There’s something about stepping into a Starbucks and ordering my drink that makes everything seem right in the world. I may be stressed out and wanting to just crawl into bed and sleep my life away but just saying ‘grande nonfat sugar free vanilla latte’ gives me a warm feeling inside. Things just don’t seem as bad when I’m holding that large cup of hot liquid.

You know you’re addicted to Starbucks when your day gets ten times better by just stepping into the shop. But when you live in such a rainy, slightly dreary city, it’s hard not to become addicted to it.

The big comfy chairs become available just as I get my drink and I quickly snatch them up and relax into the one facing the window. I take a few minutes to simply sit there and sip at my latte before pulling out my sketchbook from my purse that’s a little too large to even be called a purse and turning to a fresh page.

Thursdays are what I like to call my Starbucks days. I may stop and grab a coffee most other days of the week but on Thursday I make a point to come in and sit down and relax. Sometimes I’ll sketch, other times I’ll read the newspaper or even just people watch. I usually spend an hour or two here and then go to the gym for my kickboxing class. Follow that up with an hour with McDreamy and it turns into the best day of my week. I figure for how hard I work, I deserve at least one day.

I had just finished a rough sketch of a skirt and was trying to decide what type of fabric to use for it when someone sat down in the chair across from me, pulling me out of my designer zone. Startled, I looked up and smiled when I saw Hannah Webb sitting there, grinning at me.

“Fancy meeting you here.”

“Hey,” I said, resting my book on my lap. “What are you doing here?”

“My class got canceled so I have the rest of the afternoon free. What are you drawing?”

I passed her my sketchbook and picked up my latte. Leaning back in my chair, I sipped at my drink and stared out the window. It had started to rain again.

“Are you going to make this?”

“Maybe.”

She put the sketchbook on the table and leaned back in her own chair, crossing her legs. I watched her as she watched me.

“You seem more stressed out than you did before you went to New York.”

“Do I?”

“You sure do. Shouldn’t you be all relaxed now that you’re back home? Or did you get a bad review of your show?”

“No. No bad reviews.” I move my cup a bit, swirling the liquid inside and then take a long drink, the liquid warming my insides. “Everything I’ve read has been really good actually.”

“But you’re still stressed out.”

I sigh. “Completely.”

“Hold that thought, let me grab a drink, and then we’ll talk.”

I nod and smile as she gets up. In her absence, I go back to staring outside at the grey sky and falling rain. Just looking at it is making me cold and I burrow a bit deeper into the chair. On days like this, there’s nothing better than sitting inside with a good cup of coffee.

“Okay.”

I turn my eyes to Hannah as she sits back down across from me with her own drink.

“Spill. What’s the haps?”

I cross my legs and wrap both my hands around my cup. “Work is killing me.”

“But Fashion Week’s over and it went great, right?”

“Yeah. But that’s the problem.”

“I’m not following.”

“Everyone really seemed to love all my designs and suddenly there’s like this high demand for them. Susan wants me to open my own boutique instead of just having my clothes in other people’s stores.”

“But that’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

“It is but I can’t do it from Seattle. If I’m going to have my own store, it has to be somewhere where there’s a good amount of fashion in the area. And that’s not Seattle.”

“No. So you’re thinking you’re going to move?”

“I don’t really want to leave here. But it’ll help my line out so much if I have my own boutique.”

“Are you thinking New York?”

“New York’s too far away from everyone. Susan suggested LA. There’s an location on Rodeo Drive that I could get.”

Hannah’s face lit up. “Rodeo Drive? That would be so cool, Cassandra! You’ve got to do it!”

“I just don’t want to leave here.”

“You’d rather stay in rainy Seattle when you could go to sunny California and have a store on Rodeo Drive? Don’t be crazy.”

“I like it here.”

“Your family lives in California though,” Hannah reasoned. “You’d be closer to them.”

I laughed a bit. “I don’t always mind being far away from them. They’re a bit crazy.”

“Come on, you honestly can’t pass an opportunity like this up. Everyone loves your clothes and they want to see them. This is a huge step for your career!”

I lean my head back on the chair and stare up at the ceiling. “I know. I just didn’t think it would come this soon.”

“You just don’t want to leave because you hate change. You’re too comfortable here.”

I smile at the ceiling. This is the problem with having a best friend who’s getting her masters in psychology. Hannah always analyzes me and usually she’s right. “True.”

“When do you need to decide by?”

“Tomorrow. I have to put in a bid on the store by tomorrow morning.” I sigh and run a hand over my neck. “If I had more time this would be easier.”

“You just can’t let this opportunity slide by.”

I lift my head back up and look at her. “You really think I should do it?”

“You have to. You’ll be kicking yourself for the rest of your life if you don’t do this.”

I know everything she’s saying is right. But I’m still resistant to it. I don’t want to leave here.

Leaning forward in my chair, I run my hands through my hair and then drain the remainder of my coffee. I swear making big decisions gives me anxiety attacks. “I think I might need another latte.”

*                      *                      *

“You made the right decision.”

I had been repeating that to myself for the past hour. Every few minutes the words would exit my mouth and each time I said them it was like I thought that it would make me realize that my decision had been right. But each time I said them it felt more like I was trying to talk myself into it.

