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“I love you, Megan Baldwin.”

Megan felt she could just die from happiness.

Chapter 45

The next day, in the back room of La Vida Mocha, Vanessa was working on “The New York Problem” while Chloë and Luli ran things in the front.

Yesterday, she had told Megan she needed to think about Megan’s idea of both of them relocating to New York. However, Vanessa knew there wasn’t much to think about. In fact, that night she had gone over to Megan’s and they had ended up in bed professing their love for each other, Vanessa had pretty much known that she might as well practice saying “cawfee” and buy a Yankees cap.

Megan was the one. No, Megan was The One, and there was no way in hell Vanessa was going to stand having an entire continent between them. It was going to mean a complete upheaval for her own life but wasn’t love worth that?

Right now, Vanessa was in front of her laptop, looking at listings for storefronts for rent in any of the five boroughs of New York City, and, holy fuck, the rents were outrageous! Vanessa’s jaw was hanging open as she scrolled through the listings of appropriately-sized and equipped vacancies that could become La Vida Mocha NY. Depending on location, some places were renting for more a month than La Vida Mocha took in during two or three months here in Carlsbad. And the vacancies that were somewhat affordable were either obviously so run-down and decrepit she might as well add Rat Shit Muffins to her pastry menu or were in neighborhoods which a quick Google search revealed were so crime-ridden she’d need to hire armed security to help pull espressos.

How on earth do people manage to stay in business there? Especially during a pandemic?

Megan’s idea of keeping La Vida Mocha and running it from New York was an attractive option; but it, too, was ridden with pitfalls.

Chloë, whom Vanessa trusted, wasn’t ready yet to take over day-to-day management, although, Vanessa had been delighted to learn that soon after their discussion a couple of weeks ago, Chloë had signed up for business classes that would start at the community college in the fall semester. But until Chloë was ready, Vanessa would have to find a capable and experienced person to run things here in Carlsbad while she was in New York.

“Is running this place from New York even possible?” William asked a couple of hours later, during another lull. Vanessa had called him to see if he’d be willing to come by because she desperately wanted someone to talk to about all this.

“I mean, yeah,” Vanessa answered. They were sitting together on the sofa in the Lover’s Nook, William sipping a cappuccino. “In this day and age, the technology certainly exists. If I find someone trustworthy to handle the day-to-day here in California, then I could just run the business remotely from anywhere.”

“So do that,” William stated, as if the matter could be closed.

“But do I really need that hassle? Running a business from three-thousand miles away? As it is, I’ll have my hands full trying to keep a New York coffeeshop afloat. I swear, William, the more I look into it, the more it scares me. Opening a small business in that city is like committing financial suicide; and you know me, I’m not afraid to take chances, but, fucking hell, New York scares me. At least here in Carlsbad I feel like I have more than a fighting chance, especially now that some pandemic restrictions are loosening up.”

“So don’t bother opening up a New York shop,” William stated, again as if the matter could be closed.

“And do what with myself?” Vanessa asked. “First of all, I doubt I’d be earning enough to be a woman of leisure, especially since I’d have to pay the salary of whoever is running this place. Secondly, even if I did earn enough, I can’t just sit around doing nothing. I’ll be in a strange city where the only person I know is Megan, I’ll go nuts!”

***

Walking into Megan’s condo after closing La Vida Mocha, Vanessa could sense how stressed Megan was. Preparing for her new VP job was taking a lot out of her, Vanessa knew. And Megan could apparently sense how stressed Vanessa was because after they kissed each other hello, a kind of pressurized energy passed between them and without any words being spoken, the gentle kiss hello turned into the hurried and frantic removal of clothes followed by hot and breathless sex in the living room, each woman instinctively knowing that her partner needed a couple of intense orgasms in order to open her tension-release valve.

Afterwards, snuggling on the couch, sweaty and still panting, it was Megan who spoke first.

“What’s up?”

Vanessa shook her head.

“It’s stupid compared to what you’re going through getting ready to be a bigshot VP,” she said. “I don’t want you to worry about it.”

Megan held Vanessa tighter.

“Babe, I love you so much,” she said, making Vanessa’s heart soar. “That means nothing is stupid if it’s bothering you. Tell me.”

“Okay. I spent an obscene amount of time at work today looking at starting over business-wise in New York and I did not like what’s in store for me.” She then spent a few minutes detailing what she had learned online and what specifically scared her about opening a new coffeeshop in New York.

When she was done, Vanessa felt Megan stiffen a bit. She knew what the next words out of Megan’s mouth would be even if Megan didn’t quite know them yet. It took a few moments, but eventually…

“You’re not changing your mind, are you?” Megan asked quietly.

Vanessa kissed the top of Megan’s head.

“I’m not changing my mind. I’ll move with you to the Himalayas if need be.”

“Promise?”