The CEO’s Quadruplets

Bella Donna, I am sure you look more lovely than I ever could imagine after your visit at the day spa. Follow your feet down the street where a lunch reservation is waiting for you, but before you go ask Elizabeth for a bag from her and me. Love, Amory

Bella grinned, asking, “So there’s a bag I am to ask for?”

Lizzie looked confused, and then let a sudden burst of realization pop across her face. Pulling a colorfully striped bag from the coat closet behind the reception desk, Isabella was pointed to a bathroom. Stepping in, she placed the bag on the bathroom counter as she pulled out its contents. Inside, Isabella found a light denim shirt dress that was delicately soft to the touch and some clean ankle boots that would let her new manicure show through the peep toe. Lizzie even had gold tassel earrings that reminded Isabella of some Havana vacation.

“I just want you to know,” Isabella called through the bathroom door, “that I love this outfit!”

“We’re best friends for a reason!” Lizzie replied back through the door.

Stepping out into the sun, they headed to a bistro a few storefronts down. Strolling down the street, the traffic seemed almost quiet for Los Angeles, but Isabella realized everyone was tucked away in glossy buildings soaring into the haze. Her husband was one of those skyscraper dwellers. For now.

Sitting out on an umbrella patio, the world glowed a lemon yellow under the shrouding fabric, and the trellises with climbing vines made Isabella forget that she was sitting in the middle of a bustling downtown. The friends sipped mimosas and ate massive paninis with deliciously melted cheeses brimming out the sides. Isabella could have sworn the caramelized onions and bacon tasted better than anything she had ever eaten before. The food at the clinic had been various forms of cardboard, and now her senses were being resurrected as she got a little day drunk.

From there they went shopping at a new boutique in Beverly Hills. Isabella felt like a kid in a candy store, but as the sun moved from its peak toward the coastline, Isabella began to feel a different kind of jitters. She could only equate it to what brides felt on their wedding day. Bella had not felt this emotion on her own big day, but she felt it now.

The wedding and the happily ever after back then had only really been a fun dream. Now, Isabella knew that this was the real beginning.