Page 69 of Fair Play
“Maybe deep down you already knew what direction to go, you simply weren’t sure of your final destination.”
“You think I am now?” I wrinkle my nose. “I’m really enjoying what we’re doing but I’m not sure how it translates to reality. Everything for my project is hypothetical. It’s based on a real business but we’re not implementing it.”
“Not yet.” Nita is thoughtful. “But I was already thinking about opening another store, something up in the Valley. Because this place is busy all day, every day. The location is stellar, but I think it would do well somewhere like Burbank as well. And people on the other side of the hill wouldn’t have to traipse through L.A. traffic to get here.”
“Oh. That’s a good idea.”
“Which led me to consider franchising, because there’s just one of me.”
“That would be amazing,” I say. “I wish I was in a better financial position—I would buy one in a heartbeat!”
“You’ll be there before you know it,” Nita says thoughtfully. “And if that’s something you want to do, maybe we can work something out.”
“Like what? I literally have five hundred bucks to my name. I live with my brother, I’m borrowing a car from my…friend, and I still have another two months until I graduate.”
“Two months is going to go by in a heartbeat. Before you know it, you’ll be trying to figure out what’s next.”
I chew my lip. “I was kind of hoping what’s next is…this.” I meet her gaze. “I love working here and I’m really enjoying the management aspect. Scheduling, vendor meetings, coming up with weekly specials and all that.”
“And if I opened another store… would you want to run it?”
“I…yes!” My heart skips a beat with excitement. “That would be incredible. Is that a possibility?”
“Absolutely. We can’t keep going at the rate we’re going. Even hiring more help, we’re out of room. We could do half the business we do and still make a nice profit without having to turn people away every night.”
“But honestly, I have no money. And I have to eat, so it’s not like I could work for free.”
“Of course not. Give me some time to think about it. In my head, I’ve got a few thoughts, but I have to talk to my attorney and my accountant. Take a little time to think it through. Talk to your brother—maybe he wants to invest? Or mention it to Rome.” She winks and I feel my cheeks flame.
“What? No, I?—”
“Stop.” She laughs. “I see the way he looks at you when he comes in for a drink. He orders a bunch of food he doesn’t eat and then has you pack it up for him. You think I don’t know what’s happening?”
“Nita, you can’t?—”
“I know. Your brother would lose his overprotective mind. Athena told me.”
“Is it obvious?”
Nita laughs. “Anyone in the same room with the two of you will figure it out. The way he looks at you, and the way you look at him…it’s actually a little swoony.” She fans herself.
“Ugh. It won’t be swoony if Bodi finds out.”
“How long are you going to keep this up?” she asks gently. “You’re an adult. You don’t need your brother’s permission to fall in love.”
“I know. It’s more about Rome. He’s had…trouble in locker rooms in the past. And he really needs to play one more season. If something goes wrong between him and Bodi and it impacts the vibe in the locker room, who do you think they’ll trade? The kid who’s got a lot of years ahead of him and has been part of the extended Phantoms organization for seven years, or the guywho’s at the end of his career and has only been around a few months?”
She grimaces. “Okay, I guess that makes sense. But seriously, at some point, Bodi has to loosen the reins. What are you going to do if this gets serious?”
“We agreed to suck it up until the season is over. Then I’m going to sit Bodi down and tell him everything. But we also don’t want to blow things up if it burns itself out, you know? Hell, we don’t even have anywhere to have sex. We don’t dare do it at home if Bodi’s in town because he could walk in at any moment. We could get a hotel room, but like, how many? Every night? Every other night? That’s ridiculous.”
“It is. I’m sorry you’re dealing with this right now. Plus working, going to school, and all the extra projects for graduation.”
“Well, the good news is, I don’t have any written final exams. Just five papers and/or projects.”
“That’s great—and you have options here. You can continue just being an assistant manager who takes a few shifts waiting tables, or you can move into full-time management, or we can work on the franchise deal. That was always the plan, but I had to see how the first store did before I committed to anything else.”
“Are you at all worried that interest will wane?”
