Waiting For Summer

She’d barely gotten out all her words before he began laughing at her. “Foolish girl, you’ll do no such thing. I’ve been living here for over thirty years. That’s probably longer than you’ve been alive.”

“I understand that,” she said trying to remain reasonable. “But my bedroom and bathroom share a wall with your condo, so every time you play the music that loud, the picture frames in my bedroom shake and things fall out of my bathroom cabinet. A few of my accent pieces have even broken from falling off my dresser.”

“Superglue and permanent adhesive.”

“What does that mean?”

He groaned in frustration. “Superglue and permanent adhesive.” He said it slower as if it would suddenly make sense to her.

“Maybe I should just call management.” She was about to head back to her condo before he explained himself.

“I suggest you buy some superglue and adhesive to stick all of your important belongings to your dresser so that they won’t fall.”

“Excuse me?” Who was this guy? If he weren’t so rude, she’d compliment him on his voice. The words he spoke were normal, but the tone of his voice sounded as if he’d walked out of a Shakespearean play.

“And while you’re shopping for glue and adhesive, you should get a better cabinet, too. I’ve known current management since they were babies in diapers. Family-owned business. If you need their number, you can find it on the bulletin board of the first-floor foyer. I also ask that you refrain from knocking on my walls and door for the rest of the night. It disrupts my euphoria when I’m listening to my music.”

The door slammed in her face before she could say anything else. “Unbelievable.” She walked back to her condo even more annoyed than she had been before she’d knocked on Mr. Higgins’s door. She’d only met her other neighbor once. The dancer had claimed that Mr. Higgins was a piece of work, but had assured Summer that he’d grow on her.

“Ha!” It was hard for him to grow on her when she could barely hear herself think. She contemplated heading to her boutique to get some work done there, instead. After showing Aiden the idea she’d had for the boutique a couple of days ago, she’d gotten even more fired up to turn her decor visions into a reality.

She sat in her plush round chair next to her bedroom window overlooking the beautiful city of Miami. She needed to hop in the shower, but she couldn’t stop her brain from going a mile a minute. Summer had always handled stress well, but as of late, she couldn’t seem to stop her brain from overthinking everything she had to do. Usually she compartmentalized her feelings into categories so that she could tackle one issue or area at a time.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of her lavender notebook and favorite ballpoint pen. She’d often used them to jot down her thoughts back when she was living in New York.

She’d enjoyed her career working at a top fashion public relations firm. The firm had allowed her to split her time between their New York and Miami offices. However, she’d known it was time to move on and pursue her ultimate dream of opening up a Bare Sophistication lingerie boutique in Miami.

Aiden...

Her mind drifted to him, as it often did. With his current company having a New York office and her previous company being in New York, she found it surprising that with the exception of that random reunion moment, the only time their paths had crossed was a couple of days ago. Not that surprising, since you were the reason he kept his distance.

Just as she began jotting down decor ideas for the boutique, her iPhone rang.

“Hey, Danni, is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine. Zumba was great, but Aaliyah was in a bad mood throughout most of the class. After the workout, we went out for veggie and fruit smoothies and she told Nicole and me that she just lost a big client.”

“Please tell me it’s not the cosmetics company she was excited about. The one with the new organic makeup releasing in two months who wanted her to capture photos of the entire line for their website.”

“That’s the one,” Danni said with a sigh. “She’s really disappointed so I wanted to see if we had a few hours tomorrow night to spare to take her out and hopefully cheer her up.”

“I think that’s a great idea. We can always spare time for her.”

“Thanks, Summer! I’ll let the girls know.”

Summer was still thinking about Aaliyah minutes after she disconnected the call. All of them were in the fashion and beauty industry and even though they had established careers, each of their careers was still a work in progress and ever evolving. Their work wasn’t easy, and every day Summer thought about how she could highlight her friends’ talents in Bare Sophistication instead of just utilizing their help with getting the shop ready for the grand opening.

Without focusing too much on what she was drawing or writing, Summer began to let her pen flow across the current page of her notebook. She thought about the Chicago lingerie boutique and the unique way her sisters tapped into the bachelorette and bridal business by incorporating masquerade lingerie parties into the boutique’s services. She then thought about Aiden’s idea to feature Bare Sophistication in his photography exhibit to represent the sexiness of Miami—and the exposure they would receive if everything went as planned.

