Love De Luna

Luna Vallei Head of Arborist Operations Dear Mrs. Adelaine, Thank you for your continued patronage over the last 4 years. While I have enjoyed assisting you with maintaining your landscaping needs, and have appreciated your generosity to my team and I, it has come to my attention that you have not settled your last 3 invoices. Currently, the amount that is due is $3,352.89. If this amount is not received by 7:00pm 10/01/2024, I will have to discontinue services until your invoice is settled. Please understand that while we do not intend to cause any disruption in your services, we cannot continue to meet your lawn care needs while this issue exists. Kindly, Luna and Associates LLC. Luna looked at the letter in her hand, wondering if this was going to come across too aggressively to the kind older woman it was intended for. It's true that Mrs. Adelaide had not settled her bill for 3 months, but to be fair, the lady's husband had just passed away, and she's currently in mourning. Luna sighed deeply and crumpled the letter, tossing it in the nearby trash can. What's one more month? The company had been doing well, better than it has ever been since expanding to Los Angeles in the spring. Sure, some clients were behind on some invoices, but even having those issues, the profits were skyrocketing, morale was high, and Luna did not needed to supervise operations too closely, which meant extra free time for herself. “I wonder what Milo is doing tonight. I could use a night out", Luna murmured to herself while pulling out her phone. She shot a quick text to her best friend to set up plans for the evening before sliding the phone back into her pocket. Milo has been Luna's ride or die since the Sophomore year of high school. They went to the same college, both experimented with dating around, and ultimately coming out within days of each other. Milo was the friend that everyone wished they could have, they were loyal, hilarious, and they felt like family. Luna knew Milo might already have plans since she was reaching out at the last second, but it was worth a shot. It wasn't a minute later that she got a response. Milo:" 8pm, Loft place on 5th ??" Luna:" Hell yeah, I'll meet you there!" Milo: "Sick." Milo was so straightforward at texting. It was lovely, there was nothing worse than having to interpret what something "might" mean through a text, but at the same time, she refused to call people... That's just too much work. Luna got up from her chair and headed towards the door to her office. There were a few locations she had to hit up before her day was over, and she wanted to get it over with so she could call it quits. She checked her list to see where to head to first and was pleased when she read "Martins Plaza". This was an easy job and might not even need her attention at all depending on the foliage growth. Luna was an arborist, and spent most of her day going to different locations to manage plant growth on power lines, and businesses. If the growth was deemed too much, it was her job to trim it back to an acceptable point. This helped maintain building structures, kept store signs clear and easy to read, and helped limit the amount of electrical equipment decay due to organic interference. There was more that went into being an arborist, but that is what she had staff for. They took care of the other aspects of services offered by her company. Besides, being the boss needed to have some perks. As Luna got in her car she glanced over to her right and saw a person struggling to get into their car… or where they struggling to break into the car? It was unclear, but regardless, this person was struggling. Luna paused for a few seconds before deciding if she should just drive or if she should do something and, ultimately, it seemed like a good idea to see if there was anything she could do for them. Luna got out of the car and approached the stranger. She cleared her throat and the person now in front of her stopped what they were doing abruptly and turned. "Um, can I help you?" The stranger asked confused. "That's actually what I came over to ask you", Luna responded, "I can see your struggling there, what seems to be the problem?". If she's trying to break into the car, at least this might deter her. "So not that it's your business, but I just rented this car and I don't think the dealer got me the right key. Why, do you think I'm breaking into it in broad daylight?" The girl responded with a bit of snark. Obviously Luna was WAY off.. Or not? It was hard to tell. " Oh my gosh I am so sorry if I offended you, I just saw someone trying to get in a car, and it seemed like it was taking longer than it should, and I couldn't just sit there without seeing if I could do anythin-" Luna started to ramble off but was cut short by: "Yeah, thanks. I got the vibe. I'm not breaking in, I'm all set." "Oh- gotcha… sorry I'm just gonna… I'm gonna go" Luna said with a stammer, and then turned and immediately got into her car. That was incredibly embarrassing. Luna quickly started the car and drove off towards her work location. Her mind spent the first 10 minutes of the ride replaying the interaction and the next 10 minutes after that imaging how she wished she, could have handled that. As the head of her company, she was used to confrontation, but this took her completely off guard. Did she think that person was stealing that car? Maybe... but damn. She didn't have to go off like that. She could not wait to debrief this with Mel because right now she had no idea how to even begin processing what just happened. As she pulled into the parking lot of Martin's Plaza Luna considered calling Milo to go over what had just happened, but decided against it since Milo was probably also working and usually couldn't talk on the phone during working hours. She instead, took a few deep breaths, centered herself, and opened the door. Lilah "Thank you, although I appreciate your apologies, I really need to head out" Lilah said quickly to the clerk at the dealership who was actively trying to apologize again for the confusion with the rental cars. "Again Miss, I deeply apologize for the mistake in providing you with the wrong key. I will be giving you a 10% discount on your rental with us. Please have a great rest of your day", the clerk responded. Lilah scooped up the now correct key and made her way back out to the parking lot. She was already delayed because of her flight and the issue with the rental was the icing on top of her already frustrating start to the day. Not only was she late for her first day at her new job, but she had been accused of stealing a car at 10am on a Wednesday. Today was just not her day. She finally got into the car and punched in the address to her workplace on the console. It should only take 25 minutes to arrive but who knows whats going to happen on the way there. She pulled out onto the street and then heard her phone buzzing on the seat next to her. The display read “Malcolm” and panic set in as she scrambled to answer the phone call from her boss. Lilah: “Hey Malcolm, what’s up?” Malcolm: “ Good morning Lilah, or should I say good afternoon… I was expecting you at the office for 9am, what’s the delay?” Lilah: “I am so sorry for the hold up, my flight was delayed and I had issues with the rental car once I did get here but I am on my way now and I’ll be there soon.” Malcolm: “Good to hear, I was starting to wonder if you stayed back in New York.” Lilah: “Stay in New York? When such an amazing opportunity is waiting for me here in Sunny LA? I wouldn’t dream of it.” She hoped he didn’t pick up the sarcasm in her voice but then again, he usually hadn’t in the past. Malcolm: “Wel I look forward to seeing you when you arrive, talk soon.” Lilah: “ Likewise, talk soon.” As soon as she hung up she gasped trying to inhale as much air as possible. She completely forgot to breathe the entire call and felt dizzy. At least he wasn’t mad… right? He didn’t seem mad.. “Well, we will figure out soon enough. As long as things start going right today” Lilah thought to herself. THUD She swerved the car abruptly, grabbing the week and trying to get control of the vehicle. Everything in the car crashed to the left side as she swung the car to a stop. What WAS that?! She took a second to center herself and check to make sure she was okay before unbuckling and getting out to check the car. As she walked around the vehicle she looked for any signs of damage until she saw it. A flat tire. She looked back in the road and saw a pointed rock hitting out of the ground, just enough to do some damage on a car… on her car. “WELL GREAT.” Lilah yelled. “As if this day couldn’t get any worse!” She leaned over and started laughing, not that this was funny but rather that of course this would happen to her. Of COURSE she would get a flat tire. Of COURSE this day just kept getting worse! “Hey uh, are you okay??” A voice behind her said. She whipped around and her mouth dropped when she saw the person standing in front of her.