Sweet Pleasures ✔︎

[2] 𝑴𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑴𝒓. 𝑯𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒆

Find your happiness.

Even amidst the noise of the Trolls House bar, the thought orbited around Jupiter's mind. [Excuse my lame pun] For years, she hadn't had the luxury of thinking about 'happiness' in any great detail, but she wasn't going to find it, or her future, in a basement that smelled like old socks.

And frankly, she couldn't imagine how she ever thought she might.

Now her future would be about...well, it still involved finding a way to keep her mother's bakery afloat and finishing her spring semester in the culinary arts program, but at least those goals no longer seemed quite so far away.

Jupiter had promised her mother she would return Rainbow Palace to the warm, homey place it had been before her mother had gotten so sick, and it was time to fulfill that promise. In her efforts to jump-start her life, Brian had just been an unfortunate misstep, one she attributed to her weakness for wounded animals and lost causes.

Her immediate future, however, involved another birthday cake shot.

"Wow." Jupiter gestured to the bartender, feeling sort of fizzy and bubbly, like soda pop. "These shots are awesome."

"Agreed." Freya tossed her long blond hair over her shoulder and tilted her head back to down hers. "But I dunno, Jups. This place isn't exactly what I had in mind."

"I know, but thanks for humoring me."

After Freya had treated Jupiter to a gourmet sushi and teriyaki dinner, she had wanted to go to an upscale club for drinks and dancing. But Jupiter had balked at the idea of sophisticated cocktails and gorgeous men and women who actually knew what they were doing. She wanted to be a braver version of herself, but one that was actually attainable.

So she and Freya had ended up at the Troll's House, a dive bar with a rough wood floor, flashing jukebox, neon beer signs, and several pool tables. It was loud, crowded, lots of beer, and nothing fancy. Exactly the kind of place Jupiter could start to come out of her shell.

Maybe.

"I told you I'd be on the prowl," Freya said unapologetically, scanning the room with a sharp gaze. "And though I was hoping for a Wall Street executive, I can see the appeal of a blue-collar dude. "

Jupiter turned to take the birthday cake shot from the bar.

Live your life. Take risks. Embrace change. Be happy, for God's sake.

Her mother's voice again. The sharp stab of pain Jupiter had felt at their loss had recently dulled to a soft, perpetual ache around her heart. She'd miss her mother forever, but more and more Valarie's incessantly positive, you-only-live-once, Jupiter-I-love-you-but-if-you-don't-move-on-and-be-happy-I-will-come-back-to-haunt-you attitude, was easing Jupiter's grief.

She licked up another rainbow sprinkle. The alcohol hummed pleasantly in her blood, giving her much needed courage. Through Jupiter had faced a lot of challenged head on she'd never been confident, much less experienced, in the Men category

Brian aside, she just hadn't been around men that much, especially after her father died when she was nine. Her mother, determined to start a new life, moved out of the Twelve Oaks Community in Santa Cruz where they'd lived all of Jupiter's life.

Valarie had taken Jupiter and Isabelle to Rainsville, a small farming town south of San Francisco, and opened up the Rainbow Palace bakery with their father's life insurance money.

Women had always worked at the Rainbow Palace Bakery, and Valarie had been active in feminist groups and women's writer workshops. She had boyfriends every now and then, but they never stuck around. And Jupiter hadn't had much chance to form her own relationships before her mother got sick.