I grit my teeth. “Love isn’t afad. Everyonealwaysneeds more love in their life, so if we do this right, people will keep coming to Love Street because of the great time they had here.” Miles has no idea why I’m so committed to this—to save my mother’s store. He thinks all I care about is theaesthetic.
Setting down the books in my arms, I walk right up to him, staring him down. “The residents and business owners need this… The BOA isn’t doing it for vibes and social cred. They’re doing it because their livelihood is being threatened. You’ve worked here for what, a week? I’velivedandworkedon this street since I was nine, so don’t tell me that you know what’s best for Love Street betterthan I do.” I shake my head. “You’re way too judgmental and stuck-up to see the potential of this neighborhood. I’ll be back to finish sorting these books later… whenyouaren’t here.”
I turn and walk out of the storeroom. There aren’t a lot of people in this world who I actively dislike, but I think I can safely add Miles Desai to the list.
CHAPTER FIVETHE INAUGURAL LOVE ON LOVE STREET MEETING
The first meeting of the Love Street Branding Committee is a few days later. We meet in Miracle Egg, a restaurant a few doors down from Cosmic Vintage that specializes in egg sandwiches with Asian influences and is only open for breakfast and lunch, so it’s a good place for our five o’clock meeting. The owner, Grant Yu, is on the committee and seems like an okay guy, but I don’t really know him that well. If his personality is anything like the decor of his shop—painted entirely in a sunny yellow and full of old Hong Kong and Bollywood movie posters—then we’ll get along great.
Me, Cara, Julie, April, and Grant sit at one of the bigger tables in the restaurant. I’ve already presented them with Reggie’s name suggestion for our promotion, Love on Love Street, and most people agree it’s perfect.
“Sounds kinky,” Grant says. “But maybe we want that?” He wags his eyebrows suggestively at Julie. Yuck. Julie ismarried. I’m thinking Grant and I aren’t going to get along after all.
Julie, who doesn’t seem to notice Grant’s gross attempt at flirting, shakes her head. “No, it’s perfect.” She writes Love on Love Street on the top of her notebook page since she offered to take minutes.
“This whole thing is supposed to celebratelove,” Carasays. “I mean”—she side-eyes Grant—“we don’t want to be lewd, but physical love is part of love, isn’t it?”
April huffs a laugh. April is Black, and she always wears scrubs with some cartoon animal print on it. Her makeup is always on point, and she keeps her hair cropped short. She once told me that she hates dealing with her own hair since she cuts and styles dog and cat hair all day. “Y’all need to be careful. We want to attractfamiliesto the street. If people think this is all a free sex kind of thing, they won’t come.”
“Most of the promotions we talked about are forcouplesmore than families. Like date specials at the bistro and small bouquets at the flower shop,” Grant says.
We argue a bit about who our target demographic should be, when the door to Miracle Egg opens. Grant immediately calls out, “Sorry! We’re closed. Open at seven tomorrow!”
My back is to the door, so I don’t see who’s there, but I don’t need to see him. I recognize his deep voice the moment he speaks. “Oh, I’m here for the rebranding meeting? I thought that was today.”
Miles. Apparently telling him off on Monday wasn’t enough to make him not want to be anywhere near me.
“Yes!” April says, standing and pulling another chair to our table. “Everyone is welcome! You work at the bookstore, right? You helped me find that Dog Whisperer book last week!”
Unfortunately, since I’m at the end of the table, April puts the extra chair next to me. Miles is in worn jeans again today. And another graphic T-shirt, but this time with an unzipped burgundy hoodie over it. His hair is still a mess, but the kind of mess that some guys spend good money at top stylists to achieve.
Ugh. Why does he have to be so good-looking? I don’t remember his lips being so… full. He squeezes into the seat, barely even glancing at me, and I catch his scent. He still smells annoyingly good. Like soap and something else. Not spices like in the bookstore. Something I’ve smelled before but can’t place. I turn my chair toward Cara so my senses aren’t invaded by Miles.
He called my ideas “saccharine” in the bookstore the other day. I should not be finding him so attractive.
We keep talking about the kind of people we’re hoping to attract to the promotion, but Miles doesn’t add to the conversation. I sneak a glance at him. He looks… bored. Why is he even here? Did Reggie force him to come to the meeting? When I say there must be a way to be inclusive to all while still focusing on romantic love, I’m pretty sure Miles snorts under his breath.
I ignore him. When we start discussing the promotions that were suggested at the BOA meeting, he’s silent.
“We can’t forget the statue at LOL Park,” Cara says. “Have you seen the lineups to get a picture at the heart statue in the Distillery District?”
“Yes!” I say. “We totally have to put something like that in the park. A heart, or even a rainbow!”
This time IknowMiles snorts.
I turn to look at him. “Do you have a problem with a statue in the park?”
“No. But you guys don’t seem to have any idea how much something like that would cost. Like, thousands and thousands of dollars. At least. And the park belongs to the city—you can’t just plop a statue in it. There are permits and applications. It’s completely impossible.”
I exhale. I’m not going to let this guy bring me down. I know he’s probably right, but he sounds so…antagonistic.How do we know for sure it’s impossible before we even try?
“I think we should beoptimisticand explore all options,” I say. “But whatever we do, we need to consider that theaestheticis what’s going to get people here. Julie, what percentage of your customers come to LoveBug because they saw a post on Instagram?”
Julie thinks a moment. “New customers? I’d say about eighty percent. But they keep coming back because of Ajit’s delicious food and drinks.”
“Exactly. Get people in the door, or on the street, because of the look… and they’ll keep coming once they realize we’re awesome.”
“You’ll need more than just vibes,” Miles says. I can’t help but notice that every one of his snarky comments is afterIsay something. I throw an annoyed look at Cara, mostly because I don’t want to look at his infuriatingly cute face, and she shrugs.
