Charlotte woke up on Friday morning with a smile on her face and went to take a shower. She had taken the day off to relax; she planned to get coffee before she headed over to Maggie Rose Shines for a workshop. Maggie had gotten her number from Celeste and invited her to come in for a special workshop. She wouldn’t tell her why it was special but it seemed like as good a reason as any to stop by and visit the bubbly shop owner.

She took a little bit of time when she got out of the shower and put on some makeup and pulled her hair back with a flowered headband. As she left the bathroom she saw Tiffany on the couch with Jacob.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come along?”, she asked as she tightened the robe she had slipped on after her shower.

“We’ll be fine here”, Tiffany said with a smile, “someone asked to go you know where and I figured why not. We haven’t been there yet this week”, she rolled her eyes. Jacob had asked at least once a day this week to go back to the park where he had made his first friends in Seoul, “besides, it’s probably better if he isn’t in a place where he can make a huge mess with glitter and stuff.”

Charlotte laughed and agreed, “Well, I’m going to get ready. You guys have a good day.” She went into her room and pulled out an outfit quickly and dressed so she didn’t have to rush to get to Hongdae. When she came back out they had already left so she slipped her shoes on, grabbed her orange tote and slipped her phone into it, grabbed her keys off the hook by the door and left. She drove over to Beautiful Coffee and when she went inside she was surprised to not see Celeste behind the counter. The girl that was there instead seemed to know exactly what she wanted before she ordered it.

“The SHCJ, right?”, the girl grabbed a venti cup and turned away to start the drink.

“How did you know?”, Charlotte said with a laugh as she dug her wallet out of her bag.

“Miss Shea said it was your favorite and you usually get it on Fridays before work.”, the girl said as she pulled the quad shots of espresso that would make up the caffeine in the drink.

“She’s right about that, except today I don’t have to work”, Charlotte said and breathed deep as the smell of strong coffee filled the air.

The girl added the iced chai and vanilla and hazelnut syrups to the cup before she poured in the espresso, “I hope you enjoy your day off”, she popped a cap on the drink and exchanged it for Charlotte’s debit card, which went through without a hitch. Charlotte signed her receipt and left after she she thanked her.

She sipped the coffee carefully as she drove and she hummed happily under her breath. Her mood had improved drastically over the course of the week; getting the money stuff taken care of and talking to Jinnie on a semi regular basis, still via text of course, had made her feel like she could let out the breath she had been holding ever since she had started divorce proceedings with her ex. As she pulled onto the narrow street that Maggie’s shop was on she noticed that there wasn’t very many cars parked in front of it. She parked and looked in the windows before she went it. She saw Maggie, Celeste and a tall redhead she had never seen before, but who somehow looked familiar. She opened the door, the rest of her coffee in hand and waved.

“I made it!”, she called out and went over to greet the women.

Maggie was dressed comfortably but still managed to look super cute. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun with curls trailing down to her neck and plastic semi-colon earrings that looked they they were made of plastic. As she read her shirt she started to laugh, “That shirt is perfect for you, Maggie.”

“Isn’t it?”, Maggie said as she grabbed an apron and tied it in the back after she slipped it over her head, “It was a present from Minwoo.”

“And no wonder you weren’t at the cafe when I stopped to get coffee”, Charlotte said to Celeste, who leaned against a counter and held up bottles of glitter to the light to look at them. Celeste smiled at her and blushed slightly.

“She told me to keep it a secret”, the shy woman said softly and went back to the glitter. She had a huge secret and she was worried that if she talked anymore than that, she would spill it without a thought.

“And I’m Kaye”, the redhead stuck her hand out and took Charlotte’s coffee-less hand, “it’s nice to finally meet you.” Charlotte took her hand and shook it as she tried to figure out why she looked familiar. As she stared Kaye furrowed her brow.

“What, did I spill something on my shirt?”, she looked down and shrugged, “nope. So spill, why are you staring at me like that?” Charlotte flushed bright red and ducked her head slightly.

“I just can’t figure our where I’ve seen you”, Charlotte said softly.

“You guys didn’t tell her you were friends with Eric’s girlfriend? How rude!”, she fake pouted.

“Oh…… that’s it! I remember seeing you on that show they did. I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you”, Charlotte said apologetically and reached out to shake her hand again.

“I’m Charlotte, it’s nice to meet you, Kaye.”

The redhead let out a brash chuckle and shook the offered hand, “Don’t worry about it, I’m sure you will see more than enough of me before long.” Maggie let out a snort and shook her head.

“Yeah but least your only here until tomorrow. Then it’s back to work in the States for you. I’m glad you could come for the dress fitting even with your schedule.” Maggie slipped an arm around her shoulder and hugged her.

“You always know how to butter me up, brat”, Kaye said with a husky chuckle, “plus I’m the boss so I can take off whenever I need to.”

Charlotte looked around, “So are there other people coming for the workshop?”

“Nope, just the four of us. Its a special workshop so we can all make a birthday present for Jinnie”, Maggie said with a grin and Charlotte slapped her head. That’s right! It’s Jinnie’s birthday, which meant the fan meet she couldn’t get tickets to because of her ex’s stunt was tomorrow night. Her mood dropped a little and the others noticed. Celeste got flustered and almost dropped a bottle of glitter but Maggie smiled and took it from her hands.

“You don’t wanna do that. It will take forever to clean it up and I ain’t gonna be the one cleaning it up”, she set the glitter back on the table and clapped her hands cheerfully.

“Okay, let’s get started. I’ve got molds in the back. We are doing UV resin today because it takes less time that regular two part resin”, she turned and went to the back room while everyone grabbed an apron and went to sit at a table that had lots of glitter and other stuff to embed in the resin pieces.

“So what do you do back in the States?”, Charlotte asked Kaye as they picked up different things and looked at them while they waited.

“I work with a few different venues as an event planner in New York”, the redhead replied happily. “Who knew that working with Shinhwa would inspire me to work for myself.”

“Wow, the three of you are so independent, no wonder the amazing men of Shinhwa fell for you”, Charlotte said with a giggle.

“We’ve heard a little bit about you but what can you tell us that they didn’t”, Maggie said as she walked back into the room with a plastic bin full of molds.

“Um….. I like to dance when I’m not busy working….. I was teaching a children’s dance class before my son joined me here. I gave it up because I wanted to spend time with him”, Charlotte said with a smile.

Celeste relaxed a little and went to help Maggie with the box. They took it to an empty table and dumped it out and silicone and plastic molds spilled out everywhere.

“Have you ever worked with resin, Char?”, Maggie said cheerfully, shortening the woman’s name.

Charlotte shook her head, “No, I never had time before Jacob was born and then I was worried about the chemicals. I’ve heard of it at least. And I have those pieces I bought from you that time.” She smiled at the way Maggie used her nickname, it made it feel more comfortable and even like a part of the close group of friends.

Maggie got down to business and started to explain the process of working with UV resin. It was actually pretty simple; the molds were filled quickly and Maggie the UV lamps she kept on a shelf and they cured the pieces. When they took a break, Maggie ran next door to the cafe beside her shop and got food and drinks for everyone and they sat around and ate while they talked.

“So how long have you two known each other?”, Charlotte’s question was directed at the redhead and her petite friend next to her.

“It seems like a long time but we really only met in 2015 when we roomed together for KCON in LA”, Kaye replied. “I almost smacked her the first time we met. Another friend picked me up at the airport and Maggie was hiding in the backseat of the car and I didn’t see her until I got in. She jumped out and hugged me.” (this really happened lol or some version of it, things were a