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CHAPTER TWO

MADALYN

Pinching the material of my blouse, I pull it away from my sticky skin. The AC broke in my office that I share with my best friend, Darian, and my body is overheating from the Arizona heat.

We co-own an event organizing business. When we met in college, it was best friends at first sight. To say that we hit it off is an understatement. Whereas I am shy, quiet, and reserved, Darian is loud, bold, and will not bite her tongue for anyone.

After college, we moved to LA from Ohio, to start our business and it took off so fast our heads spun. That office is still going and is run by another college friend of ours, along with his husband.

Purely Charming Events is our baby, and as it is doing so well, we have added in some charity events a few times a year. We help local businesses put on free events for children in the area.

Not only does it help the locals, but it also gets our name out there.

This year, we are helping the local library arrange some summer activities for the kids.

“Holy shit balls, I have sweat under my tits,” Darian chimes in as she walks into the office after going to get us a cool drink.

“I know, I called the repair company; they said it would be by the end of day. Sorry.” I shrug.

She huffs, handing me my cold drink. Phoenix is like Satan’s hell during the summer, but we can also have all four seasons in one day.

Darian sits at her desk and fires up her computer, then gets to work. We have a busy schedule coming up with the summer community activities that we are working at the library.

My phone beeps and I hear Darian mutter before I can even reach for my phone. Looking at her with a frown on my face, she looks to me and I see pity mixed with anger.

“Fucker. I am glad that you are rid of him, babe.” My frown deepens, so I open my app to see what she is talking about.

My eyes widen in my head, my mouth dropping open at what I am seeing.

“Is this for freaking real?” I ask her.

She shrugs. Looking back down at the device in my hand, I scroll through the photos of my ex, who I broke things off with just six months ago.

Who is down on one knee proposing to the love of his life as it says in the caption, but that is not the worst part.

The woman he is proposing to is fucking pregnant. Heavily pregnant.

“Did he fucking cheat on me?” My gaze snaps to Darian.

“Does it say how far along she is?” We both start scrolling through to find out and I gasp.

“THAT FUCKING NO GOOD MOTHERFUCKER,” my best friend snarls from her seat.

“Holy shit, he was cheating on me,” I whisper, my body sagging into my chair.

I know that I broke up with him because he was always making excuses—whether for work or to stay home—, cancelling our dinners. It felt like his job always came before me.

There were times he would come home smelling of perfume, and he would brush it off as if it were the women he worked with. It seems that I have a thing for finding men who are bad for me.

Before Wayne, there was a guy who was in a motorcycle club, and he was all kinds of crazy, which I found out too late. Thankfully, he went to prison and I was able to leave and never hear from him again.

In the end of our two-year relationship, I got tired of being the only one putting in the effort to I ended things with Wayne, but from what I am seeing, he already had another woman anyway.

“Dodged that bullet.” I chuckle but pain still laces through me.

Seeing people around me settle down makes me want what they have. I may have a slice of envy toward my ex, but I am glad that I found out what he was like before I added to the two years that I had him.

“He was not good enough for you anyway. Always too stiff, and fixated on his career. You, my dear, can do far better. You are sexy as fuck, you know that.” Darian winks at me.

I laugh, waving her off.

“I am nothing special, Darian. You, on the other hand, men fall to their knees for.” She is all legs and boobs, my bestie.

Long legs, trim waist, big boobs, and long ink black hair that reaches her butt, where as I am shorter, curvier, with decent-sized boobs for my body, reddish-brown hair and chocolate-colored eyes.

She huffs, mock-glaring at me.

“You are stunning, a natural beauty. You do not need to try and be hot, it is just who you are.” She winks at me. “I dare you to try and deny it. I will nark on you to Grandpa Peter.” She giggles.

My hand goes to my throat, and I let out a loud gasp in fake outrage.

“You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, I would.” She wiggles her eyebrows.

When I ended my relationship, both Darian and I decided that LA felt stuffy, and we needed to start somewhere fresh. As it turned out, my grandfather fell ill, so we packed up and moved.

