A new chapter header because I got tired of the old one.

"I already told you, Sym. That movie isn't worth our time." I tell my best friend as she holds up two prepaid tickets for the movie Five Feet Apart on her phone. When she invited me over to her house for an early breakfast, I didn't think it meant I'd get tricked into seeing a movie with her.

Offense is clear on her pretty face, her eyes wide. "I have been waiting six months for this to come out, Lillian. You have to come with me."

"I don't have to do anything." My smirk only seems to tick her off. I sigh, cocking my head to the side, "Okay fine. I'll go." I quickly give in.

"Yes." She hisses with a grin, pumping her first once in the air. "You're going to love it. You do this every time."

"Meaning?" I inquire with a raised brow as my fingers trace the marble accents on her kitchen counter.

"Meaning," She exaggerates the word, "You always say you'll hate romantic movies but I always catch you crying at the sad parts."

"So what? I like getting in my feels, that doesn't mean I liked the movie." I snort.

She gives me an unimpressed scowl, "You watched Me Before You several more times after we watched it in theaters together."

"That's false." I hold up a single finger.

"I saw it on your Amazon Prime account." Symphony deadpans, opening her fridge and pulling out a can of whipped cream, popping off the lid.

"Psh." I chuckle, "What? I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Uh-huh." She purses her lips in disbelief, "Are we also going to pretend that you didn't watch The Notebook on Netflix?"

My eyes narrow at my best friend suspiciously, "How the heck do you have all this access to my accounts?"

"We are sharing them without your knowledge but I guess now you know so...hey, I'm using your accounts. Love you." She smiles cheekily before spraying the topping into her mouth.

"You owe me." I shake my head in fake disappointment. I admit, I am rather amused by her comfortability with me. Deep down I know that it's just her way of disconnecting from her parents.

Symphony loves her parents dearly and I'm well aware of that. I've noticed, however, that at every chance she gets, she tends to defy dependence on them. I think that now that she's eighteen, she feels that for her to be connected to them on every financial level is a sign of immaturity.

I have suggested several times that she just gets a job but she's a tad bit picky about where she is employed. She rejected every one of the jobs I listed instantly which leads me to believe she might simply be nervous. She's always been a little afraid of adulthood.

"I will buy you as many books as your little bookworm heart can handle." Symphony grins at me adoringly earning a light laugh from me.

"I will accept that I suppose." My smile widens.

"Our movie starts at five forty-five by the way." She winks, "So be ready."

"I will." I hop off of the bar stool and shoulder my bag that previously laid on the floor at my feet.

"Are you leaving?" Symphony asks me with a confused expression, raising a single brow at me.

I press my lips together in a smile, "Sam asked me to come hang out with her and Winter for lunch. She says that it would mean a lot to her if I got to know him better." I relay my friend's words as I pull out the keys to my dad and I's car.

She says nothing as I shove my shoes onto my feet and, after a few moments, I grow curious. My head cocks to the side as I stand up straight and look at my best friend. "What?"

"What, what." She replies innocently.

"You're doing the thing." I sigh, placing my hands on my hips.

Her nose scrunches a bit at the familiar accusation. "What thing?"

"The thing where you don't say anything until I make you and then you rant for ten minutes." I deadpan, "So just tell me what's going on because I'm going to be late."

Her lips purse at me before sighing heavily and leaning against the counter. "Fine. I just think that maybe you're kind of sort of...I don't know replacing me or...something." She mumbles, her voice getting quieter as she goes.

I release a low breath, my shoulders slacking sadly, "Sym...I could never replace you. Ever."

"Not even with a pretty brunette who loves books just like you and happens to be related to the guy you're crushing on?" She smiles softly, earning a snort from me.

"Listen, Sam is amazing and I'm glad we're friends but you two are so different, there's no way I could like one more over the other. But you've always been here for me and nothing can change that. You are my best friend." I assure her, holding my arms out with a hopefully smile, purposefully ignoring her accusation.

After a few seconds she gives in and steps forward, giving me a hug tightly before stepping away with a light laugh, "Good because I was worried you would forget about me. You two might be related someday you know." She winks, not giving up.

