Nicole

"So, how do we fix this now?"

"Nic, this happens. It just happens, especially to first time writers. You're still finding your ground in the writer's world." Diane gently ran her hand down my back, soothingly. "Do me a favor and don't stress about it. Please."

I wrapped my fingers around the red lipstick I found and brought it close to my face, inspecting it, as if that was what was really on my mind.

"It's kinda hard not to." I spoke my honest confession out loud.

My book did so well in the first two months after its release. The book tour went really well, I feel like I got the book to be talked about outside the US, which was really good and my editor was happy about it as well. However, we're a week away from Christmas now and the sales have been going downhill.

I don't know how this happened. And right on the week before the holidays! This is the time of the year when people buy more gifts, and books are usually a popular gift choice.

However this happened, this was taking a toll on me.

That also might be related to the fact that I'm nearing the end of the first trimester of pregnancy and the emotional rollercoaster is taking over me.

"Nicole?" Diane's palm was swinging up and down in front of my face. I zoned out of my thoughts and turned my head towards her.

"What?"

"You were daydreaming. And give me that." She took the lipstick from my hand and looked at the color code on the edge of the tube. "This is too bright. Let's go find another one."

She grabbed me by the hand and dragged me out of the store, only to walk inside another beauty and make-up store.

Gotta love a good old girls day.

"Now we're talking!" She said after wandering around the lipsticks display and showing me the lipstick of the perfect shade of red she was looking for. "You wanna get one for you too?"

"Yes, please. I'm not gonna spend Christmas without red lipstick on."

This year was going to be different. This would be the very first year that Lucas and I were going to spend the holidays together and we were hosting Christmas dinner at our brand new house as well.

We had signed the contract for the new house and we had finished moving in last weekend. It might seem like it was a little rushed but we wanted to be done with moving before I got too big and wasn't up for anything related to moving in.

It was a little hard saying goodbye to my old apartment, where I had become an adult and started living like one. However, this new house was like a breath of fresh hair for both me and Lucas. It was a new start, it was the symbol of a new beginning for us and our relationship. And also for Sparkles - she was getting bigger, looking like a real adult dalmatian, and she loved running around the backyard and having more space inside the house.

"Speaking of, what time should we be at your place?"

I shrugged my shoulders in indifference as I spied with my little eye a woman standing in the corner of the store, talking to a girl that was a part of the store staff, apparently about an eye shadow that I couldn't decipher which color it was.

"Nicole, what's wrong with you?"

"Shhh!" I immediately said, taking my index finger to my lips.

Diane traced her sight to where my eyes were looking and turned back to me, whispering in my ear. "Who's that?"

"A bitch."

"Do tell." She told me with an interested look. That was Diane, always ready for any kind of gossip.

"Let's just go, I'll order the lipstick online."

I put the lipstick back on the stand and left the store with my best friend behind me. We made our way to our favorite coffee shop and ordered our favorite caramel latte and a plate of donuts to share.

"You wanna tell me what that was all about?" Diane asked, referring to the whole situation at the makeup store, after the waiter brought our order to the table.

"That woman is a colleague of Lucas'. When I went to his office a few weeks ago to surprise him, she was there."

Diane rolled her eyes and I immediately knew what her thought on the subject was. "Oh my God, what a shock! Two colleagues, who work together, in the office together, during work hours."

Sarcasm was Diane's middle name and it showed.

Now it was my time to roll my eyes. "Will you stop? And hear your best friend out?"

"Nic, no matter what you think you saw, I'm calling bullshit. Lucas loves you. You're his whole life, he adores you, he would never do anything to betray you. He's faithful."

"I know, but-"

"I don't think you do." She interrupted me, making me close my mouth and rest my back against the chair in defeat.

"She can be coming onto Lucas as much as she likes, which, to be honest, we can't blame her for, I mean have you met Lucas? He's pretty much the perfect guy. But that doesn't mean anything. Because no matter how many girls are into him, you have to trust him. He will never do anything to hurt you."

When I didn't say anything, she went on.

"The same thing happened when he ran into his ex."

"I'm insecure, okay?!"

"Okay!" Diane's voice became softer as she went on, now that she was done calling me out on my bullshit. "Sweetheart, I know... I know you better than you know yourself, remember that. I just think that, at this point in your life and your relationship, you don't need to be insecure anymore."

"You're right."

"But you still get the right to hate that bitch."

We burst out laughing before eating another donut.

"Hey so, I haven't asked you before but that was mainly because I know that you'll say yes but, Lucas and I are getting married soon and I wanted to know if you'd be my maid of honor?"

Diane's face lit up and a wide smile graced her face. "Aw, Nic! Of course!" After a short break, she added the question that's been on my mind for a while now. "By the way, have you and Lucas decided on a date for the wedding?"

Lucas and I were thinking about getting married while I was still pregnant so we could enjoy some time on our own before the two of us became three. However, the timing was proving to be a challenge.

"We're still debating on that. I've always wanted a summer wedding but by the time summer arrives I'll be way too big. And I definitely don't want that either."

"Nic, you're three months pregnant. You'll be big around the sixth month."

"The wedding dress I have my eye on won't fit me after the next month." I stated bluntly, trying to make my point.

"You have a dress picked out?! Nic, we've been planning and talking about our weddings since we could speak!"

