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I know she has been calling, and that she’s come to the penthouse too. But I don’t have an excuse to give her–I’ve been avoiding her. I’ve made sure she can’t get hold of me at home or at the office so I don’t say anything. I just stand there waiting to hear her out even though my mind is already made up.
My plan is set and I’m not going back on it.
“We need to get moving on the wedding thing, we’re running out of time. Maybe we can stage a proposal, take a few pictures, make it believable,” she says.
I sigh… this is easier than I thought it would be. I thought, and maybe hoped a little, that she would make this difficult. That maybe she would be honest about how we both know she feels. But she’s focused on her prize.
Strangely, I’m disappointed. I was hoping for more from Cassidy, even though I had no reason to think this would be different from how she reacted before the wedding.
She is stubbornly determined, not too different from myself. But in this case we’re standing at opposite ends of the situation. She still wants to play the game and me?
I just want her.
“The bet is off,” I tell her plainly. “I won’t play this game anymore. I can’t pretend my feelings aren’t real, or have this relationship that you switch off and on as and when you want. I just can’t do that anymore, Cassidy.”
Cassidy stares at me wide eyed. I can see the tears welling up in her eyes and know that she’s grieving the revived bakery she has been dreaming about.
I don’t want to hurt her, as much as all this hurts me. Making Cassidy cry was never part of the plan.
I pull the keys out from my pocket and hand them to her. “These are the keys from the shop right here. The bakery is yours if you want it,” I say.
Cassidy takes the keys, but still stares up at me. All it will take is just one blink and the tears will roll down her cheeks. I can’t stand to look at her so I look at the shop instead.
When I first saw it, I saw all the ideas she had told me materialize. The chairs on the outside, just like the little Parisian cafes Cassidy had put on her mood board. The shops, restaurants, cinema and theater nearby would bring her customers, and her cakes and bakes would have people talking about her bakery more than any marketing campaign could.
“The bet is off,” I repeat, to clarify. “I just can’t do this anymore. I can’t deny what I feel for you to make this thing work.”
I don’t give up on things, it isn’t my style. But then again, neither is this. Even at my worst, I always tried to be honest and this bet was testing me, more now than it had in the beginning.
“What about the resort? We had a deal, Ethan. We can still pull it off. Just a few more days…” she says.
“I could have paid for the resort myself,” I tell her. “The bet was supposed to be a bit of fun, but it went too far. I didn’t know this was going to happen and now that it has, it changes everything.”
Cassidy stares down at her shoes, her feet shuffling nervously. She looks like there’s so much she wants to say, but is holding back. I know better than to push her. And if I were honest, I don’t think I want to. I don’t want to hear it because it might make all this even harder.
“I didn’t think it was possible for me to actually fall in love with you, but now that it’s happened, I can’t see the resort the same way anymore,” I say. “I’m done with all of this. But you’re getting your part of the deal. Everything has been paid for and I’ve set up an account for things like furniture and whatever else you’ll need.”
Cassidy sighs, and jingles the keys in her hands as she looks over at the shop. It doesn’t make her smile, though. Instead, her one and only dream seems to break her heart. She looks sadder for seeing it, even though it really was exactly what she told me she wanted. It took me hours to find it and even longer to negotiate the sale. I suddenly sense something that I may be missing.
“But… What I mean is… I still can’t do this without you, Ethan,” she says. “This wasn’t our deal, we had a plan.”
The plan she’s talking about made sense when we agreed to it, but now it just can’t happen. I can’t imagine working closely with Cassidy, talking to her every day and not being able to have her. I can’t be with Cassidy, she just isn’t ready and I can’t have anything more to do with her.
I can’t do that to myself.
“I’ve made arrangements with a friend of mine. He’s a retail wiz, and promised he’ll hold your hand through everything. I know this is going to be huge,'' I say.
I’m not flattering her - I really believe her business will do well. With the right guidance and a solid strategy, Cassidy’s bakery will definitely succeed.
“But that wasn’t the plan,” Cassidy argues, going in circles with the whole thing about our deal.
I shake my head and realize that this conversation can’t end well. Emotions are getting in the way and Cassidy isn’t seeing things clearly.
All she was set to gain from the bet is her bakery and now that she has it–she has the keys in her hand and a mentor she can rely on–she’s all set.
I reach for the car door and prepare to drive away from her. Drive away and never see her again. We had been in the same city for years before we met. We can go back to being strangers again and in time, I know I’ll make my peace with it. For now, I just need to keep my distance. I can’t let her get to me.
“What’s changed, Ethan? Why are you doing this?” Cassidy asks, touching my shoulder.
