How To Find Your Future

38 - K-I-S-S-I-N-G Talk

Olivia

It's like I'm floating.

I don't even notice the rain until mom is standing in front of me shaking her head and chuckling. "You're soaking!"

I blink and then look down at myself. The only thing that isn't completely drenched are my socks. Which is a relief. Wet socks are one of the worst things imaginable. I look over my shoulder out the window of the front door. How did I get so wet walking from the road to here? Is it really coming down that hard?

"Did you have a good day?" she asks. I turn back to her and find a smirk on her face.

I duck my head and blush, thinking about Charlie's lips on mine. "Yeah. It was a pretty good day."

Mom chuckles. "Geez, here I am taking interest in your day and you can't even tell me about your kiss with Charlie?"

My head jerks up, my eyes wide. "You know about that?"

She chuckles and shakes her head. "Not really since you won't tell me. Plus, Sasha saw you kiss him on the cheek when you pulled up."

Somehow, my eyes widen farther. "Sasha saw?!" My hands clench into fists. That little-

"Now don't strangle her! She was just keeping an eye out for you. We weren't sure if you'd make it home before the rain got worse."

My brows lower. "Is it supposed to get worse?"

She shrugs. "It's supposed to. Care to change into some warmer clothes and I can get some hot chocolate for us?"

I nod, just now realizing I'm shivering. "Sure."

After changing into some pajamas, I race downstairs to find Mom and Sasha sitting at the dining room table. A mug sits in front of both of them. Mom wraps her hands around hers while Sasha's arms are crossed and resting on the table. She grins when she sees me.

"Olivia and Charlie, sitting in a tree! K-i-s-s-i-n-g-"

"Shut up!" I yell, but a laugh cuts through it.

Mom laughs, but she tries to hide it behind her hand.

"But you did though, right?" Sasha asks with a grin.

I sigh and roll my eyes. Pulling out my chair and taking a seat, I nod. "Yes. I kissed him!" The words turn into a sequel.

Sasha grins. Her eyes light up with excitement. Mom grins beside her.

"Was it everything you thought it would be?"

I nod. "It was better!"

Mom chuckles and shakes her head, bringing my attention over to her. "As much as I love hearing about Charlie, I think I'd like to know more about the job itself."

"Oh... right." I cup my hands around the mug of hot chocolate and bring the sweet chocolatey drink up to my lips. The warm liquid passes through them and into my mouth, down my throat. It sends a warm thrum through my body. "So... I'd like to be a vet." I set my mug down. "It makes sense since I like animals and being around them. I also know that I want to do something that helps people, but I know I don't want to deal with people all the time." The bakery taught me that after getting yelled at too many times.

"And this way, by helping pets you're helping people?" Sasha asks.

I nod. "Exactly. It makes sense. And it's something I can see myself doing."

"Now, is this something you want to spend money learning to do? Do you know all the courses you have to take? All the work you have to put in?" Her face is drawn into skepticism, and the longer she speaks the more her worry lines appear.

I hold up a hand, as if to stop her. "Woah mom. I don't know a lot about what courses I'll have to take but Charlie will help me figure that out. Plus, you and I can always look into it more. And yes, I do want to put my time into this because I know that this is right." I look down into my mug where the brown liquid is swirling around. "For a long time I had no idea what I wanted to do, but now? Now I know. I don't know how I know, it's just kind of this feeling in my gut telling me it's right." I look up to find mom staring at me. A soft smile on her face, her worry lines gone and a shining in her eyes.

"I am so proud of you." She looks over at Sasha. "Of both of you."

Sasha ducks her head. But before she does I catch sight of red creeping up her face. She twists a piece of her brown hair before tucking it behind her ear.

I look up at mom, suddenly not sure if she's still on board with this. "You're okay with this? You're not still wanting me to take over the bakery?"

Mom sighs, and now it's her turn to look down into her mug. "Part of me will always want you to take over the bakery. It was my dream! But..." She looks up and meets Sasha's eyes. "I'm glad to have Sasha eager and ready to take over the bakery." She reaches out and hugs my sister by her shoulders. "I just want the bakery in our family and to be able to spend time with my daughters." She says the last part while looking at me.

I smile. "Thank you, mom."

She nods.

For the rest of the night we sit at the table and talk about anything. Mom asks more about Charlie while Sasha teases me about him. Then we get talking about Sasha's upcoming game, how school's going for both of us. What it will look like at the bakery in the upcoming months, and anything else that comes to us. It's a nice way to spend the night after not seeing eye to eye with mom for a while.

With a yawn I stand up and collect our mugs to put in the sink. Mom follows suit. "I think I'm going to head to bed. What about you girls?"

I take a peek at the stove clock and see it's about eight thirty. "I think I'm going to settle down with drawing and then head to bed."

Sasha shrugs. "I have some homework that I could probably do."

Mom stands up and places a hand on Sasha's hair. "Just don't stay up too late."

"We won't," we say at the same time.

Mom chuckles as she leaves the room.

"I'm glad mom has changed her mind," Sasha says quietly.

"Me too." I turn around to face her. "And you're still good with running the bakery?"

She nods. "I love the bakery!" Her eyes light up. "I already have plans to make more and different baked goods once I take over!"

I laugh. I'm not surprised, Sasha's always been filled with good ideas. "Is that so?" She nods. "Just make sure that mom doesn't find out beforehand."

She laughs. "I'll try my best." She sighs. "Guess I'll go do some homework now."

I nod. "Night."

"Night." Then she turns and leaves the kitchen. I stay where I am until her footsteps fly up the steps and disappear. After that I make my way to my own room and start getting ready for bed. Once I am, I crawl into my bed with my sketchbook and start to draw. It isn't until I'm done that I realize who I drew.

Charlie.