right?”
“Oh! That’s right. Geez, how could I forget?” he said, snapping back into reality. “How did it go?” Scotty very well knew what today meant to me. He was obviously preoccupied with his own agenda.
“I got it, Scotty! I got it!”
“You got the paid internship? That’s great, honey. I said so from the beginning. I knew you could do it. You’re amazing.”
I fiddled with his tie and softly said, “Finally, something to look forward to.”
“I’m so proud of you, kid.” He kissed me on the forehead. “You know what? We should do something tonight.”
“Like what?” I asked, intrigued.
“Let’s go out and celebrate.”
“Oh babe, you don’t look like you’re up for a night out.”
“What kind of a boyfriend would I be if I didn’t celebrate this special occasion with the woman I love?”
“Are you sure? You look like you’ve had a long, hard day.”
Scotty sighed and looked tenderly into my eyes. “I had a client who looked at eight different properties and never made an offer on any of them, but I’m not going to let that get me down. Let me get cleaned up, and we’ll go.”
He came back shortly, looking refreshed in dark denim jeans and his favorite blue polo. Honestly, sometimes I felt too young to have such an incredible man in my life.
***
We decided to celebrate at the same place we shared our first official date.
As Scotty poured me my third glass of Chardonnay, he said, “We need to make a toast.” He held up his wine glass and smiled. “To my beautiful Alexa. May all her dreams come true.”
“This is by far one of the best days of my life.” I gazed at Scotty’s through the flickering candlelight. “I wish for many more like this.”
“Well, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, you know, about the future.”
I sensed where this conversation was headed and swallowed a lump in my throat even bigger than the one earlier in the day. “What about the future?” I asked with a slight squeak in my voice.
“I’ve never done this before,” he said, looking down into his glass of wine, “but I know what I feel for you is stronger than anything I’ve ever felt before.”
I knew what was coming, but I humored him anyway. The way he mumbled and stumbled over his words was the cutest thing ever.
“So, I’m not following. What are you trying to get at?” I asked.
“I want to take care of you, Alexa. There’s no one else I want to spend the rest of my life with, but you.”
“Is this what they call proposing?”
“I know I don’t have a ring.” Tiny beads of sweat glinted and stippled down his forehead. “I was planning this later down the road, but tonight just seems so perfect that I—”
“Yes!” I said, cutting him off.
“Yes?” he repeated. “You just said yes, right?”
“Yes!” I said, getting up and throwing myself into his arms.
***
I awoke in a jumble of covers with Scotty nuzzling at my neck. He wrapped his arms tightly around my waist and said, “Good morning, Mrs. Soon-to-be-Scott-Logan.”
I cut him off with a fierce kiss, and cuddled closer. “Good morning.”
“I hate to do this, but I have to show a property in an hour, so I have to get up.”
“No. Stay in bed. Call them and cancel,” I moaned as I latched myself onto his arm.
“Sorry, kid. I wish I could, but this sale could be a big one.”
I lied in bed while Scotty showered and changed. He came out of the bathroom a half an hour later, and I watched him slip into his shoes. He never failed to blow me away with his handsomeness.
“You should stay home and relax.” He left a wet kiss on my forehead. “I’ll see you later. I better go, or I’ll be late.”
My cell phone rang sometime after Scotty's five-minute departure.
“Alexa, this is Isabella. Listen, I have a project you might be interested in.”
“Already?”
“Well, it’s fairly easy. I thought I would pass it on to you as a starter. There is a fashion show going on at the Hollywood Hills mall. They are short one person. Can you be there in two hours?”
“Um—sure.”
“Wonderful. You’ll meet with the lead stylist, Sharon Finch, inside Nordstrom’s department store. Call me when you get there.” Her sigh of satisfaction ended with a brief click.
I dashed around the apartment trying to pull myself together, and after thirty minutes, I was finally out the door. Some days I wished I lived anywhere but southern California. Driving to Los Angeles was always horrendous at nine in the morning.
Makeup artists, models, and fashion designers were bustling to and from when I
walked into the chaotic department store. I glanced at a heavyset girl who looked to be about my age as I threaded through the crowd. She was applying eye shadow to an anorexic-looking blonde model. I reluctantly made my way over, unsure if I should interrupt her.
