“Right, because of the desserts. I had all those dessert boxes in the back of my van, remember?” he explained, as if I would have possibly forgotten about that. It was only a few weeks ago.
“Greyson, I really don’t want to relive that day. Please.”
“Will you just let me finish? I just want to tell you,” he began.
“I’m not interested in your explanation, Greyson,” I responded curtly, cutting him off. “I don’t want this. I want nothing to do with this whole thing. I don’t want to compete with you. At first I kind of liked the fact that we had similar businesses. I thought it was nice that I wouldn’t have to explain my erratic hours to you, or my crazy time commitments. I knew you would understand all of that, and I liked that about you. But I’m essentially competing with you now. I hate that. There’s no way this will work,” I said honestly. “And that’s all I wanted to tell you. In case I didn’t get my point across when I was mad earlier, I am here to make it very clear to you now. This isn’t working. This will never work.”
“It will work, Mal,” he said, staring directly into my eyes. “I already told them I didn’t want the dessert bid and that it should all go to you.”
“I don’t want that either Greyson. Now it’s just a pity vote. That’s not who I am. If you won the dessert bid, then you should get it. That’s not what this issue is about,” I said, still trying to explain how I felt.
“Well if you won’t take my portion of the bid, then I’ll at least give you the money from it,” he said sympathetically.
“Money?” I replied furiously. “You think this is about the money? I don’t want your money, Greyson. That just proves how clueless you are about this entire thing. Keep the bid, and keep your own damn money.”
“I don’t even want it, Mal. I don’t want any of it. Not if it will ruin this,” he said sincerely.
“But you would take it if it had nothing to do with me, wouldn’t you?” I asked directly.
“Honestly,” he replied hesitantly, “yes. Of course I would. The reason I thought about getting into desserts in the first place is because it would make me a lot more marketable. So it’s not like that was ever out of the question for me.”
“And this is my point, Greyson. I don’t want to do this,” I said, my voice finally sounding all choked up. A small tear slid down my cheek.
“Mallory, just tell me what to do. Tell me how to fix this,” he said, leaning down and putting his face near mine. He whispered in my ear. “What can I do to fix this? Anything, tell me anything. I will never make another dessert again if that’s what you want.”
“I think it would be best to just move on. Head our separate ways,” I said shrugging.
“Or how about the opposite? Why can’t we just move in the same direction? I’ll buy the building, and we could work together, and eventually we could…”
“Greyson, your ideas are awful. That would never work. I can’t even stand you for three consecutive days without something going totally wrong. This relationship is toxic. It’s all about what you want. That’s not fair,” I said, shaking my head. I looked over at Johnny’s Camero and saw Megan waiving her hands at me from the back seat. “Look, I need to go. My friends are waiting for me,” I said reluctantly.
“Can we just go out to dinner tomorrow night? Please?” he asked sincerely. “I just want to tell you what actually happened.”
“Greyson, you can’t fix everything with dinner. Dinners with you are wonderful. Really. But everything outside of that falls apart. Look, I have to go,” I repeated. “It’s just not working out. But good luck with the building and all that. And your business. You can mail me back my bird,” I said with a smirk. Another slow tear fell down my face and I knew at that moment I had to leave before I completely fell apart.
“I’m going to fix this, Mal,” he said confidently as I walked away.
“Rule number six. No fixing me,” I said as I crossed the street to Johnny’s car. I opened the door and climbed in. Before anyone could even ask, tears poured down my face. We rode the rest of the way back to my apartment in silence.
Chapter 22
Loud noises.
I awoke in a haze and rubbed my eyes, trying to clear the fog. Everything still looked hazy.
Smoke.
I realized in that moment the smoke detector was going off. Smoke continued to fill the room. I lifted my shirt collar around my mouth and nose and immediately ran to the front door. The floor felt hot beneath my feet, and within seconds, the air was filled with even more noise and panic.
