Page 72 of Love You, Mean It

“Bad luck, I think.” Sam smeared a blob of gooey cheese onto a crostino. “He got together with this girl Kari maybe…five years ago? She was great, super funny, a filmmaker. Her friends were all so interesting.”

“What happened?”

“Everett’s always wanted kids, Kari realized she was never going to get there. They broke up a while ago, but Everett was pretty messed up by it. At least that’s what mutual friends said. I wasn’t super in the loop.” Sam shrugged. “Anyway, I’m sure he won’t be single for long. I mean…he’s objectively a catch.”

“You’re making me think we should just swap them out once this is over.”

“You could do a hell of a lot worse.” Sam’s expression turned devilish. “Plus, from what I hear, he’sextremelygiving in bed. Holdover from being the nerdy kid who hung around the athletes in high school. Apparently he spent most of junior year perfecting his oral technique with the goal of consistently being able to give women double orgasms.” She waggled her eyebrows.

“Okay, how do you even know that?”

“Kari was a very open person. Besides, that’s the kind of info all womenshouldshare.”

“Did he succeed? At the double orgasm technique?”

“Everett’s nothing if notextremelydriven.”

We both burst into giggles. When they finally subsided, I looked out over the restaurant. On the opposite side of a central register, dozens of undoubtedly tempting smalls arranged on its shelves, was anotherentire restaurant. The fish one, judging by the washy blue walls. I sighed heavily, swirling my cocktail.

“So this is what I’m up against, huh?” I took a huge swig of the drink, the walnut liqueur somewhere in the mix lingering pleasantly. “Kinda makes you want to throw in the towel now.”

“There’s no way you can compete with Mangia directly, we both know that.” Sam propped an elbow on the table, cradling her chin. “Even if you could figure out a way to snag the bulk discounts they’re getting—which is pretty much impossible—they’d always just have moreoptions.”

“Wow, you’rereallymaking me feel better about this.”

“Sorry, side effect of the job. There’s no room for blowing smoke when you’re the one in charge of the financials.” Sam’s head swiveled, neck elongating. “But you do have something Mangia never will.”

“Besides higher costs per unit?”

“Yup. You’ve gotintimacy.” Sam tipped her drink to the room. “You can see them trying to create it here, with all the micro concepts, the staff trained to greet you informally, but it doesn’t reallyjell. All you have to do is raise your sight line and you remember you’re in a food warehouse. And honestly? Having fifty thousand choices for each type of good doesn’t lead to more purchases, there’s solid research on it.”

“So, what, I’m gonna win on lack of choice and scrappiness?”

“Whatwe’regonna do is make sure you’re never actually in direct competition.” Sam raised an eyebrow meaningfully. “But in the meantime, it wouldn’t hurt to steal the things that are working. The recommendation cards, maybe, or the way they group goods into little sections, so people have the sense that they’re being really discerning about what are totally non-necessity purchases.”

“Just don’t make me start offering gift wrap.”

“Okay, heard, but have you ever considered giftbasketsat the holidays? I’m definitely not the only person who’s too lazy to plan ahead.”

“That’s…a really good idea.” I blinked rapidly, head whirling with possibilities. “You could actually do them for special events year-round. Housewarmings. Maybe a date night package? Like…everything you need for a picnic.”

“Oh my god,yes.” Sam’s eyes went saucer-wide. “Every dude in a hundred-mile radius would pay a premium for that. ‘I just thought a picnic would be romantic, sweetie,’ but without any effort whatsoever.”

Excitement sprouted deep in my chest. I’d been making changes to the deli since I got back, some of them fringy, some larger, but this was one of the first that felt like it wouldn’t just improve the bottom line, it would befun. And it wouldn’t require any new machinery or product lines, just some creativity on my end. I could even whip up some simple checked picnic blankets, maybe throw in matching napkins, your entire evening both planned out and social-media-ready with one artfully arranged purchase.

Actually…napkins would be smart, period. Offer a mix of designs, tie them up in sets of four with butcher’s twine, and handwrite a fancy tag on card stock to complete the picture. If I started with scrap fabric when I got home, I could have a dozen within an hour. And aprons were pretty easy, too. Plus, a mix of fabric patterns would make them feel festive…

I grinned. It had never occurred to me that I could use my sewing skillsforthe deli, but the possibilities were limitless. And kind of exhilarating.

“I know you just got a pretty fancy offer from Ted, but are yousureyou wouldn’t rather work as an adviser to an extremely small deli? Once we drive out the excessively large mega-deli-plus-everything-else-ever, that is?”

“Hmm. Tempting.” Sam curled her forefinger around her chin, feigning deep consideration.

“Let me sweeten the pot: I can pay you in salami. Thegoodstuff.”

“Bonuses in dry goods, I’m assuming.”

“Obviously. We offer all the standard benefits at Greco’s.”

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