Your POV
"Big news! Big news! Big news!" Andi was screaming through the phone.
"What do you want? It's four in the morning here."
"Well it's big news mixed in with sad news. I'm moving to California."
You shot up in your bed. "To California?"
"Yep." You couldn't see her but you knew she had a huge smile on her face. "My manager thinks it would be a good move for my future. It's where the heart and soul of the industry lives."
"But that means you'd be moving out."
Her voice dropped an octave. "I know. That's why I said it's mixed in with sad news."
"When do you think you'll be doing this?"
"In a couple months. I have to find an affordable place to live first then pack all my stuff and move it across the country."
You wondered what life would be like to live alone. You always had someone around your whole life. You've stayed in your apartment alone before, but never full time. You had previews of what it could be like when Andi was away filming, but you were expecting her to come home. Knowing someone still lived in the room two doors down form yours. Also, when she was away, you would go stay with Tom or he would come stay with you. Now that you don't have a boyfriend and Andi was moving, you were going to be completely alone.
"That's awesome Ads. If you think that's what you should do, then I fully support it. 100%." This was her dream and you couldn't hold her back.
"Ah thank you (y/n). I love you and I can't wait to come home and tell you all about Hawaii. I'm going to let you go and get your beauty sleep. Goodnight."
"Goodnight Ads."
You hung up the phone and closed your eyes. Your mind wouldn't stop thinking of how life kept wanting to change around you. When was your life going to change for the better?
Your mom woke you up to music blaring in the kitchen. She was cooking breakfast while singing her heart out to random rock bands from the 70's and 80's.
"Good morning." You yelled as loud as you could to be heard over the music. You were a little irritated to be woken up, especially since Andi woke you up at four, but give it some time to fully wake up. You'll be fine.
She hurried over to the speaker and tuned it down. "Good morning sweetie. How'd you sleep?"
"Fine. What are you cooking?"
"Since we decided to keep the eggs, I'm making eggs and biscuits with a side of fruit."
"Sounds good." You walked around to grab a strawberry. "What do you want to do today since you have the day off?"
"Well it's going to rain all day or I would say let's go to the beach. How about we go see a movie?"
"Sure. Do you mind if we stop somewhere first?"
"What did you have in mind?"
"I wanted to check out the store called Fredick's."
Your mom pulled the biscuits out of the oven and grabbed two plates. "I love that store. What do you need from there?"
"Nothing. I know the guy who owns it. He invited me to stop by."
"He's cute isn't he? I've seen him a few times when I've gone inside." She wiggled her eyebrows at you.
"He's just a friend. I just want to see what it's like and what they have. Nothing more than that."
"Whatever you say."
You grabbed your plate and walked into the living room no longer playing your mother's game.
You stopped outside of the store looking through the windows to see if you could spot Fred. He was busy helping a customer so you pulled your mom inside hoping he would not notice you straight away.
"Hello ladies." Didn't work. Fred was leaning on the rack you and your mom were looking through.
"Hi Fred."
"Excuse me, is there a bathroom in here?" No mom don't pull this.
"Yes ma'am. It's in the back right corner." He pointed in the direction of where she needs to go.
"Thank you." She turned around and quietly whispered to you. "He even has manners." You rolled your eyes as she walked away.
"First impression?"
"I like it. Has a rustic, comfy feel to it."
"Yeah well my other stores are more modern."
"Why? I like the rustic feel. The exposed brick gives your store more character."
"That wasn't on purpose. This is my first store and it was the cheapest building when I bought it. I'll take your interest into consideration though if we remodel."
You pretended to continue to look through the clothing. "Good choice."
"Can I take you out for dinner?"
You stopped moving the shirts and looked at him. "As a date?"
He chuckled. "That was what I was going for."
"I'm sorry Fred, but I'm not dating right now. I just got out of a relationship a few weeks ago."
"No I get it. How about lunch? Less romantic and we can go as friends."
You looked at the shirts that were in front of you. "Just as friends?"
"Nothing more. I won't even share my dessert or pick you up."
You nodded your head and smiled. "Okay I can do that."
"Great. Meet me here at noon."
"I thought I was going to meet you there."
"The place I want to take you is a two minute walk from here. You can park here and we'll walk over." Before you could argue, a women called for his help. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Your mom walked back over handing you an armful of clothing. "I thought you were using the restroom."
"You knew I was lying now go try these on. I haven't been shopping with my daughter in a long time so if you like anything you try on, I'll buy."
"Mom I don't need anymore clothing and if I did I could pay for it myself."
