Pushed

Chapter 35

Jasperand I escaped the chaos of the festival and returned to the restaurant. Eric was in the kitchen prepping for dinner. We didn’t expect it to be very busy with the festival going on, so I hadn’t planned to work. I poured Jasper and myself a cup of coffee—taking extra effort not to spill with my shaking hands—and we sat down at a table.

A bazillion thoughts buzzed in my head, and my body felt numb.

Of all the ways I’d imagined this thing coming to an end, or even blowing up in our faces, I never expected this.

“What are we going to do?” I asked as I propped my elbows on the table and stuck my fingers in my hair.

Jasper rubbed his hand over my back to comfort me. “The Quinces probably won’t believe the crazy ramblings of a stalker from out of town. It’ll be the hottest gossip for a while, but it won’t last long and everything will go back to normal.”

His touch was exactly what I needed, and the tension in my muscles began melting beneath his hands. I let out a tired sigh. “I hope you’re right.”

No sooner had those words come out of my mouth than the door burst open and there stood Tina and Rich.

“Please tell us it’s not true. That you really are engaged.”

“It’s complicated.” Jasper stood in front of them to explain. “But I swear we weren’t trying to pull anything on you. That woman has been stalking me for the past year. We were just trying to get her off my back.”

“So you’re not actually engaged?”

I looked down at the table and slowly shook my head. “No. I’m sorry. This whole thing spun out of control, and we didn’t know what to do about it.”

“So you lied to us?”

“No.” Jasper paused a beat. “We simply didn’t correct you.”

“Same thing. The contract is terminated. And AJ? Start looking for another job. You can stay here until you find something else. We’ll contact the other parties interested in purchasing the restaurant.” They left the restaurant in a huff.

And just like that, my world collapsed.

Not only had I lost my shot at owning and running my own restaurant, but I needed to find a new job and place to live at the same time.

Since Jasper and I were only together because of this partnership, I’d probably lost him, too.

I sank my head onto my arms on the table, trying to hide the tears that I couldn’t hold back any longer. Jasper put his arm around me and tried to pull me to him, but I didn’t budge.

“Hey. It’ll be okay.”

A surge of anger moved through my veins. I sat up and slid away from him. “Okay? How can you say that? I just lost my job, my home and my dream all in the blink of an eye, and you say it’s okay?” I paced the room, gesturing wildly, my volume rising with each step. “Sure, you lost your dream too, but you still have two jobs and a place to live. Your life’ll actually be easier when you don’t have to deal with this place anymore. But me…I’ve got nothing.” The weight of that admission hit me in the chest and stopped me in my tracks. I’d been working so hard all these years, I hadn’t even realized how it had taken over my life.

“You’ve got me. And I have a lot of contacts. I’ll make a few calls and get this all straightened out. You’ll see.”

And just like that, anger burst through me again. “So you’ll swoop in and fix everything, huh? And you think that’ll make me feel better? Unbelievable.”

Jasper stepped closer and tried to calm me down. “As long as we’re together. It’ll all work out. I promise.”

“Really? Come on, Jasper. Us being together was just part of the contract. Now that the contract is terminated?—”

He stiffened and the hand that was reaching out for me dropped to his side like it was made of lead. “What? You don’t care about me now that the contract is over. Is that all I was to you? Just a clause you had to endure so you could get what you wanted?”

“No Jasper. That’s not it at all.”

“Oh, yeah. Then enlighten me, Princess. What am I to you?” His endearment sounded like a curse word this time, causing my gut to clench.

I longed to tell him that he’d become everything to me. The reason I smiled. The best part of my day. The one I wanted to share it all with…the good, the bad, the silly, the mundane. Every moment I spent with Jasper made everything else better. I could get through anything if I knew Jasper would be waiting for me on the other side.

But now that we weren’t bound by the restaurant anymore, what did we have?

I’d have to leave to find another job, since there weren’t any other restaurants for me to work at in this town. And Jasper’s family needed him here.

“Your silence tells me everything I needed to know. I’ll clean out my things from the office and be out of your hair. See you around, Princess.”

As soon as he left, I collapsed into a puddle of tears. I don’t know how long I cried, but eventually Chelsea shook my shoulder.

“Chef? It’s time to open. I need to get this table ready for guests. Can I help you move to the office? Is there anything you need?”

I lifted my head and saw that all the tables had been set and candles lit, except for mine. I hadn’t even realized anyone else was there.

“Is the office empty?” I mumbled.

“Yeah. But maybe you should just go on upstairs. You have the night off, anyway. Take a nap or watch a movie.” Chelsea helped me to stand and guided me out of the dining room. “I can send up some food later, if you want.”

I nodded and trudged up the stairs to my apartment, feeling completely numb.

Everything I’d worked so hard for. Everything I cared about. Gone.

I’d have to start all over. Searching the internet for head chef jobs. Interviewing. Finding a new apartment. Moving to a new city. And trying to forget about the gorgeous prankster who had stolen my heart when I wasn’t looking and never gave it back. That was his biggest prank, getting me to fall for him. And I don’t even know when it happened.

But that could wait until tomorrow.

Tonight, all I wanted was a pint of Ben Jerry’s and a hot bath. Hopefully, I could drown my sorrows in one of them.