Twelve

Kendall

“You’re up early this morning,” said Megan as Kendall trudged into the kitchen.

“Yeah, I noticed.” Kendall poured herself a cup of coffee and tried to remember just why she’d set her alarm so early.

“Are you going out job hunting?” asked Megan.

Kendall laughed. “Not exactly.”

“You might be able to get a job in retail right now.” Megan paused to pour a cup of coffee. “Stores could be getting desperate with Christmas just a little more than two weeks away.”

“No one needs to remind me of that fact,” said Lelani as she joined them. “Every day they change the big gold sign at the entrance. Today it will be fifteen shopping days until Christmas.”

“I was just telling Kendall that she could probably get a job in retail if she wanted,” Megan continued, sounding more and more like Kendall’s mother or sister. Kendall seriously wanted her to put a cork in it, but instead she just closed her eyes and sipped the hot coffee. That was one good thing about having housemates. Someone, not Kendall, usually made coffee. And someone, not Kendall, bought coffee. And sometimes, if she managed to get up in time, which wasn’t the norm, she got to drink some too.

“Nordstrom is looking for gift wrappers,” said Lelani as she poured some cream in her coffee.

“Thanks, but no thanks,” said Kendall. She could just imagine herself wrapping packages—in another universe perhaps.

“Well, how about sales?” asked Megan. “Surely they need salespeople somewhere this time of year.”

“You’d be a natural, Kendall.” Lelani pointed at her. “You’re such a shopper and you know all the designers and everything.”

“And that’s how I intend to keep it. I’ll stay on my side of the cash register and you stay on yours. Okay?”

“But when are you going to start earning a living?” persisted Megan. “You know your finances are a mess and you’ve got a bunch of bills—”

“Yes, but they’re my finances.” Kendall smirked at the two worker bees. “And they’re my bills. And besides, I think I may be coming into some money soon.”

“Seriously?” Lelani looked skeptical.

“Wait and see.” Kendall tightened the belt on her bathrobe and nodded with confidence. Wouldn’t they be singing a different tune when she was living the life down in LA, inviting them to come down for her wedding or maybe a movie premiere or just to hang around her beautiful house and sparkling pool? Kendall had bought a book yesterday. Yes, a book, a real hardback book. It was the first one she’d purchased since college. The Seven Secrets of Sensational Success, or something to that effect. And the first secret was to visualize what you wanted.

Consequently, Kendall had been imagining all sorts of lovely things, starting with Matthew Harmon by her side, an enormous diamond on her finger … and then the house, the pool … and Matthew’s successful film career, of course! And even a little Chihuahua named Pinkie—complete with a rhinestone collar! Or perhaps Pinkie’s collar had real diamonds. It was hard to tell, since it was a daydream.

“I’ll bet she’s been buying lottery tickets,” said Megan.

“It’s getting pretty high,” said Lelani. “I was feeling tempted myself the other day.”

“You know what they say the odds of winning the lottery are,” said Megan, the spoiler.

Lelani frowned. “I think I heard you had a better chance of getting hit by lightning.”

“Twice,” added Megan.

“You two are so cheerful this morning,” said Kendall wryly. “I wonder why I don’t always get up and have coffee with you.”

“It must be because we’re getting into work mode,” said Megan. “I don’t know about you, Lelani, but I had quite a day yesterday.” Then Megan began to drone on about redoing some old lady’s parlor, and Kendall couldn’t get out of the kitchen fast enough.

Seriously, she wondered why anyone would put up with jobs like those two had. Lelani was on her feet all day trying to make wrinkled old rich women look younger, and Megan worked for the Wicked Witch of the West doing old lady houses. Kendall chuckled to herself as she took her coffee upstairs. And to think these girls gave her a bad time for not working. Who did they think they were fooling?

Kendall sat down and began making a list. She still had some shopping to do, plus she needed to book her flight and hotel. She knew some people did that online, but she thought she should seek the advice of a travel agent. And she would buy some lottery tickets. You never knew.

But before she would do any of this, she would call her mother. And before she called her mother, she would make sure to rehearse the conversation. There was no point in making this call if she didn’t handle it right. Hopefully her mom’s cell phone would be on. If not, Kendall had concocted a compelling message and was all ready to leave it—a message that would entice her mother to call back right away. But to her surprise, her mother actually answered.

