Page 31 of Sweet Dreams
Just as I walked in the door, Jaz and two of our regulars were in a huddle jumping up and down and looking at Jaz's phone. A few stragglers were trying to order their hot chocolate while staring at the crazed outgirls.
"Hey! What's going on here?" I called out as I went over tothem.
They all swung their heads in my direction and Jaz's face lit up. She jumped toward me, holding her phone out like I was supposed to be able to see what the hell was on there. "Holy shit! Esa! Check this out!!" she squealed as she finally reachedme.
I grabbed her phone to steady it enough so I could see what she was pointing at. She had Instagram pulled up to a picture of a stunningly beautiful woman holding a cup of Chocolate Dreams hot chocolate. As I pulled the screen closer, I saw that it was a picture of Shea Smith, one of the hottest pop singers at the moment. In fact, I think I was just listening to one of her songs on the drive in to theshop.
"When was she here?" I asked Jaz, still in a bit of a daze. I mean, come on. A famous pop star bought my hot chocolate. You know, the recipe I tested out in my mom's kitchen back when I was a teenager and this was all a hazy dream. Was this reallife?
"Must have been last night when Matt was on duty." Jaz paused, still staring at her phone. "Esa. Did you read thecaption??"
I lifted the phone back up and read the caption. "Holy shit. She loved the hot chocolate! And she linked to our account and told them where we're located?! That'sincredible!"
"I know, right?" Then Jaz paused. "You didn't pay her, did you?" Jaz asked with a seriousface.
"No! We're not making the kind of money that I could pay her for a shout-out. She just did that for free! Oh my God! That's awesome! Let's play her music in here on loop for the rest of eternity," I said, only half kidding. "You think I could blow that picture up into a wall mural over there?" I asked, pointing to the opposite wall where a boring picture of a cup of hot chocolate hung. Jaz just gave me the side eye and continued talking so I was guessing that was ano.
"She posted it this morning, so let's see what kind of buzz we get from it. I'll repost it to our account too with some HB/Newport/Orange County hashtags. Esa, this could be huge," Jaz ended in almost a whisper as we both started envisioning a long line out thedoor.
"I better go see if anyone's applied for the open positions I posted the other day," I whispered back. "Oh, wait! I wanted to talk to you too. Can you come in my office for asecond?"
I laid out my plan for Jaz and some new hires and she was totally on board. There was more screaming and jumping up and down as she hugged me. She swore she'd be the most kickass manager Pacific City had ever seen. She left to go maximize our social media exposure from the Shea Smith post. I sat in my office, a big smile plastered on my face. Owning your own business is a ton of blood, sweat, and tears, but there are also moments like today, when it's all completely worth it. I had a growing business, my own house, and a hottie lifeguard boyfriend who took care of me when I was crying last night and then took care of me again, in a totally different way, in the shower this morning. Life was fuckinggood.
Right before I was set to leave the shop for the day, the door opened and Susan walked in. She was her typical rich-lady manicured self, but along with her bright smile, she had a wrapped packaged in her hands. She went to get in line but I went up to her for a hug and to get her order. My boyfriend's mother doesn't stand in line at my shop. What's the point of owning your own business if you couldn't do what you wanted? A wise man said that to me once. I had her take a seat and told her I'd be right over with her hot chocolate. She was trying a new variety today, and I wanted to make it for hermyself.
Once we were seated at a little table tucked in the corner of the shop, she laid the wrapped package on the table. "Esa, honey. I know we didn't get off on the right foot when we first met. I know we went ahead with that private detective when you didn't want us to. And I know we've moved beyond that and there aren't any hard feelings, but still, I wanted to do something nice foryou."
She moved the package across the table to my hands. "I know you and Ivan just started dating, but I see he's so happy with you. And I see why. You're intelligent, strong, sweet, funny, and an altogether good person. He's lucky to have you, and so arewe."
She was going to make me cry. In my own damnshop.
I took a shaky breath and tried to swallow the lump in my throat that threatened to come out as tears. "Thank you, Susan. You didn't need to get me anythingthough."
"I know, sweetie. I wanted to. Go on, open it!" sheanswered.
I took the package in my hands and ripped off the paper. The noise of the shop faded into the background, my focus solely on the treasure before me. The lump in my throat swelled and broke through. Tears ran down my cheeks as my heart felt both light and sad at the same time. I blinked rapidly to try to contain the gush and willed myself not to break down entirely. Out-and-out sobbing in public would beembarrassing.
Staring up at me from a black and light pink frame was a picture of me and my mom in our kitchen when I was maybe ten years old. We've both got aprons on and we're holding a bowl of chocolate she's helping me pour into a mug. There's a poster laying on the counter with my handwriting in marker that says 'Hot Chocolate - $1'. I'm looking at the chocolate with a gleeful, childish smile. But my mom...she's looking at me, not the chocolate. And she's got this look of utter and complete blissful pride. The look that only a mom can give her beloveddaughter.
I feel Susan's arm around me as she gives me a hug. "She'd be so proud of you, honey. And we are too. I hope you don't mind that I asked Ivan to find a good picture from your photoalbum."
I turn my tear streaked face up to hers and smile. "It's perfect," Iwhisper.
I said goodbye to Susan after we chatted a bit longer. I marched my framed photo into my office and dug through my cabinets to find a hammer and a nail. This beauty was going up somewhere ASAP. I decided the wall behind the register was the perfect place for it. Jaz gazed at it up there on the wall with me and got misty-eyed too. She knew what this place meant to me and she was happy to see a sister kick ass on herdream.
Then I attempted to leave the shop again, knowing my mascara had seen better days after all the waterworks, but got caught at the door by a tall woman in a professional, white pant suit. She introduced herself as a reporter for the OC Register. She saw Shea Smith's Instagram post from earlier today and wanted to interview me. Apparently, having a huge pop star rave about a local shop was the perfect reason to run an article highlighting a localbusiness.
So, we sat down and discussed the history of the shop, how I got the idea, how I came up with the recipes, and my plans for the future. She wanted to angle the whole thing as a local girl turns business success story. She also asked if she could come back tomorrow with her photographer to get pictures of me, the shop, and even Ivan. Having a hot city lifeguard boyfriend made the story even sweeter, which I couldn't agree withmore.
When Ifinallyleft the shop, I had Jaz drive me over to see Brinley at Strike Ready off Main Street. She was just finishing up a session so I sat in their waiting area chairs and watched the girlspractice.
"They're doing so good, aren't they?" Brinley asked me as she sat down in the chair next tome.
"They really are. I was sitting here wondering, if I'd had this type of training when I was a girl or even a teen, would I have avoided a few mistakes with men along the way? Would I have been more confident? Or recognized abuse for what it was?" I asked Brinley as I continued to watch these girls grapple with eachother.
"Maybe. I'd like to think what we're teaching the girls here will serve them in the future in all their relationships. Even if it's just building their confidence enough for them to not get in situations where they feel uncomfortable. Have you met the owner yet? Shasta is her name. She's a firecracker. She went through some nasty relationship stuff and that's what spurred her to open this place. I'll introduce you next time she's here. I think you guys would have a great chat," Brinleyoffered.
"That would be great. In fact, I was wondering if we could put on a joint event. Maybe a self-defense seminar for girls. I'll cater the hot chocolate. Maybe we could get the Lifeguards to come in and talk about safety out on the beach and how to get help. We could donate a portion of the proceeds to a women's shelter here in HB." I was making it up as I went, but damn if it didn't sound like a greatidea!