I smack her lightly on the arm with a disapproving look, "You need to keep your fantasies to yourself because you're starting to sound delusional."

"And you're sounding defensive which confirms what I'm saying." Symphony fires back, "Now go before your little friends think you've ditched. Plus Dakota might be there and we both know how thrilled he'll be to see you."

"Goodbye, Symphony." I wave without looking back, pulling the door open and stepping outside.

As soon as I'm in the car, I release a breath through my cheeks, doing my best to not allow my best friend's words to ring in my mind.

Symphony has always been one to push me into relationships and has been eager to find me "love." The thing is, I think her definition of love and mine are two very different things. She'd like for me to have fun and to have a summer romance or some cheesy crap like that but I want a forever commitment. Something that will last.

That's why I don't exactly take her words about Dakota to heart. Who knows if he really cares about me or if he just wants a little fun? I know he's not the type of guy to want something from me but he does seem like the type to find adventure in the chase. I just need more time.

Plus, I have bigger things to worry about such as the book store and -

"Shoot." I hiss, shoving the keys into the ignition, "Shoot shoot shoot." Quickly checking the time, I sigh in relief. I still have fifteen minutes to get to the book store by twelve.

Accidentally speeding on the way there, I keep an eye out for cops as I turn onto the main road, making my way to Books and Bagels. I send Sam a message on the way letting her know we'll have to meet up later instead and that I am deeply sorry for the mix up. I let her know that Symphony and I are going to see a movie and they're more than welcome to tag along.

When I pull in, I spot Amelia standing out on the sidewalk, her foot tapping on the pavement as she checks her watch. Squeezing my eyes shut, I groan and open the door, stepping out.

"Lillian!" Amelia rushes towards me taking deep breaths, "Where were you? I said be here at eleven."

"I'm so sorry." I stress, walking with her up to the door, "I was at Symphony's for breakfast and I-I kind forgot."

"You kind of forgot or you forgot?" She says grumpily.

"Uh..." I begin but stop when I hear a vehicle's engine behind me. Slowly turning around, I see a man behind the steering wheel of a large black Cadillac, a pair of dark shades covering his eyes. Despite the sunglasses and and gelled hair, I instantly recognize the straight scowl upon his face. "No." I breathe.

"What?" Amelia whispers as he steps out, a single sleek Coach loafer hitting the pavement and then another.

"I know him." I begin to panic, my throat closing up as my heart begins to beat harder and harder, "I don't think you want me here right now."

"What?" Amelia hisses through her teeth, "Why, what did you do?" She asks me in frustration.

I give her an apologetic panicked smile, "I may have met him at the diner and was sort of inadvertently rude to him?" My eyes remain on the man before me as I speak through a fake toothy smile.

"You are in so much trouble." She mumbles through the side of her lip.

"I know." I grin a little too brightly.

"Hi!" Amelia walks forward as soon as Jared is within reach and holds her hand out, shaking his hand firmly, "I'm Amelia, we spoke on the phone."

"Ah yes." Mr. Ward pulls off his sunglasses and reveals his hard eyes and and thick brows, "The manager. Nice to make your acquaintance. Shall we get down to business then?" His no nonsense tone is even more aggravating than I remember.

He hasn't paid any attention to me or even acknowledged my existence thus far.  So either he remembers me and is choosing to make me soak in my deep regret as he stands there in all his prideful glory or he's so busy and important that his brain simply cannot hold the memory of my face inside itself.

"Alright I can do that." Amelia laughs lightly and I smile along with her but he remains calm with a solemn expression. "Okay then let's go I suppose." Amelia's smile falters slightly and my heart hardens a little bit at the sight.

"We can start at the third floor and work our way down." I suggest, "It's the most efficient option."

Jared says nothing as he blinks at me blankly. "If that's okay with you that is...sir." I give him a sickly sweet smile and a small sneer appears on his lips.

"That's quite fine. Let's just get on with it, I don't have all day." He whips out an iPad from his briefcase and opens the front fold covering the screen, gripping an Apple Pencil in his hand.

