Page 25 of Love Bites

“Well, we’ve not really discussed the ballpark offer he made me,” I replied as I tucked my cape under my butt so it would stop flapping around. “She went off with Edgar and then when she came back we had our fight. See, the thing is though she hates the Brauning family. But I know for a fact that she has no real retirement plan. Just social security and that’s not much. If we sell she would be set. No worries, no need to keep workingforever just to get a few extra bucks from the government. She could go back to France if she wanted. She always says she would like to return home for her golden years. I could do all that for her and have some cash for myself. Maybe find another place to open up a new shop. But I wouldn’t have my recipes if I sell them to Phillip. Fuck. I don’t know. But then she and Edgar have hit it off and are dating now.” The foursome sitting with me looked like a gentle breeze would blow them over. “Right? I mean it’s insane but she looks so happy now. And Edgar seems…well, he’s German like Phillip and they don’t seem to emote like the French do. Or me for that matter but I am part French so…” I drew in a breath. I knew I was rambling but the crack in the dam was now a large fissure. “Anyways, so maybe she would want to move back to Europe more now. Germany is closer to France then to the states. But yeah, so they’re dating and Phillip and I kind of…”

“Did you sleep with him?” Conor, who’d recovered faster from the Mamie and Edgar bombshell, asked. He’d probably had some sort of training on how to deal with a hysterical candymaker.

“Dude, no, of course he didn’t. He hates the guy,” Ryan quickly interjected. A dragonfly zipped past, shades of blue and green on his long body catching my eye. “Right? Haider?”

I shrugged. Ryan fell back into the grass with a groan. Sam gave me a meek but understanding smile. Conor plucked at the ripped knee of his jeans. Ben looked awkwardly at the sky.

“I think I really like him, guys,” I confessed on a whisper the wind picked up and carried skyward. Would it reach Phillip? Did I care? Was he using sex to secure a deal? Did I really think that or was I so scared of my future that I purposely sabotaged every man I met who showed any interest? And Phillipwasinterested. I’d never had such amazing sex. Ever. You could not fake that kind of raw passion. Gah. Had I just answered myself?

“Wow,” Ryan said as he stared at the clouds. “Do those German men have some sort of magical romance powers?”

“To be honest Phillipisquite good-looking. Then there’s that accent.” Sam looked at me and I nodded. “And no, I’m not interested in Phillip. I love Ben. But I also have two working eyes. The guy is hot.”

“So hot,” I sighed then tucked my feet under my rump. “But should I let go of my dream over some sexy man? I mean all I want is a profitable shop. A house for me and the cats would be nice. I’m just so tired and stressed trying to juggle it all…” I started to grow weepy again. “Shit, damn it. Okay, nope, no more tears. Right. Phew.” I blew out a breath. “Also, Phillip is handsome and he knows it, and I think he knows that I know that he’s really beautiful so is he using that to his advantage?”

“Probably. When I ran into him outside the bank he was far too metropolitan for this area,” Ryan huffed.

“So we hold the fact that the man dresses well against him?” Conor enquired and got a shrug from Sam and Ryan. “Okay, fine, so anyone not in flannel or a Fisher Cats tee is suspect. Got it.”

They fell into a heated debate. I broke into the discussion. I didn’t want anyone fighting anymore. Ryan and I seemed to be on somewhat better ground now I’d melted down like a popsicle on an August day. We still needed to sort out where his head was but we would get to that. We always did.

“I just have to think is all. Clear my head. And go into this next meeting with Phillip with a solid grasp of what I hope to do in the future.” I plucked at the edge of my cape to pull a green burdock from the hem. “The problem is I don’t know what the future holds.”

“None of us do, Haider. We’re all just bouncing along in the wake of that big old boat called destiny,” Ryan offered.

“Okay, that was deep,” Sam said to Ryan.

Conor, Ben, and I nodded along.

“Well, you have time,” Conor offered. “Think about what you hope to gain if you sell to Phillip. Make a list. Pros and cons. And talk with Mamie. As for Phillip, we can’t tell you how to handle that.”

“Since when?” Sam asked.

We all blushed. We did seem to like to get into each other’s personal affairs. That was what friends did, right?

