After Happily Ever After

Hey Old Friend : 'Tis the Season

Fallon got her happily ever after. Nicole got unemployment and lost her downtown apartment.

Like anyone else humbled to the point of therapy, Nicole moved back in with her parents. That was nice for the first week when they felt sorry for her and left her alone. Soon enough, Nicole learned that in their old age, her parents had found no other hobby beyond getting in her business.

Nicole printed up business cards and started her own event planning business just to give her a way out of their house. It was nothing like working at the Center. She no longer rubbed elbows with celebrities and royalty. Now Nicole was in a children's birthday party rut but had high hopes to make the switch into launch parties.

Moving out of her parent's house came soon after, though she didn't move far. Her mother was an invaluable client well and Nicole wanted to keep her in her back pocket. 

She didn't look up Fallon and Erik. Ever. Not even that night she'd been up late making goodie bags for a 2 year old's Frozen party. Not even with when Duncan called, for the first time in almost two years, to ask if she'd heard the news.

"It's trending on s'fucking Twitter," when he slurred his Midwest accent rounded out the words beyond her Californian comprehension. Nicole understood the gist of the call before Duncan garbles something Nicole can't decipher.

Fallon and Erik engaged. How 'bout that?

"Does it matter?" Nicole drawls around the lump in her throat. Her tablet blurred before her eyes, so she squeezed them closed until the burning went away.

"S'pose not." Duncan sighs and it's so pitiful Nicole pulls the phone away from her ear.

"Is that all you called to say?" Nicole wondered if he'll ask how she's doing? He hadn't cared when she had a meltdown and destroyed her career in LA. She hadn't even received a phone call after her fallout with Fallon.

"I guess..."

Nicole hung up. She didn't see the point in extending that moment any longer. They weren't friends, probably had never been friends. Maybe they'd bonded over Fallon. It would make sense then, that the first time they speak is to talk about Fallon.

Nicole puts her head down and grinds her way into planning launch parties. She moves again, past LA to a homey apartment on Ocean and Cherry. Long Beach moves to a different beat than LA. There are just as many homeless people unfortunately, but the sense of community is unlike anything Nicole could imagine in Downtown LA.

She gets into a routine quickly enough. Grow a client list to rival the one she'd left behind in her hometown. Nicole does not lookup Fallon King. It's been years now and the sting of how they fell out no longer hurt. It was more... disappointing Going from sisters to nothing at all happened all at once. It was the memory of their friendship that haunted Nicole the most.

Long Beach was a city of activities and clubs, so Nicole joined a club and did a couple of activities.

Yoga at the park she liked. Roller derby not so much. There was a record store cafe combo Nicole liked to organize her calendar in. When she noticed how many people in Long Beach had a dog, she decided to get a dog.

While tiny Chihuahua/Shih Tzu dogs made her think of the 2000s, bigger dogs were nowhere near Nicole's speed. She didn't want a dog that wanted to run and hop all over her. When Nicole explained this to the volunteer at the local shelter, they suggested she look into cats.

That was the day she found the love of her life. Legend, a ginger tabby with tiger green eyes, was thicker than the cats in the pens around him and gave off a real prickly vibe. The other cats avoided him entirely. Kittens not smart enough to stay away ended up swatted at viscously.