I drag my feet as I come inside the shop, the bell ringing as I push the door open. I see Soph standing behind the counter looking at me with excitement in her eyes, barely able to stay in place as she watched me walk up to her. I look at her expectantly, my eyebrows raised.
"What's wrong?"
"You'll never guess what happened yesterday!" she exclaims, bouncing on her feet.
I stare at her, my eyes squinting. "If you're this excited... did your mom agree to renovate like a single tile of this place?" I ask, placing my bag on the counter as I look around the shop, pointing at a corner. "That one needs it the most."
She looks at where I'm pointing, shaking her head. "No, Anna, this is a lot better than that!"
"What? two tiles?"
"No!
"All the tiles?" I gasp.
"Anna," she groans. "I have been talking to Mrs. Bardot."
"Ok?"
"She's selling the restaurant building."
"Oh."
"To us."
"Oh."
"Can you believe it?!" she exclaims, throwing her hands in the air. "We are going to own our own flower shop!"
"That's great," I say as she jumps in my arms. "How are we going to pay for it though?"
"She agreed to let us pay it off as we go," she says, smiling at me. "Isn't it amazing?"
"What's in it for her, sounds too good to be true," I say, shaking my head.
"Well... Jenny might have had a hand at it. Apparently, the place in its prime was run by Mrs. Bardot and Jenny's grandmother, she didn't want to let go of it."
"Until now?"
She shrugs. "I guess she saw me as a younger version of herself, like a relieving of her romance in modern times," she says dramatically. "As long as we let her stay at her current apartment on the second floor of the building... oh did I forget to mention we are getting the whole building? Including two apartments? We're going to have our own apartment," she says, jumping up and down again.
"This is too much..." I breathe in. "Soph, what the hell! I leave for a week and all of this happens?"
"I know, I'm still processing it all."
"We need to get a plan going," I say, shaking my head. "How are we going to do this? And the renovations? How are we going to pay for them while also paying for the store?"
"We'll figure something out," she says, taking out a notebook from under the counter. "Investors?"
"Are we about to pretend we know how to do these things?"
"Doesn't Daniella?"
⁂
Daniella looks at the three of us with a raised brow, leaning back on her chair. "You're joking, right?"
"No?" Soph says, not noticing Daniella's irony.
"Sure, I'll help you," she sighs. "I'm sure we can get a few deals, but I'm not sure if we can get investors... I don't mind chiming in—"
"No," I interrupt her.
"Anna..."
"I have an idea," I say, shaking my head. "Ed's house."
"Are you selling Ed's house?" Soph asks, her eyes widening.
"Even if it's not enough to pay for the whole thing, it's a start," I say, glancing at Mrs. Bardot who is more entertained with her crocheting than our conversation. "And we can always find a way to pay off the rest."
"That's a good idea," Daniella nods. "But, are you sure?"
I nod my head. "I'm sure," I say, giving her a soft smile. "The house is in Utah, I have no intention of living there, in the long run, it'll be an extra expense that we can't afford... it's not like we have a choice here."
"Not if you would let me help..." Daniella says, but I shake my head.
"We'll sell the house, see what it gets us and we'll go from there."
"Alright," Daniella nods. "We'll do that, and I'll see what I can get us for the renovations, even though it doesn't need much, for now anyway," she says, looking around.
"Then, do you want to check out the apartment," Mrs. Bardot speaks for the first time since we got here. "It's empty right now, but I'm sure you'll find it nice," she says, gesturing for us to follow her. "It's on the second floor, right above the restaurant, and it's two bedrooms."
"Apartment?" Daniella asks, glancing at me.
"Oh, yeah we are buying the whole building," Soph says excitedly. "A live and work investment."
Daniella nods. "Are you two moving in then?"
"That's the plan... My mom will have a heart attack once I tell her that not only am I moving out but I'm also opening a business to compete with hers — especially when our location is so much better," Soph rambles as we go up the stairs.
We walk into the apartment, the place is just as dusty as Ed's house, if not more. We look around, the living room is a decent size and so are the bedrooms, the kitchen and bathrooms are a little old-school but nothing too bad.
"We can work with this," Soph says, smiling at me. "What do you think?"
"I agree," I nod, looking at Daniella who has been oddly silent through the entire apartment tour. "right?"
"It's great," she says simply.
"You don't sound so sure," I say, raising my eyebrows.
"Well, I mean..." she sighs. "It's a big decision."
We stand in an awkward silence for a second before Mrs. Bardot speaks up. "I have to go take my evening nap."
Daniella and I drive in separate cars to her house. I can tell she's a bit upset, I know we left things unresolved since we last talked about me moving into Soph's house, even though I pretty much have moved in with her instead at this point. Unofficially, but still. And I know she wanted me to come to her first and let her help, I understand that. But isn't moving in with Soph into an apartment of our own completely different? I'm no longer someone with nowhere to go.
Unless...
"Can we talk?" I ask her once we arrive.
"About what?"
"You know what I mean," I say, following her up the stairs.
"I was just surprised, that's all," she says once we're inside the room.
"Daniella..."
She sighs, sitting down. "I got used to having you here, and I thought..." A blush creeps up her face. "It wouldn't be a bad idea for you to stay here and to rent out your room at the apartment instead, It would be extra money you could put into the shop."
