Page 75 of Something Cheeky

“Honestly I have no idea what it stands for but it fits.” Zoe snorted.

The two women giggled and soon it turned into guffaws. Zoe’s chest shook from laughter, which also jostled the cat. Mr. Bobbins, unfazed by their outburst, yawned before curling back into a donut. He’d lived with them long enough to recognize their moods. Currently there wasn’t any cause for concern.

“My stomach hurts,” Zoe finally said after she caught her breath. “It feels good to let it all out. The last few weeks have been intense.”

“Stressful. You’re allowed to say it,” Trixie pointed out.

“Dealing with Greg has been more challenging than my worst bridal clients,” Zoe admitted.

“Should we call him Gregzilla?” Trixie asked.

“What if I accidentally call him that to his face. Better not.” Zoe shuddered.

“Don’t forget he’s technically not your boss. Derek is,” Trixie reminded her.

“Greg is technically within his rights to offer feedback. The issue is, he has no idea how problematic some of it is.”

“Ugh, that’s the worst. I guess I’ve been lucky that we haven’t had much interaction.”

“How’s the intimacy coordinating going?” Zoe asked. This was the first time she’d spent the night at their apartment since she’d started seeing Derek. They hadn’t been able to really talk outside of the Boss Babes’ group texts.

“It’s been a learning experience, but Katie Mai and Danny have been very involved in the choreography of their love scenes. Unlike the western Cinderella, we get to see what happens after the happily ever after.” Trixie laughed.

“Our version is definitely more interesting,” Zoe agreed. “It’s so romantic how the Emperor continues to love T?m even though she transforms into a tree, a bird, and a persimmon.”

“Your turn,” said Trixie. “How are you dealing with all of it? Creating gorgeous costumes and secretly dating your best friend while running Something Cheeky?”

“I’m barely keeping my head above water.” Zoe sighed. “Maybe I should’ve let the past stay in the past.”

“You’re having regrets about Derek?” Trixie sat down on the couch and rubbed Zoe’s shoulder. “People mess up. I know hedidn’t stand up for you this afternoon, but you said he’d defended you to Gregzilla before.”

“He has.” Zoe smiled as she recalled their meeting in Greg’s office. “By the past, I meant working in theater again.”

“We’re over halfway done, aren’t we? The show goes into tech in ten days.”

“There’s still so much to do. We’ve got the base pieces finished, but it’s all the decorations and embellishments. Detail work takes forever. Plus the headdresses. I want everything to be perfect to prove Greg wrong.”

“Motivation à la spite. I’m familiar with that feeling.” Trixie tilted her head as she studied Zoe. “There’s more.”

“I wanted to launch my formal-wear collection this fall, but I have to push it to next year. I’ve been too consumed by the musical—and Derek—that I’m not even close to creating a cohesive collection.”

“You’re worried about something else.”

“I’ve put everything on pause for this musical. What if the audience doesn’t get my costumes or, worse, the show flops?” Zoe’s heart pounded and the room began to shrink around her.

Mr. Bobbins mewed and licked her hand as if sensing her anxiety. He nudged her hand with his nose as if commanding her to keep petting him. She obliged, taking deep breaths as she focused on his soft fur under her fingertips.

“Zoe, I’ve never seen you this hyped about lingerie or a custom áo dài. You would’ve kicked yourself for turning it down.”

Zoe bit her lip and nodded. Her best friend was right, yet she couldn’t shake the doubts swirling in her head. Was this a second chance at an old dream or was she piggybacking off of Derek’s vision? She was no longer the young, naive person in college who thought she could change the theater world.

She’d learned the hard way that she couldn’t fight back when the villain was a tenured college professor in a small college town.So why did she think she could do it when she went to New York to pursue her costume design career?

Instead, she’d come home, where she’d made her own damn chair at her own table by opening Something Cheeky. She’d betrayed her shop and her customers by pushing it aside to do this musical.

“If you need, I’ll come into the costume shop and hand-sew things. And you know Josie, Reina, and Keisha will help, too. Hell, Reina can get her burlesque guys. They make a lot of their costumes.”

“We’d never get anything done except gossip!” Zoe joked. The image of the Boss Babes hunched over costumes and sewing machines together made her smile. Slowly the room returned back to its normal size.

---