Pleasurable Expectations

f o r t y - s e v e n

"Happy birthday, Kiki!" Adrienne shouted as soon as our call connected.

"Thanks, Ri," I said with a chuckle.

"So, what have you been up to on your special day?" She leaned towards the camera.

I pulled my lips to the side and said, "Working."

"Kiara Suns? Working on her birthday?" Adrienne's eyes widened a fraction. "I move, and everything changes!"

I heaved a sigh and pursed my lips. "Believe me, I don't want to be working on my birthday. But, Trinity Thomas gave me a week to come up with a plan to counter all the bad press she's been getting, and my deadline is tomorrow."

"She's the one you told me about, right? The one whose ex went on a smear campaign after they broke up?"

"Yup," I said, popping the 'P.' "And he did not make it easy—every dirty detail was dragged into the spotlight."

"That sucks!" Adrienne threw her hands down, a pout on her lips. "I was gonna tell you to have fun for me. I figured Sienna would have something extravagant planned."

"For herself, maybe," I said with an eye roll. "She's in Dubai right now living it up."

While I was stuck coming up with a multi-layered plan to redeem Trinity's reputation, Sienna was on a different continent with King...on my birthday! Every year our group would get together and do something big, whether it be a soiree, a cross country or continent trip, or a high-end club crawl. Now it feels like we're all out in the world doing our own thing, and it kinda sucked because my birthday was always one of the best days of the year.

"Well, how close are you to finishing your plan?"

"I'm basically done," I said with an easy smile. "I just need to send it to one of my colleagues so a fresh pair of eyes can look at it."

"So send it and be done!" There was a shuffling on the other end as Adrienne switched positions. "It may be nighttime here, but your day is still young."

"You're right," I said as I pulled up my email.

"I am," she said as she nodded decisively. "Your and Si's birthdays are always the highlights of the year, and I'd hate to see that tradition change."

I smiled sweetly into the camera as I drafted and sent my email. It was only a little after noon, so there was still plenty of time for me to get into trouble for my twenty-fourth. And I'm almost positive if I called Hannah and Desiree, they'd be down to do something. They were just as surprised as Adrienne when I told them I had nothing planned for today.

"I'm gonna text the group chat right now to see if Han and Dez are busy."

"You know they left their day open for whatever you have planned," Adrienne stated.

A knock sounded at the door. I moved to answer it as I said, "They better. Like you said, my birthday is the highlight of the year."

"One of," she emphasized as I pulled open the door.

My features pinched together in confusion as I looked around, nobody at the door. I looked down, and there was a plain white box on my doorstep. "Oh?"

"Who was it?"

"Well, nobody." I picked up the box and placed it on the coffee table.

"Dang, you got ding dong ditched?"

"Nah, somebody left a box."

"What?" There was panic in Adrienne's voice as she continued, "Kiki, don't open the random box left on your doorstep!"