Page 146 of Champagne Fizz

“Then don’t do it,” Esme pleads.

I shake my head. “Don’t you see? It’ll be worse if I wait. This dynamic is going to ruin us eventually. Arie will always put her stubborn pride first. Sure, I can forgive her this time, like I have every other time, but that just starts the cycle over again. At least this way, I can run the same business in another location—Los Angeles, hopefully. This way, I’m not throwing away what I built. I’m just building another piece of it somewhere else.”

Esme looks at me sadly. “That sounds like a tragic love story.”

“Good thing Arie and I aren’t in love then.”

“Except you are,” Esme insists. “Not with each other, but you’re both in love with this restaurant. You’re in love with what you’ve created.”

I take Esme’s hand and squeeze it softly. She’s right. Making this choice is a huge change in the direction of my life, and it’s wringing all the air out of my lungs. I just don’t see an alternative.

“I don’t like it,” Esme grumbles, and I give her a weak smile.

“I don’t like it either.”

“Today’s a wedding,” Esme says, motioning to the guests around us. “It’s a new beginning, Simon. Today is about starting something new that’s stronger than what was there before. It’s about saying yes to forever. Can you find something in today to inspire you? A shred of hope to hold on to?”

“If Arie treated me with the same respect that Ned and Olivia treat each other,” I say, thinking about what I witnessed earlier on the beach with Ned’s mother. “Heck, if it was only half the respect, then maybe I could find some hope. But you know your sister …”

Esme frowns, shedoesknow her sister.

“Hey, it’s a wedding,” I say, nodding to Esme’s glass of champagne. “Let’s enjoy ourselves for Ned and Olivia, okay?”

Esme takes a tiny sip and pretends to smile, not doing a good job of masking her disappointment in how this conversation went.

“Tomorrow’s another day,” I offer. “Who knows what it might bring.”

“You know, I’m the one who’s supposed to spout romanticism and cliches to cheer you up,” Esme says.

“Then go ahead and shower me with them if it will make you feel better,” I offer, but deep down I know none of them will matter. What matters is how Arie decides to move forward from this. And ironically, the only line I want to say to Arie right now is Sue Blade’s horrendously overused tagline to “take accountability.” I laugh at how resonant that cliche feels in this moment. Then, I laugh even harder at how it would make Kendall so proud.

“What?” Esme asks, as I shake my head at the inside-joke I’m having with myself.

“Nothing,” I say. “It’s just funny how ironic things can be.”

I look through the picture window to Kendall who’s still inside with the second photographer.

“Thank you,” I say to Esme, “for caring so much. But please, try to enjoy the wedding. Arie and I, we—” I shrug, feeling like there isn’t much I can do right now other than leave this to fate. “We either will or we won’t figure this out. But it’s between us. And the truth is, it’s been a long time coming. And we’re definitelynotgoing to hash it out tonight. So, go have fun with Desmond and Naomi. I really do have to go talk to Kendall.”

Esme’s eyes narrow. “You like her, don’t you?”

“Yes,” I admit. “I don’t know what I’m doing with her either, but if you want me to be hopeful and think about new beginnings, trust me, Kendall’s going to be the better bet.”

Esme raises a suspicious eyebrow. “Do you need a wing-man? Er—woman?” she offers.

I laugh. “Last time you tried to be a wing-woman, Esme, I think someone was set on fire. Arie’s the one who’s actually good at setting people up.”

“True,” Esme admits. “I’m kind of a buffoon when it comes to playing cupid.”

“I appreciate the gesture.” I kiss Esme on the cheek and point her toward her boyfriend who’s being mobbed by wedding guests demanding selfies. “I think your TV star needs to be rescued.”

Esme snickers at the sight. “Women just love to put their hands on my man, now don’t they?” She turns back to me. “I’ll call you in the morning. Naomi and I are doing brunch if you need some female venting.”

“I’ll probably want to sleep all day, considering how stressful this wedding has been,” I say. “But I’ll keep it in mind, just in case.”

“Go get her, tiger,” Esme says, nodding to Flambé’s window. I smile in thanks, not sure what I’m going to say to Kendall. Not sure I can salvage anything between us. But the least I can do is make sure she and Arie don’t cross paths.

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