Chapter Three
The grand opening of The Prologue slowed to a quieter kind of chaos upon my return to the shop. My mind still felt clouded with a thick haze of panic and Liam, but I wouldn’t let that ruin my day.
Liam did turn down the music—a fact I discovered upon making my way back toward my family, who were still lingering in the cafe. They were all sipping coffee. Mom was flipping through a magazine, and Dad was examining the back of a sports biography. Grandma and Grandpa were sitting there silently.
“Sorry about that,” I said as I approached them.
“No worries, honey,” Mom replied. She and Dad both stood.
“Your dad and I do have to get back to work, but it was so lovely getting to stop by and see the place all full of people.” She brushed her hand down my hair, just as she used to do when I was a child.
“I am so proud of you. I knew that you could do it.”
Her words breathed life into me, but as my gaze drifted toward Dad, I felt that life bleed out of me a little. He was stone-faced as ever. Not exactly bitter or angry, but there wasn’t any of Mom’s softness in his expression. “See you Friday, Jess.”
Since moving out of my parents’ place and into the apartment above the shop, I started a routine of coming back home on Fridays to eat dinner with them.
Dad’s lack of praise, or even acknowledgment, broke something inside me.
I decided at that moment that if he couldn’t see me, even when I was standing right there in front of him, then I didn’t want to see him at all.
“I won’t be able to make it,” I said, no longer meeting his eyes. “I’ll be too busy with the shop.”
I could feel Mom’s sad eyes on me, but I couldn’t bear to look up at them.
“Right,” Dad said. “Good luck, then.”
He left. Mom flashed me a sympathetic frown before she followed him. I stood there for a moment, my heart aching, before I took a slow breath. I had to compose myself.
I turned to face Grandma and Grandpa.
“I’m so happy you both could make it.”
I did love my grandparents. They certainly had never been the classic, affectionate, cookie-baking grandparents that I had dreamed of, but I did love them.
I also sought their approval so deeply that it hurt.
“Yes,” Grandma said. “This place is certainly… something.”
Her pointed gaze shifted to Grandpa, who was still sipping his latte. “How is the coffee, John?”
Grandpa pulled the paper cup away from his lips. “Fine. Er—” He looked to her for direction before continuing. “It wasn’t the best I’ve ever had.”
I knew that he was only saying that to appease Grandma. For some reason, that made the insult sting more.
“Okay,” I said. My body felt heavy with defeat. “Well, I’m sure you both have busy lives to get back to. Thank you again for coming.”
“Of course, dear. We do care about you. Even if this is what you chose to throw away your future for.”
Every one of her words felt like tiny little bullets to my chest, but there was no use arguing with her when I was mere moments away from getting her out the door.
“Thanks,” I gritted out.
Grandma nodded once, then adjusted the purse slung over her shoulder. Turning on her heel, she said, “We’ll talk soon, Jessa.”
Grandpa lingered for a moment. He chugged his latte and then tossed the paper cup in the garbage, flashing me a rare smile. “Nice shop, Jess.”
It took me a few seconds to respond to the shock of his words. “Thank you, Grandpa.”
His back was turned away as he had already begun to follow Grandma out of the shop.
With my family gone, I was finally able to direct all of my focus toward The Prologue and its customers.
The small rush of customers I had earlier that morning had slowed substantially, but there were still a few people lingering about the shop.
Even if Liam’s shop had been packed, I knew that I shouldn’t let that diminish my success. I had still gotten more customers on the first day than I ever could have dreamed of.
Still, every time the door chime went off, I found my thoughts drifting to a certain curly-haired someone who owned the shop next door.
What was he doing that I was not? Why did success always come so easily to him?
I wondered if his shop was drawing people away from mine. Or worse, if it was helping. What if the small success that I did have was only because his customers got a little curious about the bookshop next door?
A strong sense of dread came washing over me.
I wanted him gone.
I needed Liam Ashford gone.
A list—I had a list of every possible thing that could have gone wrong at my grand opening and precisely what I could do to fix it. But not this. This was the absolute worst thing that could have ever happened, and I had no idea how to fix it.
The rest of the day crept on slowly. I spent my time chatting with customers and busying myself with the never-ending workload that came with being a business owner.
Even so, my thoughts continued to drift to Liam.
