It's a forever type of love

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻

It was Saturday morning, and the grand opening was in a few hours. Shana and I had gotten back from England yesterday morning, Lola caught a slightly later flight than us, so she would be arriving soon. Thank god, Zoe didn't come with her, but ever since we got back, we've spent the whole day in California preparing the boutique. I saw Dylan yesterday but I avoided him because I don't want to talk about this until after grand opening. I was not letting anything jeopardise this, we had worked way too hard over the past few months to make sure that today ran smoothly, and I'm sure as hell not going to let that be interrupted by personal drama. Dylan was in the back getting the catalogs and the t-shirts ready, while me and Shana were at the front stocking the shelves. I then got a text from Angel, I looked up at Shana and that's when I said "Angel's here, she's waiting at the cafe for me. We're going to talk about Dylan's addiction problem, I want to see whether it was going while him and Angel were together or if it started after they broke up. do you think you can hold down the fort for next hour?" Shana looked at me and then she responded with "girl, you go, I've got this. Lola will be arriving soon and so will Elizabeth. They will helping me while you and Angel are talking. I promise you, by the time you get back, the boutique will be done and ready for the grand opening at noon." I smiled at her and then I replied with "thanks gorgeous, you're the best." And then I left the shop to go and meet Angel at the cafe.

Angel and I was in the cafe talking, and that's when she said "I got the message about Dylan's addiction, and I'm really glad you reached out to me about it. It was a problem when we were together, it always had been. There would be times where he would call me in the middle of the night, and tell me to come and pick him up and when I got to his location, he reeked of weed, and he had loads of substances in his pockets, and he could barely stand. I didn't know what to do, and every time I said I was going to tell someone, he said he would break up with me." I looked up at Angel and then I took a deep breath and I responded with "as much as I hate to say this, I think that after the grand opening, we should consider getting Dylan some professional help. Do you know any good rehabs?" Angel nodded and then she replied with "there is a really good one in Chicago, not too far from my business. Once we speak to his parents and make sure they're ok with it, then I will talk them about admitting him. It's full, so I'm gonna have to try and convince them, but everyone in Chicago knows me, so I don't think it's going to be too hard." I nodded and then I responded with "perfect. Anyways let's get back to the boutique, it opens in two hours and we need to get dressed." And then both of us got up and went back to the boutique.

We were currently in the back of the boutique, getting dressed and ready for the grand opening.
Shana was wearing a black jumpsuit that she designed herself, Dylan was wearing a khaki suit that he designed himself, Angel was wearing a pink pantsuit that I designed for her, Elizabeth was wearing a yellow mini dress that Shana designed for her, Lola was wearing a burgundy maxi dress that I designed for her and I was wearing a royal blue dress with sequins that I designed myself. We were all in outfits that were either designed by me, Shana or Dylan as a way to represent the grand opening today. When we came out to the front of the boutique, we realised that it was 11:50, in about ten minutes, the store that we worked so hard to put together would finally be open for business. And once we finished the California grand opening, we needed to be back in Ohio so we can open our other boutique. By next week Sunday we would have two successful boutiques, and we could finally get our lives back on track. After a very long year, we would finally be able to be happy.

The clock struck noon and I walked outside to the front of the boutique to see over fifty cars parked outside. When the people in the cars saw us walk out, they got out of their cars and stood beside it. Shana handed me a pair of scissors and a megaphone. I walked out to the very middle and that's when I said "ladies and gentlemen, I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time out of your day to come to this grand opening. This has been something that me and my closest friends have spent months working on, and I'm so happy and I can finally share that with the world. If you want to come inside, please at line up to your left and then you will personally get a catalog with all our outfits handed to you. Once you get inside, you will get a special t-shirt from our collection, along with a personalised card that says thank you for coming. We hope you enjoy the grand opening of DKS and make sure you submit a request on our website, so you can tell us how we can improve. Thank you." Everyone clapped then they started lining up.

My whole life, I got told that I could never achieve my dreams, even by my own parents, especially my mum. At just seventeen years old, my parents abandoned me because I didn't follow the family tradition of becoming a doctor. They flew all the way to Australia and left me in America by myself. They haven't seen me, or spoken to me, or even sent me a birthday card since they left. Zoe and Dylan were forced to take it upon their hands to send me to college, buy me my apartment, my car and everything else. They basically raised me into adulthood, so it feels so good to be standing here, knowing that I made it without them. Yes I had to learn things the hard way because I didn't have my parents there with me. But they always say 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger' and that, is the exact definition of me.