Hello there, you beautiful humans!
We're so happy to see you back here reading with us! We can't wait to show you all we have planned for our gorgeous girls! Rose is up next, and her story is very personal to one of the NerdyLilDarlins, so let's dive in and see what she has in store for us!
Don't forget to head on over and check us out on Facebook for teasers, playlists, and anything else fun that we decide to do!
And as always, thank you for reading and thank Pamela for prereading and making sure we're writing the best story we can for you!
...
-2-
Rosalie
2018
Cincinatti, Ohio
"Rosalie, Aro called. He wanted to know if you booked, and I quote, 'that curly-headed-fuck from the TikTok' for the new Artist Spotlight this weekend," Jessica chirps, her gum popping loudly between her teeth as she searches her desk for another lost item.
"You know I did, Jess," I reply, rolling my eyes playfully as I set her Starbucks order on the tiny, almost non-existent corner of her desk that isn't covered with the stress of our jobs. I adjust the bag on my shoulder, forming a better grip on the three orders I still have to deliver to the others around the office.
Her sigh of relief can be heard around the world and she clutches her chest for dramatic effect because she has always been…well, a lot, to put it mildly.
"Thank sweet baby Jesus, I don't know what I'd do without you. And did you-"
"Yes, I've got the programs ready to go for the next week," I cut her off. "Already on Irina's desk."
"Praise you. And -"
"And I have the green room prepped and ready for tomorrow's guest, although it's bullshit that I can't know who it is." Flashing a smile, I breeze past her to head to the small office I hold at the end of the hallway. I don't mind the space, at times welcoming the fact that I'm somewhat removed from the hub of chaos, but mixing here at the station is wildly different in reality than what I had pictured in my mind back in college.
Most of the building looks like your typical office setting with offices and cubicles and large, open windows, but it's also somehow homier than a formal business. We're allowed the freedom to dress as we please and show up as who we are as long as production goals and expectations are met.
But the studio…
This is my home. This is where I can forget about the stress behind the scenes, and remember why I chose this for my career to begin with. I knew this was my calling the second my fingers slid the levers of the ancient mixer my country-bumpkin high school had since the building was built. I soon found myself editing and piecing together broadcasts of football games and the school news until I graduated, relishing the way I had been lucky enough to know what I wanted to do with my life relatively early on.
I have always been meant to be surrounded by music.
And coffee. Can't do this job without it.
After dropping off the last of my Starbucks run to Embry, I open the door to my office and flip on the light, grateful to have my hands free at last. Once my eyes adjust to the light, a giant bouquet of red roses in the corner of my desk makes them roll, but even then I can't help the way my heart picks up in pace and the way my lips curl into an appreciative smile, right as my phone rings.
"Hello, Royce," I answer without looking at the name on my screen. This has been a daily occurrence since he proposed over a candle-lit Burger King dinner three months ago.
"Did you get them?" His excited voice comes over the line.
"Of course, I did, baby, thank you." I make myself sick with how smitten I am with this man. For most of my life, I've always been known as a maneater, the 'love 'em and leave 'em' type and that never bothered me.
Until Royce.
"I have to make sure my soon-to-be bride knows how much I love her," he croons through the phone, and I laugh.
"It's only a week away, are you sure you're ready to spend the rest of your life with only me?"
"Sweetheart, I wouldn't want it any other way."
One week. It's happening. The moment we had been waiting for is almost here.
Until then, in the five work days standing between now and my wedding day, I have to find a journalist to write the articles on the station's website. Aro wants something fresh. Someone that has that Midas touch, who can pick out the stars in the seas of try-hard new artists so we can be one of the firsts to thrust them into the spotlight.
It only takes me a few hours out of my day and three phone calls to find my man. Emmett McCarty, freelance journalist and, to be quite frank, influencer. Pretty blue eyes, an innocent, cherub face, and a troublemaker's grin writing words that make you feel like you were standing in the club right next to him, feeling these artists play, rather than hearing them.
He's exactly what we need.
I sink into my office chair, kicking my combat boots up on my desk in thought. There's so much that still needs to be done for the wedding, and here I am, working up until the big day. Sure, I'd love to be able to take the week off, but with all the deadlines at the station, I just couldn't pull it off. I don't know how I'm going to do it, but I will if it kills me. It's not like I'm on my own. I've got Bella and Alice offering the same support they always do helping me take care of things.
I deserve this moment.
When you grow up the way I did, the whole fairytale wedding with the house, white picket fence, a dog, and two-and-a-half kids sort of life was never on my radar.
And before I know it, it's not on my radar anymore. It's slapping me in the face and giving me a hard push into a future I never even knew I wanted.
The work week goes by in a blur of microphone chords and white chiffon and I scarcely blink before I'm wearing a fancy white dress of all things and I'm walking down to meet my husband and become Mrs. Royce King. I feel like a queen ready to take her throne.
As our hands are held together in front of all our family and friends, a wave of calm washes over me when I see my girls standing there together as co-maids of honor. My eyes tear at the sight of Alice in the dress that needed to be let out significantly to make room for her eight-month, and still-growing belly.