My eyes zero in on the leather briefcase, the engraving now making sense. "Sure. No problem. I'm sure you're a very busy man." I begin to lead the way, opening the door and stepping inside. Hearing an aggravated huff behind me, a smirk plays on my lips.

We take the elevator despite my silent plea with Amelia to take the stairs, my eyes wide as she gently shoves me inside. I stand in the corner quietly with my eyes closed as I control my breathing, flashbacks of a sharp pain in my side and cracked dry lips coming to the forefront of my mind.

"Are you quite alright?" Jared asks me lowly. I don't hear any concern in his voice so I'm guessing the question is coming from a place of obligation.

"I am, thank you." I say with a controlled tone, opening my eyes and forcing myself to walk slowly out of the sliding doors on the third floor. "So first I'd like to show you the chart for this floor. How we run things is we have a clipboard on each floor that holds an inventory list and the sales charts for each section and genre." I explain, leading the way to the office we never use on this level.

"Really?" He asks before pausing, "That is actually rather efficient."

"It was Lillian's idea." Amelia tells him as they walk side by side behind me. I smile slightly at the pride in her voice.

"Well it sounds like an adequate system I suppose." His time immediately downgraded his first impression from slightly pleased to deeply displeased. My brows pull together in annoyance seeing as it seems to be because it was my idea.

"Here." I pull the clipboard from the wall, the pen connected to it by a string and dangling freely as he takes it from me and squints at the fine print and my neat handwriting.

I rock back and forth on my heels, trying to ignore the fact that I have put zero effort into my appearance and I look very unprofessional at the moment. My ripped jeans and yellow wide strapped tank top don't exactly scream I came prepared!

He hands the clipboard back after a few minutes and begins typing and signing things on his iPad, mumbling a bit to himself. Amelia looks at me in confusion and I simply shrug in reply.

"Continue please." Jared gestures with his hand without looking away from the screen.

"Okay..." I respond, earning a stern look from my manager, "Sir?" I try with an unsure tone but she shakes her head and presses her finger and thumb to the bridge of her nose. What? I mouth to her but she just waves for me to keep going. "Uh...that's all that really needs to be seen up here. I doubt you'd like to see the janitorial closet." I try for a joke but he simply grunts slightly in response, "I'll take that as a no." I clear my throat and walk towards the elevator.

We all step into the small space once again and I try to keep my eyes down at my feet as I wait for the doors to open. When they do, I step through first and take a subtle breath of relief.

Amelia and Jared talk numbers and profits (etc) as I fetch the clipboard for the second floor and bring it back, handing it over. He goes through the same process as before except this time it's even more boring because I know what to expect.

"Shall we finish the tour?" He asks me with a flat expression once he is finished, handing me the papers.

"Sure." Even though this isn't really a tour considering all he cares about is the logistics. He didn't even pay any attention to the board on the wall upstairs with all of the pictures kids have drawn here after school and posted for everyone to enjoy. Everyone except him I guess.

"The first floor will probably take the longest, that's why I saved it for last." I tell him as we walk out of the elevator for the third time.

"There's a bagel store on this floor, yes?" He asks me, finally looking up from his iPad to look around, his eyes spotting the cheery shop in the corner.

"Yes." Amelia smiles, "It's actually been quite profitable this year."

"How so?" Mr Ward inquires.

"We're up almost six percent so far."

"Not too bad." He hums, a brow raised to show his small sliver of approval. "It's a good thing I've decided to relocate it then. With a stand-alone, it should do much better than that."

"Right..." I drawl out, feeling nerved by the pressure Amelia's eyes are putting on me to pitch my idea. I don't know if I can do this, "Follow me." I clear my throat.

"How many employees work the shop?" He asks, his Apple Pen hovering above the iPad.

"Uh...two at a time at the moment. It's far too small to have anyone else in there." I inform him calmly as Amelia stands behind him and mouths Tell him.

No I mouth back, not yet.

"You could probably get it down to one." He tells us, oblivious to our silent conversation. "Can I see the list of suppliers please?"

