Page 13 of Happily Ever Laughter

As I sit down and take a sip of coffee, Diana looks at me oddly. “You have news.”

Claire laughs brightly. “How the heck do you always know?”

“She’s smiling differently, but seems a bit jittery.”

“Knock it off,” I mutter.

“Come on,” Claire begs. “Tell us what’s up.”

I’m already grinning. “Okay, so you guys know how I’ve always wanted to work on creative projects, and make something that I can put out into the world?”

“Yes,” Elizabeth says eagerly. “Did you find something?”

“Ohmygod, is it your video things you’re always shooting?” Becca asks.

“Yes!” I shriek. “There’s a TV show that needs some bits for between performances. I’m doing the video, and another guy is doing music for them. Nothing is final yet, but it sounds like it’s a big rush, so they’ll probably just go with whatever we give them.”

“That’s incredible,” Diana says, reaching out to squeeze my arm. “We’re so happy for you.”

Then she cocks her head to the left. “So tell us the rest now.”

Looking around the table, four pairs of eyes are absolutely riveted on me. Instead of feeling put on the spot, I’m weirdly excited. “The guy who is doing the music for the videos with me, it’s his project really. And, um, I guess we’re going out.”

Claire squeals, clapping her hands, and over her shoulder I can see Henry laughing.

“Tell us everything,” Becca insists.

I quickly give them the rundown on Felix, from how gorgeous he is to the way he makes me feel like the only woman in the world. They are all incredibly impressed at the effort he went to for our first date.

“That’s a time when creativity is really important,” Elizabeth says knowingly. “It’s not a guy’s job to entertain you at all times, but the first few dates should be special and interesting.”

“It was certainly ‘interesting’ to find out that my video animations are going to be broadcast on a show.” I take another sip of coffee. “I still can’t believe it, to be honest.”

“That’s amazing,” Diana says. “And maybe now that you’ve got the confidence of this one behind you, you’ll try bigger projects.”

“Maybe,” I nod.

Even though it feels a bit awkward, I’ve been forcing myself to be more open with my friends.

“I’ve been terrified of putting myself out there, and it took something accidental to actually get my work out in front of other people, but yes — once I have a little more confidence and at least one project in my portfolio, I’ll probably look for a lot more of them.”

“And I’ll bet Felix can help you with that,” Claire says with that saucy smile that borders on pushy. Ever since she fell in love with Shane, she wants the same for all of us. It’s lovely that she wants us all to be as happy as she is, but I hope she’s not getting obsessive.

“The thing is, I’m still pretty new to the whole dating thing,” I say slowly. “And...I don’t know how long these things are supposed to take...”

“I knew after seeing Milo twice,” Diana says.

“I knew from the

second I woke up in the store room here with Shane taking care of me that he was absolutely the one,” Claire chimes in.

There’s no way to explain the unearthly magical tingle I got the second I met Felix. The first time that we touched. The first second he kissed me.

“Don’t get flustered,” Becca says quickly. “Everyone goes at their own speed. Just keep your eyes open, and if he treats you like a goddess, stay with him.”

“Thank you guys for all being so supportive,” I say. “It really means a lot to me.”

“That’s why we’re here,” Elizabeth says. “Well, that, and occasionally reading books,” she adds pointedly.

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