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Amara

"Mommy are you listening to me?"
I blink out of my thoughts, and look across the kitchen at my son Sawyer.

"I'm so sorry sweetheart. I didn't hear you, can you say it again?" I apologize, coming over and giving him his orange juice. He takes it from me and shrugs. "It's ok. I asked if Brandon can come over tonight? It's Friday!" he exclaims smiling.

I rub the back of his head gently and smile down at him. "Of course he can. I'll order in pizza, and talk to Ms. Carly today at pick up," I say.

Brandon is Sawyer's best friend that lives in our neighborhood. They've been close since we moved to Seabrook a year ago from Redland, and his mom Carly has become a good friend of mine.

He finishes up eating, and I hear a car honking outside, and then a few minutes later the doorbell rings. I move quickly to open it and my ex husband Colton stands on the other side.  "Morning Mar. Is Sawyer ready?" He asks looking me over.

"Yup. He's coming right now," I say stepping back to let him in the foyer.

Colton and I have been divorced for six months now, and we definitely don't have one of those relationships where we learned to be friends after divorcing.

We moved to Seabrook for a new job opportunity for him, and for me to fulfill my dream to open up my own Boutique. But we were only here for 2 months when I found out he had been cheating on me.

Our break up was messy, and he moved on quickly to have a relationship with the woman he cheated on me with, moving out of our "dream home" we bought here together.

Of course things went south with them. And now he seems to be trying to charm his way back into my good graces.

I have no interest in trying to have a romantic relationship with him again, and have made it pretty clear. But I try to keep things civil for Sawyer. The past few months since his breakup with his mistress he has started to be a more involved father, which is all I honestly want from him.

"Hey dad," Sawyer says, coming in the hallway and grabbing his bag before moving to give me a hug. I cherish his hugs, they're the only ones I get most days. He's only 8, but I already dread the day he will tell me he's "too cool" for hugs. "Bye sweetheart. I'll see you after school," I say giving him a kiss on the head.

"Bye!" He chirps running out the door. Colton turns to me, and smiles. "Hey, I was thinking maybe we can take him to see that new superhero movie he's been talking about?"

I shake my head trying to not roll my eyes.

Here we go with the "family time" invitations.

"Maybe you can take him and Brandon. He's spending the night tonight, and I'm sure Carly wouldn't mind him going," I suggest.

He frowns, obviously not satisfied with my answer. "Yeah, ok. I'll look up the movie times and text you later," he says. I nod and he turns to finally leave.
I go back in the kitchen to clean up so I can make it to my boutique.

I opened up Amara Boutique last year after we moved. I managed a boutique in Redland called Marianna's for a few years, and I always new one day I wanted to have a place of  my own.

It was a crazy time starting a business and then dealing with everything Colton and I went through. But I wasn't going to let his poor decisions stop me from my accomplishing my goals.

My younger sister, Laken, came to help me the first few weekends, and I was really grateful for her. She works for a big Marketing company in Redland and knew just what I needed to do to get the word out about my new venture. The boutique has been a great success, especially during tourist season.

Once I make it to work, the day goes by in a flurry of unpacking new merchandise, taking care of customers, and putting new clothes out on the sales floor. When Sophia, my afternoon shift employee, comes in I head over to my favorite bakery, Uprising, to get some cupcakes for Sawyer and Brandon's sleepover.

Soon I'm at school pick up, standing outside my car talking to Brandon's mom Carly. We are laughing about a viral video she's showing me on her phone, when Sheila Zachary comes over, interrupting our laughter.

"Hey there ladies!" She exclaims, waving as she comes closer. Carly stifles a groan and I nudge her with my elbow. Sheila comes from the upper crust of Seabrook, and never fails to let us remember it.

She somehow thought it would be more down to Earth to have her kids attend Seabrook Elementary, instead of the super expensive Seabrook Children's Academy. She said she wanted her kids to understand what it was like to be "normal kids".

Yes. She actually said that.

"Hello Sheila," I say giving her a short wave. Carly just nods at her, putting her cell phone in her back pocket. "It's almost time for Spring Break! Where are you ladies heading off to?" She asks smiling giddily and pulling off her designer sunglasses.

Carly shrugs, "No plans for me. I'll be working at the hospital all week. Have to save up my vacation days for Summer."

"Oh that's right, I always forget you're a nurse," Sheila says tilting her head, and giving her a sympathetic look. Sheila always seems to feel bad for us for being single moms, even though we both have great jobs, and are happier than most married women are.

"Yeah, nothing interesting for us either. Sawyer will be going to spend a weekend with my ex husband and his grandparents in Redland. Go to the zoo and do some fun city stuff. That's about it," I say. I'd be spending spring break working more at the boutique, which I wasn't really looking forward to. I hated when Sawyer was gone.

"Well that's fun for him at least," Shelia says giving me a tight smile. "We aren't doing anything crazy either. Just heading to Miami, since we will be traveling all summer," she says flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder.

I want to shout for joy when the school bell rings, and the doors open, saving us from anymore of Sheilas sly bragging.
We all move to look for our kids, and Sheilas son Reed runs to her, and we wave goodbye to them.

"She's so insufferable," Carly quips as soon as she's gone. I laugh. "She's just still not used to being around us common folk. She's getting better though. Remember the first week of school when she was complaining about her maid, and the look of horror she gave us when she found out we cleaned our own houses?"

Carly laughs too as our boys run out to greet us. They excitedly talk about their day as we walk them to our cars. "I'll bring him over around five, is that good?" She asks.

I nod. "Perfect. I'll order pizza for them," I say unlocking the door so Sawyer can hop inside. "Oh, and Colton asked me today about taking Sawyer to the movies tomorrow. Is that ok with you if Brandon goes too?" I ask quietly so they don't hear.

She widens her eyes. "Wow, he's really going for father of the year lately isn't he?" She teases. I roll my eyes. "Sure is, but I'm not going to stop him. Sawyer is enjoying it."

"Good. And that'll be perfect. I'll be done working my overnight at 7am, so maybe I can get some good sleep," she says sighing. We hug and she heads over to her car, and I take a very excited Sawyer home to get ready for his sleepover.

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