You Had Me at Hockey (Bears Hockey #2) - Kelly Jamieson Page 0,18
have anything special to show me today?”
“Well, we just got in a pair of shoes I thought you would like.”
“Show me now!”
She leads the way over to the counter. There are a few other people shopping in the store, eyeing me curiously.
“Oh yes! I love these!” I pick up one of the sexy high-heeled shoes and hold it to my chest. “You know me so well! I don’t wear heels very often, but I love them.”
“Come over here and try them on.”
This will all be edited into my usual video style. I try the shoes on, and they fit perfectly. So does the jacket. I also find a cool designer T-shirt that’s super soft. When I pick up a silk shirt, I say, “Another tip: always check the labels. I’m too lazy to go to the dry cleaners all the time, so I’m not buying something that needs dry-cleaning. But…here’s another tip: you can often hand-wash things that say dry-clean only. Sometimes. And hey…this shirt is ten dollars…if I wreck it, it wouldn’t be terrible. But I’m sure this could be washed and hung to dry. However, I am not in need of a silk shirt right now.”
I do find a cashmere sweater and a skirt I like. “But this is too long for me.” I inspect the hem and the lining of the plaid skirt. “But I think if I shorten this, it would be awesome. It would look perfect with a crop top and the jacket I’m getting.”
Carrying my shopping bags, I wave goodbye to Grace as I leave the store, then turn off the camera. That was productive and fun. But I’m not done yet. Now I head home to model my finds and then begin the long process of editing it to perfection.
I stop at Whole Foods and pick up my dinner, a big spinach-and-quinoa salad and roasted chicken, then continue on to my apartment. The neighborhood is totally different now than in the morning—congested with honking cars and big trucks, people swarming the sidewalks and jaywalking. But I love this too—I love the energy and vitality. It’s exciting.
It was intimidating moving here on my own when I was only nineteen, but it was what I needed to do. College wasn’t working for me. My depression was spiraling downward so I moved back home, but my parents were overprotective and worried about me, and that always made me feel guilty. They were definitely worried when I moved here, but they were also supportive and I’m grateful to them for that. I need to call them tonight.
I use my phone to video myself in my new outfits in front of the big mirror in my bedroom, trying a few different combinations. I pin up the skirt to the mini length I want it. Maybe I’ll do a video of me hemming it. Then I flop down onto my bed. “I’m tired,” I tell my phone. I almost spill the beans that I have a date tomorrow night but zip my lips right up. My life is an open book—mostly. There are some things I keep to myself, and relationships is one of them. There were rumors about me and another YouTube vlogger last year and people go crazy for that shit—some of his ardent female fans thought I wasn’t good enough for him, some of my haters insulted us both, ugh. And we were just friends! I can only imagine what people would say about me dating Josh Heller. And I bet he has lots of female fans who wouldn’t be happy about that.
This disheartens me.
“Blah,” I say aloud, pushing up off the bed. Clothes are scattered around the room, but I have work to do. After I eat. And change. And pop out my contact lenses and switch to glasses.
Dressed in my softest sweatpants and sweatshirt, I sit on the couch while I eat and watch TV. Sometimes it’s good to stay off social media, so I watch old Friends episodes. I love that show. I love their friendships and their struggles, although I do find the show is not very diverse, which strikes me as odd given how New York looks these days.
My phone pings with a text message and I lean over to peek at it.
Josh.
My instinct is to toss the food aside and grab my phone. But I finish my dinner, set down the plate, and pick up the phone.