Page 65 of (Un)Planned

“Good.” Natalie arched a brow. “So go, Theo. I’m only forgiving you if you promise to make it work this time. Learn from our mistakes.”

My mind was completelyblank as I walked down the hall, leaving a trail of smoldering ashes in my wake. On most days, one or two people would try to stop me to chat, but today, no one even looked in my direction. That was good. I had one task on my mind, and God help the person who got in my way.

When I got to Jack’s office, I headed straight for the door, ignoring his assistant as she asked if he was expecting me. Her voice was like a low whine, unable to break past the buzzing in my head. The beast within me neededvengeance, and it wouldn’t stop until I got what I was owed.

As I stepped into Jack’s office, he stiffened the moment we made eye contact. He held up his hands. “Look, I don’t know what you heard…”

It didn’t matter. Not when my fist had already connected with his nose, feeling the satisfying crunch beneath my knuckles. “Fuck!” Jack screamed out, pulling a cloth to his nose. “What the hell was that for?”

I got an inch away from his face, pointing my finger so close to his eye that one wrong move, and it would make contact. “I trusted you, asshole. I told you about Calla because you were my friend, and then you turned around and sold us out? For what? So you could have the corner office?” I shook my head, my breathing heavy. “If you wanted the job so fucking badly, take it. I’m just glad I’m finally seeing your true colors after all these years.”

Jack laughed, the sound low and full of condemnation. “Who I am? That’s rich coming from you, buddy.” He grabbed a tissue and slid it under his nose, pulling it back to see blood still draining from it. He hissed as he placed it back, staring at me with the promise of vengeance in his eyes. “Do you even remember how you heard about the New York job?” I searched my memory, unable to recall what had happened. “It was from me,” Jack continued. “It wassupposedto be mine. But then you went and got yourself a few big-name clients, and suddenly, my name didn’t mean shit. Youtookit from me, Theo, and you never even thought twice about it. I tried to be the bigger person, tried to get over it. But then you started acting like you were better than me, and I said fuck it. You took my promotion from me, I was going to takeeverythingfrom you. Your job, your girl, anything if it meant knocking you offyour game.” He laughed again. “And honestly, you should be thanking me for getting you away from Calla. That girl was poison, killing all your drive. If she’d stuck around any longer, you would have been left with nothing. For what?”

My hands clenched at my sides, and I was so fucking tempted to hit him again. Tempted to go to Allen and tell him everything. But none of it mattered, not while Calla was out there, thinking that I could live without her. As I looked over at Jack crumbled in his chair, I shook my head. “I feel so fucking sorry for you, Jack. You have no idea what it means to love someone like that, to have someone see you at your worst and still decide that you’re worthy.” Jack shook his head as I turned away from him. “Keep the job. I don’t give a shit. I hope it’s everything you hoped it would be.”

“And where the fuck do you think you’re going?” Jack called out.

“I’m going to get my girl back.”

THIRTY-NINE

“Okay, I think this is the last of it.”

I dropped the box in the hallway, looking over the sparsely decorated apartment. Move number three this year was finally finished. Javi looked up at me from his spot on the couch. “That’s what I heard ten boxes ago. You need to do yourself a favor and purge some of this shit. There is no way you need all these books.:”

“Bite your tongue,” I snapped back. “These are my collectibles. One day, when I’m old and gray, I’ll pass them down to my children.”

Drew, Javi’s husband, chuckled as he walked in the doorway. “I doubt your children are going to want your smut collection, but what do I know? My dad tried to give me his collection of novelty spoons.”

“Which you made me put up in the kitchen,” Javi answered, standing to kiss his husband on the cheek. They both looked around the place, the one they’d shared for years before buying a cute little cottage downtown.

Originally, I planned on staying in New York, but after I quit, everything about the city reminded me of Theo.Walking down each block was like poking at a healing wound, asking for it to open back up. It was impossible to move on while surrounded by the place where we fell in love. In the end, it was an easy choice to move back to Saint Stephen’s Lake, especially when Javi and Drew offered to let me sublet their old place for a fraction of the actual value.

Between my savings from working for Theo and Marta offering me some shifts at the Lost Tavern, covering my rent wouldn’t be hard. And with my new free time, I was determined to commit to a career path finally. Once I sat down and cleared out everyone else’s expectations, it was an easy choice. Besides working for Theo, the time I’d been the happiest was when I was helping plan events at the Isadora. Seeing couples’ dream weddings come together was my ideal career; I loved that I was getting to create people’s happily ever afters, the moment that they would look back on for the rest of their lives.

As soon as I rolled into town, I contacted Marina, the former event coordinator at the Isadora, asking for her advice. She chuckled, asking what had taken me so long. After leaving my mother’s employ, she’d decided to open a private shop, working more in Saratoga and the capital area. She forwarded me all her local connections, offering to serve as a mentor while I got myself set up.

Luckily, Marina had logged all my hours working for her, so that would count as hands-on experience. Now, all I needed to do was pass my online classes, and by this time next year, I’d be able to take on clients.

But as much as everything was looking up for me professionally, my personal life was a completely different story.

Living without Theo was like livingunderground. Nothing seemed to break through the layer of gloom and darkness surrounding me. Every day, I woke up expecting it to hurt a little less, for it to finally be the moment my heart started to mend itself. Instead, all I felt was more grief, hating that I was taking this next step alone.

After speaking with Devyn, I decided to forget the conversation I had with Jack. Even if it was true, I wasn’t going to taint my memories with those sour thoughts. I knew the truth of our relationship, and I would hold onto it, hoping that, one day, our paths would cross again. Besides, she promised to deal with Jack herself, and I knew better than to get in the way of Devyn’s wrath.

But just because I chose to ignore Jack’s words, it didn’t mean I didn’t have my doubts in the late hours of the night. I was barely sleeping, and when I did, my dreams were all of him. Of how I thought our lives were going to turn out, or even just doing mundane tasks together. The especially tortuous ones were when I relived moments between us, mostly when we were wrapped in each other's arms all night. Those were the ones that made it hard to wake up.

Over the last couple of weeks, I’d replayed our last conversation a million times in my head, wondering if I made the right choice. Would it have been so bad if I had decided to follow him around the world? Sure, I wouldn’t be here, dreaming of owning my own business, but I’d be happy…right?

I shook my head, refusing to go down this path again. I’d made my choice, and ninety percent of the time, I accepted that fact. But it was in those quiet moments, when something significant happened in my life or when I crawled into my bed at night, that I could weep from missing him. It was an excruciating loneliness that only time could heal, and I was starting to doubt even that would work.

As Javi and Drew left, I looked over my new place, admiring the space. While Devyn’s apartment never felt like home, this one already felt more like me. Most of the walls were painted a cheery yellow, while the furthest one was exposed brick, still showing signs of the old factory that used to take up most of main street. That was my favorite part. When you looked out the window, you were right in the middle of town, able to see almost all the businesses. It felt right, being here, even if it was hard to come back alone. And while I had hesitated about coming back, as soon as I settled into the apartment, I knew I’d made the right choice.

I was home.

“Order up!”the line cook called from the kitchen window. I dashed across the dining room of the Lost Tavern, praying my feet would hold out a little longer. It was only my second shift, and I was already exhausted. I knew from experience that the weekends were always packed here, but I wasn’t expecting the same level of rush on a Tuesday night.

With summer starting, most of the other restaurants in town were swimming with tourists, and it remained that way until the fall. The Lost Tavern was a staple in these busy months for locals, our place to get away from the ever-present crowds. That meant that, tonight, I’d been on my feet since the moment I arrived, turning over tables as fast as possible to accommodate everyone.

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