Sweet Pleasures ✔︎

[1] 𝑪𝒉𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒐𝒔

As it turned out, Cheetos dust incited Jupiter Rhoades' come-to-Jesus moment.

It wasn't enduring grief over her mother's death ten months earlier, or the agonizing resignation that had proceeded it - the diagnosis followed by months of chemo, the hope that both expanded and shrank daily, the pain of watching her mother's body fade into a hollow shell that couldn't contain the warm, vibrant spirit she remained until the end.

No, it was sticky, orange pseudo-cheese dust that shocked Jupiter to her senses.

"Well, hello, stranger!" Freya Donovan sailed across the Indian restaurant, her blonde hair spilling down her back and her lithe, sinuous figure clad in a navy sheath dress and heels. "I thought you said it was your three-month anniversary tonight."

"It is," Jupiter acknowledged, after exchanging hugs with her friend. "I'm just picking up some dinner."

"Oh," Freya glanced at the hostess, who was walking to the kitchen to retrieve Jupiter's order. "Well come say hi to the girls. We really wanted you to come join us."

"Uh, I'm not really dressed for..." Jupiter glanced down at her wrinkled blue jeans and t-shirt, but Freya grabbed her arm and hauled her across the room to a round table where three other young women sat munching on samosas and pakora. The sight of them, all polished and prettied--up for a girls' night on the town, intensified Jupiter's self-consciousness.

That and the fact that she hadn't seen much of the other girls in the past few years - not with her mother's illness and everything that went along with it.

Her friends had always been there, of course, calling and stopping by with food and offers to help, but Jupiter had been so mired in grief that she hadn't wanted to see or talk to anyone except her mother. And after months after Valarie Rhoades death, Jupiter was still trying to figure out how to emerge back into the world.

Her older sister, Isabelle hadn't had that problem. Jupiter thought not without a twinge of envy over Belle's ability to keep living, even if that also meant leaving. Belle had taken flight less than a week after their mother died, claiming she needed to "get away."

More like "run away." Sadly, much as Jupiter wished Isabelle had stayed, her sister's flight hadn't surprised her. If it weren't for Belle's travel blog, she would have little way of knowing where her sister was.

"Happy Anniversary, Jups," Mia said. "Three months dating, huh? You know what that means.

Jupiter didn't, but she smiled anyway as the other women chuckled.

"Sure you can't come with us?" Mia glanced at her watch. "The show starts at eight, and I haven't sold the extra ticket yet."

"No." Jupiter deflected a pang of regret and glanced back towards the kitchen. "I should go, Brian is waiting."

"So what else are you guys doing to celebrate?" Sarah reached out to pour herself a glass of red wine.

"Um, we're just hanging out."

The other women blinked as if "hanging out" was a lame way to spend an anniversary - even a three-month one. Sarah gestured to Jupiter's face.

"You've got something there, hon."

Jupiter touched her chin. Oh no, not an unwanted zit. "What?"