Page 10 of Bloom and Burn
“She’s good, yeah.”
“That’s great to hear.” He scratches his stubble and squeezes my shoulder. I wonder if he feels guilty at all for pressuring me to help him prepare the venue for the party. “Hey, we should totally go out for a drink sometime. Ben and the rest will lose it when they hear you two are back in town.”
I wince on the inside. Reconnecting with old ‘friends’ is probably a good idea if we plan to stick around, but something prevents me from jumping in joy at the opportunity. It’s a feeling, like ants crawling under my skin, but I can’t pinpoint why. Greg has changed, same as I, but he’s also still Greg who I never got to confront about how shitty he treated the other kids.
Is that why I have this ick? Because I’m afraid he might make fun of Emily? Or am I projecting? For a time,I did partake in the bullying so I could impress him, and that’s something I’m very ashamed of. I’ve blocked out the memories, but not thinking about my past doesn’t magically make it go away. I’ve called people names, picked on them, and I even had a violent outburst when we moved and switched schools…
“Sure, maybe.”
Greg opens his mouth to say something, or maybe to ask for my contact info, but an older man walks up to my table and interrupts him. I’m pretty sure it’s the café owner. “You’re Jack, right? From JE Pharma? Rory said you wanted to speak to me.”
“Yeah, that’s me,” I confirm, offering Greg an apologetic smile.
The café owner flops into the chair across from me, shooing Greg away. With no choice left but to comply, my ‘friend’ walks away. I’m sure we will run into each other eventually, but I’m not sure I’ll want to hang out with him even then. There’s just something that doesn’t sit right with me and I had that same feeling when Emily was being bullied because of her wheelchair at the new school. She wouldn’t tell any of us about it, and when I found out, I flipped. Almost got expelled, too. And when I calmed down, I felt like shit because I used to be one of those bullies, too. It took me a while to leave the bad place that the realization put me in, and since then I’ve been making amends any way I can.
“I’ll get straight to the point—I own a third of the building and would like to buy you out,” I open with. I don’t plan to scam the café owner or give him a bad deal, so there is no need to butter him up.
He narrows his bushy brows at me. I find apprehension in his brown eyes, which are surrounded by wrinkles.I hope they are from laughing and not from stress. “And why is that? What do you plan to do with this old place?”
“I want to build a medical and research facility.” I take out my tablet and launch into an explanation of JE Pharmaceuticals’ goals. By the time I finish, his frown has mellowed out.
“To tell you the truth, son, I was thinking of selling the business or closing down and renting the space out anyway.” He laughs and it sounds a little grumbly. “You’re saving me the hassle.” He scratches at a dent along the wooden table’s corner and gives me a stern look. “How much are you offering?”
I cast my gaze around, surveying the interior. It looks newer, so this must be where the building was expanded in the seventies. The blue paint is peeling. There are cracks and smudges along the walls, but it’s a cozy little café that I’m sure holds some sentimental value to the man.
I make him the same offer I made the art studio owner. “Five hundred thousand.”
The shock he fails to mask makes me smile. If he has been looking to rent or sell, then he’s likely had someone around who would’ve given him a lower number, which is more reflective of the current market value for this location and size. Four hundred tops.
“You have yourself a deal, young man,” he says, offering me his hand. “I hope you get the mayor’s approval to build that facility of yours. And if you need someone to run the cafeteria, you have my number.”
We both laugh as we shake hands. I do hope getting the project approved at the town hall is a quick and painless process. “If everyone is as nice and understanding as you, hopefully the approval won’t take me more than a couple of weeks. As for the contract—I’ll have my legalteam prepare that asap and email it to you. Once you’ve had a chance to look at it, please give me a call and I’ll come so we can go through it, sign and discuss dates.”
“Sure thing, son.”
I finish my coffee and end up with a free slice of delicious walnut cake. It crosses my mind to buy an extra slice so I can offer it to Ryan next door, but I am not entirely sure if that is appropriate at the current stage of our budding relationship. First, I need to break to him the real reason for my visit to him, and only then can I try to charm him into agreeing to go out for lunch with me. The cake comes if I succeed.
The chill is gone from the air when I step outside, though it’s not exactly hot either. That’s Oregon for you. I used to hate it when we first moved here from San Diego because of dad’s job, but I’ve long gotten over it. If I want to be hot and sweaty, I can take a trip down south.
Ryan’s pickup doesn’t enter my line of vision until I am almost in front of the Blooming Orchid. It’s parked further down the road, which also explains why I didn’t see it arrive from my spot near the café’s window. Not that I was looking for it or anything. As I approach the flowers-adorned front, my heart quickens its pace, pounding loud in my ears.
Focus on work. The fun comes later.
I wait for the three ladies to exit the shop before I walk in. I school my expression and steel my nerves, switching over to my businessman persona. I must appear authoritative and serious. I must instill a sense of reliability. But as I face the cute shop owner and he aims a huge and friendly grin my way, I know I have already failed.
5
Ryan
Theconstipated,no-nonsenselookJack Keller goes for as he enters my shop immediately falters against my megawatt smile.
“Good morning,” he says, drawing out the first word.
It’s a good morning indeed when it starts with this hot-as-shit Adonis of a man walking into my shop. And is this the same suit from yesterday? The Argani or Arsani or whatever it was? Shit, I think it is, which means that he probably stayed over, right?
Here goes my half-assed attempt to extinguish my crush on him before it spread like a forest fire.
“Morning,” I echo back with a genuine smile I can’t stop even if I tried. Not that I did. “How can I help you today?”