I bite my lip, shaking my head. "Just say that you want me to move in with you."
"I want you to move in with me."
"Fine," I say simply with a shrug.
"That easily? No time to think?"
"Well, I obviously want to, and if you want to as well then why not?" I smirk. "And renting out the room is a great idea too."
"So... you're really moving in with me? With potato right?"
"Is this really about me or is it about the cat?" I tease her.
"Both," she says, pulling me onto her lap.
"Then yes, potato and I are moving in," I say, wrapping my arms around her neck. "When should we talk about marriage?"
She shakes her head, pressing a kiss on my lips. "Definitely not now."
⁂
I breathe in and out as I park my car in front of my dad's house, my hands shaking. I feel like a kid again, nervous to come back home after he had gotten a call from school. I step out of the car, closing the door behind me. I take another deep breath before I make my way to the door, ring the bell, and wait. Even though I still have the key, it feels invasive to just come right in, almost like it doesn't feel like this is my home anymore. And in fact, it isn't.
The door opens to reveal what I'm assuming is Denise's son, he's older than I thought he would be, and only adds to the fact that Denise is probably ancient. He smiles at me. "Hi, you must be Anna?"
"Yeah," I say, coming in. "Jake, right?"
"Yeah," he says, closing the door behind me.
"Where's my dad?"
"In the kitchen."
I nod my head, standing awkwardly in the living room. I glance around, noticing the new decorations and furniture, the sofa no longer scratched. It looks completely different than how it was before I left. I look back at Jake, who seems just as awkward as I am, if not more. "So..."
"Anna," my dad says, coming into view. He walks over to me, pulling me into a tight hug. "I missed you so much, honey."
"Yeah," I say simply, not knowing how to react.
"I'm so glad you're here," he says, pulling away from me, holding me by my shoulders.
I nod my head, my eyes darting to Denise who is standing in the kitchen doorframe watching us. "I'm going to go wash my hands," I say, pulling away from him.
"You can sleep over tonight if you'd like, I've left everything as it was before you left," he says, giving me a soft smile.
I nod my head. "I'll think about it."
I close the bathroom door behind me, breathing out. I lean against the door, my head spinning. This feels so unreal and overwhelming, I don't know how to act. I turn on the water, cupping my hands under the stream, and splashing the cold water on my face. This is torture.
"Do you need anything?" Denise's annoying voice comes from the other side of the door.
"I'm good, thank you," I say, drying my hands and my face on the towel.
"Then come on, the food is on the table."
I sigh, taking one last look at myself in the mirror before I open the door. I walk towards the dining room, pulling out my chair as I sit down, my eyes scanning the table. It feels like I'm in a parallel universe, this all feels too surreal.
"So, Anna," Denise starts. "How is life?"
I look up at her, my eyebrows raising. "Good?"
"Just good?" she asks, taking a bite of her food.
"Yeah," I say simply. "It's been good."
"That's good," she smiles. "Are you still working at that flower shop?"
"Yeah," I say, not bothering to elaborate.
"And no new boyfriends?"
"No," I say, glancing at my dad.
"Well, I'm guessing Jake has already introduced himself to you," she says, gesturing towards Jake. "He's my baby, my only son—"
"Mom..." Jake says with a warning tone. It doesn't sound like embarrassment over his mother's antics but rather something else.
"I'm just saying, my only son," she says, clearing her throat. "So I expect for him to get married soon, maybe have a baby or two."
Jake shakes his head, looking down, and I can't help but feel like something is off. My eyes dart between Jake and Denise, I can tell he's not too thrilled to be here either. And can you blame him? He has Denise as a mother.
The dinner is, as I expected, absolutely dreadful. The awkwardness in the room is unbearable, and I don't even want to think about how many times Denise has made a passive-aggressive comment about me being single. Or how she thinks it's a good idea for Jake to "find a nice girl."
Once we're done, I excuse myself from the table and head to the kitchen. I wash the dishes as a way to escape, Jake following me shortly after. I don't know how much more I can take of this, I just want to go home and lay on Dani's arms.
"Hey," he says, grabbing the towel from the counter and drying the dishes. "Sorry about my mom... she can be a little... difficult."
"That's an understatement," I mumble, earning a chuckle from him. "How are you dealing with it?"
"Well, I move out pretty soon too, but she's my mom and I do love her regardless of how annoying she is sometimes."
I nod my head, not knowing what to say. I glance back at the dining room where Denise and dad are chatting, he looks happy, he has that goofy smile on his face that I haven't seen in a long time. At what cost? "I understand."
"She hasn't always been like this, the divorce with my father was intense, and then everything that happened after that with my sister..."
"Sister?"
He nods. "Mom has always been obsessed with the idea of being a girl's mom, the perfect mother with the perfect daughter. She had me, and then Zoe came along. She wasn't girly, she wasn't perfect like my mom wanted her to be, and when my father left her and she found out Zoe was dating a girl from school she went berserk. Told her she was going to hell, and that she couldn't be her daughter anymore... she went to live with our dad, and my mom went on pretending like she never even had a daughter."
"She disowned her," I murmur. "Wait what did you say her name was again?"
"Zoe."
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