"Oh, I saw this guy and it felt like nothing else mattered. He is gorgeous and super hot but I thought it was those very hot moments that lasts for some seconds and that's it. I didn't think he'd be close again, so close that he'd be living some foot away from us." Avery said.
Surprised, Evie asked, "He's here?"
"Yup, the apartment opposite ours."
"Damn! Talk about possibilities! I can't wait to meet your beau." Evie teased.
"Oh my God, Evie, stop!"
"What? You haven't crushed on anyone since Jasper and I've missed those moments when you're not in control of who you like. I like this for you."
Jasper was Avery's boyfriend. They had been dating since high school—which for her, was one months ago and for him was two whole academic year ago. He was a senior in high school who played in the school football team that she had had a crush on for a while before they started dating. He eventually asked her to be his date for his last prom and they dated for a few months before he left for college that summer but things got distant for them and Avery asked for break to excuse her emotional detachment from him and attachment to another guy she had been messing around with. Jasper eventually came back and they began the process of working things out till her mother's addiction got worse last summer.
It was the hardest summer for Avery because her mum had to go to rehab for her destructive behavior that stemmed from her alcohol addiction. The addiction started after the loss of her mother's twin brother who was practically her best friend. Aurora did not take it well so she sought solace in alcohol and it affected her and eventually; her children, but mostly Avery. Faced with constantly crying and thinking about her mum in rehab, a workaholic father who was barely available, friends that were not always present, Avery became depressed and it affected most of her relationships; work and her love life. Brands that she worked with became hesitant to work with her as she was not keeping up with her side of their contract, but they also did not want to sue her so that they do not get into the black books of the Musk's. It was bad that they started calling off their contracts but she did not care, she just wanted her family. Word got out in the industry and brands did not call her to work with them all summer. During this time, her only brother, Aubrey, tried to be by her side and help his little sister recover as best as he could, including hiring an in-house therapist and cancelling most jobs that needed him to be out of the country. Things started to get better and it seemed like she was getting better towards the end of summer when Aubrey found out Evie had uppercut Avery and gotten a deal from a brand that he knew wanted to work with his sister but he couldn't tell her because he did not know how she'd take it.
To celebrate their relationship working out again, Avery accepted to attend Jasper's end of summer party. It was the biggest party in their state—as usual— that people flew in from countries away just to attend the party. That night brought Avery and Jasper together but that night—unknown to Avery— was the same night that her boyfriend hooked up with one of her best friends, Dixie.
"You know what, I'm not going to have this conversation with you." Avery finally said.
"This is fate."
"Jokes on you, I don't believe in fate." Avery said playfully as she stuck out her tongue to Avery who threw the blueberry she carried from the kitchen earlier.
"Ew, what is that?" Avery jumped and started laughing.
"A blueberry."
"Ohh" Avery then opened her email after she got a notification, and saw that it was an email from Swavroski jewelry. She immediately forwarded the email to her manager. She turned to Evie and screamed.
"What?" Evie asked, both scared and confused.
"Our post got me an email from Swavroski."
"Shut up!" Evie said screaming too. "What does it say?"
"They got enquires from fans about my necklace and requests for the exact same design. After they told them it was an exclusive customization, they requested for something similar. And now, they want to enter into a contractual deal with me."
"Oh my God Avery, that's huge! I am so proud of you!" Evie excitedly jumped on Avery and held on for a hug.
"I know right! I've forwarded the mail to Jennie, she's in charge of all that."
"This calls for a celebration. I'm pouring us a celebratory drink." Evie said in a singing tone. "Dixie!!! Get in here!" She screamed.
"I don't think we should celebrate yet, we haven't closed the deal."
"You know you'll get it! You're Avery—freaking—Musk. They'll give you a good deal."
"I meannn"
As the girls continued celebrating, Dixie came out of her room. Evie immediately turned to face her and said "Avery got an email from Swarovski! Isn't that crazy?"
"Omg that's huge! I'm so proud of you Avery" she said excitedly as she ran and jumped on Avery. Unprepared for the jump, they both landed on the floor and then they burst out laughing. As that continued, Avery's phone rang and it was her manager.
"Hey Jennie" she spoke into the receiver. "Sure, got it..." She continued as she moved into the kitchen away from earshot.
"Yeah, I haven't responded to the email yet, want me to forward it to you?" After a pause, she felt her phone buzz and she realized it was a notification from Aubrey, she said, "Jennie, hang on, I'm getting a FaceTime video call from Aubrey, I'll hit you back, okay"
Immediately she accepted the FaceTime, she smiled and said, "Hey weirdo"
"Aww, who got you smiling like that?" Aubrey asked.
"You wouldn't believe who just reentered the influencing world with a bang!"
"Shut up! Really? Woww, I'm super proud of you!"
"I know right? Where are you? I wanted to talk to you and mum"
"Ohh, I'm at Jasper's. I came over like fifteen minutes ago to see Tony." he lied, hoping she would be too happy to notice. He knew exactly how much she hated to be lied to and he wouldn't have lied if he did not come her to basically threaten Jasper after seeing a leaked video of him and some girls making out in his pool. He got hold of the video and tried to cover it up before Avery saw it. Tony was Jasper's brother but he was not in the country.
"Oh, is Jasper there?"
"Uhh, nope. Tony said he had something to do so he left the house earlier. Let's talk about your win, how do you feel?"
"Pumped! Excited! You name it! I need to go out and celebrate this"
"As you should! I'll call mum right away and tell her about it"
"Okay. I gotta make plans with Jannie on signing the deals and shit."
"Alright, I'll call you later, yeah?"
"Okay. Love you"
"Love you too" going back to the living room, she told Evie and Dixie, let's go out and just celebrate this shit!"
The girls got pumped up and we're about to go out when Avery got a text message from Jasper saying, "Avery, I'm sorry, I don't think we should do this anymore..."