Royce and I happened fast, but it feels right. Everything feels right. Almost too right, but it's karma, isn't it? I've busted my ass to get here.
I've earned this.
It's time to relax and enjoy life.
…
The newlywed bliss hasn't even had time to fade come July, but I'm still eager to leave the arms of my new husband and fall into those of my girls. They're the peace my body craves.
"Here's to spit-up, diamond rings, and our future being brighter than ever!" Alice cheers, holding up her first glass of wine since little Bree came into this world, with her mama's big blue eyes and her daddy's sweet smile.
We're all completely in love with her, and Alice feels the separation between her and her daughter weighing heavily on her heart, but she knows the quality time between a father and daughter is just as important as her spending these two weeks with her friends.
Now, instead of her camera tagging along with her everywhere she goes, she has her breast pumps with her too, and I have to admit, it's fucking weird to watch one of my best friends go from Manic Pixie Dream Girl to Suburban Mom.
We tease her, Bella and I, but in reality, Alice is crushing it. Such a rockstar. In all of our late-night video chats, she has never once complained about the lack of sleep or the crying or how Peter had been handling all of the changes parenthood brings. All we ever hear about is how in love they are with Bree.
"Cheers!" Bella and I chime, glasses clinking together as we stand on the balcony of our vacation home in Lighthouse Cove, overlooking the beach and the vast expanse of ocean.
It's so quiet.
"I can't believe you two are whole-ass married," Bella sighs with a smile, leaning against the white, weathered railing.
I know it scares her. Bella has never been driven by love. She's her own, independent badass who is going to save the world someday, and it's something I've always admired her for.
I've always needed the company of a partner in my life, even if they just warmed my bed when I was bored. But not Bella. Bella is driven by knowledge and passion.
It doesn't take us long to drunkenly stumble down the stairs to the beach as the sun sets, the stone fire pit already filled with fresh wood to match the warmth of our friendship.
"I miss her so much it hurts," Alice sighs, flopping down on the blue, woven blanket we've laid out with her hand clutching her chest. "It's like a part of me is missing."
"I can't imagine," I reply, thinking of all the pictures saved in my phone of chubby, rosy cheeks and chunky baby rolls wearing the dresses I bought her.
"She's gorgeous. How's everything going?" Bella asks.
"Amazing," Alice replies in wonder. Her whole face lights up and she's looking far off into the stars. "My tits hurt, I can't shower for days, I'm completely exhausted, but that little girl…every time I look at her, it makes it all feel like an honor."
That explains the hour-long shower she took right when we arrived. Who knows how many various substances she had to clean off her skin? And beyond this trip, who knows when Alice would get the chance to enjoy a non-rushed, relaxing shower again?
"And how about Peter? Is he loving being a dad?" Bella inquires.
"Oh my God, yes. He works a lot, but he always goes right for her as soon as he walks in the door. And she's such a daddy's girl! She'll be crying all day for me, but when he comes home, she's all smiles."
She's not mad about it. Not at all. She's nothing but a proud mama and I'm so fucking happy for her.
"Oh!" Alice's attention shifts to Bella. "How was that concert thingy?"
"Didn't have time to go like I thought I would," Bella scoffs. "My life is school right now. And when it's not school, it's studying. And when it's not either of those, it's you guys. If it weren't for you two, I'd have lost my mind a long time ago."
I know her well enough to know she loves staying busy, though. Bella doesn't do anything half-assed. She throws every bit of her glorious self into the things that mean something to her.
"And you, Mrs. King?" Bella taunts, grabbing the bag of s'more paraphernalia we smuggled down here.
"Oh, things are going well. Nothing's really changed, except Royce seems to think he doesn't have to pick up after himself anymore," I laugh, remembering the several silly arguments we've had. "It's hard to live with a boy, guys!"
"Ugh, that's the worst part about what you two are doing. Boys are gross. I'm happy with my nice-smelling apartment and the security that my snacks will still be there when I come home."
The entire time she talks, she's meticulously preparing a layer of graham cracker and chocolate, followed by adding a marshmallow to the stick to roast it.
"You know what's really disgusting?" I offer, gripping the neck of the bottle of wine we brought down to our beach. I pour us all another glass. "When Royce comes home, he takes his shoes off and then walks around in his socks. At some point in the night, he always loses one and just," my voice shifts from talking to yelling, "walks around with only one on! And then he wants to try and get all sexy with me!"
"And they think there's nothing wrong with that," Alice laughs, and soon we're all erupting into laughter as Bella adds her marshmallow to her sandwich.
As she shoves it in her mouth in one piece, she shimmies her shoulders a little while she chews. She has always danced while she eats, and Alice and I look forward to it with each bite. Alice is ignoring the glass I poured and throwing back the bottle of wine straight from the source with full plans to pump-and-dump, and my heart is once again so full it's about to burst.
I love the studio, but I wasn't entirely accurate when I described it as my home.
Sitting here, looking around at the sisters the universe granted me because I have none of my own, I realize that home is where the heart is. And mine will always be with them.
...
Ah, we're leaving Lighthouse Cove again! D:
Do any of you have plans with friends of yours this summer? Or even family? Let us know about it so we can live vicariously though you!
See you next time!