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So his usual charms don't work on me.
Apparently being told 'no'...
Is all Ethan needs to fall for a woman.
But once I find out about their little bet,
I take on a mission of my own.
By the time I'm through with him,
Ethan will know love is more than just a cheap marketing gimmick.
He thought I was a safe bet,
but he couldn't have been more wrong.
***
1
Cassidy
Losing my bakery was just the beginning. My life quickly spiraled downward and now here I am, hiding under a blanket on my best friend’s couch, pretending to sleep.
“Cas? I know you’re awake,” Beth says, gently tapping my shoulder.
Beth had been a godsend through all this. From the very beginning she was there, packing up the bakery and making sure I ate, slept, took a shower and thought about something other than how I had gone from living my dream to living through my worst nightmare.
I peek over the edge of the blanket and see Beth and Lizzy smiling down at me. Something must have happened to get Lizzy here so early in the morning. I sit up quickly and brace myself for another blow.
“What’s happened?” I ask, not ready for any more bad news.
Beth offers me a steaming cup of coffee and sits down with Lizzy on a couch across from the one that’s been my bed for the past few weeks.
I sit there blinking and sipping as they smile like Stepford Housewives. Grinning, waiting, unblinking.
“Well?” I prompt.
My suspicion is further piqued by how good the coffee tastes. Beth always tries but never gets my coffee exactly how I like it, until today. It’s creamy with vanilla and cinnamon.
Something is up and if the coffee didn’t make it obvious, their nervous laughter does. They both hold their hands neatly, but awkwardly in their laps, tapping their feet anxiously. And Beth’s lips are pressed tightly together.
“Look, Cassidy, you can’t go on this way. None of us can,” Lizzy says with practiced straightforwardness.
“What she means, Cas, is that it hurts to see you struggle like this and neither of us really knows how to help you,” Beth adds gently.
Beth turns to a nodding Lizzy and then back to me. I search the floor for the right thing to say.
“It’s not your scene, I know. It’s not mine either, but I’ve bought tickets. Don’t say no,” Beth prattles. She has been waiting for a chance and now she took it.
“Tickets to what?” I ask. She’s clearly so nervous to ask me that she leaves out the most important detail.
“Okay,” Beth says, taking a deep breath and steeling herself. “I know, I know, we’ve laughed at these self help videos together. I get it, they’re a joke, but I saw this clip the other day and this one’s different. It’s just what you need,” Beth’s voice grows higher and higher with every pleading word.
She’s desperate, just as desperate as I am to get my life back.
Turns out, Cameron Robinson is giving a talk about starting over today. The video that popped up on Beth's screen while she was reading the news hooked her enough to buy tickets.
