Chapter 35 #3
So, I spend a lot of my time with Juliet.
I come to work, we bake, and chat about the locals—Juliet’s friend Diem is a tattoo artist and loves to gossip.
Diem was the friend who had painted the mural in Juliet’s shop.
I didn’t have any tattoos, but Diem is covered in them and is constantly badgering Juliet and me to swing by the shop and get some of our own.
Is it nice to know that there’s no way I will accidentally run into Asher out on the street? Yes. I don’t think my heart could handle it. But do I miss him more and more each day? Also yes.
At least this little seaside town is starting to grow on me, along with the friends I’ve been making. I spend most of my time in Carmel-By-The-Sea since I don’t have to attend classes until summer.
The Monterey Bay Institute of Psychology was one of the few programs willing to take me and transfer most of my credits, so I’m only out a small fortune. I consider myself extremely lucky that my mother still wants to help me, even though I could tell she wasn’t a fan of my decision.
Despite our disagreements, I can tell how much my mother loves me.
Our relationship has gotten better since I moved away as well. She came to visit and helped me pick out furniture for my apartment. She even stayed with me and didn’t complain once about Milo.
She also didn’t try to set me up with anyone while she was here, and she hasn’t mentioned any men during our weekly Sunday phone calls.
That’s what I call progress.
Sam has yet to visit, but he and Derek are trying to plan something for a long weekend in the summer. Sam is under the impression he’s going to learn to surf, and Derek has stated that he’s just coming along because he doesn’t believe I’ve actually learned to bake.
I miss them. We have the occasional Zoom and wine night when we’re all free, but it’s hard to match up our schedules since Sam has started his practicum at a pediatric counseling center.
I try not to be jealous of that fact. I could have stayed, but I made my choice, and it’s something I have to live with.
So what if it takes me a little longer than expected to complete the program?
I’ll still finish, and I’ll still get to be a children’s therapist.
Plus, now I’ll do all of that with a tan.
I’m enjoying California more than I expected. It’s warm, and the sun is almost always shining—very different from Seattle. And I’m still not used to being able to sit on the beach whenever I want.
Well, when I’m not working at the bakery, that is.
Working with Juliet has been more fun than I anticipated.
I’ve gotten pretty good at baking thanks to her patient teaching—completely different from her brother’s style.
Sometimes when we get a large order, she’ll have me come over to her little cottage-style house.
We eat dinner with her daughter before she puts her to bed, and then we bake late into the night.
Juliet keeps trying to insist on paying me overtime for those nights, but I always refuse and tell her that if I see it on my paycheck, I simply won’t cash it.
Juliet has become an unexpected friend. So much so that I’m glad I found a program near her and decided to reach out. I would’ve been lost without her companionship.
Though she refuses to keep me updated on Asher’s life, she’ll tell me he’s fine, but that if I want to know anything else, I can reach out to him myself.
Fair enough.
I’m still a coward and haven’t tried contacting him.
And he’s stopped calling and texting. He’s finally given up.
I thought I would feel happier about that fact, that maybe he’s healing and moving on…
but I don’t feel like I’ve healed at all.
And I’m certainly nowhere close to moving on.
It’s been months, and if you had asked me before meeting Asher if I ever thought I’d be crying over a guy three months after the breakup, I would’ve laughed in your face.
But here I am. Sobbing in my car, like a love-sick teenager.
Asher called the bakery today. I was manning the shop alone because Terra is sick, and Juliet didn’t want the elderly woman she rents her house from, who usually watches Terra, to catch the cold.
Juliet has a cute pastel-blue landline mounted on the wall near the register.
It has a comically long cord so Juliet can take calls while comfortably walking around behind the counter.
But the one thing it lacks is caller ID.
So imagine my surprise when I heard Asher’s voice on the other end of the line.
I’d said hello, but as soon as I heard him speak, I panicked and hung up. I’ve finished up my shift for the day—thank you, Juliet, for letting me close early.
I wipe the tears off my face and sniff before starting my car. Since Terra is sick and there are no pre-orders to complete tonight, I’ll just head home. I flick my blinker on and turn onto the street.
I’d gone months without seeing or hearing Asher.
At this point… I really didn’t think I’d encounter him any time soon.
Sure, maybe sometime down the road if he came to visit Juliet and Terra again, but I figured that’d be Thanksgiving break at the earliest, and I was planning to visit my mother then.
I just… I thought when I did run into him someday, it wouldn’t still hurt this bad.