Page 12 of Falling for My Ex Next Door

My eyes had begun to tear up. I had always known Aunt Madeline to be a great person, but I never knew she was this kind.

“You will continue to run the coffee shop, won’t you?” He asked.

“Of course, I will. I definitely will.” I responded, sniffing and wiping away my tears.

“It’s a blessing Madeline has you. You will begin from where she stopped, and I know you will do far greater things. It’s in your eyes.” His hand patted my shoulder.

“I hope to see you very soon.” He rose to his feet.

“Where do you reside, sir?” I quickly asked him before he stepped out of the shop.

“I share a fence with the shop.” He grinned, waving goodbye.

It was a big relief that I was not really alone in Sunnyvale. Aunt Madeline must have prepared Old Napoleon just for me, though she herself might not have known. I hoped to see more of him.

I continued cleaning, vacuumed the entire space, and made a few orders from my list that arrived quickly. I received the new coffee machines I purchased and set them on the countertop.

I was about to unwrap them when a call came through.

It was a private number, and the caller ID was not there, but upon answering, it was none other than Daisy Bradley, Jacob Bradley’s younger sister and my estranged best friend. I was so surprised she called.

“I know you are still upset about what happened between us,” she solemnly began.

“It’s been years, Daisy,” I said.

“I know, but I held a grudge against you all this while. It looked like it would not be so simple to forget what happened. I was angry because you didn’t take a stance concerning our relationship and allowed your broken relationship with my brother to come between us. We could have gone through everything together, but you chose to do things on your own.” She paused.

Then she sighed.

“But then, I want us to move past everything.” She added.

“I’m sorry I made you feel that way, Daisy. It has been hard for me, too, and I regret not taking some critical actions. I’m sorry for everything. I was wrong to have discarded our friendship because of my own personal issues.” I let her know.

“I’m trying to move past everything, so can we just agree to disagree and move on?” She asked.

“I can hardly forget what happened, but I think you are right. We have to move forward and not let the past tie us down.” I responded.

“I’m happy to know that.” I could sense a friendly change in the tone of her voice.

“Me too.” I smiled, relieved to know that we might truly be moving on because of this very act.

“I want to come over to see you.”

Did she know her older brother was here in Sunnyvale? Of course, she should know. I hoped they weren’t brewing any mischief behind my back.

“Sure. I’d love to have you over. I miss us!” I wanted to see her too; I was pleased she called.

“Me too, and I’m sorry for not checking up on you all this while. I guess I was being childish and didn’t see things from the right perspective.” She said,

“You don’t need to apologize; I am also to blame for not contacting you. I’m just happy you called. I appreciate it.”

“Thank you. We have been apart for a longer time than I thought, I guess.” She chuckled.

I expected her to mention her brother, but she didn’t. She excused his entire existence from our chat, and I couldn’t be more grateful. It was relieving to know that everyone had indeed grown and moved on.

“How are you, generally? You still model?” I asked.

“Modeling it is!” She said. “Though I switched agencies, Michael was giving me a lot of headaches; I couldn’t work with him anymore. Would you believe it if I told you we eventually settled things in court?” She explained.

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