I spend the first twenty minutes of her relentlessly high-energy class planning how to escape without anybody noticing, the next twenty minutes pitting mind against body as they both reach their limits, then the last twenty minutes on an adrenaline rush that’s almost spiritual. By the time I arrive home (without Asha, she had a few more classes to go) I’m walking on air. My mind clear, my body gratifyingly drained, and with a craving for sugar that goes down to my toes.
Since Asha’s not around to tell me why that’s a bad idea, I decide to go for it and make cinnamon buns from scratch, picking up confectioner’s sugar and cream cheese on the way home. Once I’m in the apartment, I take a quick shower and then get to work.
That’s when my sister Ellie calls, when my hands are deep in the mixing bowl, working the dough together. I answer the call with my elbow and quickly tell her to call me back on the videochat program on her laptop.
Ellie’s only older than me by five years, though in terms of figuring out what you want in life, she’s pretty much at the end game. After marrying her high school sweetheart in her mid-twenties, an IT consultant named Greg, she had two beautiful girls with eiderdown-soft hair and stock photo smiles and settled down in an incredible three-bedroom on the outskirts of Boise, to focus on her dream job of selling her handmade wedding dresses online. One of her first clients ended up being the style editor at Vogue, and after the magazine ran a short feature on her vintage-inspired designs, my sister’s business took off. Even her bathroom is perfect—it has an amazing view of the mountains.
Ellie’s more than just my wonderfully successful and incredibly humble sister, however; she’s my cheerleader, confidante, and—when times are particularly tough—therapist. She’s been calling me regularly to check in since I moved to L.A., expecting a full rundown of everything I’ve been up to. Considering how quickly things have been happening lately, she’ll probably have to start calling me daily.
“Hey,” I say, as her beaming face fills the screen, her huge living room extending off into the background.
“Hey you!” she squeals happily. I move back to the bowl and start working the dough again. “Oh gosh! That looks yummy! I miss your cooking, Willow.”
“It’s nothing. Just cinnamon buns.”
“Ughhh,” Ellie groans, making a drooly expression. “I love your cinnabons. Comfort food?”
“Earned guilty pleasure, more like. I just got back from one of Asha’s boxing classes.”
“Oh! How is she doing? And how was the class?”
“Great, and great.”
Ellie sighs deeply, and I glance at the screen to see her smiling proudly. “It’s all so awesome.”
The comment makes me laugh, though I don’t know why.
“What is?”
“You…there…doing all of that. Following your dreams.”
I finish kneading the dough and cover it to rise a little, then start whisking the cinnamon.
“It probably sounds more exciting than it really is. How’s Greg? And the girls?”
“They miss you. A lot. If you think I ask a lot of questions, you should talk to the girls. ‘Is Aunt Willow going to be in a movie?’ ‘Has she met Selena Gomez?’ Oh! And do you remember Carl, from the movie theater? He nearly had a heart attack when I told him you work with Cole Chambers. The poor boy almost asked me for my autograph.”
“I don’t know if you should be telling people that so quickly—especially since I was pretty close to not working for him just last week. Remember that?”
Ellie pauses before speaking, and when I glance at the screen again I can see she’s grinning mischievously at me.
“Who could forget the lemon thyme incident? And the fairytale romance afterward? Speaking of…” she says in heavily insinuating tones.
I laugh a little uneasily.
“It’s not a fairytale romance…”
“If you say so. How was the ‘real date’ with the big boss? Did you even go?”
“Yeah, I went…it was good.”
After another moment, Ellie says, “Grr! Come on! Is that it? God, I hope you didn’t tease him the way you’re teasing me. Where did you end up going? What did you talk about? How did you…end up?”
I shake my head as I finish with the icing and clean my hands, wiping them with a towel as I lean back on the dining table so Ellie can see me properly.
“Well, the place he took me to was this, like, private beach type area at a fancy hotel in Santa Monica—”
“Oh God, seriously? That sounds fantastic.”
“It was. I mean, it was beautiful. The ocean, the clean air, the ferris wheel at the pier in the distance. There was this little cabana we had all to ourselves, a waiter bringing us drinks—”
“I’m gonna leave Greg if you keep telling me things like this.”
“We swam a little…hung out…talked. You know.”
“What did you talk about?”
“I dunno…life. He told me about how he grew up, how he got interested in food.”
Ellie tilts her head and looks like she’s almost overwhelmed with happiness.
“That sounds so romantic.”
“Actually…it was kinda sad. The stuff that’s he’s gone through. The guy did not have it easy, not by a long shot. He’s way more intense than I thought—”
“Intense is sexy.”
“—kinda lonely—”
Ellie claps her hands.
“Perfect!”
I laugh.
“You know,” she says, wistfully, “I always saw you with a guy like Cole.”
“What? A lonely millionaire with a dark past and a bad temper?”
“No! A broody, passionate type. A guy with a bit of attitude. And lots of ambition.”
“You could have told me that when I was dating Nick.”
“Ugh,” Ellie says, rolling her eyes. “He’s back living with his parents now, you know.”
“That doesn’t surprise me. Sometimes I think he was pinning all his hopes on my restaurant being a success—even though he couldn’t leave fast enough when it wasn’t.”
“Forget him. Nick’s the past. The future is Cole Chambers.”
“Ellie! You haven’t even met him!”
“Pfft. I’ve watched his show a dozen times. I can pretty much recite all his best lines at this point. And you know a man that fine is gonna make some super cute babies.”
“Ellie! Enough!”
“Just saying!”
I shake my head and then check the dough, deciding to leave it a little longer.
“I’m not even sure he’s into actual relationships, anyway. I mean, I searched for ‘Cole Chambers girlfriend’ online and it was a who’s who of gorgeous Hollywood actresses and famous heiresses. He’s probably just looking for a bit of fun, and to be honest, that’s all I’m in it for, too.”
“Willow,” says Ellie, using the big sister tone she reserves for career and relationship advice, “you’re different than those other girls. You’re a great chef too, you have a connection. You literally just told me about how he told you how he grew up—that’s not ‘fun time’ conversation, that’s ‘getting serious’ conversation. Did you…”
“No. Well…we kissed a little but that was it.”
Ellie waves her fists in coiled excitement.
“It’s happening!”
“No! Ellie, come on! It’s just a little fun, don’t get any ideas about it being—”
I’m interrupted by the sound of my phone buzzing against the counter.
“What’s that?” Ellie says, peering into the camera as if she can look beyond the computer. “Is that him? Well? Is it?”
“Um…” I say, picking up the ringing phone. “I’m gonna call you back in just a second.”