“Sharon?”
“Yes?” she said, turning around to face me. “Can I help you?”
“I’m Alexa Moore. Uh—Isabella Bellini sent me.”
“Oh yes. I’m glad you could make it on such short notice. I have three models that need their makeup done immediately.” She said everything so quickly that I hoped I hadn’t missed anything. “The show starts at eleven. You want to be sure the girls are done at least a half hour before then.”
I felt good about things until she mentioned that I only had one measly hour.
As a rule in makeup artistry, I started by cleansing the model’s face. The first model had a beautiful olive complexion, so flawless it seemed like a pity to cover up her natural beauty. I took my time and applied blush, swiped brown and gold shadow on her eyelids, and dusted a shimmer against her cheeks.
Each of the girls whipped right out of their seat with the quick gesture of Sharon’s hand, and disappeared into the back of the department store.
The room was jam packed at show time with people of stature and sophistication. The models walked down the small makeshift runway—their luxurious attire and bone-thin figures fascinating me. Oohing and ahhing came from the photographers as their cameras flashed, and as for me, I just sat back, drinking it all in.
***
Fatigue was pouring over me by the time I got home. When I opened the door, I discovered an apartment lit by candlelight and the dinner table set up for two.
“Hey, sweetie,” Scotty said as his mouth ardently met mine. “Where have you been? I’ve been calling you all night.”
“When you left this morning, Isabella called and sent me on my first job.”
“Oh, kid, that’s great!” he said, embracing me tightly. “Congratulations.”
“So I’ve been tied up since nine this morning,” I explained. “I haven’t been able to use my phone.”
“Well, sit down,” Scotty said, pulling out a chair for me. “I have some news for you as well. My client finally decided to make an offer on that two-million-dollar home in Orange Hills.”
Scotty went to the kitchen and came back with an unidentified covered dish that smelled of garlic and rosemary. He removed the lid, revealing braised lamb shanks. My stomach growled at the sight and smell of its deliciousness.
“It looks like the owners are going to accept the offer, which means a huge commission is coming my way,” he bubbled away, placing a shank on my plate.
“Aw, I’m really proud of you, sweetie.”
“Oh, but that’s not all. A couple weeks ago, I happened to come across a home in Laguna Beach that I want you to come and look at with me.”
“Oh yeah? Why is that?” I asked, chewing and savoring every morsel of the delicious meal.
“Well—” Scotty swallowed his food and shot me a sly smile. “Since we’re getting married, I thought maybe it would be a good time to find a bigger place.”
“Sweetie, it’s just the two of us.”
“Yes, I know that.” He wiped his mouth with his napkin and continued. “But you never know what the future holds.”
It was clear from his tone what he was hinting at. “Okay. When can we go check it out?”
“Ah, I was hoping you would ask that question.”
***
Scotty and I took a trip to Laguna Beach early the next afternoon. The longer we drove down the coast, the more I anticipated seeing the house.
We pulled up to a European inspired villa home with a four-car garage and courtyard. The place had a wrap-around porch and a panoramic view of the Crystal Cove coast. It literally looked like something out of a fairytale.
“Scotty, this is...it’s just unbelievable.”
“Wait until you see the inside.”
Scotty fumbled in his pocket for the key. He finally opened the door, exposing a wide, spacious entryway with marbled floors and a grand spiral staircase.
“This is unreal,” I said, feeling as though I had to catch my breath.
“It just finished construction a couple weeks ago.” Scotty led me into the kitchen. “Now check this out—”
I stepped into something I only dreamt about: a state-of-the-art kitchen with gleaming black granite countertops, an electric stovetop range, and rich cherry wood cabinetry.
“I feel like I’m dreaming,” I said in awe. “I thought this only existed in magazines.”
“So you like it?”
“Like it? I love it,” I said.
Scotty came up from behind and wrapped his arms around my waist. He rested his chin on my shoulder and said, “I can just picture it. You at the stove…trying to perfect your mom’s recipes. While I—”
“Taste test?”
“Hey, it’s what I do best.”
I stood there, admiring the beauty of the kitchen, as I pictured myself making a gourmet meal for our friends where we would all sit around a luxurious dining room table. We would sip wine and talk about trivial things like how getting our husbands to wash their own dishes every once in a while was like pulling teeth.
