It Could Be More | ✔

Epilogue

♡ Eight Years Later ♡

"It's six-fifteen," Liah announced when she walked--or waddled--into my office. Her belly was so round, my nephew could arrive at any moment.

I double checked the time. It felt like I'd just sat down to draft up the plans for the first anniversary of owning the nail salon.

Read and Soak had been a dream of mine ever since I worked at a local nail salon for extra cash during college. Seeing so many people bring their e-readers to past the time sparked the idea.

It took years to save up the money, and if Liah hadn't backed me up, it probably wouldn't have happened. Now, a year in and we'd been featured on various online lists as a must visit spot in southern California.

For the anniversary, we were having our first author signing with Sasha Keaton. I loved her young adult books growing up, and she just released her first adult novel. I was still not over the fact that she agreed to come to the salon!

"You were supposed to remind me of the time fifteen minutes ago," I said, very little heat behind my words. Nothing could dampen my good mood.

"Well, if your nephew wasn't two stepping on my bladder, I wouldn't spend so much time in the bathroom."

I shut down my laptop and grabbed my phone from my desk. Walking over to Liah, I rubbed her belly. "I know it wasn't your fault, jelly bean. Your mommy is a hundred percent capable of texting from the toilet."

Liah followed as I left the office, walking through the salon. It was bright, with purple walls and white tables. There was a small waiting area up front with fluffy couches and bookshelves with every genre of book.

When we started, we had one couch we found on the side of the road and a shelf with books from my own collection that I didn't mind parting with.

While we still kept pre-loved novels, along with new ones, the furniture was all newly bought. I'd had the image of what I wanted the salon to look like for years. Liah handled the business part, and I managed the rest.

"I'm supposed to be on maternity leave," she said, as I rearranged some throw pillows on one of the couches. "I'm not even here right now."

I snorted because she was always there. My guess was to get away from Vik's mom, who had decided to move into their guest room to prepare for the baby. From what Liah had told me, the woman could be a little overbearing.

"You want me to drop you off at home?"

"Vik's here," she said as we stepped outside and I locked the salon's door. "He wants me to do another stream with him."

My eyes snapped to my best friend. "Are you playing the demo of his game?"

Vik had been working on his game for years, and it was almost ready. I was one of the testers and immediately fell in love with the world. That was when it was in the early stages a few years ago. I hadn't had time to play since then, but I was sure it only got better.

"You're drooling," Liah teased, heading towards Vik's car. "You're going to be late."

Checking my phone again, I groaned. Six-twenty-one. "Love you," I said, hopping into my car. I waved to her and Vik before pulling out of the parking lot.