That is true. Diane and I have been talking about our dream weddings since forever, planning them with a lot of detail. And we've always decided that we'd go pick our wedding dresses together, the flowers, the jewelry.

"Calm down... I just looked at it on the website. I was going to try it on plus a bunch others when we'd both go to the store together with my mom."

"I will literally refrain from being your maid of honor if you do that without me." She shot me a glare, meaning her words.

"I won't, I promise!" I said with a giggle. "And if it makes you feel better, I'll send you a picture of the dress so you can have a look."

We continued talking about some of the ideas I had for the wedding and sharing thoughts about them until we finished eating and then went home.

* * *

I heard the sound of Sparkles' nails hitting the floor as she ran to the door, probably because she heard me parking the car in the driveway. She had already gotten used to this new house, getting used to so many sounds and habits.

As I pushed open the front door, her paws met my legs as she jumped on me.

"Hi baby!" I scratched her head before closing the door behind me and walking into the house.

"Hey you." Lucas greeted me with a kiss on my lips. "How was your girls day?"

"It was good." I said as I removed my jacket. "Diane accepted being my maid of honor."

"What a shock!" He said, sarcastically, of course, and I giggled at his comment.

"How was work today?" I asked while making my way to the kitchen, where a marvellous smell of homemade pasta was coming from, with Sparkles following me.

"Another day living the dream." His smile as he said those words will never not make me smile instantly. "I got some news though."

"Oh yeah?" I asked as I sat down on a chair to take off my brown Ugg boots.

"Yeah. We're invited to the Pixar Christmas Party."

"No way! When is it?" I asked with my eyes opened wide and a smile dancing on my lips.

A Pixar Christmas Party? That must be the best office Christmas Party to ever exist!

"Friday night."

Thinking back now, that might have been the reason that bitch Jessica was at the store choosing an eye shadow.

"That sounds so cool. I'm so excited!"

"Yeah, me too. Can you believe that's going to be my very first office Christmas party?" He commented before mixing the tomato sauce with the pasta and then walking back to the living room.

Lucas had always worked for Gems of the Heath, a small jewelry store in Hampstead, London, and it was just him and Henry, the owner of the store, so, they never had a party around the holidays.

"I've been to a few at Diane's firm." I shrugged my shoulders. "It was quite boring, if I'm being honest."

Lucas chuckled at my comment and sat down next to me on the couch. "Really?"

"Yeah, it was just a bunch of know it all lawyers getting way too drunk."

"Diane too?" A cheeky grin was visible on his face.

"Diane never really liked it either. She and I used to stay sober during those parties so we could get as drunk as we'd like at her place afterwards."

He let his head fall back as he laughed out loud. I smiled at the sound and view.

"What?"

"Nothing, it's just... You and Diane are totally the real life version of those best friends we usually see in american movies."

"What's wrong with that?" I threw a pillow at him.

"Nothing! There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, I really love it when I get to see you happy and carefree like I'm sure you are during those nights."

"I love it too, but I won't be getting drunk anytime soon, so... I gotta stick with water and you get to be stuck with boring Nicole for another six months."

"Shut up." He whispered before leaning in and kissing my lips passionately. "You're not boring when you're sober. And, by the way, I heard there's gonna be hot chocolate at the party."

"Ha! Now you got me."

A year ago around this time I was about to embarrass myself, proposing to Lucas while drunk off my face and today we're engaged but still with no date set for the most important day of our lives.

That led me to another question. "Hey, have you talked to your parents about our engagement?"

"I did. I'm waiting on an answer from them. Although, I'm pretty sure they won't come."

"How are you feeling about that?" I asked, unable to control the way my voice was getting softer.

He simply shrugged and rested his back against the cushions of the couch. "It is what it is. I'm not gonna force them to come." He shrugged again and changed the subject, giving me the hint that he didn't want to talk about it anymore. I took that hint. "What else did you and Diane talk about?"

"We talked about how my book isn't doing well. The sales keep going downhill, not even Christmas shopping is helping."

"Hey, do you remember what I told you when we first met?" His soft, sweet, blue eyes captured my brown ones.

"How could I forget?"

"If you write, you're a writer. It doesn't mean if no one buys your books. You're still a writer."

"Thank you." I said before giving him a quick peck on his lips with mine. "You're the best."

He just smiled in response, generating the same reaction in me.

"Diane and I also talked about the fact that we don't have a date set yet." With my elbow resting on the back of the couch, I rested my head on my hand, making it easy for me to look at him in the eye.

"Do you have any ideas?"

I shrugged my shoulders and nodded my head in denial. "I don't know what to do. I don't wanna get married looking too pregnant and I also wanted to get married in the summer... There really isn't a perfect decision we could make now."

His fingers gently ran up and down my arm, soothing me. "I don't care when we get married. All I care about is marrying you, doesn't matter when or how."

The feeling was mutual.

* * * 

Author's Note:

Hi everyone! Finally managed to have a new chapter ready, and I hope you liked this one as much as I liked writing it. You know I'm a sucker for scenes between Nicole and Diane ✨

We're only a few chapters away from the end, which makes me very sad 'cause I don't wanna let Nicole and Lucas go, but also very happy because this is my very first romance story that I am proud of and I'm happy with the way it's ending and how I managed to write it 💕

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Xoxo, Mars