I ran out the door and down my metal steps as fire engines surrounded my building from every side. Within seconds, deep voices were shouting orders, and men everywhere were pulling equipment off the trucks. Two strong arms reached up and swooped my legs out from underneath me, and then…..
Darkness.
Voices. I could hear familiar voices. I opened my eyes, anxious to know why I was in a hospital bed with my parents at my side. And then there were the dreams… Cloudy dreams, full of danger, screaming, and smoke.
A doctor quickly looked me over and told me I didn’t have any severe injuries, other than some burns on my feet from running down my metal stairs and some minor smoke inhalation. Apparently I passed out and had been unconscious for several hours.
The worst part was, my parents had to tell me the bad news. My bakery was gone. The fire was so bad there was nothing left of it. It was torched, gutted, and empty. Exactly how my heart felt in this exact moment.
The doctors informed me the waiting room was full of people waiting to see me. I felt too devastated to move my limbs. I was relieved to hear my elderly tenants weren’t home at the time of the fire, so no one was hurt. Or worse, dead. But I still felt like every piece of me, everything I had been working so hard for, was disintegrated. I couldn’t talk about it. Not now, not with a room full of people. All I wanted was silence. My parents left the room, and I sobbed uncontrollably. For hours I just laid there, weeping. I tried to fall asleep, but instead of vivid dreams, my mind was blank. I guess there wasn’t much to dream about anymore.
My mom came into the room at some point, explaining to me that my boyfriend had been out in the waiting room, waiting to see me for hours. I tried explaining to her that I didn’t have a boyfriend, but she sensed there was more to the story.
“He’s really handsome, Mallory. If he’s not your boyfriend, why has he been waiting out there all this time? He was already out there when we arrived at the hospital. You guys must be close?” she asked, prying for more information.
“Mom, I really don’t want to talk about it. I don’t even know that guy out there,” I answered, half telling the truth. I really felt as though he was a complete stranger to me at this point. Everything had gone so wrong from the beginning, so it wasn’t worth trying to explain to my mom that he was just someone who ‘could have been’ something but wasn’t. My mom and I were pretty close, but I just didn’t want to get into it. “Can you just tell him to leave? Please?”
She nodded and kissed my forehead and I drifted back into a restless sleep.
When I was finally released from the hospital that night, my parents insisted I head back with them to California. I didn’t want that though. I didn’t need anyone to coddle over me. All I wanted was for life to go back to normal. Even if it couldn’t feel normal to me, I at least wanted it to be normal for everyone else. Of course, with everything I had completely gone, I wasn’t sure I would know normal anytime soon.
Despite my insistence that all my friends go home, they all lingered around until they could hug me and be reassured I was okay. They finally slowly trickled out, and Megan drove me back to her place. She insisted I could stay as long as I needed to. As we pulled into her parking space, I could see the outline of a man leaning up against the front door of her apartment building.
“Sorry, Mal. I know you asked him to leave the hospital,” Megan said quietly. I knew that meant it was Greyson. “But he was so distra
ught. He came last night as soon as he heard about the fire and he stayed all morning. He didn’t know where to go or what to do. He was really worried about you.”
“Meg, you know all about our big fight. I don’t want to see him. Why did you tell him to come here?” I asked, exhausted by the thought of having to face him right now.
“You know I love you, and I’m always on your side, Mal. But it seems like he’s really trying,” Megan responded sympathetically. “You know that of all people, I’m not exactly big on the whole lovey-dovey romance stuff. But he’s actually really trying here. Maybe you should just talk to him for a minute? Just so he knows you’re okay?”
I unfastened my seatbelt, knowing Megan was probably right. I was stubborn, sure, but I still had a strong sense of common courtesy. He was probably exhausted too, if he really was at the hospital all this time. He had probably been standing at her doorstep for at least an hour or two, considering how long it took us to get out of the hospital once they discharged me.
We climbed out of the car and Megan made her way inside her apartment building, nodding at Greyson as she walked by. I saw him mouth the words “thank you” as she passed. As he stepped towards me, I could see his eyes looked moist.
