What in the world is this?
“You want that magazine too?”
“Yes, please.”
I grabbed my things once she bagged them and went outside. I sat on a bench and took out the magazine.
It was definitely Ethan, Ethan Lockwood, “The Entrepreneur of the Year.”
I flipped to the first page of the cover story and read: “Ethan Lockwood is so committed to the twenty billion dollar powerhouse that is Autumn Wonder that our staff had to meet him in Fayetteville, Arkansas to take the photo for this cover.
“What brought him to Fayetteville, Arkansas you ask? Staking out the competition. Autumn Wonder’s trademarked goods, the customized local items that can be found in each bakery needed to be better tuned for the Southern state menus, so much so that his board had him pose undercover at a local expansion site for six weeks.
“Mr. Lockwood’s ability to infuse a sense of familiarity into each region’s Autumn Wonder is what sets his company apart from its heated rival, Starbucks. He credits his best friend Barry Worthington, 29, (who happens to be founding partner and current CFO) with helping him to achieve his dream of owning the largest coffee shop in the world.”
I scanned the rest of the article, seething at each word I read, at each truth that juxtaposed the lies he’d been giving me.
I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to believe it.
I read it over and over, trying to make sure that the words weren’t playing tricks on me.
I felt the sudden urge to cry, but I couldn’t get a single tear to fall.
I was too angry.
I called Joan. “Did you already tell Mr. Hines that I declined to be in Sweet Tennessee?”
“No. He only answers his phone between seven and nine in the morning. I was going to—”
“I want to take the role now…Can you charter a jet for me and my mom? We need to leave tonight.”
“I’ll get everything set up.”
I closed my phone and leaned back on the bench.
Here I was, thinking that I’d finally found someone who honestly cared about me, someone who nearly loved me, but I’d just been a fool. Again.
I wanted to leave Ethan behind in Fayetteville and disappear—never giving him the chance to wonder what happened to me or why I’d left, but I wasn’t the type to let anyone get away without knowing that I’d been hurt.
I took my time driving outside the city, showing up to the address he’d given me for our date.
The house was small and rather quaint. It was white with light blue shutters and a concrete porch that was covered in clay potted plants.
I didn’t make any attempts to hide my tears when I rang his doorbell.
“Hey Selena,” Ethan answered the door and ushered me inside. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”
I looked around the room and noticed that everything was bare—no pictures on the walls, no decorative rugs, nothing remotely extravagant. I looked over at the room to my right and saw tall candles burning amidst a sea of colorful pillows.
“You have pretty interesting taste for a billionaire CEO—the billionaire Autumn Wonder CEO,” I took the Fortune magazine out of my back pocket and threw it at him.
His face went white. “I was going to tell you tonight. I really was. I honestly—”
“The person who has been pushing me to be honest—the most honest I’ve been in my life, was lying to me the entire time! How could you do this? Why did you do this?”
“Selena, I tried to tell you a few times before. I just…I had no idea that—”
“All this time! All. This. Time! I kept telling you how Autumn Wonder was ruining my mom’s life and making her miserable and…It was you. Wasn’t it? You ordered all those pies and sent them to Boston so they could figure out what the ingredients were, didn’t you? Is that how they were able to duplicate them so fast? Is that where all your pies went?”
He avoided looking into my eyes. “Yes…But I didn’t—”
“Do you know how many people lost their jobs, Ethan? Do you realize how many people you hurt? I guess I should’ve known better…I’m used to being in fake relationships, Ethan. I really am. I just like to know when I’m in one.”
“Selena,” he reached for my hand but I moved away. “I’m so sorry. I—”
“You watched me close Sweet Seasons with my mother and you were secretly smiling inside! I was crying to you every night and…Is that why you asked what the recipe for my cherry bourbon pie was? On more than one occasion? Was that the only one your billion dollar corporation couldn’t figure out?”
“I didn’t know it was your mother’s shop at first. Please believe me. When I first found out, you and I weren’t that serious, and by the time I planned to tell you, we were already—”
“Already what? Already what!”
“Selena, I’m sorry you had to find out this way. I meant to tell you a long time ago, I just—”
“The secret ingredients are mission figs and apple cider.”
“Stop. Please listen—”
“I soak the cherries in bourbon overnight, and then I add three cups of apple cider and let them marinate for five more hours. I cut up the mission figs and juice them, and then I bake them into the pie with the cherries. There. You got what you wanted. Happy? My own mother doesn’t know what the secret ingredients are…Hope your billions of customers enjoy it.”