Six Rules: Book Two in the SIX Series (18 page)

Chapter 25

          
“What should I wear to go officially break up with my
pseudo-boyfriend that I already previously broke up with?” I asked Megan as I
thumbed through her closet.

          
“Something short and tight, so the way he looks at you
makes you want to change your mind about all this,” Megan answered sarcastically.
“Are you really sure you know what you’re doing?”

          
“Of course I know what I’m doing, Meg. This whole thing
has been driving me crazy. In fact, that boy has been driving me crazy since
the second we met. I just need to get past all of this.”

          
“I know he cares about you, Mal,” Megan said, sitting down
on her bed while I still tried to piece together an outfit.

          
“I just want a fresh start, you know? A cleansing,” I
said, settling on a grey skirt with a white fitted shirt.

          
“Can’t we just go get coffee enemas and call it good?”
Megan said mockingly.

          
“You know what I mean. This whole thing with the bakery
and my apartment. I feel like I’m starting over. I just think it would be
easier to do without Greyson trying to fix my life. I did a pretty good job before
he came along. I can do it again,” I said as I put on the clothes I selected.

          
Twenty minutes later my hair was pulled back and my soft
make-up was applied.

          
“Well?” I asked Megan for approval.

          
“You look ready to dump Mr. Right. Have at it,” Megan said,
still unsupportive of what I was trying to do.

          
“You do think he’ll be there, right? Oh shit, what if I
show up and he’s not even there?” I suddenly felt panic rise up in my throat.

          
“Then you can shoot him a text from the restaurant and
break his heart that way,” Megan responded. “I’m sure he’ll be there, Mal.
Despite your anger, you know he’s crazy about you.”

          
“I’m only showing up so I can say I officially held up my
end of the deal, you know?” I explained, trying to justify my position to
Megan. “I mean, the whole point was to
not
show up to end things, but I
feel like that’s a cop-out at this point. I think I need to show up to at least
end this properly, right? I don't want him to think I'm not showing up because
I'm back together with Dillon or something. He should really know the truth
about that, in case Ben relayed some bad information, which is likely."

          
Megan looked at me and shrugged, probably confused by what
I was even saying. “He is really cute, Mal. I’m just saying.”
 

          
“Enough, Meg. Don’t you dare change my mind about this. Believe
it or not, sometimes 'cute' isn't enough. I’ll call you later.”

          
In that moment, Megan’s front door flew open and Addie ran
inside, breathing heavily.

          
“Wait, don’t go…” Addie said, trying to catch her breath.
“I was at the Chamber of Commerce today. I went to talk to them about our
situation like you asked me to, now that we don’t have a place to bake for the
art festival. They told me about Greyson. I came here as fast as I could.”
Addie continued panting.

          
“What about Greyson?” I asked curiously.

          
“He didn’t do it. He never placed a dessert bid for the
festival. He was telling the truth, Mal,” Addie said, still struggling to catch
her breath. “This woman was there the day he brought in a whole bunch of pies
and cookies and stuff. I guess he just dropped a bunch of stuff off one day. It
was stuff he said he couldn’t use or something.”

          
“The day I met him,” I muttered quietly, thinking back to
what he was trying to explain to me when we first argued about this.

          
“So the lady in charge just thought he already had his own
dessert line. She pushed the committee into dividing up the bid because she thought
she was helping him out. She thought they just misplaced his bid. And because
he was doing so much for the main course portion of the festival, they didn't
want to offend him by leaving him out of the desserts. It was an honest error,
Mal. It had nothing to do with Greyson.”

          
I sat down on Megan’s couch, trying to process what Addie
was saying. “Are you sure?” I asked, still not wanting to believe it.

          
“Mal, he already went to the Chamber. He pulled it. He
told them he didn’t want it and that the entire thing should go to you. They
changed the whole bid. I have the papers right here,” Addie said, holding up an
envelope. “It really was just a misunderstanding. The Chamber couldn't reach
you at the bakery, and they didn't know how else to get a hold of you.”

          
“Shit. Well what am I supposed to do now?” I said
frantically, looking at both of my friends.

          
“Go!” they both responded in unison, urging me out the
door.

          
I ran out of Megan’s apartment building and climbed into
my car. It felt weird driving to La Luna when I used to be able to just walk
from my apartment.

          
What if he doesn’t show?
Surely that wasn’t a possibility,
right? I mean just a week ago he promised he would be there no matter what. But
that was before so many things had happened. I never even gave him a chance to
explain his side of the story. I wouldn’t even listen to a word he was trying
to say. And he was respectful enough to just let me rant without forcing me to
listen to him. I shook my head, wondering to myself if I had made too much of a
mess of all this to fix it.

          
I pulled into the restaurant and parked. I didn’t see
Greyson’s truck right off, but the parking lot was pretty busy. It was possible
he could have parked on the street somewhere.

          
I walked into the restaurant and took a deep breath. I had
rehearsed what I wanted to say to him a hundred times in my head. Now I wasn’t
sure what to say to him at all. I owed him an apology, that much I knew. But I
still wasn’t exactly sure what I was doing here.
 

