Pretty Thing (Naughty Things 1)

“Welcome to my rich parents’ home,” Alison says, sweeping her hand at the fancy townhouse. “I only have two sisters at home now. Everyone else is either married or in college. So guess what?”

“What?”

“No guess!”

“Alison, I can’t guess. It could be anything.”

“OK, I’ll tell you.” And then she jumps up and down a little so her beautiful curly hair bobs around her perfect face. “We have a whole apartment in the garden level. My older sister was still living down there when I was a teenager, so I never got a chance to fully experience it, but now my baby sister lives on the fourth floor, and my older baby sister lives on the third floor, so the whole apartment is just sitting empty.” She clasps her hands together and squees. “And my parents put in a brand-new kitchen for me so I could bake!”

“Seriously?”

“It’s only temporary. They said six months and then I either have to pay the full rent or they’re gonna kick me out. Because they really renovated it to have an income property. They’re just excited I finally have some ambition. But listen, Kali, we could do this in six months, I swear, we could. Just come inside and listen to my plan.”

I side-eye her as I consider what she’s offering me. Which sounds a lot like a partnership.

So I do go inside with her. Because I need the distraction and her excitement is infectious. And the kitchen is beautiful. Fully renovated, stainless-steel everything, soapstone countertops perfect for rolling out dough, and a huge double oven that can probably bake six dozen cupcakes at the same time.

“So what do you think?” she says, once she finally stops talking.

“Mail-order baked goods,” I say.

“Yes! Everyone’s doing it. There’s a shop online called America’s Bakery and you just open up your online shop and put up pictures of what you’re baking each month, and people order from you. And my third oldest sister, remember her? Ami?”

“You stole her boyfriend, right?”

“Yeah, her. Well, she’s a social media genius. Does the accounts for everyone who’s anyone in the city. And she said she’d help us do our socials and get us started.”

I take a deep breath, then sigh. “I mean, it sounds great, but—”

“But what?”

“I tried this already. It didn’t work.”

“You didn’t have me!” Alison exclaims.

“I did so!”

“As an assistant, not a partner. Now you’ve got me as your partner. You bake, I do the accounts and marketing. It’s gonna work, Kali. I know it. Just say yes. You can move in here with me too! There’s two bedrooms. Plenty of room.”

“What happens in six months?” I ask.

“Look,” she says, grabbing my arms with both hands. “No one knows what’s gonna happen in six months. We could come up with seven different ways it might go and none of them will be what actually happens. So get over it. We’re doing this. And in six months… who knows. Take a risk with me, Kali. I promise, whatever happens will be better than this. You don’t even have a job anymore.”

She’s right. In fact, Alison is looking a lot like Prince Charming right now. Riding in on her parents’ huge townhouse and saving me from certain misery.

So I say, “Fuck it. I’m in.”

She jumps up and down and claps her hands and starts talking about being roommates, and how much fun we’re gonna have, and—

“What’s wrong?” she asks. “You’re not excited?”

“I am,” I say. “I totally am. And thank you so much for thinking of me.”

“Shit, bitch. You’re the baker. I’m just the marketing hack. But… seriously, what’s going on with you?”

So we sit down at the counter of our new kitchen and I tell her everything that’s happened since she sent that text to Aiden for me a couple weeks ago. And then I end it with ‘the message’ from Kyle and Aiden disappearing.

“Jesus,” she says. “Why didn’t you call me?”

“I dunno. I was too sad. And I didn’t want to call just to mope and complain.”

Alison smiles at me. A warm, best-friend kind of smile. And I realize in this moment, she is my best friend. What started as just a business relationship has truly morphed into something bigger. “Kali, that’s what I’m for. That’s what best friends do. One of them gets to complain while the other one listens. So this message from Kyle. What did yours say?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? You didn’t even listen to it?”

“No.” I shake my head. “I’m too afraid of what he’s gonna say.”

“Oh, Kali,” Alison says, pulling me into a hug. “I’m so sorry you’re going through all of this. And look at me, all excited and thinking about the future. I’m such a bad friend.”

“Shit,” I say, sniffling into her perfect hair. “You’re the complete opposite of bad friend. You’re the best.”