I put everything that I had into The Prologue and its grand opening. Irrational as it was, it felt like he took something from me. This one day was meant to be mine, and I wasn’t even allowed that.
In he came with his aggravating smile and too-cool demeanor, effectively weaseling his way into every detail of my day.
Once five o’clock rolled around, and I closed up the shop for the day, I found my feet carrying me right back toward The Galaxy Gamers Cafe, almost as if they had a mind of their own.
I knew that staying away would be the right choice.
If I simply ignored Liam, he would probably leave me alone.
But Liam and I, we had always been two opposite ends of a magnet, drawn to one another no matter how much we fought it.
I could hate him with every bit of my soul, and I would still seek him out.
That is exactly why I wound up inside The Galaxy Gamers Cafe for the second time that day.
It was even more uncomfortable the second time around. The shop was louder in the evening. The families and older folks who filled the game tables earlier that day had been replaced by rowdy college-aged kids. They crowded around the tables, filling the shop with their laughter as they played.
It wasn’t that I minded the atmosphere. If anything, a part of me had always craved it, at least a little. I was the same age as most of them, but I had never fit into that sort of scene. Loud people, big friend groups, smiling for no reason at all.
I had always been more of a ‘study in the library by myself’ type. It was true that I had never been alone. I had people. I just never had many friends with whom I would consider myself to be close with.
As I weaved my way through the crowd, I found myself lingering on the thought.
I did not fit into a place like The Galaxy Gamers Cafe; that much was blatantly obvious, but I wondered where I did belong.
The Prologue felt like an easy answer. I did feel more comfortable there compared to anywhere else, but a piece of me wondered if there was more for me out there.
If there would ever come a time when I would have people—friends, when I would have places where I could smile and laugh so freely.
I found Liam at the very last of the game tables. He was sitting at the head of the table, a plastic crown on his head and a cape wrapped around his shoulders. A group of boys sat around the table, intently listening to whatever he was telling them.
“Ashford,” I said as I approached. In an instant, every set of eyes around that table was on me.
Liam whipped around to face me. “Jessie?” A flush of embarrassment painted his cheeks as he quickly yanked off the plastic crown.
I raised my hands. “Please, don’t take off your crown for me, Your Royal Highness,” I teased, unable to resist the opportunity to poke fun at him. “I think the look suits your ego perfectly.”
He ignored me. “What are you doing here?” Liam asked, his fingers fumbling with the cape’s strings.
“I need to talk to you.”
“Really? That might be a first.” All embarrassment was gone from his expression, replaced with the smile I recognized all too well. He turned to the boys at the table, telling them, “Sorry, guys, I’ll have Jace come pick up where I left off.” Then Liam called out, “Jace, come GM for me.”
The boy with the sandy hair, whom I recognized from earlier that day, nodded in response.
“GM?” I echoed the word. I didn’t like Liam. I didn’t like his shop being right beside mine, but I couldn’t help my curiosity. The Galaxy Gamers Cafe was a whole new world I knew nothing about. I couldn’t stand the idea of Liam throwing around all these terms that I didn’t know.
“Game Master,” Liam explained, gesturing for me to follow him.
“People come in to play all sorts of games, but they need someone to facilitate them. Usually, it wouldn’t be super easy to trade off, but those guys sat down about five minutes ago.
I was still going through the rules.” He turned to me, smiling.
“Seems your timing is impeccable as always, Jessie.”
“Stop calling me that,” I told him. Liam only laughed in response. He led us toward the small coffee bar that sat in the back of the shop.
Because bickering with him was as natural as breathing, I couldn’t help but comment on the burnt scent filling the air. “Really cheaped out on the coffee, huh? I bet you don’t even grind your own beans.”
Liam pressed a hand to his chest and let out a dramatic gasp. “Rude. Did you come in here just to insult me?”
I rolled my eyes, the slightest hint of a smile tugging at my lips.
“Two hot chocolates, please,” Liam said to the barista. He then glanced back at me. “Can’t have you drinking our cheapo coffee, right?”
“I don’t know if I want to drink anything coming out of your shop.”
He scoffed, “Please, as if you could ever resist hot chocolate.”
He had a point. Hot chocolate was my favorite drink. Same as it’s always been. How he remembered that fact, even after all the years that had passed since we had last been friends, I had no idea.