Page 76 of Fake It Till We Fall
I swallowed hard and leaned back against the counter. “Well, I’m glad you did, Ollie. I’ve been wanting to talk to you about your plans for the store and throw my hat in the ring to?—”
“About that.” He cut me off. “I wanted to give you a heads-up about what’s going on.”
It was about time, although I didn’t bother saying that.
“Everything’s happened quite quickly,” Ollie went on. “I wasn’t even thinking about selling, to be honest. I mean, things seemed to be running pretty well on their own, and I haven’t felt a need to step inside the store in months. It all seemed pretty good, ya know?”
I did know. There was a reason things were running so well. I knew he didn’t intentionally miss the fact that I was the one who kept things ticking along so smoothly, but still, it stung.
“But when opportunity knocks, you don’t ignore it, ya know what I’m saying?”
“Not really, Ollie,” I said honestly. “Did someone approach you?” A sliver of doubt started to creep in as I worked to decipher exactly what Ollie was telling me.
“Oh yeah, I guess I left that part out.”
“You did.” I tried not to sound frustrated. “What was the opportunity?”
“Homeworks,” he said simply.
And with one word, I felt my dreams start to slip away. I still stood in the kitchen, but I could no longer feel my feet. Blackness crept in around the edges of my vision.
Unaware, Ollie kept talking. “You know the franchise, right? It’s pretty big, and they saw potential in my little store.”
Of course they did.
“When I showed them those numbers you ran for me a few weeks ago, that pretty much clinched it. They were impressed that a little, small-town, independent store like ours could be pulling those kinds of numbers without corporate backing. They made me an offer a few days ago.”
And just like that, the bottom fell out of whatever hope I had left. “They…” I cleared my throat. “They made you an offer?”
“Sure did. A damn good one, too.”
Right. I would never be able to compete with an offer from a major franchise. Sure, I had a business plan and a savings account to take to the bank for a loan. But there was no chance in hell my offer could come anywhere close to what they could do.
It was over.
“Grayson? You still there?”
I blinked and tried to focus. “Yeah,” I said, not recognizing my voice. “I’m still here. What were you saying?”
“I was just saying that when I got your message the other night, I was surprised. I didn’t even realize you were interested in the store.”
“I tried to mention it the other day,” I said. “When you told me you’d decided to sell. Of course, I had no idea Homeworks was interested.”
“You did? I really am sorry, Grayson. I didn’t even?—"
“You didn’t even suspect that I might want to talk about it?” I scrubbed my hand over my face, trying in vain to hang on to some level of composure before it all crumbled away. “Really? After all these—” I stopped myself. There was no point burning a bridge because I was upset. Instead, I swallowed hard. “Yeah. I was… No, Iaminterested, Ollie. That store’s been a big part of my life and…a franchise? Really?”
“I’m sorry, Grayson. I didn’t realize you were interested in buying. All these years, you never said anything.”
I’d assumed he knew. All the extra hours I’d put in. The unpaid time on weekends and holidays. The research into new products and services that we’d brought in. But I’d neversaidanything. That was on me.
“I wish you’d said something,” Ollie continued. “They’ve made a strong offer, and if I’m being honest…well…I’m getting older, and the security this can give me…well, it matters.”
“Of course it does,” I managed.
There was a beat of silence on the other end before he spoke again. “I’m sorry, Grayson. I really didn’t know. I didn’t even think…but well, maybe they’ll keep you on as a manager or something.”
He kept talking, something about how nothing was finalized yet, how maybe we could sit down after the holidays and figure things out. But the words barely registered.