          
I glanced around the restaurant. The tables were full of
happy smiling families, couples, and groups of people. I glanced from side to
side, anxious to see the familiar face I was looking for.

          
Maybe I was early and he wasn’t here yet? He was usually
so punctual.

          
“Table for one,
miss?” the restaurant host asked, interrupting my thoughts.

          
“Uh, yeah. I mean no, two. Sorry. I’m meeting someone,” I
stammered. I tried to fight back the moisture collecting in my eyes as I sat
down at the table. Alone.

Chapter 25

          
Ninety seconds. That’s how long I sat at the table before
hot tears slowly slid down my face. Greyson wasn’t here. He wasn’t in the chair
across from me, or at a different table. He wasn’t walking into the restaurant
or standing near the hostess podium. Greyson did not show up to meet me.

          
My heart ached. I wasn’t even here out of longing for a
romantic ending to whatever this relationship was. I was here more so to
somehow fix what I had done wrong. To apologize to him for not listening to his
explanation. To thank him for the effort he at least made in all this, when
maybe I didn’t live up to my end of the bargain.

          
He promised he would be here.
Apparently that was
one lie he did in fact tell. Tears continued to pour down my face as a waiter
approached me.

          
“Good evening miss, are you waiting for one more?” he
asked politely. I looked up at him with my sad eyes and I couldn’t respond.

          
“Oh no, shit. You’re… you…” he stammered. “Christy!” he
shouted across the restaurant to a young girl standing in the hostess area. He
motioned at me as he said it, and the girl quickly made her way over to me.

          
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” she said as she approached the
table, looking a little frazzled. “I was supposed to catch you when you came
in. I feel terrible. I am so sorry,” she said again as she pulled a small
envelope out of her apron pocket. She gave me a sympathetic smile and walked
back to the hostess area. The waiter simply nodded at me and walked away.

          
I slowly opened the envelope with my shaking hands. I
wiped the tears off my face and took a deep breath, totally unsure of what was
happening.

          
I pulled out a silver key, taped to a note that simply
read
‘The Unexpected.’
That was it. No further indication as to what the
key was for, or what I was supposed to do next. It seemed so typical of
Greyson, which in turn frustrated me.

          
I eyed the key suspiciously. It definitely looked like a
house key, but it was different from the one I already gave back to Greyson for
his apartment. It was too small and simple for a car key, but too big to belong
to something like a safe or a luggage lock.

          
If it was a house key, that seemed ironic, considering I didn’t
have a house. Why didn’t he include more on the note? I stared at the words on
the piece of paper in my hands. ‘
The Unexpected.’
What was Greyson
doing?

          
I wiped off my face one last time and regained my
composure, walking out of the restaurant with very little pride and a useless
key. I stood outside my car for a moment, unsure of where to go or what to do.
Did I even want to drive to his house? I came out tonight to apologize to him,
not for a scavenger hunt. I felt frustrated and uncertain, and I wasn’t sure
what I was expected to do. This guy made me crazy from the first time I met
him. How was he still getting under my skin?

          
I got in my car and started driving, aimlessly really,
though still in the direction of Greyson’s condo. Downtown was full of life as
tourists crossed streets, families laughed and filled up ice cream shops, and
lights twinkled overhead. The world seemed calm. Certainly less chaotic than
everything that had happened over the last week.

          
As I turned right onto Dixon Drive, I remembered the night
Greyson brought me to the property he wanted to buy. The way his face lit up as
he talked about something he wanted so badly. He had that same look on his face
when he talked about wanting me too. At least that was something genuine, something
real about him. Instinctively I pulled into the parking lot where we talked
that night, and where I had yelled at him just days ago. There were no other
cars in the parking lot, but I wanted to just sit in silence for a moment.
 
I needed to figure out what I was doing and
what I even wanted.

          
Perhaps it was the glare of the setting sun, but it almost
looked like there were lights on inside the building.

          
I shut my car off, still hoping to have a few minutes of
quiet to gather my thoughts, but my eyes caught a glimpse inside. There
were
lights on in there. As I took a closer look, I could see there were also
beautiful illuminated counters, menu boards hung on the wall, and… were those
bakery cases?

          
For a moment I felt sad. Sad to think someone had bought
this property when I knew Greyson wanted it so bad. I knew he would be
heartbroken when he found out, if he didn’t know already. I climbed out of my
car, looking around the building. There were definitely lights on inside, but
where were the people? There were no other cars nearby. No other signs of life.

          
I walked up to the window and peeked inside. The place was
freshly painted, and I could tell the new owners were putting a lot of work
into it. The bakery cases I noticed earlier were full of cake slices. That
seemed very odd, given that the place clearly wasn’t open for business yet.

          
Oh. Wait a minute. No.

          
My brain felt on fire as I turned the key from Greyson
around in my left hand. I knew I would feel like an idiot immediately after
putting this key into the door lock, but something compelled me to do it
anyway.

          
Click.
Shit.
The key worked.

          
I slowly opened the door, completely freaked out by
whatever was happening. The space was amazing, and I was in awe of how far it
had come from the night I first saw it; dirty, rundown, and unimpressive.

