Chapter Twenty-Eight The Love on Love Street Festival Is Here… and It’s Amazing
I have no idea how, but I know that somehow I’m going to get Miles Desai back. Seeing all the work he did for the festival solidifies it for me—Miles has always been a huge romantic and was always willing to see my point of view. But I was too stupidly stubborn to accept it.
Change is inevitable. Neither I, nor any of us here on the street, can preserve this little oasis in the middle of a city that’s evolving.
But we’re not powerless—we do have the ability to have an impact on what our home evolves into.
That’s why he’s obsessed with all those signs—he wants to understand the past in those historical plaques, and he wants to have a say in guiding the city in a way that’s fair for the people who love it.
And if that’s not romantic… if that’s not sentimental, then I don’t know what is.
There isn’t only one way to love a person, or to love a place. Real love isn’t meet-cutes and grand gestures—it’s wanting the absolute best for the people and places you care about.
I get it now. And I need to make Miles see that.
I rush back to the Cosmic Vintage table.
Cara and Sarina are still setting up the accessories and clothes that Jenn picked out for the festival.
I go straight to a rolling rack and find a familiar velvet jacket.
I run my hands over the soft pile on the lapel.
“I love that piece,” Cara says. “It’s the same one we were drooling over when all those clothes were donated for the prom drive.”
“I know. It was Miles’s. He wore it to his prom.”
Cara’s and Sarina’s eyes both open wide. “Seriously?” Cara asks.
I nod as I take the jacket off the hanger. It’s definitely his—it even smells faintly like him. I slip the jacket on and push the sleeves up to my elbows.
“It looks good on you,” Sarina says. “Red is your color.”
I look in the mirror that Jenn set up in the booth.
It does look good on me. Just like Miles was good for me.
“I’m buying it,” I say. “I need all your help. I need to show Miles I’m sorry.
I thought he didn’t really care about me or this street, but he did all this work for the festival because he wants to make sure the street changes in a way that is fair to the people here. ”
“Yeah, maybe he did this for the street,” Sarina says, “but he also did all this for you .”
Maybe—at least, I hope—he created the romance bookstore for me, but the rest of the festival? He did it for the city. And to make connections. “How do you know it was for me?”
“Um, because he told me?” Sarina says, laughing. “How did you not know? He was smitten . Like for a while. Since before High Park. He would have done anything for you.”
I blink. Miles was into me that long? While I was setting him up, he was crushing on me? He told me that he thought I was pretty… but that I annoyed him. “I’ve screwed up everything, haven’t I?”
Cara shakes her head. “No. Tell him what you just told us.”
An idea comes to me. I smile. “Do you think anyone will mind if the love festival chair pours her heart out for her cochair during her thank-you speech?”
Sarina nods. “Yes! Do that! Shoot, I think the gates opened.”
I look over, and there’s a crowd near the entrance. It’s ten o’clock, and the first annual Love on Love Street Festival is officially open to the public. I say a quick good luck and rush to my station in the park.
It’s a bit of a slow start, but the festival soon finds its groove.
Thanks to the committee’s outreach, local influencers and a few news crews show up early to interview the organizers and report on the festival.
Soon the park is absolutely bustling with people snapping pictures, checking out the vendors, and lining up at the food trucks.
Ms. Carothers over at the tree mural has a steady line of people who want to declare their love on the Toronto Love Tree.
The flower heart is a hit too. I’m staying close to it, helping the young volunteers, because pretty much everyone wants to take pictures of themselves in front of the heart for their socials.
We make sure there’s an organized line, and I offer to take the pictures of the attendees with their phones.
People keep praising the heart (I give away so many Morgan Ashton Flowers brochures), and everyone seems to be having so much fun.
I’ve always loved love, but this? Being the one to help all these people document their love for each other in front of a big floral heart that my mother and I made? It’s priceless . I get why my mother loves to do weddings so much.
Eventually, Julie and Ajit come by. “This is beautiful,” Julie says, looking at the heart. “I trusted you, but I was a little unsure what to expect from this installation. It’s spectacular .”