"Sure, they're in my office, I'll go get them." Amelia says before I can offer and dashes off, sending me a thumbs up before disappearing.

Silence takes up every inch of space between me and the grumpy tycoon. I try not to stare at him out of pure nervousness as he writes things down on his device and taps the pen against his thumb as he thinks.

I knit my hands together in front of me, building up the courage to say what I need to say. "Uh..." I swallow, "Mr. Ward?"

"Yes, what is it?" His tone makes me feel like I'm back in high school trying desperately to talk my B+ to an A with my least favorite teacher.

"Well..." I begin, clearing my throat and forcing myself to stand a little straighter, "I have a proposition of sorts for you if you're willing to hear me out."

"Yes I know." He grunts, not once looking at me.

Blinking in confusion, I pause before asking, "You do?"

"I saw your email." Jared tells me before finally dropping the iPad and tucking it under his arm, "I pictured someone a little more professional, I'll give you that much." He says, letting me know that my email was as straight forward as I had wished it to be. At least I hope that's what he's saying.

"I apologize for my attire." I do my best to speak plainly as that seems to be his language thus far, "I had a prior commitment and my schedules clashed." I tell him, earning a dissatisfied narrowing of his eyes, "But this was my first priority of course." I rush to add.

"Get on with it then." He tells me with a sigh, before pulling out a chair and taking a seat around one of the tables.

I stand there for a moment, shocked. "You want to listen to what I have to say?" I ask, a little dumbfounded.

The man snorts a little, catching me off guard seeing as his distaste is one of the very few emotions I've seen him convey. "Want is a very strong word, young lady. Hearing out his employees is simply a promise I've always made to my father and I don't plan to stop now that he's gone." My face falls at the mention of his father. I spot a small falter in his hard wall in his eyes before it's back up again and he waves at me quickly, "Proceed please."

"Right." I lick my lips, "Sir, I believe that it is in your best interest to keep this building."

"And why is that?"

"Well for one, it's prime real estate. It's right in the middle of town and people would kill to have this as one of their assets." I tell him.

"Which is why I stand  to make more than enough money from the sale to pay off my father's debts. Look, kid, my dad loved this place. I get that but -"

"You promised to listen." I interrupt, the kid comment annoying me a tad much considering I'm probably only four years younger than him, if even that. Maybe even three depending on how long he went to college. He looks to be about twenty-two so excuse me if I don't want to be called a kid by a kid himself. "With all due respect, sir." I quickly add after seeing his nostrils flare slightly.

"Very well then." He grits, resting one leg over the other as he leans back. "Continue."

"Thank you." I smile slightly, "So...the thing is that I think you could do a lot more with this space and easily earn back what you've lost and then some. Then you'll begin to see profits. It just takes time and effort."

"Time and effort sound like things that I don't particularly have these days. What exactly could we do to raise this heap from the dead? Do you realize how much it would take to get us out of the hole? I don't need my real profits being poured in this place just for the sake of sentiment. I need real change." He says honestly. His tone isn't hurtful, it's simply the truth.

"I understand your skepticism but the people of this town are loyal to this store. Everyone knows we're here and it's not that they don't want to support the company it's just that no one really has a lot of use for paper books anymore. It's not the customers' faults that technology is progressing." I try to explain, "So if we could just revamp the store, then our loyal customers will have something to buy. Not to mention appealing to tourists as well."

He says nothing, his eyes narrowing slightly. I want in my spot quietly, hoping he'll hear me out. "Alright then. I want to hear your ideas."

"You do?" I ask excitedly before clearing my throat and forcing my smile away, "I mean, yes of course. I was thinking perhaps it would be a better plan to put all of this space to use rather than hand it over to someone with more imagination and ambition than us...not that you don't have any imagination or - okay...anyway," I chuckle nervously, "My thought are this-"

"I'm listening."

"-We keep the bagel store here since, right now, it's our real money maker and we can use it as a crutch until the rest of the store begins showing some profits. In order to do that, we will need to expand it. Maybe add a coffee shop on this floor and well and get rid of some of the books. If I'm being honest, we probably only need a third of the books we have in this building." I tell him truthfully, earning a nod from him.

