By Your Side

1

Gracelyn

People say you get wiser as you get older but I like to think of it as your threshold for tolerating nonsense gets lower every year.

Like right now, when my lying, cheating singer-songwriter ex—who I haven't heard from in over a year—decides to send me several long text messages wishing me a happy birthday, and telling me how he's "missed me" and how he's "changed" and "learned from his mistakes".

He could dedicate an entire album about being sorry but no amount of words are enough to redeem his cheating self. Simply put, and in the words of Taylor Swift, we are never ever getting back together. Like ever.

Since I have countless other better things to do right now than to entertain his messages—such as enjoying my own birthday party—his texts have been going straight inside my brain's internal trash can. But when my phone dings again with another two texts from him, it's the final straw for me.

"Are you still with Finn?"

"When will you give me another chance, babe?"

"Babe"? For some reason, men like my ex think they can come crawling back into your life at their convenience and you'll just willingly let them back in—it's almost laughable. Not wanting to waste any more of my time or energy on him, I simply reply "When hell freezes over", before taking advantage of the block function—one of the best inventions of humankind, by the way—to erase him from my cell phone.

"Okay, stop what you're doing for a second because guess who just helped you land a brand ambassador deal with Bloom Cosmetics?"

Putting my phone away, I turn to face my manager, Tim, who's walking toward me with a proud grin plastered across his face and a cup of chocolate soufflé in his hands.

"Okay, no way!" I'm unable to contain the smile that instantly forms on my face. Bloom Cosmetics is one of my favorite make-up and skincare brands, so I may as well be floating on a cloud of happiness right now—this might be the best birthday gift ever. But the smile on my face is replaced with a frown when I remember something else. "Hang on...don't tell me this is a prank like the last time you told me Harry Styles invited me to star in his next music video."

"Consider it my birthday gift to you," Tim proudly confirms as he takes a scoop of his dessert. "Am I the best manager in the world or am I the best manager in the world?"

I roll my eyes. "Tough question. I'll have to think about that."

Tim dramatically glances up at the glistening crystal chandeliers inside the penthouse where I'm currently hosting my twenty-fifth birthday party and he lets out a dreamy sigh. "You know, I feel this year is going to be your year, Grace. The Game of Love is currently the number one top movie at the box office, you've got two other movie roles coming up and now this brand deal with Bloom Cosmetics is just the cherry on top."

It's been my dream to star in a movie since I was a kid and now that my first movie, The Game of Love came out four months ago, I can officially say that dream has come true.

"Thank you." I smile and take a drink of my champagne, feeling confidence surge through my body. "I believe it will be too."

"That's the spirit! You must believe in yourself," Tim cheers, the tone in his voice akin to that of a motivational speaker. "When you believe in yourself, anything is possible. And when anything is possible, dreams come true."

"Mm," I tease. "Is that from Pinterest?"

"Hey, me and my Pinterest boards have a lot of fun together, okay?" he scowls. "Anyway, excuse me as I go to steal another one of these desserts."