My baby sister, Aria, was not happy, but it is not like she had a choice in the matter.

She was fourteen when I became her guardian after our parents passed away.

Not that they were good parents; they would always prefer drinking, days out on a friend’s boat, or flying off to some place exotic instead.

I have taken care of her since she was a baby, as I was thirteen when she was born. A drunken night by our parents, and believe me, they never let either of us forget that we were such a big burden.

Darian looked into property here in Phoenix and she found this place, and we fell in love with it. The large storefront windows with the open plan office has a welcoming feel to it.

Wanting to get Aria on my side, I made sure to find a home that came with plenty of space and a pool so she could invite her new friends over. So far, she has settled in okay, but we do have the typical sisterly heated discussions from time to time.

Darian moved into a smaller home a few blocks over from us, as she wanted to be on hand if I needed her. Plus, Grandpa Peter’s place is a short drive.

“We need to go out tonight. Aria is over at a friend’s house, so we should have a girls’ night. This summer event has been drowning you, because you want it on point.”

“I do.” I shrug. “This will be good for the community and us. It is our first summer here in Phoenix and it will get our name out there,” I explain, and open up the file that I need for a baby shower we have booked this weekend.

The mother of the mother-to-be, spared no expense for this party, to celebrate the arrival of her first grandchild. They are a lovely family and I can see that the baby will be loved.

When we get bookings like this, that are all about family, love, and support, it makes my heart all gooey. Being in the family I was brought up in, I know what a shitty family looks like, so seeing something good makes my job easier.

Being organized was always something that I loved doing; even in high school people would make fun of me for being really freaking anal about certain things.

Checklists are my thing. Spreadsheets, oh yes, please.

I giggle internally at my silliness, but hey, it has gotten me to where I am today.

To be able to bring joy into someone’s life and remove the stress from them is what I live for.

But seeing all the love and happiness also leaves a black mark in my heart because I am twenty-seven, not in a relationship, and have no kids.

Seeing my friends, besides Darian, who will be perpetually single, makes me want what they have. I know my time will come, so I cling to that thought as I work on making my company successful.

“So, girls’ night?”

I look over at my friend, blinking as she pulls me from my thoughts.

I smile. “Okay, fine.” She claps excitedly. “I need to check in on Gramps on my way home, he sounded chesty when I called this morning.”

“Shit. I hope it is nothing; that old man can’t catch a break lately with his health,” she says softly.

Grandpa Peter may not be her blood, but Darian sees him as her grandfather, after she walked away from her family years ago.

We get on with our work. I spend the rest of the day emailing and calling around businesses to see if they will donate something to the library summer program.

Darian heard from a local that there is a motorcycle club that supports local causes, like charity runs and other community sponsored events.

I have heard the motorcycles but have never seen them, except for the ones that are parked across the street from my grandfather’s house. Although, even after living here for six months, I have yet to meet any of his neighbors.

Being here is what we all need, a fresh start to find our new paths in life.

Love may factor into it at some point, but my business will keep me busy until I find someone, and until then, I have what I need.

The work I do, the friendships I cherish, and the joy I bring to those around me are enough to fill my heart, even on the loneliest of days.

For now, that's all I can ask for, and I remain hopeful for what the future holds.

So far now, I will thrive through life, making people happy, making sure my loved ones are happy and healthy. If, and it is a big if, a big burly man steps into my path then so be it, as long as he gives good orgasms, I am game.

The repair guy for the AC finally arrives and he fixes the unit, thankfully. Once he is gone after some flirting from Darian, we settle back into finishing our day, before we go home and get ready for our night out.

Many times in my life drinking with Darian has ended badly for me and by badly, I mean not remembering a single thing I did, or making a fool out of myself, by puking over some hot guy. Yeah, that has happened a time or two.

So, here’s to hoping that tonight is not going to reach that level, but we all know that I cannot say no to my bestie.