AllFreeNovel
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“How?”
“Since high school. Every time you put them up on that craft website. It was me. I have boxes of them all made by you.”
I frown. All this time, it was him. All the money I made. It was him.
“Why?”
“Because I needed to feel close to you in some way, and it was the only way I could. In a way, I thought one of them could have been for me. I only had one, and it was the only piece I wore that mattered.”
“Oh,” I whisper softly.
Janine fans herself with the manila folder. “I’m about to cry. This is someThe Notebook-type shit right there. Who would have thought you were such a romantic? Jesus, you’re making me want to go straight.”
“But wait…Um… you want to sell them?” I ask curiously.
“Only certain ones. They will be exclusive, and we will market ‘Made by Aura’ as a brand. Your brand and your identity. This is whoyouare.”
He moves closer and points at the paper like the CEO he is. The power coming off him is why he is so successful in business. It takes my breath away at how smart he is.
“How would I pay you back?”
“Trust me. The speech you made at the track has made you quite the girl next door who was taken advantage of, and the demand for your bracelets under your name is quite the trend right now.”
“Look at the comments on social media.”
Janine opens the comment section after my speech and the videos on IG of me speaking, and everyone wondering where they can buy my bracelets and other jewelry to support me. Requests have been pouring into my website, requests I can’t quite fill with working at the diner. I never thought I could make a living making jewelry by hand.
“Fine. I’ll do it as long as you get your money back. All of it.”
“Done. Miss Rayne. I will get it all in writing. Everything is done in your name only. I will just be the bank in a way to make you feel better, not because I want you to pay me back.”
“Yes. Mr. St. Claire,” I say his name in declaration.
“Kalum. You will always address me as Kalum. You don’t work for me, Aura. We just have a business agreement, and you are the owner of your brand. Now look this over and take your time and sign them. You can look it over with Mr. Schwartz, and I will cover his fee.”
I smile. “Thank you.”
“Anything for you, Aura.”
“So you’re like a business owner,” Judy says with excitement.
I gave my notice to Nancy at the diner since Mr. Schwartz assured me that the agreement Kalum drew up was all in my favor. No interest and is basically helping me out. He said it was the most generous contract he had ever seen. An interest-free loan with no risks.
Exie was excited and happy for me. Even LJ was jumping up and down because he loves to wear the bracelets with his name stitched inside them in his favorite colors. I have added little beads with accessories and different stones I have found at a local supply store. I notice Kalum never takes his off. He is always wearing one. At first, I thought it was the same one I made, but now I notice he changes them.
“Yep. My boyfriend…” I trail off, not used to calling him that.
“It’s okay, Aura. He is your boyfriend.”
“I know, but he really hasn’t labeled us, but I’m assuming he is.”
“Thinking about how you two met in the first place, I think there is more behind it all. How do two guys not hate each other over the same girl?” She places a strand of her brown hair behind her ear and sits down on the bench, waiting for the theater to open the door. “I mean, that is crazy. He sent the guy you cried about when his parents were a bunch of assholes by kicking you out on your eighteenth birthday to watch over you in case he died. That shit is like fate.”
“Fate?” I ask, tilting my head toward her and pinching my brows. “What do you mean, fate?”
She sticks popcorn inside her mouth. “Fate. Events beyond someone’s control. Things that were supposed to happen when you’re fated to be with someone. I believe… you were destined to be with Lane and have his child but also destined to be with Kalum. It’s probably why you fell in love with both,” Judy explains. You married Lane, but you were always meant to end up with Kalum. It just wasn’t the right time. It was Lane’s.”
It makes sense in a creepy way. I believe things are meant to happen, but I also believe in free will.
