Page 165 of Champagne Fizz

“It wasn’t like that,” she defends.

“No?” I ask pointedly. “What was it like then? What made youneedto say all those mean things to Kendall? What made you decide youneededto sabotage me?”

Arie looks up with a tight lip, emotion in her eyes, but also that unrelenting stubbornness. “I just …” Her voice waivers. “I just didn’t like her,” she whispers weakly.

“Yeah, I know you didn’t like her. But that’s not an excuse. D’you ever consider what I needed?” I motion to the patio where I just asked her that question. “Maybe I needed you to act like my best friend and get over the fact that you don’t like her and be supportive?”

“Okay,” she says softly, at least listening.

“And I know you think you could’ve thrown Olivia’s wedding all on your own, but there are other people who are going to come into this business and work with us. And I need you to be professional and respect their positions. Not to mention, respect them as humans who have feelings!”

Arie’s staring at the floor.

It’s weird, because I’m used to her full of anger and fire. I don’t like that asserting what I need is starting to feel like beating a broken horse.

“This wasn’t some small breach into my personal life,” I force myself to continue. “You dragged our business into it, and you barely even said you’re sorry out there.”

Arie is silent, and the air in my office is thin.

Then, with a shaky hand, Arie reaches up and takes the prospectus off my desk. “What is this, then?” she asks in an uneasy voice. “Am I buying you out?”

“No.”

She looks up then, her eyes watery with emotion.

“You’re not leaving?” she mumbles, her eyebrows narrowing in confusion.

“We’re opening a second location,” I assert. “And no, I’m not selling my stake in this company.”

“Oh …” Her eyes brighten a little.

“But there’s a possibility I’ll have to leave for a while,” I continue, “to get this second location up and running. And honestly, that will probably be good for us.” I motion between her and me. “Because you and I need space. Maybe we’ll end up being friends again if we aren’t doing whatever the hell was happening during this wedding.”

Arie nods like a scolded child, and starts flipping through the pages.

“Plus, this business is only going to survive if we have other people who can do our jobs,” I point out. “There has to be a back-up Arie and a back-up Simon. Heck, we need a back-up Connor, if God-forbid you two ever break up.”

“We’re not going to break up!” Arie snaps, her shoulders tightening like she can’t handle imagining losing me and Connor in the same conversation.

“I don’t want you and Connor to break up,” I clarify. “It was just an example. The point is one of us might break our legs, or maybe you’ll get pregnant and need to go on maternity leave.”

“You think I’m going to have a baby sometime soon?” Arie shakes her head like I’m crazy.

“You might want to have a baby atsome pointin your life,” I outline. “And it would be nice for you to actually be able to do that without our business going under. A second location will allow us to create a system where employees are trained to do what we do. So anyone who works for us can have a break, including us.”

Arie is quiet for a minute, looking through the prospectus instead of me.

“That is actually pretty smart,” Arie admits, and I’m glad she’s seeing my side of this.

“And maybe I’ll decide to move to that new location,” I broach again. “And maybe I won’t. There are a lot of unknowns here—and you’re one of them.”

Arie finally looks up.

“I need you to be on board with this,” I explain. “That’s what I need. I need you to be okay with training another head chef. I need you to be able to work with another accountant. I need there to be options for this business to thrive and not implode. Can you do any of that?”

Arie takes a deep breath and nods. “May I spend some time with this?” she asks, patting the prospectus. “Am I allowed to have some input?

“Of course, you are. This is your business, too.”

---