“I’m sorry if you don’t want to see me,” Greyson said apologetically. “But I couldn’t stay away. I just wanted to see you. I had to make sure you were okay.”
“I’m fine, thanks. Look, I understand why you came, I do. It’s a nice gesture. But we really don’t have to do this,” I said, crossing my arms.
“Mal, I know you were really angry with me yesterday,” he said hesitantly. “But I’m genuinely concerned about you. I was really scared.”
“Well now you can see I’m fine, so we’re good. You can go.”
“Mallory, can we please just talk?” he asked softly.
“I said all I needed to last night, Greyson. Unless you’re here to tell me you were right about all the old wiring in the bakery. They think that’s what caused the fire, you know. Are you here to gloat about that? That you warned me about those wires and I didn’t listen?” I said angrily.
“Mallory, no. What are you talking about? I didn’t even know what I was talking about that day, it just came out of my mouth. I’m not an electrician, it’s not like I know about that kind of thing. The fire wasn’t your fault,” he said cautiously.
“Well if I had listened to you, maybe it wouldn’t have happened, right? I feel like anytime you want to ‘talk,’ it’s to prove a point.”
“No, Mallory, that’s not what this is. I was scared to death. I didn’t know if you were hurt. No one at the hospital would tell me anything since I’m not family. Your friends pretty much shunned me, who knows what you’ve told them about me. Megan was the only one who would say a word to me. Look, I didn’t come here to fight with you, or to make you be with me. I just want to help you,” Greyson said sincerely.
“Well I already have a place to stay,” I said motioning towards Megan’s apartment. “So I won’t need to shack up with you and your non-dead fiancé.” I wasn’t sure why I said it, but I was still mad and those words just fell out of my mouth.
“We’re back there, Mal? Really? Come on, what can I do? Let me help you,” he repeated. “I really care about you. I want to make all of this better.”
“Well everything I had went up in flames, Greyson. This isn’t exactly an easy fix. Maybe you can fashion me a hand-crafted pair of moccasins so I have some shoes to wear. Maybe you can knit me some sweaters so I don’t have to wear Megan’s skimpy clothes. Maybe you can buy me a stove, so I can someday actually cook food again. Shit, Greyson, this isn’t something you can just ‘fix.’ I don’t need anything from you.” I stared at him angrily.
“Mallory, please. I know you’re mad. You’re mad at me, mad at this entire situation. I get that. But I’ve already apologized for whatever it is you think I’ve done wrong. And whether you forgive me or not, I still want to help you. We can fix this,” he said softly,
“Fix what? My life? Or this broken relationship? I’m pretty sure both of those things are purely a pile of ashes at this point,” I huffed.
“We can fix both, Mal. Please,” he pleaded.
“Do you want the napkin, Greyson? I already reminded you about rule number six. Don’t fix me,” I said, walking towards the door to head inside.
“The only rule I care about is Saturday. I still want you to meet me at La Luna. I don’t care whether or not you want to be fixed, Mallory. I am fixing this. Everything.” His voice trailed off as I walked inside Megan’s apartment building and closed the door behind me.
Chapter 23
“Wake up, Mal. You have a delivery,” Megan said, opening up her living room shades. My body ached from her uncomfortable pull-out couch.
“What is that?” I asked, staring at the brown box in her hands.
“I don’t know. I went out for a jog this morning with Steve and it was on the doorstep. It has your name on it,” she replied, setting it down next to me. I sat up, putting the box on my lap.
“I’m still waiting for someone to tell me the last two days were all just a bad dream,” I said, opening up the box lid. Inside was a pair of soft, light brown moccasins. There was also a handwritten note inside the box.
Not exactly hand-crafted, but I’m trying.
“Are those slippers? Moccasins? What’s going on?” Megan asked, taking the note from me. “What does this even mean?”