“Hi, Mommy,” Kendall said cheerfully. “How are you and Daddy doing?”

“We’re doing well, Kendall. How are you?”

Kendall could hear the cautious tone of her mother’s voice. But that wasn’t unexpected. Her parents usually figured that when Kendall called, it was to hit them up for money. And, okay, that was usually the case. But today Kendall wasn’t about to tip her hand.

“I’m doing great. I’ve been going to my counseling. And my housemates and I are planning a Christmas party and everything is cool.”

“Well, that’s good to hear.” Her mom’s voice relaxed. “And how’s the job situation?”

“Well, December didn’t seem like the best time of year to get a job. Besides that, I’ve been thinking about going back to school.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful, Kendall. Your father will be so happy to hear it.”

“And I’ve had another exciting development, Mommy.”

“What’s that?”

“I met this guy. He’s just the greatest. And he’s actually an actor.” Now Kendall felt pretty certain that her mother, a woman who knew less about TV and movies than anyone on the planet, wouldn’t know a thing about Matthew or his sorry little wife.

“An actor?” Once again the caution crept back into her voice.

“A very successful actor named Matthew Harmon. He was filming up here in Portland. In fact, I got to know his director, too. Aaron Stone. Have you heard of him?”

“That name does sound vaguely familiar.”

“Yes. He’s one of the top directors. Anyway, Matthew and I totally hit it off, Mommy. And he’s such a great guy. He kind of reminds me of Daddy. He’s a little bit older, and he’s thoughtful and smart and responsible, and he really cares about me.”

“Really?”

“So anyway, I just wanted you to know about this. I mean I don’t usually tell you much about the guys I see. Well, because usually there’s not much to tell.”

“Well, thank you, Kendall. I appreciate that.”

“But, here’s the thing. Don’t tell the other kids, okay? I mean not until it’s really set in stone, you know. I can just imagine Kate or Kim getting all gaga over the fact that I’m dating a famous actor. I don’t want that. Not until we’ve set the date.”

“Set the date?” Now her mother sounded very interested. “Kendall, are you and this Matthew person thinking of marriage?”

Kendall giggled. “Yes! Isn’t it exciting? And, of course, I’ll want you and Daddy to meet him. Where are you guys now anyway?”

“We’re at a lovely lake about an hour from Charlotte, North Carolina.”

Kendall tried to imagine her parents and their big fancy motor home parked next to a lake, but it just seemed so far away. “It sounds nice.”

“Very.”

“So, you’re not anywhere near Southern California then?” Kendall sighed. “If you were, maybe you could meet Matthew.”

“Oh, we’d love to meet him. Let me see. We’ll be heading west after the New Year. Maybe we could plan something later in January.”

“Like your daughter’s wedding?”

“Oh, sweetheart, that would be so wonderful!”

“I’m going down to visit him this weekend,” continued Kendall.

“Give him our best.”

“And, depending on how it goes, well, I might just stay on.”

“So this relationship is really moving quickly then?”

“Absolutely.”

“Well, I’m very happy for you.”

“Thanks.” Now Kendall waited. She was actually crossing her fingers.

“Is there anything we can do for you, dear?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I mean Matthew is really rich and he’ll probably insist on paying for everything for my trip. I mean since my budget is a little tight right now. You see, I’ve been paying off my bills and trying to get everything in order. One of my roommates has been helping me to manage my finances. But it would be nice to go down there and not feel like I was a total charity case.”

“Of course. And your father and I were going to send you a little something for Christmas, Kendall. I don’t know why we couldn’t send it early.”

“Oh, could you, Mommy? That would be fantastic. The last thing I’d want is for Matthew to think I’m after him for his money.”

“No, you definitely don’t want to look like a gold digger.”

Soon it was all arranged. Kendall’s dad would do an online transfer directly into Kendall’s account. In a few hours, she would be celebrating Christmas early.

“Thanks, Mommy!” she cried. “I’ll let you know how it goes, and we’ll be sure to pick a date that works for everyone.”

“I’m so happy for you!”

Then Kendall hung up. “Mission accomplished,” she said. “Well, part of the mission.” Then she picked up her new book and reread chapter one about visualizing success. Not only could she see success coming her way, she could smell it too!