"I know now shut up and go." She started shoving you toward the dressing rooms.
You tried on multiple dresses, a few fancy tops, some cute mom jeans, and different pairs of shoes ranging from boots to wedges. You looked down and moved the price tag to see the pricing. For one top it was $70.
You peaked your head around the door looking for the brunette lady. "Mom!" You whispered shouted.
She walked into your line of view. "What is it?"
"This stuff is crazy expensive."
"Yeah I know. Fred and his team personally design these clothing. What did you think it was going to cost?"
"Not $70 for one shirt. I need to get this stuff off me before I ruin it somehow." You shut the door and started stripping getting back into your regular clothing. You walked back out ready to hang all the clothing back to their respective racks.
"(Y/n) I said this was my treat. Now we're not leaving here unless you at least get one thing." She put her hands on both her hips and gave you a stern look. Classic mom move.
"What if I didn't like anything?"
She laughed. "I would know it's a lie."
She's right. The clothes were pretty cute. You looked through the items in your arms and pulled out the cheapest one you could find. "Fine this one."
Your mom smiled and took the dress out of your hands. "Want me to help you put anything back?"
"Sure." You handed her the jeans and shoes since they were near each other in the store. When you weren't looking she bought the dress, the mom jeans, and the pair of wedges you tried on. You went up to the register to grab the bag, but it felt heavier than it should. You looked inside and saw the two items you did not choose. "Mom!"
"Let me spoil my favorite daughter."
"I'm your only daughter."
"And?" She turned around before walking out of the store. "Bye Fred." She waved at him and he waved back.
He made eye contact with you. "See you at noon."
You quickly walked out of the store pulling your mom with you. She had a smirk on her face the whole way to the theater.
You put your new mom jeans on with a new top you got with Andi the previous week. Your curly hair was pulled into a ponytail with a few strands falling free from its captive hold.
You kissed your mom on the cheek to say goodbye and headed back to the store you were at yesterday. Fred was already standing outside.
"Are those my jeans?"
You looked down at your pants. "I don't know what you're talking about." He laughed and you looked at the stores window. A poster caught your eye that you didn't see before. "What's this?"
"Oh um well we're trying something new. We're starting to do fashion shows and shoots to promote our clothing. We're looking for people to model for us."
"Found anyone yet?"
He turned and started walking across the street. You followed beside him. "A few people. Why you interested?"
"Me? No." You laughed at the idea of seeing yourself as a model.
"Why not? You're gorgeous. Maybe a little short, but there's heels for that."
Thinking about walking in front of people now with heels on made you laugh again. The image always ended with you falling off the catwalk or stumbling in your heels. "No I'm perfectly fine. I also live two hours from here."
He shrugged his shoulders and opened the door for you. "Well if you change your mind let me know."
"Unlikely."
You two sat down at a table and started looking through the menu.
"So this breakup you mentioned. Does this other person happen to be Tom Holland?"
You put your menu down, but he kept looking through his. "Yeah it does."
"I only know because I saw the premiere pictures from last year. Crazy that the girl I met on the plane who says she's meeting a friend was actually going as the date to a movie premiere with the lead actor. Not even that, you dated him."
"Not like that's an accomplishment."
He put his menu down and met your eye. "I don't know. I think it could be."
The waitress came over and took your orders. When she left, you both sat there in silence before he spoke up. "Your breakup wouldn't have anything to do with Olivia announcing to the world that he's the father to her child would it? I mean his business really becomes the world's business doesn't it?"
"Our breakup was personal. Can we talk about something else? I don't want to continue on with this subject."
"Yeah of course. I'm sorry. I was just curious."
Fred tried his hardest to change the atmosphere between the two of you. He was cracking jokes, telling stupid stories to try to make up for upsetting you. For the most part it was working. He really was an interesting guy with funny stories.
You both walked back to the store together. He kept his promise and made the whole lunch seem like it was just two friends getting a bite to eat. You thanked him and you went your separate ways.
When you got home, your mom questioned you about the whole outing. You had to remind her multiple times that it meant nothing. You still weren't fully over Tom and didn't want to rush into anything if you weren't ready.
At night you were scrolling through Instagram. You tried to look up Fred's page, but you couldn't find anything. You went to the next best thing and looked up his store. There it was. The whole page was full of all their clothing and pictures of the different locations.
You saw the same picture as the poster from earlier. You started thinking about how you would be as a model even as a low profile one. You were struggling to see how it would turn out. You ignored the thoughts and clicked follow. No later than three minutes he followed you back along with his personal page.