Page 73 of Charmed Forces
“I do admin,” I lied. “All that typing and filing are killer on the nails. What do you do?”
“I’m a girlfriend,” said Angelica with a toss of her shiny hair. “Full time.”
“Oh, right... I didn’t know that was a career option,” I said, doing my best to look interested.
“Most girls want to be career women. Me? I want to be looked after,” said Angelica. “I’m traditional. I want my man to work hard and provide me with everything I want or ask for.”
“He must have a great job,” I said.
Angelica nodded. “He does. He’s in shipping.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“He, like, you know, ships stuff on... you know, ships,” she said, looking momentarily confused. “Like, the stuff you buy in shops.” She blinked several times, like she was rebooting before downloading the information. I wondered if she ever bothered to contemplate what Tom Victor actually did for a living, or just preferred to remain in blissful ignorance.
“Amazing!” I cooed and she brightened.
“Your husband doesn’t want you to stay home?” she asked, pointing to my ring finger.
“He never mentioned it before,” I said, which was true. Also, I wasn’t sure he ever would. I couldn’t see Solomon as a man with a lot of opinions regarding me staying at home and doing the domestic maintenance. Although, now I thought about it, neither of us had a conversation about who would be staying homeif, and hopefullywhen, wedohave a baby. I’d just assumed I would initially since my body had to do all the work. I’d definitely deserve the time off. But what was I supposed to do with that time? Clean things? Iron clothes? After successfully avoiding top quality domestic maintenance for most of my adult life, I didn’t really want to start now.
“You should tell him straightI want to stay home and be taken care of,” she said as she reached for a bottle of nail polish from one of the carts. “A high-quality man knows his woman needs plenty of time to make herself look good for him. If he wants me with bags under my eyes and chipped nail polish, sure, I’ll go to ‘work’,” she continued, adding air quotes for no apparent reason. “But I won’t look as good on his arm.”
“His loss,” said Lily.
“Absolutely. Hey, where are all the therapists? They’re taking forever! And where’s my drink?” groused Angelica.
“Are you a full-time girlfriend too?” I asked Louise, feigning ignorance.
She shook her head. “No, I work for a construction firm. We locate and develop properties.”
“Crazy, if you ask me,” said Angelica. “I can get your honeyboo a job with Tom and then he’ll not only earn more, but you can spend all your time with me! We can go to lunch and shop every day. I go to the salon every week. We’ll have so much fun!”
“For your nails?” I wondered.
“Foreverything,” said Angelica. “Facials, massages, waxing, eyebrows. And naturally, my nails. I go to Jacques for my hair. I always have to look perfect.”
My sister went to Jacques too. After a glimpse of the price list, I decided it was an unhealthy amount to spend on hair, although I had to admit both Serena and Angelica had ridiculously glossy hair. “You’re very pretty,” I told her.
“Thank you, I know.” Angelica tossed her hair again, giving me a moment to turn to Lily and roll my eyes with slight exasperation. Lily bit back a smile.
“So how did you meet your boyfriend?” I asked Angelica. “Have you been together long?”
“Almost a year,” she said. “We met at a social function and he made the first move to come over and talk. I like that. Very alpha. He’s a gentleman too. I like that. I was instantly attracted to him.”
The therapists filed in and the hostess returned with a tray of drinks that she served while making small talk with each of us. I held a tall glass of bubbly in one hand while I picked out a pale pink nail polish with the other. Lily chose coral and Louise asked for the palest pink they had. Angelica ummed and ahhed until she decided she wanted a gradient of reds applied to her nails.
“I’m wearing a red dress tonight so I want my nails to match,” she explained.
“Angelica’s treating me,” said Louise. “I keep telling her she should let me pick up the check for once. She’s always so generous.”
“Aww, sweetie. What are besties for?” said Angelica. “We’re not just cousins, you know. We practically grew up together so we’re friends too. Louise, you need to make sure that ring and your nails look amazing now that you’re showing your hands to everyone.”
“Does your boyfriend work in shipping too?” I asked.
“No,” said Louise. “We work at the same firm. Callum works in a different department than mine though. That’s where we met. Our eyes locked as we both reached for the last trail bar in the office kitchen. He told me to take it but I insisted on splitting it with him.” She flashed me a thrilled smile.
“You’re wasting your life there, honey,” said Angelica. “You’re too smart to be a... what do you do?”