Page 74 of Semi Sweet
Someday this will all be easier;
We won’t have to hide.
Soon it won’t matter.
Life can officially start.
You can have it all–
You already have my heart.
Don’t worry,
Don’t shed a tear.
I’m coming back,
Have no fear.
I still marveled at the fact he could make rhymes work so easily. At the bottom of the page was his sloppy handwriting. My eyes went wide at the lewd suggestions. I finished the cupcake as I dialed his number, knowing he was driving, but his fancy rental car had bluetooth.
“Hello?” I could hear in his voice that he must have known why I was calling.
“So you’re just dropping the gentleman act completely?” I asked as I flopped onto the couch.
“A gentleman on the streets,” he replied.
“DO NOT finish that sentence,” I ordered.
Sean laughed. “What did you think of the cupcake?”
“One for theSemi SweetBakerycase for sure.”
We ended up talking the remainder of his ride back to Denver and I got to bed later than I was planning. I fell asleep, hopeful for my future and praying thirty days went by quickly.
Chapter Thirty-Two: It’s Really You
Sean
I’dspentthelastfew days training Charlie, my assistant manager, to be my replacement. I had my concerns because the man could barely hear, but somehow he made it work. I felt bad that I didn’t care more–Cash Value Market could go bankrupt and I wouldn’t feel bad. I’d gotten what I needed from the ordeal.
Well, that wasn’t exactly true. I was happy for my crew. Beth had expressed interest in the assistant manager position and I’d been more than happy to recommend her to Gio Quittero. Honestly, I’d tried to convince her to come work for me in Aspen, but she reminded me I’d probably get in trouble for poaching Cash Value Market employees. That, and she didn’t go anywhere without Max. Apparently, they had a thing going on. I wondered if I’d helped that move along because they were helping me find love. Just like I would never be able to thank my mother for everything she did to help Olivia, I’d probably never be able to fully express what Beth and Max did for me, as well. I’d tried, though. I’d bought all my employees lunch earlier that week and gotten the pair whatever they wanted.
Now all that was left was packing up my things and handing in my uniform. The whole thing felt a bit surreal. I figured it would have been years before I was leaving the grocery store chain for my own place, yet here I was. I’d been sharing pictures of the progress being made everyday with anyone willing to listen, taking care to not mention my father and Olivia were doing the work.
The place was cleaned and painted. The unit owner had fixed the bathroom, so once I returned to Aspen, I’d be able to pick out the case, decide how I’d set up the kitchen, and start planning what my brand would look like. As I took the photograph of the storefront, my storefront, off the wall, it was still hard to believe. I also took down the picture of my parents and the picture of Bear and placed them in a small box along with my culinary school diploma and my bluetooth speaker. The picture of Bear also made me stop and think. It had once been a picture with Katie that I’d torn her out of when I’d learned the truth about her. It had hurt so much at the time. Now it didn’t matter.
It had been a long thirty days, and I was delayed a few more because the person taking over my apartment couldn’t move in until the middle of the week. At least I was done with Cash Value Market after today. I was talking to Olivia on the phone every night, but it was starting to get hard. I assumed people had worse scenarios when it came to long distance, but that didn’t stop me from being irritated about it. I told myself I’d gone months with just writing her notes and giving her cupcakes. She’d lived in my apartment for awhile and I’d been somewhat fine. But now that there were no pretenses or restrictions, I couldn’t believe I had to be hundreds of miles away.
“Hey, I’m done for the day,” a voice brought me back to my senses.
Beth was standing in the small hallway between the backroom and the area behind the display case. They had been checking in with me like this since the day I started, something the old manager used to make them do.
“It’s your last shift, right?” she asked.
I nodded. “Yup. When I leave in a few hours, you are officially assistant manager.”
She smiled at me. “Thank you so much for the opportunity. I promise I’ll make you proud. And you’ll have to tell me when you open up your shop. Max and I will make the trip to check it out.”
