“I want to let you know that I’m going to Boston tomorrow.”
“Okay…Family emergency? I can get Sarah to come in and cover for you. We can reschedule you for—”
“I’m going there permanently, Lola. I’m sorry for such short notice, but I have to leave…But before I go, I wanted to personally let you know that as CEO of Autumn Wonder, it has been an absolute pleasure working with you. I was here undercover for some research and well…your passion is definitely one of a kind.”
Her jaw dropped. “You’re the CEO?”
I took the Fortune magazine out of my back pocket and slid it across her desk. “Yes. And if you ever want to talk to me about any of your ideas for moving the company forward, I’d be more than happy to fly you up and listen to them…In fact, whenever you want to leave the retail sector let me know. We could use somebody like you at our corporate office. You wouldn’t have to do an interview or anything, just call me when you’re ready.”
She jumped up and hugged me. “I trained the CEO of Autumn Wonder? Oh my god! Oh my god! How awesome is that? Thank you so much for your offer! I’ll take you up on that soon!”
“I hope so,” I handed her my business card. “Just promise me you’ll never work for Starbucks.”
“I promise!”
I arrived in Boston around midnight. I reached for the bourbon in my liquor cabinet and quickly put it back.
Selena…
I needed scotch. A whole bottle.
I grabbed a bottle of Double Black and headed to my bedroom. I didn’t even bother pouring it into a glass. I took ridiculously large gulps and searched for something to watch on TV.
There was nothing on but late night celebrity news shows, and I couldn’t bear to risk hearing Selena’s name so I turned the TV off.
I picked up my phone and called her. She didn’t answer.
I decided to leave a message. “Hey Selena, it’s me. Ethan…I…” I hung up.
I didn’t even know what to say.
Chapter 25
Selena
“Selena Ross! Selena Ross! Have you spoken to Phillip Hartford since the tape was released to the public? Have you reconciled with Matt Sterling? Will you be in the sequel if Phillip Hartford directs it? Where did you hide out for the past eight weeks? Are you still in love with Phillip? Talk to us! Turn around! Selena! Selena!” the paparazzi welcomed me back to my apartment.
Instead of entertaining a few of their questions like I normally did, I strolled right past them, not paying them any mind as I walked up to my condo.
My security detail kept them at a distance as I unlocked my door and slipped inside.
“Back so soon?” my mother looked up from her book.
“Yeah,” I walked into my kitchen and turned on the coffee maker. “I almost forgot I couldn’t go for a run in the daytime without paparazzi hounding me. I’m going to drink some coffee and read a book instead.”
I opened up my cabinet and saw several pounds of Autumn Wonder coffee organized by blend, flavor intensity, and purchase date.
UGH!
I pulled them out one by one and hurled them into the trash. I broke all the “I love Autumn Wonder” plates I’d received from their customer loyalty program and poured all their signature creamers and delicious juices down the drain.
My mother and I had been in New York for less than a day and I should’ve been happy to be in my familiar element. I should’ve immediately pulled something remarkable from my wardrobe and changed clothes. Instead, I was still wearing a pair of Wal-Mart sweatpants and one of Ethan’s muscle shirts.
I vowed to rip off the charm bracelet he’d given me and flush each of the charms down the toilet, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. The bracelet was truly a work of art and I wanted to keep it forever—whether I was over him or not.
“Is there any particular reason why we had to leave Fayetteville so soon?” my mother put her book down on the coffee table.
“No…”
“Selena,” she walked over to me and patted my back. “Tell me the truth.”
I broke down. “He lied to me, mom! He was lying to me the entire time!”
“What are you talking about?”
I rushed back into my room and pulled out a copy of the latest Fortune magazine—I’d bought twenty more copies before we left so I could burn them at my leisure.
I walked back into the living room and tossed it to my mom.
“The guy I was dating? The one you said was cute and charming? He’s the CEO of Autumn Wonder! He was there to spy on your shop and get your recipes. He helped to put you out of business! He did that on purpose!”
She read the article and sighed. “Wow…I never would’ve thought that about him…I guess I can kind of understand it from a business perspective, but Sweet Seasons was going to close eventually anyway Selena. We’d been losing money and customers for months, and we didn’t have the means to operate any faster or any cheaper. Maybe it’s—”
“Don’t justify what he did, mom! He’s a liar! A LIAR!” I picked up a couch pillow and yelled obscenities into it. “Why can’t you see that?”
“I do see that Selena,” she hugged me and walked back over to her chair, “and I am upset about this entire situation—very upset. If I ever see him again, I have a few choice words I’d like to say and I would definitely let him know how manipulative and wrong he was. I doubt I’ll get that chance though…Closing the shop hurt me a lot, but it happened for a reason. Now, I just want to move on and seek out another source of happiness…”