The smoothie was terrible no wonder Olivia had eaten those fries so fast. yoga classes before she got into the office. ever since law school graduation, so she did things like drink green smoothies and go to seven a.m. when they left for a meeting together, and Olivia had laughed at her. Oh right, Ellie had handed her some sort of green smoothie at eleven a.m. She inhaled her salad and half of her fries as soon as they arrived, and realized she couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten. When her martini arrived, she raised it to Krystal in thanks, and silently toasted herself. She was thrilled to be back in California, it was great to have Ellie as her partner, and it felt incredible to be her own boss, finally, after all these years. She’d been on an adrenaline high from the moment she walked into the office that morning-hell, from the moment her plane had landed last week. But, God, she’d loved every minute of her workday today. the night before and worried for an hour. She was still terrified about that-so much so that she’d woken up at four a.m.

Olivia had spent the last month anxious she’d made the wrong decision, about both the move and starting a new firm. After years of considering it, she’d moved from New York to L.A., and she and her friend Ellie had formed their own law firm: Monroe & Spencer. “Nine at night, so yes, I’ve earned that martini. “Well, I left the hotel at eight this morning, and I’m just getting back now at. Olivia laughed and twisted her mass of dark curly hair up into a knot on top of her head. How was work today? You look like you’ve earned this martini.” “And a Caesar salad and a large order of fries.” “Yes please.” Olivia slipped off her blazer. Olivia had been staying in this hotel for a week now, ever since she’d packed all of her worldly belongings and flown out to L.A. “Hendrick’s martini, two olives?” Krystal asked her, already filling the cocktail shaker with ice. Better to get the best version of both and a conversation with Krystal the bartender that had nothing to do with intellectual property or law.

Fries always arrived soggy and martinis never arrived chilled enough. She’d almost gone straight to her room to put on one of those cozy hotel robes and order room service to eat on her bed, but what she wanted more than anything tonight was a huge pile of french fries and an ice-cold martini, and she knew from experience that room service was the least optimal way to get both of those things. Thank God for a friendly face after such a long day. Olivia Monroe sat down at the hotel bar and grinned at the bartender, who grinned back.

Party of two by jasmine guillory