“I don’t know, I got mad at him last night. He asked what he could do to help and I said something about moccasins. I was delirious. It’s just a guy trying to make something out of nothing, that’s all,” I said, putting the lid back on the box. A slight smile crossed my lips, but I quickly brushed it aside. “Want to head out shopping with me today? I’m going to need a few things. I don’t exactly have your cleavage to pull off any of your shirts,” I said with a smirk. Honestly, I needed so many things I didn’t even know where to begin.
I borrowed some clothes from Megan and spent an hour talking with my insurance agent. I had so many decisions to make it was overwhelming. The rest of the day we spent shopping and eating, which was exactly what I needed. Addie met up with us as well for a manicure. It seemed ironic to me that I had virtually nothing to my name but yet here I was getting my nails massaged and painted with my friends. But at the same time, it was exactly what I needed.
“So, Saturday,” Addie started, prying for information about my intentions with Greyson.
“Yeah, Saturday we should see if Griffin, Steve, and Johnny want to go out to dinner,” I interjected.
Addie and Megan exchanged looks and I knew why, but I really didn’t want to talk about it. Megan had previously explained the box of moccasins that morning to Addie, but I just rolled my eyes.
“You’re really giving up on this whole thing with Greyson?” Addie asked genuinely. “He said he wasn’t responsible for the whole art festival bid issue. Maybe it was an honest misunderstanding, Mal.”
“I don’t know, Addie. It still sucks. And to think it could just happen again and again. I don’t want to deal with that. I don’t want to compete with him,” I said honestly.
“But just days ago you were hopelessly in love. I thought you really found a great guy,” she said shrugging.
“Yeah, so did I,” I muttered. “Look, so the whole contract ‘relationship,’ if you can even call it that, completely backfired. I understand what he was getting at in the beginning. The whole ‘getting what we really want out of a relationship’ idea. But we missed the whole part about really getting to know each other, right? I feel like I don’t know him at all.”
“Mal, I think you’re wrong,” Megan chimed in.
“Oh yes, let’s hear from the relationship expert,” I said teasingly. “Meg, you haven’t had a real boyfriend since seventh grade. You date three guys a week.”
“Exactly Mal, that’s going to be my point. I date so much because all these guys I meet out at nightc
lubs and bars, they aren’t worth my time. They’re fun, sure. But I don’t have any ‘real’ connection with them. You and Greyson, you at least have that. There’s some kind of crazy spark there. You guys are both so similar, with your work ethic and passion, your priority and love of family.”
“I know Meg, there are a lot of great things about him. But he lied to me, repeatedly. Just like Pierce lied to me.” I didn’t often talk about Pierce. My friends knew it was a really sore subject for me. Pierce and I were engaged, but that felt like another lifetime ago. I was only twenty-two, and it was a really quick romance. He cheated on me a few weeks before our wedding. Sure, I was over it, so much time had passed. But yet somehow in this moment, my heart still hurt. Maybe it was the letdown from someone else I trusted stirring all of those feelings back up in me.
“You’re a hopeless romantic though, right Mal?” Addie asked. “You’ve fallen in and out of love plenty of times since then.”
“Exactly. Which makes me way more hopeless than romantic,” I said flustered.
“Well maybe you just need to be a little more involved in your own love story. If you don’t show up on Saturday, how will you ever know what could have been?” Addie asked.
“Right, Mal. Picture us when we’re like sixty-five," Megan stated. "Of course we’ll be morbidly obese by then after another four decades of eating your desserts, but hear me out. I think people always look back and wonder about choices they didn’t make, rather than the ones they did make. I mean, I have met a few nice guys along my speed dating career. What if I had actually slowed down a little bit and gave one of them a chance? I could be blissfully happy in love right now if I would have just done something unexpected.” Megan actually spoke with some conviction in her voice, which was quite unlike her. “I just don’t want you to ever wonder about what could have been. This is different than it was with Pierce. He didn’t give you a choice. He made your decision for you when he cheated on you. But this is so much different. This guy seems to really want to be with you. He’s trying.”
Six Rules: Book Two in the SIX Series Page 14