          
“Hello?” I said softly.

          
I heard a loud noise, as if someone was setting something
down on the concrete floor tucked back in what would presumably be the kitchen
area. Greyson appeared, his blue shirt and jeans marked with paint. His blonde
hair was messy and his blue eyes looked sincere as they met mine.

          
“You knew where to find me,” he said quietly, looking
vulnerable as he put his hands in his pockets.

          
“Not really. I thought the key was for your house, or
maybe for something in your house. I was just driving by this way, and, I don’t
know. I just wanted to stop for a minute to think, and then I saw the lights,”
I replied.

          
“You thought the key was for my house? So you were driving
there to move in with me?” he asked coyly. I could tell by his smirk he was
prepared to completely pull me in all over again.

          
“Not exactly,” I stated as he slowly walked towards me.
"Why weren't you at the restaurant?"

          
"I didn't want to be stood up again twice by the same
girl. Actually, that would be three times. You didn't show up after the last
note I sent you. I got scared, I guess. I really didn't think you would show up
tonight. The thought of you not coming crushed me, and I couldn't do it. So I
just left the envelope, just in case there was even the slightest chance you
still went."

          
“I can’t believe you bought this place,” I said in awe,
looking around the building.

          
“I didn’t,” he replied, standing in front of me.

          
“What do you mean? You’re in here painting. Did you break
in?” I asked sarcastically.

          
Greyson didn’t reply. He just stared at me with his
piercing eyes. He had an ever-so-slight smile on his lips.

          
“Greyson, seriously. What are you doing here then? What
are those?” I asked, pointing to the bakery case. It appeared to be full of
cake slices. As I approached the case and looked closer, I realized they were
all slices of carrot cake. “What’s going on?” I asked curiously.

          
“I wasn’t sure which carrot cake you liked best from which
restaurant,” he said shrugging. “So I just got a piece from every place in town
that carried it. In case you came by.”

          
“Greyson, I still don’t understand. You really bought this
place? It’s yours now?” I asked again.
 

          
“No,” Greyson said, hesitating. “This place is yours, Mal.
I mean, hopefully if you’ll say yes, this place could be ours.”

          
“Greyson, what would you… what are you…” I struggled to
form any rational sentences.

          
“I know you don’t want me to fix anything, Mal. I get
that. But what you don’t understand is, you’re not broken. There is nothing
about you I would want to fix or change. I love everything about you the way
you are. I just want to
be
with you, Mal. That’s it. Just you. Me. Rules
or no rules, I don’t care. I just… I just want to go through life with you. I
want to wake up with you and cook you breakfast. I want to laugh with you, and
lay in the sun with you, and make you try all the food I cook. I want to spend
family dinners with you and late nights with you. Even when you’re yelling at
me, I can’t help it. I still just want to be with you. You make me crazy in the
best way, Mal.”

          
I stared at Greyson, speechless. I hadn’t even apologized
yet for the art festival fight we had, and yet here he was, not even mad about
me not listening to him.

          
“Greyson, are you serious? I’m stubborn, and opinionated,
and busy, and…”

          
“So be busy
with
me, here,” he said, interrupting
me, raising his hands at the room we were in. “Then even if we’re insanely
busy, we’re still together.”

          
“It’s only been three weeks Greyson. That’s crazy,” I
said, shaking my head.

          
“So be crazy with me,” he responded, putting his arms at
my waist. “If you want, if it will make you feel better about all of this, I’ll
give you a ring for that key,” he said with a smirk. He reached into his pocket
and pulled out my bird key chain. As he handed it over to me, I noticed there
was a square cut pink sapphire ring hanging from the key ring. “Don’t freak out
on me, it’s just a gift. I couldn't just re-gift you back your own bird. I know
you said being a Virgo means nothing to you, but it at least means sapphire is
your birthstone, right? So your birthday is coming up really soon?”
          
I nodded my head, still unable
to speak.

          
“So you can tell yourself this is just a birthday present
if you don’t want to look anymore into it. But what I’m trying to say is, I’m
serious about this. About us. And I know it’s only been three weeks, and I know
it hasn’t been perfect. But I do know that I will give this everything I have.”

          
My eyes felt moist and I still felt at a loss for words.
All of this came out of nowhere. I never saw Greyson coming and certainly never
saw where any of this was going.

          
“Don’t say no," he pleaded.

          
"Are you still trying to tell me what to do?" I
asked with a slight smile.
       

 
         
"Sorry,
no. Look, you don't even have to give me an answer until you’ve tried every
piece of carrot cake in here,” he said, motioning to the bakery case.

          
“Is that bribery?” I asked softly. “I don’t say no to
carrot cake.”

          
Greyson put his hand on my face and kissed me gently.

          
“Good. Then I’m feeding you a piece of carrot cake every
day for the rest of your life,” he responded. Greyson swept me up into his arms
and set me on the countertop.

          
“I don’t know, carrot cake every day? That seems a little
predictable,” I mused. “I think I’d rather be surprised. After all, we both
know I prefer the unexpected.”