"Okay, it looks like you're going to turn right onto 8th Street," Maya says, not confidently.
"Looks like or am?" Esther snarks back.
"Am. YOU AM!" Maya shouts as Esther pulls a hard right, almost missing 8th Street entirely.
A cat meows from the back of the moving truck.
"You're going to freak out Petey!" Maya turns around to check on Petey, safe and angry in his crate.
Esther makes it onto 8th and pulls up to the corner stop sign. "This is why I prefer my phone map."
Maya shakes her head as Esther pulls ahead.
A few moments later, they pull in front of their new, small home: a cozy seaside cottage. It was something they fantasized about for years but neither thought would happen. It wasn't until the major strikes in Hollywood that they decided it was time to move.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Esther and Maya had been best friends for years. They met at an entertainment industry mixer about five years prior, shortly after moving to Los Angeles from their respective hometowns; Esther from Illinois and Maya from Louisiana. They dreamed of moving out of their small towns and making it out to one of the big coastal cities. Unfortunately for them, being a millennial in 2024 wasn't very fruitful.
They hopped from job to job and apartment to apartment, but never felt at home any place they landed. Stressful coworkers and frustrating landlords seemed to have some sort of underground network in the city - one specifically designed to run these girls out of town. And it worked!
Esther sipped on a cup of coffee at the kitchen table in Maya's apartment as Maya answered emails on her laptop.
"What if we just moved? Just quiet our jobs and moved to some cute beach town. There are loads of them in California. I want to get a simple job and become friends with my neighbors."
"Uh huh." Maya answered.
"We could get a cute little two bedroom house to rent. I'd bet it'd be cheaper than our apartments here in LA."
Maya kept typing.
"Are you even listening?" Esther asked.
"Yeah, coffee shop, house, rent..."
"This is exactly what I'm saying!" Esther waved her hand in front of Maya's screen. Maya blinked twice as if coming out of a trance.
"I'm sorry. Say that again?" Maya asked.
"You. Me. Adorable little two bedroom house in a seaside town. We'll have Petey and meet hot surfer boyfriends. And we can get out of this insane city."
Maya stared at Esther for a moment. She looked back down at her laptop, then back up at Esther. Esther leaned forward, as if pressuring Maya to say yes.
"I mean, honestly yeah. I'm down."
Esther popped up from the table, scaring Petey out of his nap.
"Yes! Yes! Yes! I'm going to start looking." Esther pulled out her phone while Maya went back to her laptop.
It was only two months later that they were driving down to Seal Beach to look at a house to rent. As soon as they pulled up, they smiled at each other and their eyes lit up.
Their landlord, Katherine, was a kind, middle-aged woman with a sweet demeanor. She opened the short white picket fence that surrounded their quaint front yard. (Now that's something they could never afford in LA - a yard.)
The girls politely took their shoes off once they stepped inside. The wood floors covered every room. The white paneling on the walls made them feel like they were in a darling French cottage. The kitchen had an island and room for a small table and chairs. Both bedrooms had beautiful, large windows that faced the backyard, which also had room for a table and chairs. They imagined the dinners they could eat outside when the weather was nice. And to their surprise, the house even had a small third room, fit for an office.
"I didn't feel right listing this room as a bedroom because it doesn't have a closet. I don't know how those online house apps work. But I suppose you could use this as an office or a workout room, whatever you kids are doing these days." Maya and Esther shared a smile, silently confirming that this was the place.
It was almost too perfect. They had no complaints. The washer and dryer, dishwasher, driveway, air conditioning... all things they couldn't afford in the city. But here? That, and more. They were only a few short blocks from the beach, walking distance from Main Street, and there was plenty more space for Petey to nap in the sun.
They discussed their options while they drove back to LA.
"I have to wrap up a few projects at work, but I'm sure I can do them remotely," Maya said.
"Shit, I'm pretty sure I can put in my two weeks tomorrow," Esther said.
"Are we really doing this? Are we really going to do this?" Maya asked.
"I think so." Esther smiled. And the next morning, they turned in their newly signed lease.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now, just as the weather was getting warmer and the sun was getting ready for spring, the girls were back at the little blue house in Seal Beach. The excitement of new beginnings were a little dampened by the prospect of unloading dishware and the unexpected rain that rarely hit Southern California, but after the movers left and the girls sat on their couch in the middle of their new living room, they sighed and smiled. It was quiet. There were no sirens, no cars honking, no loud music from too-close neighbors at odd hours of the night.
Petey walked around hesitantly, sniffing boxes and staring up at the walls. He finally jumped up on the couch and flopped onto Maya's lap.
"I hope Petey likes it here."
"I'm sure he will. We're going to get so much more sun here. He's going to love it." Esther pet his head as he purred. "And tomorrow we get the keys to the shop!"
"I know! I'm a little more nervous about that one." Maya admitted.
"How come?" Esther asked.
"Umm maybe because we don't know the first thing about running a coffee shop," Maya bit.
"I mean, okay. I used to work at a diner, you worked in retail. I'm a great painter so the place will definitely look nice. You're good at being friendly with guests. We'll figure it out." Esther tried to reassure her.
"I guess... I don't know how I let you talk me into this." Maya rolled her eyes.
"This is how!" Esther gestured to the rest of the house.
"Actually, you're right. This is a steal. I still can't believe there's a third room."
"Talk about a steal," Esther quipped.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning, Esther and Maya woke up early to continue unpacking. After they were able to get most of the cardboard boxes out of the house, it was time to pick up the keys to their new coffee shop.
They locked up the house as Petey sat on the windowsill and watched.
They walked down the path to their new morning commute, passing houses just as adorable as theirs. The neighborhood was full of white, blue, even yellow bungalows and cottages. Each had their own personality, yet somehow matched the entire neighborhood.
The weather was still chilly, as March sometimes was. The ground was wet from the weekend's rain. Despite being a sleepy Sunday morning, townies were still out enjoying the day, getting coffees, lunch, and shopping in the boutiques. It was hard not to stop into every single shop.
As they neared the end of Main Street, they could see the ocean in the distance. A seagull flew overhead, eyeing a child's corn dog. An older man at the end of the road stood looking out towards the water, seemingly deep in thought.
"Hi, are you Frank --" Before Esther could even finish speaking, the man whipped around on his heel.
"I sure am! Now which one of you is Maya and which one of you is Esther?" He asked, every word filled with joy.
"Maya," she said, raising her hand.
"And I'm Esther. It's nice to meet you too." Esther shook Frank's hand, then Frank shook Maya's.
"It's so nice to meet you. We're excited to have you here. Welcome to Seal Beach."
YOU ARE READING
Seal Beach
ChickLitBest friends Maya and Esther were fed up with their expensive, social, stressful lives in Los Angeles and decided that the best remedy was to move to a small seaside town and open a coffee shop. They also escape the horrible city dating scene while...