“If you think he’s just stringing you along then tell him to head back to Germany. We’ll help you out financially any way we can, you know that.” Sam gave my knee a squeeze. I patted his work-roughened hand. Then I grabbed it. “If you feel that he cares and you just blew things out of proportion because you’re in flux then maybe apologize for calling him a user? Maybe bring him flowers and a bottle of wine. No candy.”

“Damn, that’s my go-to,” I sighed before pushing to my feet. “Okay, I feel a little better. Thanks guys. I’m sorry for crying all over our special Conor slash Jedi day. Let’s go back to the bridge. I think you three good guys owe the villain a good trouncing.”

As it turned out, a trouncing turned out to be us forgoing the lightsabers and peeling down to our briefs to jump into the deep fishing hole under the bridge. Just like when we were kids. Ben begged off yet again. Guess he would have to work up water sparring. We shouted, splashed, and had epic battles with me on Ryan’s shoulders battling Sam on Conor’s. If Mamie would have seen us she would have laughed lightly then made a comment about how inside every man lives the little boy he never truly left behind. Being knocked off into the water was fun. The play helped wash away the stress, even if for a little bit.

The dunking felt good. The laughter of my friends felt even better.

FESTIVALS WERE NOTHINGnew to me.

Growing up in Germany, we had our fair share of celebrations from the famed Oktoberfest in Munich to the Cologne Carnival/Kölner Karnival to the charming Cannstatter Volksfest. We have rock, music and film festivals. We Germans enjoy our parties as much as the next country. This little Founders Day festivity was incredibly homey. No, it was not on par with our Oktoberfest, not by several miles, but the small-town American charm of the goings-on could not be denied.

Edgar and I arrived around noon. The day was warm, not overly hot, with a sky the shade of a certain chocolatier’s eyes. Those same eyes that had haunted me nightly. Hell, they haunted me daily as well. Haider’s accusation had sliced deep. I’d opted to maintain a distance to let things cool. The same philosophy had been applied to Opa. I’d not replied to his calls for the past three days. His head was likely to explode soon. Good. I was upset with him for his refusal to try to approach this Harmony Chocolates predicament from a different angle. Sometimes, in order to acquire that which you sought, one must be willing to bend. Bend was a word my grandfather was unfamiliar with.

Gladly, I was not. Modern business required being able to think outside the box. And to that end I had spent the last three days recalibrating not only the business aspect of this potential acquisition but the personal side of it. With time to mull, and apply liberal amounts of self-bolstering balm to my wounded ego, I’d arrived at a crossroads of sorts. Today, with the blessings of a few deities, I would be able to move forward. One way or another. Things with Haider would either be resolved and we would see where this wild mutual attraction took us or we would resume our previous relationship. I was hoping we would be able to work past the rather large chocolate elephant in the room and try to romance each other.

That, of course, would be up to him. All I could do was lay out my current proposal and see if he was interested in a joint venture. Perhaps it would do me good to stop thinking of Haider and I as if we were a merger.

“You seem lost in thought again, Phillip,” Edgar said at my side. I nodded. He’d sat through a few days of me pacing, muttering, and fussing over options. His steady aura, as well as the cups of coffee and rich butter cake he brought me every afternoon, had been a boon. “I’m sure the new train of thought will suit Mr. Gray once he hears it.”

“Perhaps.” We strolled down Main Street, both dressed casually, stopping to purchase little trinkets from each booth in the name of supporting small businesses. Despite the accusations of my being a money-grubbing millionaire I did believe in a thriving economy for all entrepreneurs. I just wanted my company to thrive the most. If that made me a tycoon or magnate then I could wear that title with pride.

We took our time, spending money liberally, even stopping at the booths of the maple syrup farm, the woodworker, and the local fire company. Each of those three stalls were decidedly chilly, which was funny for a firefighter tent. I donatedgenerously to the Caldwell Crossing Fire Department. Conor, protective friend of Haider number one thanked me curtly. The firehouse dog, and charming spotted Dalmatian name Eldi, was much happier to see me. The maple man, Sam by name, sold me some maple syrup in a pretty glass decanter but he was not overly happy about it. And the woodworker, Ryan, looked as if he had been sucking lemons when I bought two beautifully carved wooden roses.

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