Naughty Resolution - Cassie Cole

1

Laura

“It’s midnight in New York!” my friend Britney shouted. “Look! The ball just dropped!”

We were in a crowded St. Louis bar celebrating New Year’s Eve with the rest of our real estate coworkers. A cheer went up among the crowd as they watched the east coast fireworks on the televisions behind the bar: first Manhattan, then Boston, then Philadelphia.

“This calls for shots!” Britney shouted, holding up three fingers to the bartender.

“No, no, no,” I said with a laugh. “I’m good.”

“You haven’t taken any shots with me tonight!” Britney protested. “Why aren’t you having any fun?”

“I’m having plenty of fun.” I raised my wine glass. “I like to sip my alcohol.”

“Oh come on,” she insisted. “We’re not driving, so we might as well let loose! Take a shot with us! It’ll be your last shot of the year!”

It would be the first shot of the year, I thought. I wasn’t much of a party girl. But then again, we were at a party. The drinks were free—everything was paid for by our real estate agency. If there was ever a time to tie one on…

“Okay, I’ll take a shot,” I said. “To celebrate the great year we had.”

Britney squealed and repeated her order to the bartender. I smiled as I gazed around the bar. It had been a year worth celebrating. My career was finally taking off. The St. Louis housing market was booming, and I was getting more referrals than ever. I was going to take home twice as much in commissions as I had last year.

But despite my successes, I couldn’t shake the feeling something was missing in my life.

Britney’s fiancé shouldered through the crowd and kissed her on the cheek. “What are we celebrating?” Brad asked.

Oh, right. That’s what was missing.

I was still single.

Britney held out shot glasses for each of us. “We’re celebrating the great year we had.”

Brad grinned at her. “It was a swell year, wasn’t it?”

She snorted. “Swell? You sound like someone who grew up in the nineteen-fifties.”

“You love me.” He kissed her, and she wrapped an arm around his neck and gave him a very long kiss back. When she was done she finally raised her glass. “To the best year ever!”

“To the year we found each other,” Brad replied.

I raised my shot glass with them, then tossed it back. The hard liquor burned all the way down my throat, and after swallowing I coughed on the fumes.

That’s why I don’t take shots, I thought while covering my mouth with a napkin.

“Do you think the market will stay strong?” I asked. “This year almost doesn’t seem real. Housing prices went up twenty percent!”

“Stop worrying!” Britney said. “Tonight is for celebrating.”

“Now that we’ve toasted to the past year, what’s in store for us next year?” Brad asked. “Unrelated to the housing market, I mean.”

Britney poked him in the chest. “I can think of one big thing.”

Brad frowned. “Really? Nothing comes to mind.”

“I’ll give you a clue. It involves rings, and a big ceremony…”

“The Olympics?” Brad asked.

She rolled her eyes and turned to me. “Have you made a New Year’s resolution yet?”

I sipped my wine to cover the taste of the liquor. “I don’t make resolutions. I create goals for myself throughout the year instead.”

Britney was buzzed enough that my response barely registered to her. “You should make the same resolution I made last year! Remember?”

I laughed it off. “I’m not going to worry about all that…”

“But it worked!” Britney insisted. She pounded the bartop with her palm. “We were right here in this bar last year, and I told you I was going to spend the new year finding my soulmate. And I did.”

“You did?” Brad asked inquisitively. “I’d love to meet him. I bet he’s a handsome devil.”

Britney giggled at her fiancé and then kissed him again. The two of them were the cutest couple in the world. And if anyone deserved to find their soulmate, it was Britney. She was the sweetest, most caring friend I had ever had.

But I couldn’t help but feel a little envious of what she had.

“Come on!” she repeated. “Do what I did. Make a resolution to find your soulmate.”

“Resolutions should be things you can control,” I replied. “Like exercising three days a week, or learning to play the guitar. Finding my soulmate isn’t completely within my control.”

“Sure it is! You can put yourself out there more. Go to bars and flirt with guys.” She gestured around the bar. “Or get back on that online dating service, and go