Page 39 of Semi Sweet (Working For Love #1)

Sean

I ’d spent the last few 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.”

“Absolutely.” I cleared my throat. “Thank you, as well. I know I put you guys in a weird place with that whole secret cupcake business.”

Beth smirked at me. “So I’m dying to know. You know where Olivia is, don’t you?”

I couldn’t hide my blush. “I may,” I finally admitted.

Beth swatted me. “I best be invited to your wedding for all I did!” This time when she touched me, it was a gentle pat. “I wish you all the best, seriously.”

“Thanks.”

Several hours later, I hung up my work coat and hat for the last time, placing my engraved name tag in the box with my stuff. I’d said my goodbyes to what was left of my staff before I began to walk towards the time clock to punch out at my last ever Cash Value Market shift.

As I opened the door to head out, I nearly smashed into someone wearing a suit going the opposite direction.

Evan Quittero looked downright miserable, though I had a feeling it wasn’t just because we’d almost had a collision.

I didn’t listen to gossip often, but word around the store was Olivia left him because he was an alcoholic.

The Quittero family didn’t want that associated with their name and were making him dry out.

While that was really only part of the issue, Olivia and I had a laugh over how it was Evan who ended up being an embarrassment to the family when he had been all over Olivia, worried she would be the cause.

Be the better man, I thought. You are the winner in this situation. I just couldn’t help myself. “Hey, Evan.”

He had already begun to go up the stairs. “What?”

“I wanted to say thank you.”

“For what?” Evan snapped, irritated.

I swallowed as I made my choice. “For being a terrible fiancé.”

As he stared at me dumbfounded, I made my getaway, attempting to put as much space between Evan and I before he figured out we were talking about Olivia.

***

Olivia

Angela Adams, better known as Angie around the Rocky Mountain Press, had called me into her office to do our end of day wrap up.

It was incredibly similar to what I’d been doing with Tasha and Chloe in the Denver office, but I now understood why they kept asking if people were interested in working in Aspen. Angie was swamped.

Her inbox was constantly full. I spent most of my day weeding out queries and when I finally made a dent, I would attempt to screen the manuscripts and decide which would be the best matches for my boss to make the greatest use of her time.

I almost always ate while I worked, but it was all for the best. It distracted me from what Sean was doing in Denver.

“As of five minutes ago, your inbox is only ten days behind,” I said. “I’ve printed ten queries for you to read tomorrow. You have two partial manuscripts to read at home this week, and one of your new acquisitions is ready for content edits.”

“I can’t remember the last time my inbox was only ten days behind,” Angie replied excitedly.

“I probably could make it even less,” I admitted, “if I kept working at home.”

Angie shook her head. “You do not need to kill yourself. I know how hard you work.”

Though I was only a month into my internship, Angie had already made it clear she needed the organization to continue and had plans to hire me once the three months were over.

Knowing that I would be able to contribute to the rent soothed me and made me feel like an equal in my relationship for the first time in my adult life.

“Tonight’s the night, isn’t it?” Angie checked her watch. It was nearly closing time.

I nodded as I handed her the various folders. “Yes. I’m meeting my family at Carmello’s tonight. First time in almost five years.”

One of the first things I’d done when meeting Angie was tell her the truth about everything–my family, Evan, and what I went through at Cash Value Market. I even explained about Sean and how we were hours apart. It had been cathartic nice to have someone in the know in my new town.

“Good luck,” Angie replied. “It sounds like you have a lot to tell them.”

I agreed as I went out to my desk in the main part of the office.

I’d been standing behind a counter for years and having a desk was my idea of finally making it in the world.

I was sad I’d lost so many of my knick knacks when Evan had his tantrum because this would have been a perfect place for them, though I knew I wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t.

“How’s your boyfriend? How many days until he’s back in Aspen?”

I glanced at a picture frame on my desk. It was from our hike, the day I’d given in to my feelings. It felt like ages ago.

“He’s good. He worked his last shift at our old job today. I’m praying he’ll be home any day now.”

“I’m going home,” Angie said as she pulled on a coat and put the manuscripts in her satchel. “I’ll see you in the morning, Olivia.”

I wasn’t far behind her, tidying up my desk and shutting off the lights as I locked the office up for the evening. I had about an hour until I was meeting my family down at the pizza place, so I got in Sean’s Saab and headed to the apartment so I could let out Bear and feed him.

The last thirty days had been different, new, and sometimes lonely, but the apartment had become comfortable, almost like a home. Now all I needed was for Sean to come home and complete things.

“I’d have them come here,” I said as I pat Bear on his head, “but I’m not sure what my mom’s allergies are like these days.”

After changing into something more casual, I drove downtown.

There were several places I could have met my family that were much more indicative of Aspen, but I’d gotten attached to the pizza place.

I’d given up one corner booth for another.

I needed human contact and it had started off as dinner one night while I worked on a new story idea.

I’d been so happy to hear human voices that weren't on Netflix, I hadn’t been prepared for supermodel ex-girlfriend extraordinaire Katie to be waiting on me.

“You know, I never got your name the other day,” she said after I’d ordered a caesar salad.

“I’m Olivia.”

“Well, you're very lucky,” Katie replied. “Sean is a wonderful guy. I didn’t deserve him.”

After that, I’d started coming to Carmello’s even if it was to pick something up to bring back to the apartment once a week.

Katie and I had graduated to small talk, mostly about my outfits or what I was writing.

Katie had to notice Sean hadn’t been around in a while, but she never said anything and I appreciated it.

Tonight, the place was busy and I didn’t head to my usual spot, though it was open.

“Ordering takeout tonight?” Katie asked once she noticed me standing there. “It might be a while.”

“Actually, I’m meeting some people. There might be two or as many as four and they look like me.”

She shrugged. “There is a group in the back corner I’ve never seen before. You can go check if you like.”

I made it about three steps before someone shouted my name and the restaurant went quiet.

I locked eyes with my younger sister Elenore.

Her blonde hair was the longest I could ever remember.

Beside her sat Allison. She had our father’s features, staring like she was glimpsing a ghost, someone she would never see again. Elenore got up and crushed me in a hug.

“I can’t believe it,” she whispered. “It’s really you.”

“I could say the same about you, you know,” I replied as I tried to keep my emotions in check.

The restaurant went back to being noisy as Allison patted the cushion next to her and I slid between my sisters.

I felt lightheaded as I faced my parents.

My mother was dabbing her eyes with a napkin, but it was my father’s expression that I was afraid to see.

It wasn’t too late for him to say he was disappointed in me or would never forgive me, but I risked a look anyway.

Same light brown hair, same perpetually furrowed brow, same large weathered hands.

I smiled at him softly. “Thank you for coming. It means a lot.”

“Tell me everything.”

The words were probably as close to an ‘I missed you’ as I was going to get.

“I just finished my graduate degree in marketing.” I didn’t tell him that I’d passed by the skin of my teeth–because I’d fled Denver, I hadn’t been able to take my final exams. That could be a tale for another time.

“I rent the first floor of a house up in the mountains and I’m an assistant to an editor not far from here. ”

My father looked pleased. He no doubt remembered my plan to be in the writing industry. “And how did you end up in Aspen?”

Where did I begin? Did I start when Evan proposed? Did I talk about the night I found the flyer for the Rocky Mountain Press? Or maybe the day I met Sean, the day I was running late and it changed my life forever?

“It’s a long story. We should probably order first.”