"Can you tell me what genres are most popular?" He asks me, pulling out his iPad.

I pause, realizing he's actually paying attention to what I'm saying. "Oh um...yes." I quickly say, "Obviously our nonfiction section is used quite a bit because of high school and college students using them for assignments but they're never really purchased. Romance is probably the most popular, Science Fiction being a close second. Our coloring books sell pretty well along with all of the other activity books."

"Hm." He hums, writing this down. "That's enough for now. What can you tell me about the two other floors? Any ideas?"

I wrack my brain, willing myself to say the words right every time I open my mouth. "Well, like I said, first floor should be mostly the bagel shop and a possible coffee shop along with a small section of books."

"And the second?"

"The second could also have a small section of books but maybe also have a few tables, chairs, and couches for those who want to get some coffee and have a quiet space to think. Maybe we could even put some merchandise on that floor for tourists?" I throw the idea out there but I get no reaction, his eyes are glued to the screen.

"What about the third?"

I don't want to admit that I haven't exactly thought this one through so I take a moment, my foot tapping against the floor. Come on think. "Well...maybe..." I stall, glad that he doesn't even seem to notice seeing as he's paying too much attention to whatever he's typing, "We could...have a karaoke bar? Non alcoholic of course."

"No, not a good use of space. What else you got?"

"Uh...candy shop?" I offer nervously.

"Possibly. Got anything else?" He asks me with his thick brows raised.

I chew on my bottom lip, trying to think as hard as I possibly can. "What about...an arcade?"

Mr. Ward falters slightly as he cocks his head to the side, thinking about this. "But what would make it unique? I'm picturing a dark room with a bunch of sweaty preteens and it's not exactly pleasant nor does it match the theme of a calm coffee shop and book store." He tells me bluntly.

"You're right." I sigh, "And there's not much we can do to make an arcade aesthetically pleasing." I chuckle.

He pauses again, looking up at me as if a lightbulb has gone off, "That's it."

"What's it?"

"That's how we draw in our customers." He tells me calmly, "We make the entire store aesthetically pleasing. We live in a world with millennials and we need to cater to that. That's what they want."

"So we give the whole store a makeover?" I try and clarify.

"Don't get your hopes up, kid." He tells me, standing up and shoving his iPad into his suitcase, "I can admit that I was in a hurry to sell the place for the wrong reasons but that doesn't mean I'm not still selling. I need my team to take a look at this and pitch it to me from a more professional stand point. I need to see actual numbers. It's a good idea I just need it to be carried out in a way that's more reassuring." He tells me, fixing his blazer.

"If you think that's for the best." My response is accompanied by a hopefully smile as Amelia just so happens to walk in as we finish our discussion. Only, by the way she appears from behind the wall, I'm thinking it wasn't by coincidence.

"Here they are." She hands the papers Jared asked for over to him and he takes them gently, tucking them into a folder and placing it into his briefcase.

"I'm afraid I need to leave. I have to catch a plane to Toronto but I'll be back on Friday to give you my final answer." He looks at me and I give him a single nod before I watch him hand Amelia an envelope.

"Okay sounds good. Thank you for hearing me out...sir."

"It was in my best interest so thank you for sharing your thoughts. Have a good day, ladies." He says cooly before he exits the store, the bell jingling overhead, and hops into his Escalade.

Amelia grabs my hand, pulling my down in the chair next to him. "That sounded like it went well!" She grins.

I smile, watching him drive away. "Better than I expected for sure."

"You did your best and I'm proud of you. Oh, I believe this is for you." Her thin brows furrow as she hands the envelope to me, a note written on the front.

For your fries and milkshake. Enjoy.

Opening the seal, I spot a ten dollar bill inside and a laugh escapes me. "I guess he did remember me."

"Am I missing something?" Amelia asks me.

I shake my head. "No. I guess he just liked my pitch so much that he decided to treat us to ice cream. Care to accompany me?"

"It would be my pleasure."