AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Pulling away, Mel sways where she stands, and Alex turns his megawatt smile on me. “Hey, Ellie. How are you?”
“I’m good. Thanks for taking care of my girl,” I say, nudging Mel.
“My pleasure,” he practically purrs.
“Okay, yeah, that sounded super dirty.” I laugh. “Thank you for letting me stay at your place, too. I hope it’s not an inconvenience.”
“Not at all. Stay there as long as you’d like. I’m with Mel every day anyhow. Only when she’s mad at me, or I have a big paper to write for a class, do I stay there.” He smiles. “The owner of the bar never planned on renting the place out, anyway. I only have it because he told me if I could clean it out and fix it up, it was mine for however long I wanted it.”
“Oh, that was nice of him.”
“Yeah he’s a good guy.” He nods. “So, what can I get for you?”
“I’ll have a glass of red wine. Thanks.”
He already knows what the others want, so he gets to work on our entire order.
“Thanks, Alex,” Mel says.
“No problem. Should I expect you to get drunk, gorgeous? You know I love when you start talking about how sexy I am whenever you have a little too much.”
“Oh my god,” Mel says, laughing. “If you’re lucky, Fonz.” She blows him an air kiss and we grab our drinks, heading back to the table.
I was so curious when Mel told me about her and Alex, but now that I see them together, I see how good they are. All of my friends have that with their men. This raw chemistry and magnetic pull to the other – a gravitational orbit all their own. I never had that with Kyle. I know that now. I wanted it, but it wasn’t there.
“So, Ellie, what do you think you’ll do now?” Courtney asks the moment I sit down.
“I don’t know.”
“I think you should try doing something you love,” Mel suggests.
“I can’t just pull my own bakery out of my ass and start running it.”
“You want to have your own bakery?” Courtney asks excitedly.
“Yeah.” I nod.
“Well, Dara graduated this year and starts her kindergarten teaching job next week, so I’m looking for some help at the café. I have a new girl, Jess, that started a week ago, but long term, I’m looking for a partner.”
“You are?” Ally asks, surprised.
“Mhmm,” Courtney hums. “Jack and I want to start a family in the near future, and I want to share the business – help it grow, even. It’s a lot of work on my own. I have Ally, and now Jess, but neither bakes. Sorry, Al,” she says, giving her a guilty smile.
“No, it’s true.” She laughs.
“Dara didn’t bake either,” Courtney adds. “But, if I want to grow the business, and actually be able to take time off, then I need help in the kitchen.”
“It’s an intriguing offer,” I tell her, and the longer I think about it, the more I like it. It would be a partnership. Less risk. I wouldn’t be starting out in debt.
“It’s just an idea,” she continues. “You can start out taking Dara’s spot to see how you like it here. And you can use the kitchen after work to make whatever you want. We can add your stuff to the cases to see how they sell, and then we can go from there.”
“That sounds amazing,” I tell her, astonished by her offer.
“Take a couple days and think about it.”
“Alright.” I smile, feeling happier by the minute that I came here.
“Yay, Ellie! I’m so excited!” Ally exclaims. “Oh, please make your double chocolate cupcakes first! I haven’t had them inyears, and I’m going through withdrawals.”