I smile proudly, then ask how business has been at LoveBug.
“Busy. We sold out of the pink chai already. Charlene had to brew more inside.”
“Yay! Hey, can you help me out with something? I’m going to make a speech at noon on the entertainment stage before the first performance. Can you make sure everyone from the planning committee is there? Like you two, Cara, Jenn, April, Ben, and Miles?”
Ajit frowns. “Sure, why?”
“I want to thank everyone for putting this together. Make sure… especially…”
“That Miles is there?” Julie asks.
I laugh. “Am I that transparent?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll get him there,” Ajit says. “Even if I have to drag him by the ear.”
At almost twelve, Cara and I stand to the left of the stage, looking at the crowd gathering.
It’s mostly parents and family of the dance troupe that will be performing a tango soon, but a few Love Street residents and owners are here as well.
My mom is there with Jenn, and I see the rest of the planning committee—except Miles.
I still haven’t seen Miles all day. I’ve been in the park since the festival opened, and he was supposed to stay on the street to make sure everything there runs smoothly. Maybe he won’t come for my speech. Maybe he doesn’t want to see me.
“This is a bad idea,” I say. I have my speech on my phone, and I just added a new ending, but if Miles isn’t here, is there any point in groveling so publicly?
“Sana, you need to get on the stage. It’s twelve,” Cara says.
“He’s not here,” I say.
Cara shakes her head. “Just thank the committee and introduce the dancers. The crowd is getting anxious.”
Forget the crowd. I’m getting anxious. I take a cleansing breath and nod. “Okay. Let’s do it.”
Some music starts playing. It’s Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love,” one of the songs I was named after. I laugh… Jenn’s partner, Mark, is in charge of audio today, and clearly playing this song was my mother’s or Jenn’s doing.
When I’m in the middle of the stage, I smile and take the microphone off the stand, and the music fades away.
I’m still wearing Miles’s jacket. I inhale deeply and start. “Thank you, everyone! And thank you to all of you who came out on this beautiful day to the first-ever Toronto Love on Love Street Festival!”
I pause as the crowd claps. And that’s when I notice Miles.
He is here. Wearing a red festival T-shirt and jeans.
His hair is messy, like he’s run his hands through it many times.
I suddenly remember the little tub of hair wax in the pocket of his prom jacket.
Did he carry that on his prom night because of his habit of messing up his hair?
He looks amazing, but he isn’t smiling. He’s looking at me with his intense stare. And he’s not alone. Su Lin Tran and the woman— Kirsten , from the condo developer company—are with him.
Damn it. I’m not sure I want those two to hear me pour my heart out today. Would they think I’m a lovesick teen? Would Su Lin take me less seriously? But I can’t give up now. Miles is here. And this is a love festival—it’s the best place to tell someone I love them.
“I’m Sana Merali,” I say, surprised that my voice isn’t shakier.
“I’m one of the cochairs of the festival planning committee.
We’ve put together a great day of food, entertainment, and some amazing vendors to celebrate our unique community here on Love Street.
They say it takes a village to raise a child, and even though this street is in the middle of a huge, vibrant, diverse city, Love Street is my village.
And it took all of us to raise this festival baby.
I want to thank each and every member of the festival planning committee for putting all this together. ”
I call out the names of the committee members, and everyone cheers for them.
I don’t say Miles’s name, though. I still can’t read his expression.
After thanking Su Lin Tran for her support and help in permit approvals, I take a breath for strength.
“When we first came up with the idea of a festival celebrating love, the purpose was to bring attention to this corner of the city that we love so much. I’ll be honest, part of the motivation—for me, at least—was fear .
Fear that Love Street would get forgotten as the city grew and changed around it.
Fear that people won’t wander here on their own anymore, and the special little family businesses won’t thrive like they used to.
Fear that this little paradise where I both live and work will change .
This place, this street , raised me. I wanted it to be here, exactly as it is now, forever.