The One who got Away

“What’s that?” Ronni asked, turning toward me.

“They are proud of us for what we are accomplishing,” I said, looking up at the moon. “And my mother is more than happy to see that the two people she loved the most found each other in this chaos.”

“That’s how I feel,” she said, laying her head against my chest.

“I promise,” I said, pulling her back and looking into her eyes. “I will never allow anyone to treat you the way that Nick and my father treated you. I will do my best to shield you and protect you from everything bad in this world.”

“I know,” she said confidently. “I never for a second thought any different. I am excited about our future. And I am excited to spend it hand in hand with you.”

My sentiments exactly.

Chapter Twenty

Ronni

I stumbled forward, giggling as Nathan led me blindfolded down the sidewalk. He had blindfolded me even before I got in the car so I really had no idea where I was. I could hear the ocean in the background, smell the salty sea air, but in reality, it was Southern California. I could literally be anywhere.

I held tightly to Nathan’s hand, listening to the people passing us by in the streets. He stopped me for a moment and told me to stand right there. I heard the jingle of keys and the click of a lock in front of me. As he took my arm and led me forward, I shivered in the cold San Diego winter weather. Sure, it was way colder on the East Coast, but to me, this weather felt bitter. As soon as I walked in, warmth surrounded me, and I could smell the scent of lavender all around me. He moved me inside and shut the door behind us before walking back and pulling down my blindfold. I kept my eyes clutched closed for several seconds, almost too excited to open them.

“Okay, you can look now,” he said excitedly.

I opened my eyes and blinked several times before they came back into focus. I scanned the area with wonder. The floors were tiled with black and gray tiling, the racks were a bright white, and the seating throughout was accented with purples and grays. I walked through the large space, imagining our suits and outer wear lining the walls. We had expanded to outer wear when we realized that pushing our label further would only increase revenue. I shook my head, looking around the room, impressed by what I was seeing. Everything was perfectly decorated and brand new. I looked over at Nathan and laughed, giving him a huge hug.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“We are at a strip mall in Ocean Beach,” he said, pointing toward the door. “It’s the closest shopping to the tourist beach and right next to the grocer that the locals use. It is literally the best spot in the entire town. Most of the shops that surround it have been here forever and don’t have plans to move. Your only competition is the beach shop three blocks down, but they don’t specialize in anything. It's pretty much a generic shop with expensive name brand suits. You would be the only designer swimwear and outer wear shop on the strip.”

“Nathan,” I said, shaking my head and running my hand across the counter. “This couldn’t be more perfect if we built it ourselves. It is exactly what we were looking for.”

I walked around the room, taking in every inch of the space. I walked back into the dressing rooms which were split one way for women, the other for men. The deep purple velvet fabrics that acted as doors to the dressing rooms hung across black steel rods and piled down on the floors. The mirrors were tilted just enough to pick up every good angle of the body. There was an area for clients to put the ones they didn’t want, and a rope that went across the entrance so we could check people in and out of the rooms. On the counters were two brand new computers, fully stocked with scanners, bins for hangers, a stack of boxes with our logos for wrapping the suits, and deep lavender paper to wrap them in. I shook my head, realizing that Nathan had really thought of everything, even down to the security system attached to the walls. I walked back over to Nathan and wrapped my arms tightly around his waist. I couldn’t believe how perfect everything was.

“You did an amazing job,” I whispered. “I love everything about this.”

“Want to hear a funny story,” he said, chuckling.

“Always,” I said cautiously.

“I actually bought this from my brother,” he said, laughing. “Of course, he didn’t know it was me until our lawyers had finished with the negotiations and I showed up to sign for it. You should have seen the look on his smug little face. I almost had to pick his jaw up off the floor. I got this place for half of what he paid for it. He was seriously bamboozled into buying this spot, and after months of not having anyone interested, he was forced to drop the price drastically. I knew if I personally showed interest, he might not sell, so I sent a lawyer in to represent me as an anonymous buyer.”

“Oh, I wish I could have been there for that,” I said. “How satisfied did you feel?”

“It was like strutting into a failing business wearing a thousand-dollar suit,” he said, laughing. “He didn’t know what to do, but our lawyers had already done all the contracts, and he knew if he took it back, then I could sue him hardcore. He was backed into a corner.”

“I’m surprised he even knew that,” I said, shaking my head.

“Well, he didn’t, but his lawyer let him know when he tried to walk out,” he said, chuckling. “Still the same old asshole doing exactly what I knew he would do with the company. He has absolutely zero business skills, and I don’t think he will ever learn them.”

“Well, jokes on him,” I said, smiling.

“But after I got this place, I pulled together a design team after stealing the info on your design ideas,” he said, lifting his eyebrows and smiling.

“I was wondering where those went,” I said, snapping my fingers.

“They put all of this together for me in such a short amount of time. They were really professional and I could see you and Maria’s vision coming to life every time I walked in the place. I was so impressed, in fact, I hired them to redo my loft, not that I spend much time there these days.”

“Wow,” I replied. “They did all of this in a couple of weeks?”

“Yep, furniture, computers, design, everything in two weeks,” he said, nodding his head. “Now, we could open the doors in just a couple weeks if Maria is down for it.”