She took a seat at the bar counter. “I was not even aware that I had any ingredients to make pancakes.”
“That, my love, is why I am the cook. Sit down. Eat.”
He pointed to the seat where a fully made plate of breakfast sat waiting for her.
“What is this?”
A small black box sat next to the plate.
“Open it,” he urged her.
Kate could not wait to unwrap the package. She pulled the ribbon and took the top off of the box.
“Bruce, you spoil me.” A pair of princess cut diamond earrings shined brightly.
“I saw them and they just called out for a new home.”
“Where would you have been that you would have happened to see a pair of diamond earrings?” she teased.
“My little secret.” He flipped the last pancake and turned off the stove.
Before digging in to the breakfast, she put the earrings on.
“Bruce, you always make me feel like a princess.”
He popped a piece of bacon in his mouth, smiling. His expression made him look like a young mischievous boy.
“Those look amazing on you. Next, I have to convince you to wear some good old cowboy boots. You have on my uniform today.”
Kate looked down and noticed that she did have on what Bruce called his uniform: a crisp, white button down shirt and a pair of jeans. He always paired the outfit with cowboy boots and usually a ten gallon hat. Despite the fact that they lived in Los Angeles, Bruce was the requisite cowboy. Raised on a rather large ranch in a more rural part of the state, Bruce had not let go of his roots despite living in the metropolitan city.
“I guess I do. But I think I do it so much better. Especially with these gorgeous earrings.” She finished her breakfast and poured her coffee in her thermos to go.
“I’ve really got to go, Bruce.”
He leaned over the bar counter and kissed her on the lips, leaving her thinking briefly about whether she wanted to stay home with her beau.
“I know. I’ll clean up here and we will catch up later.”
He smiled softly as he turned back to start cleaning up the dishes in the sink as she walked out into the sunshine.
It was a warm, clear day, full of possibilities. Kate made her way to the boutique, all the while trying to get her mind focused on work. Spending the morning with Bruce always got her a little off kilter. Her mind would replay the way his hands felt against the small of her back, and how his lips felt against hers. They were still in the honeymoon phase of their relationship, and she could not get enough of the man.
That was exactly what worried her so much because she knew she needed to demonstrate some of that focus on her career. It was always a delicate balancing act to figure out how to spend time with the man she loved and continuing to move forward in her career.
Over the last year, she had the pleasure of going from a freelance fashion consultant to owning her boutique to gaining notoriety as a now fashion stylist to celebrities. A recent gig with a well known pop star resulted in her name being mentioned in all of the fashion blogs and media outlets, creating an explosion of work that came out of nowhere overnight.
Fortunately, she had a team that she trusted and they all were riding the wave of success together. By no means did Kate feel like she hit the big time. She knew that there was so much more to do to get to the point where she would be in any position to slow down or scale back. After all of this time, she was finally getting to where she envisioned herself in her career, and there was no way that she wanted to stop and trade all of that in.
She heard so many women who spoke of how they balanced work and home, and it all sounded so difficult. When Kate envisioned herself having the husband, the kids, and the house behind the white picket fence, she thought that it would be best to be able to fully commit to being a wife and a mother. Her mother had done so. Having her mother around full time was something that Kate appreciated. She wanted to do the same for her children. And besides, she was only in her late twenties, so she had plenty of time to get started with a family of her own. Bruce did not have any children and had never been married, so they would embark on the journey together. But with him being in his early forties, she knew that at some point soon, he would want to have children.
As she pulled up to the boutique, she inhaled deeply, closed her eyes, and repeated a soothing mantra to ready herself for work. Her assistant, Amelia had already sent an email with her schedule and it was loaded with follow up phone calls and Skype video calls with potential clients.
“Hello, ladies!”
“There she is,” Linda replied.
“Oh, goodness, it looks so busy in here.” Business had picked up so much, Kate had to hire a few sales consultants for the boutique.
Linda followed her back to the office. She was such a Godsend. Linda had proven to be a great business partner and an even better friend along the way.
“It is. I’m telling you, after going to Paris, the inventory is flying off of the shelf. We still need to sit down and do this blog so that we can reach more potential clients.”
Kate rolled her eyes. “You and this blog. I will take a look at it. If it does what you say it will, we will have to hire more employees.”
Linda smiled. “Not a bad problem to have if I do say so myself.”
The two women set about starting their work day, and before she knew it, the early evening was before her.
“Oh my goodness, I have about thirty minutes to get out of here. I have a dinner date with Bruce and I’m trying my hardest to make sure that I am on time for everything.”
Linda laughed and shook her head. “Please be on time. That man adores you and I would hate to see you push him away because you have tunnel vision.”
“Tunnel vision?”
“Yes. I get that we have this business to run, but you have to have a little balance too, Kate.”
“Oh, no. Not you too. On that note, I’m leaving.” She tried to respond playfully, but there was tinge of seriousness to what she was saying.
Linda meant well and had Kate’s best interest at heart, but it was always a bit irritating to constantly be reminded that she had to figure out a way to juggle her career and her love life. She had not gotten to the point where she could manage it all, and hated the fact that everyone else made it all sound so easy.
Kate waved goodbye to her team, and set out for the restaurant where she would meet Bruce.
She was halfway there, proud of herself for being on time, when he sent a text that they would be meeting for dinner out at his parents’ ranch.
Slightly agitated that she had plowed through the traffic already, Kate made her detour to the freeway that would take her out to the ranch. Once she hit the open road, she did not have a care in the world. Besides, Bruce’s mother was a great cook and it would be nice to have a small escape from reality of life in the city.