Rubbing her locket with her left hand, she let her right hand do most of the work, further thinking about the beauty trade shows she’d attended throughout the years. She leaned over to her small bookcase and pulled out her tablet to view the details she had regarding her budget and photos of the layout of her shop. It wasn’t until her hand stopped moving that she noticed the music on the opposite side of her bedroom wall had actually gotten louder than it was before.

She stared at the wall as if it were a mirror staring back at her. Glancing back down at her notebook, she looked at the preliminary plan she’d present to the girls tomorrow.

There was no guarantee that they would be interested in her plan, but if they were, there was no doubt in her mind that Bare Sophistication Miami had just found its niche in the industry. “Well, well, you crazy old man. Guess your opera music served me well tonight.”

Chapter 4 (#u89a5cdfa-d887-5d32-b9d9-e10a2ec16cc4)

“Thanks for the detailed email yesterday,” Daxton said on the other end of the phone. “I presented your idea to the CEO and the rest of the team and they loved the idea of Miami Unleashed for your feature exhibit.”

Aiden raised his fist in victory as he peered out of the floor-to-ceiling window in the penthouse suite of the hotel he was staying at. It had been three days since he’d seen Summer and he couldn’t wait to tell her the news. “I was hoping you’d say that. And I have complete creative freedom?”

“Yes, you do. I just need you to keep me abreast of your plan of action because we’re already working on concepts for the other two photographers being showcased.”

“I’ll make sure I keep you in the loop, but just like I wrote in the email, the overall idea is to represent the sexiness of Miami. I want to show the raw fashion. The somewhat unorthodox fashion. The fashion that may lie beneath the clothing. A lot of folks don’t look at Miami as a fashion capital like LA and New York, so I want to change their view through my photos. Which is why a few pieces will be photos of Bare Sophistication’s lingerie collection.”

“I meant to ask you about that.” Aiden could hear Dax typing on his laptop. “I did some research and although Bare Sophistication has a location in Chicago, the Miami one hasn’t opened yet. How did you hear about this place and why will it be a central part of your exhibit?”

Aiden cleared his throat. “You’ve never asked me details about my work before.”

“Well, we’ve never given you complete creative control before. You’re already one of our top fashion photographers and even though you travel out of the country for us a lot, you said your next move is nailing a high-profile corporate position. You want to be the creative director of our travel and fashion photographers in our London office. That’s a huge responsibility.”

“I know it is, but after eight years of being a fashion photographer for Palmer Lane, I’m ready to step into a new role. Besides, now that Palmer Lane has partnered with Rogan Studios, the idea of merging film and photo is too good to pass up.” And it puts me one step closer to fulfilling my dream of filming a documentary.

“I’m sure the London partnership will stream down to the other offices within the next two years. So why not get more involved in the New York office like you are in LA? They’ve wanted you in New York permanently for a while now, since the fashion scene is larger. You’re traveling to New York all the time anyway, and eventually my new role will place me there permanently.”

Aiden ran his fingers across his face. “Living in Jersey, I basically grew up in New York. LA was a nice change, but London will be even better.”

The line grew silent. “Dax, are you still there?”

“Yeah, I’m here. Look, as your business manager, I have to question you more than usual about this exhibit because you’re up against some stiff competition. But as your friend, I have to ask you if this is really what you want.”

They’d talked about it before, so Aiden knew where the conversation was headed.

“Yes, I want the position.”

“Okay, man, if you want it, then I want you to have that position just as much as you do. I just always thought that, by now, you’d have moved on from Palmer Lane.”

“You haven’t moved on.”

“I’m in sales. You’re on the creative side. Our worlds are completely different and I know you’ve been approached with opportunities from other companies. Photographers with your talent usually don’t do the same thing for too long. I won’t go there with you right now, but don’t think I don’t notice things.”

Aiden opened the sliding door and stepped out onto the balcony. “And what things do you notice?”

“Well, for starters, did you honestly think I wouldn’t find out that Summer Dupree is the owner of the new Bare Sophistication store that’s opening soon? The same company that happens to be the main inspiration for your exhibit?”

Aiden laughed. “So you do remember when I told you about her.”

“Man, you date even less than I do, and that’s saying a lot because I rarely have time to date. Summer is the only woman you’ve ever mentioned to me.”