I have never made a decision this big before. Ever. I had thought the decision to move to Seattle six years ago was a tough one but it was nothing compared to this. This was my future that I had basically just sealed. There was no turning back. I now owned a spot on Rodeo Drive and I was moving to LA.

“You made the right decision.”

I spoke those words and squeezed my eyes shut tightly. I better have made the right decision. Otherwise I was officially screwed.

The sound of my kettle whistling made me crack open an eye and I stared at it for a second before letting out a deep breath and moving to take it off the element. I was hoping a cup of tea would calm my nerves. Who am I kidding though. I need a strong cup of coffee and I drank the last of my coffee this morning before I made the call to put my bid in. And now, four hours later, I can’t force myself to leave my apartment and go get some more. All I’ve got to work with is herbal tea, which isn’t going to cut it.

I poured the water into the pot and added a tea bag before leaving it to let it brew. My nerves had me wound tight and I couldn’t just stand in one place. Pacing the apartment seems like a good idea.

I had tried to get Hannah to come over and calm me down but she was in some seminar all day and couldn’t get out of it. And no one else will know what to say to help me so I’m left alone.

Pacing was working well for me until realization hit me and I stopped midstride. “I’m going to have to find a place to live out there…”

I realized opening my own boutique would involve moving to LA. I knew all that. But the actual thought of finding a place to live had never entered my mind. Where would I live? How would I find a place on such short notice? I’m going to have to get out there within a few weeks. How am I going to find a place to live and move all my things out there all by myself?

The problem with LA is that I don’t know anyone there. I know people all over the world but LA is that one spot where I have no connections. I used to know a guy who lived out there but he moved to Paris last year.

“There’s got to be someone,” I mumbled, running my hands through my hair. I’ve used so many models over the years and LA is full of models. There has to be someone.

I began to pace again but only made it a couple steps before stopping again. Wait. I had one connection in LA. If you could even call it a connection.

I’m not big on calling up people for favors when I don’t even know them. But I guess I had been taking risks all day that one more couldn’t hurt.

“I hate doing this stuff,” I mumbled as I grabbed my cell phone and began to scroll through the numbers in it. “I made the right decision though. I must have made the right decision. I made-”

“Hello.”

I froze up when I heard his voice, completely startled. Why did I expect it would go right to voicemail? It was silent for a second before I realized this wasn’t the way to go about this. I switched myself into professional mode.

“Is this Justin?”

“You got him.”

“Hi, it’s Cassandra Reyna. We met last week-”

“Hey, Cassie. How are you?”

Okay, so he remembers me. That’s a step in the right direction. “I’m fine. How are you?”

“Great. So what’s up?”

“I actually have a really big favor to ask you.”

“Fire away.”

He was being so easy going with this whole conversation and I felt like I was going to be sick. Did I mention that I really hate asking people for favors when I don’t know them? I sucked in a deep breath and decided to just spit it all out. “I’m opening a boutique on Rodeo Drive and I’m moving down to LA and I don’t know anyone in the city except for you so I was hoping you could put me in touch with a good real estate agent.”

His laughter came through the phone. “Whoa, take a breath.”

I relaxed a bit and smiled a bit. “Sorry. I’m a little wound up.”

“No kidding. Okay, so you’re moving to LA?”

“Yeah. Soon. I’m catching the red eye to LA tonight so I can find a place to move into. I’m hoping to be moved out there in a week.”

“Seems like a certain gentleman advised you to move to LA not too long ago.”

I let out a small laugh and relaxed a bit more. This wasn’t so bad. “He must have been onto something.”

“Rodeo Drive, huh? That’s something.”

“Yeah,” I said, my voice softening. “It’s something.”

“Alright well here’s the deal. I can give you the number for my real estate guy but you have to do something for me in return.”

I started to feel nervous again. Just when I thought this call would be easy. “What?”

“How long are you planning on being out here?”

“As long as it takes me to find a place.”

“I’ll hook you up with my real estate guy but you’ve got to promise you’ll hang out with me tomorrow night. We’ll go to a club or something.”

I began to smile. “I’m not really big on clubs.”

“Then we’ll go to a book reading or something.”

This time I laughed. “I’m also not eighty years old.”

I could almost hear the smile in his voice. “I’ll figure something out, alright? Just promise you’ll hang with me tomorrow night.”

I thought back to how much fun I had had with him at dinner and my smile grew a bit. “That can definitely be arranged.”

“Sweet. Hang on a sec and I’ll grab the number for you.”

I fiddled with a picture frame sitting on my coffee table as I waited. I was still completely stressed out at the sudden turn of events in my life and everything it entailed but it’s helping that I know someone in LA now. Fate must have been looking out for me and introduced us. I’d be screwed if I had to find a real estate agent myself. This guy was a life savior.

Once I got the phone number from Justin, I got off the phone with a promise to call him once I was in LA. I had a bit of an urge to keep talking to him but a look around my apartment reminded me I had to pack and be at the airport in four hours.

My tea sat waiting in the kitchen but just a look at it convinced me that I needed a much stronger shot of caffeine than that and I grabbed the phone again. With any luck, Hannah will be done her seminar soon and she can get some Starbucks and get her butt over here to help me pack.