“This place must cost a fortune, Scotty.”
“Life is good right now, Alexa,” he said, cupping my face. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this moment.”
“What are you saying?”
“What do you think about a May wedding in our new home?”
The question tossed me into a state of confusion. “Our home?”
Scotty’s brilliant brown eyes locked with mine, and his smile was luminous when he said, “Yes, kid—our home.”
“I..I..couldn’t think of a better time.” I jumped into his arms, feeling in some way that life was finally turning around and heading in the direction I wanted.
***
Scotty wasted no time getting a ring on my finger. Every time I caught a glimpse of that five-carat diamond engagement ring, I felt like one of the luckiest girls on the planet.
Three months after our engagement, we put my parent’s house up for sale and moved into our new home. Around that same time, Scotty wanted to make our engagement official by introducing me to his family. I heard so much about them since we started dating that in a way, I felt like I already knew them. But meeting his family face to face would finally put everything in perspective. Scotty was definitely a family man and anxious to show off his bride-to-be. We planned on announcing the seriousness of our relationship to his mother the day after we moved in.
We scheduled dinner at the house on a Sunday. Scotty’s mother Evelyn, Jim, and his two sisters would all be driving in together from San Diego. The whole shindig had me on edge. I was never serious enough with anyone to meet their family, so I didn’t quite know how to react. Scotty assured me that after all the good things he had said about me; his mother was dying to meet me, and all I had to do was be myself. What made the whole situation more nerve-racking was his plan to announce our engagement that very same night. More than anything, I was terrified of what his mother would think of me.
I spent the whole afternoon trying to replicate Mom’s pomodoro sauce, the one she made every Sunday night when I was a kid. It would probably never taste exactly like hers, but I was going to give it my best shot. At the beginning of that evening, the whole house filled with a scent I remembered from my childhood days—garlic, onions, and spices—a little of Mom’s love all rolled into one.
I finished cooking and put on the most conservative dress I had. It was a knee-length, button-up floral chiffon that I had purchased from Fashion Land years earlier, but had never worn. The dress wasn’t exactly cute or sexy, but it made me look sophisticated, like a housewife in the making—which I kind of was.
After all the weeks of waiting, the family finally arrived that early evening. I’d seen pictures of Evelyn, but th
ey didn’t do her any justice. She had auburn hair, thick and soft, that went to her shoulders. I was taken by her huge sea-green eyes that fringed her sooty black lashes, which accentuated her fair skin and smooth complexion. She stood about five-two, was very petite and impeccably dressed. She matched from head to toe. The woman was a size zero. Standing next to her, I felt like a beached whale. On top of that, her ensemble gave off the immediate impression that she was high-maintenance. She donned a white cashmere sweater that clung to her delicate curves, tan pants, and an air of importance. Every appendage was dripping in jewelry.
Evelyn walked in the door and greeted me with a hug, and then proceeded to look me up and down. “Sweetheart, that dress is dreadful.” She chuckled a bit maliciously. “Where on Earth did you find such a frock?”
Her comment was like a kick in the stomach. I looked down at my dress, terribly humiliated. “Well, it’s new. I’ve never worn it.”
“Scott, you actually let her go around wearing something like this?” she asked, looking at my dress as if it were an old potato sack.
Scotty just shrugged and smiled at me as if he didn’t know what to say. Being insulted by my future mother-in-law within the first five minutes of meeting was not a good way to start off our relationship. Needless to say, she didn’t leave me with the warm and fuzzes.
“Scott, you must give me a tour of this magnificent house,” Evelyn said, looping her arm with his and dragging him away.
After I led Jim into the living room, Elizabeth and Jaime situated themselves on the couch and fell into conversation.
“Would you like anything to drink?” I asked Jim.
He clapped his hands together and said, “Sounds great. What do you have?”
“Beer, wine, soda—”
“A glass of wine sounds great, my dear.”
Personality wise, Jim was quite the opposite of Evelyn. He was friendly, genial in manner and a great conversationalist. Although he wasn’t typically handsome, I found him curiously striking. He had salt-and-pepper hair and a beard to match. His tall frame was perfectly portioned, making it rather apparent that he liked to stay in shape.
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