Page 30 of Champagne Fizz

“Ok, tell me this,” Esme asks, her tone quieting with a seriousness. “Is she smart, beautiful, and talented?”

“Yes, yes, and—” I honestly haven’t seen any of Kendall’s wedding designs. She could be brilliant, or she could live up to her Weddings with Hart cheesy business name. “—well, the jury’s still out in the talent department.”

“Okay, but Olivia’s an artist,” Esme points out. “She probably hired this wedding planner for a reason, right? We can probably assume she has talent.”

“It’s a reasonable conclusion,” I say, pushing off the boardwalk railing and venturing into the flow of tourists that are heading in the direction of Flambé.

“And you’re into her?” Esme asks.

I’m into watching her flush.

I’m into the haughty way she gets defensive.

I’m into the circles we run around each other and how she bites her lip. It’s like I’ve got that fun-drunk feeling you get when you’re a teenager and you realize how much fun it is to poke and flirt with that girl who won’t give you the time of day, but she still reacts to your every parry.

And that’s only after one day around her.

“Yeah, I’m into her,” I admit to Esme and myself at the same time. “Hence the original question: pursuing the wedding planner is an awful idea, right?”

“Hold up,” Esme says quickly. She’s always been the level headed one of the twins. “Which part is Arie more pissed off about? Is she upset that there’s another woman with power in her restaurant? Or is she annoyed that you’ve got a crush on the wedding planner?”

“Both,” I say, frowning.

It’s good that I called Esme. This helps.

Thinking about Kendall is a bad idea, but wanting her is worse. And Arie may be my best friend, but the last thing she’s going to put up with is Kendall lurking around Flambé and batting her eyes in my direction.

“When was the last time you had a serious girlfriend, Simon?”

I look down at the boardwalk, not wanting to answer that question. “Um …” I hedge. “It’s been …”

It’s been receipts and cashflow charts and investors and inventory. It’s been late nights, and early mornings, and living and breathing food and finances and how to improve customer experience. Workout, work, manage, sleep. It’s a rat race, but it’s the dream, and I love it. I just haven’t …

“I don’t have much of a life outside of Flambé,” I admit.

“There’s no shame in that, Simon,” Esme says kindly. “Passion is passion. And I’m the last to judge when it comes to dating. We all know how long it took me to get back into the game after college.”

“So, you’re saying I should wait for a movie star to come into my life and magically: glamour and excitement?”

Esme laughs. We both know that glamour and excitement came with a cost.

“No, that wouldn’t be my advice at all,” Esme sweetly admits. “But I would point out that Arie’s probably been the number one female influence in your life for … well, a while probably.”

I look inland at all the skyscrapers of Waikiki, glittering and reflecting the blue ocean and beach. “I’m not into your sister if that’s what you’re trying to say. Plus, it’d be pretty hard to live up to Connor’s ability to satiate Arie’s voracious appetite.”

Esme laughs again. “I know you’re not into Arie,” she confirms. “But I’ve been around Arie a long time and—”

“You did share a womb,” I quip.

“Exactly! And if I know one thing about Arie, it’s that she’s over protective. And the two of you have been living and breathing that restaurant for months.”

“More than months,” I confirm.

“Right, so … you aren’t together romantically, but in a way you’re together,” Esme lets her words linger, and I shake my head.

“To be clear, Arie’s the first one to tell me to go out and get laid,” I defend. “She even told me to sleep with the wedding planner to get her out of my system.”

“I’m sure she did,” Esme agrees. “Sleep with her and discard her. She didn’t say sleep with her and start something that might lead to an actual romantic entanglement. Love ‘em and leave ‘em. That’s been Arie’s mantra her whole life pre-Connor. And that’s because what Arie wants and needs is to focus on number one: herself. She’s used toyoufocusing on what she wants and needs too.”

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