Page 33 of Not In The Contract

“Where the hell is Taylor?” Cam asked as she smothered yet another yawn.

Elliot sat beside her, eyes drooping.

“Late night?” I chuckled, eyeing the pair suspiciously.

“Not later than yours, I hear,” Cam shot back. “How was Deezy’s? I haven’t been since Hayden bought the place years ago.”

“It was,” I paused, searching for the right word, “interesting. Packed with people, but the music was decent.”

“We spent half the night trying to find the mystery woman who caught her eye,” Hayden lamented, one of her hands on the empty seat beside her. “Alas, we came up empty.”

“Mystery woman?” Elliot asked, the topic rousing her from whatever exhaustion pulled at her eyes.

“Alex disappeared to the restroom and when she came back, she was all smiles.” Hayden giggled.

Elliot frowned. “Isn’t that just relief?”

“That’s what I said!” I laughed.

“No, no, this was different,” Hayden insisted. She turned to Cam. “She had that look in her eyes, remember when she was infatuated with that barista at Queenie’s?”

Cam’s face lit up at the memory and I wanted to bury my head in the ground.

“I remember!” she gasped. “The pretty brunette, right?”

“One and the same.” Hayden cackled. “She had the exact same look on her face, Cam. I was half convinced that barista was at the bar somewhere.”

“She was not there,” I insisted. “You’re overthinking things, Hayden.”

“And you don’t sound as convincing as you think you are.”

“Taylor!” I called out in relief, waving as she entered the courtyard.

“Sorry I’m late, ladies!” she called back, pushing her sunglasses onto her head. “I had some last minute contracts to sign.”

“Are you going to share what these contracts are for?” Hayden pressed, her eyes shining with excitement.

“Yeah, yeah, I just have to call Reid,” she said, fishing her phone out to video call our missing friend.

Reid’s face filled the screen soon enough, her face lit up with joy. “Hey guys!” she said, waving furiously.

“Hey, we miss you,” I called. “Where’s Mia?”

“Here,” Mia answered, her head poking into the frame.

“How’s Brazil?” Taylor asked.

“It’s beautiful,” Reid said. “You have to come visit sometime.”

“We will,” Cam said.

“What’s this impromptu brunch for anyway?” Reid asked.

“I have some news,” Taylor announced, her smile wide. “I just got the go ahead for the new resort!”

“Which one, honey?” Reid asked. “You have like four of them in the pipeline.”

“The one off the coast of Japan!” Taylor squealed. “I’ve been waiting for five years to get legal approval because it’s considered a private island.”