“Do you have any idea what the word compromise means, Selena?”
“I’ve never heard of it before,” she smiled.
“Clearly,” I wrestled her down to the floor and pinned her to the carpet. “Wait,” I released her arms and sat up. “I want you to open the box first.”
“Now?”
“Yes. Now.”
She frowned and stood up, retrieving the box from the table and setting it down between us. She took her time opening it—pulling away every strand of tape, pushing down each cardboard flap.
She pulled out an envelope and read the card aloud:
Dear Selena,
The past few weeks have been the most amazing weeks of my life. If it was up to me, I would never go back to Boston and I would keep you far away from New York. Nonetheless, we both have careers to go back to, so I hope this gift will keep our time here alive when we both go back to work.
Your friend forever,
Ethan.
She ran her fingertips across the word “friend” for several seconds and smiled. She pulled a set of pink keys from the box and looked at me.
“Keys? To what?”
“Umm,” I pulled out the picture of a black suburban warehouse in New York. “I figured you probably won’t be able to come to Fayetteville every time you want to go to a private beach so…I had a team of engineers build an indoor one to the best of their ability. They did a really good job with it,” I flipped the picture over to show her the beach. “You can escape there whenever you want and the paparazzi will never know what’s inside.”
“Oh my god,” her jaw dropped and she shook her head. “I don’t know what to say. I—”
“There’s one more thing in the box…”
She flipped the box upside down and picked up the gift—a one of a kind charm-bracelet from Belazi with diamond and sapphire charms: There was an intricately designed cherry bourbon pie, a pink firework, a coffee pot with the word “friend” etched onto its handle, a yellow Uno card, and a jet.
“Happy belated birthday, Selena.”
“Thank you so much Ethan,” she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me back down to the floor. “I love it! Wait…What’s the jet represent?”
“I’m sure there’ll be a lot of flights between Boston and New York in the near future, don’t you think?”
She wiped away a tear and nodded.
“You had no intention of watching The Godfather today did you?” I pinned her to the carpet again.
“Nope, not at all.”
I pulled up to Sweet Seasons and noticed that there were large red signs in all the windows: “Final Bake Sale This Week!” “Last Season for Sweets!” “After Twenty Seven Years, Sweet Seasons is Closing!” “Two Weeks Left to Get Your Favorite Sweets!”
Guilt instantly washed over me, drowning me. I contemplated turning around and telling Selena that I had to work late, that I couldn’t stop by like I’d promised, but I saw her waving at me from the window.
She and her mom walked outside hand in hand and stood next to me.
“What do you think?” Selena looked up at me. “The staff worked late all week to finish all the signs.”
What am I supposed to say to this?
Her mom answered in tears before I could say anything. “I think they look swell, sweetheart. I’m really going to miss this place. It was the only thing that kept me going on some days. I really wanted to pass it down to you…or maybe even my granddaughter one day…”
I’m going to hell…
“Don’t cry mom!” Selena was crying as well. “You don’t have to close! You still own it! I’ll just give you enough money to operate for as long as you want! I’ll call my bank tomorrow morning and—”
“I’m tired of fighting for now,” Selena’s mom hugged her and smiled weakly at me. “It doesn’t make sense to fund a business with no customers—it’d be a complete waste of your money…Besides, my own stubbornness is at fault for this. I should’ve changed with the times as soon as Starbucks came to town four years ago…”
My conscience jumped out of my body and practically kicked me to the ground.
I needed to say something, to finally admit it here and now.
“It’s okay mom,” Selena leaned against me. “There was nothing you could have done. It was Autumn Wonder’s fault. They were selfish and greedy and wanted all the bakery business to themselves. They’re complete ass**les.”
Tell her now. Tell her right now!
Her mother wiped her face on her sleeve. “I guess I’ll finally get my chance to cruise the world—after I spend some quality time with you in New York first…I’ll let you two kids get to your date though. Would you walk me back inside please?”
Selena hugged her mom and escorted her back inside the shop. I saw her wiping her face with Kleenex, gently rubbing her back, and saying the words “It’s going to be okay mom.”
I sat back on my motorcycle and covered my face with my hands. This was it. This was the end of the line.