Seth woke up next morning and thought back on the day before. She had been so exhausted when they finally got home. Not because they had done a lot of crazy things but because it took everything in her to make decisions and trust her own mind. Something she wasn't used to around a man.
He had made her relax while he cooked dinner. It had been hard for her to let go of the mindset that that was a task for women. Seth was a chef. He knew damn well how to cook and he was gonna prove it to her. He had cooked up his signature dish, a simple but very delicious pasta dish, and she had loved it.
He was lying on his right side, still with his eyes closed, going through all the memories they had made the day before. She was something else once he got to see the real woman inside her. The bed shifted a bit and he felt her move in behind him. Her arm went around him and she placed her hand on his chest. He placed his hand on top of hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. She kissed the back of his head and he swore he could feel her lips form into a smile.
"Thank you for everything," she said.
"My pleasure," he said. "Turns out you're not that bad once I got to know you."
"Shut up!" She chuckled.
"Make me," he said.
She moved her hand from his chest and covered his mouth. He pushed it away and spun around, reaching for her hands. She put up a fight in bed with him and soon they were both tangled in the sheets and each other's limbs. She was laughing so much and he enjoyed the sight of her being carefree. He let go of her arms and instead pulled her in to lie in his. She cuddled up on his chest, still snickering a bit.
"How did you end up with Roman?" He asked.
"I was still living at home. My father wouldn't allow me to get a job or move out and I was too scared to defy him. His secretary sued him for sexual harassment and Roman was signed as one of the lawyers on his case. The whole team came in our home and we met there," she said.
"What happened to the secretary?" He asked.
"They ripped her to shreds. She used to be a stripper in her younger days and they used that to slut shame her down in the ground. My father won. Of course he did. He always wins. And I know," she sighed. "I just fucking know he did everything she accused him of."
He kissed the top of her head. He tried imagining growing up in a home like that but he couldn't. It was too far out of his reach.
"So as a bonus for winning, he told me to go on a date with Roman," she said.
"He pimped you out?" He asked shocked.
"No, it's not like that. It was just a date," she said.
"But did you want to go?" He asked.
Her silence gave him the no she couldn't say. He tightened his arms around her. He wished he had known her back then. He would have tried to get her out of that house. He would have tried to shield her from all the bad things in her life.
"It was just a date," she repeated. "And I fell in love."
"Did you really or did your father convince you that you did?" He asked.
"I..." She stopped herself. "No, I loved him. I still love him. Stop making me think otherwise."
"Sunnie," he sighed.
"No, I don't wanna be here anymore. I don't like you," she said. "I wanna go home. I wanna go home. I wanna..."
She was fighting against him, trying to get out of his arms. He released her but sat up at the same time as her. She looked so broken in that moment and he pulled her back into his arms.
"I love him!" She yelled.
"Sunnie, it's okay," he said.
"I love him!" She yelled again.
"It's okay, babe, it's okay," he said.
"I love him! I love him!" She broke down and started sobbing. "I don't love him, Seth. I don't fucking love him. I never did."
He kept holding her, gently caressing her and comforting her while she got the tears out of her system. It slowed down little by little but he kept sitting with her in his arms, waiting for her to say or do something.
"What am I gonna do?" She asked.
"What do you wanna do?" He asked.
"I don't have an education and I've never had a job. I wasn't allowed. I get an allowance every week," she said.
"That asshole!" He growled. "Roman is just a younger version of your father. You need to get away from him."
"How?" She asked.
"You're already out of the house. Now we need to get you back on your feet. You need to find yourself," he said.
"I don't know where to start," she said.
"I got an idea," he said. "Get up and get dressed. We'll buy breakfast on the way."
30 minutes later they were looking in through the window to an empty shop. She could see there was a kitchen in the back.
"Didn't this use to be a sushi restaurant?" She asked.
"It did. The owner passed away a year ago and no one wanted to take over," he answered.
"Why are we here?" She asked.
"I've already been inside looking at it a couple of times. I got the contract ready at home. They're just waiting for my signature," he said.
She turned her head and looked at him surprised. He couldn't help but smile at how cute she looked.
"Yes, I wanna open my own restaurant," he said.
"That's fucking awesome," she smiled back at him. "So what's stopping you?"
"Nerves. What if I fail?" He asked.
"You? Fail?" She laughed. "That pasta dish you served yesterday will bring in people from the next ten towns over. As long as you haven't given the recipe to your boss, you're good to go."
"No, I kept that one a secret. You're the first one I served it to actually," he said.
"I feel so honored," she chuckled. "You gotta do it, Seth. If this is your dream, go for it. I know you won't fail. You're the best chef I've ever known."
"How many chefs have you known?" He asked.
He pulled her in with one arm and kissed the top of her head.
"If I do this, I'll need some staff. A few more chefs and some waiters," he said.
"Post an ad online," she said.
"You're so clueless," he chuckled. "I heard you were looking for a job."
"I can't cook," she said.
"You can and you already proved that but I also need waiters. Cook or serve. You get to make the call. Or you can just tell me to go fuck myself if you don't wanna work with me. I won't be mad," he said.
She looked in through the window again, trying to picture what it would look like once Seth got it built into what he had in mind.
"Waiter at first," she said. "But you can teach me to cook even better and maybe one day I'll be good enough to take the step into the kitchen."
"Deal," he said. "Alright, I'm fucking doing this. We're fucking doing this. This calls for a celebration. Iced coffee?"
"I never turn down iced coffee," she said.
"With rice milk. You know, I kinda liked that. Guess you're not the only one in town drinking it like that anymore," he said.
After buying iced coffees, they drove back to his house. He found the contract and signed it right away. He looked up at her with a smile and wet eyes. She wasn't the only one learning to trust her own opinion. She had just pushed him to go for his dream as well and he couldn't be more grateful.
"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" He asked.
"If you did, Roman would have cut off your balls, fried them and fed them to you," she said.
"You're hereby my best friend in the whole fucking world," he grinned. "I'm gonna own my own god damn restaurant."
He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight. He laughed down in her hair, feeling truly free for the first time in his life.
"And now you," he said.
"I'm not sure," she said.
She moved out of his arms. He caught a climpse of uncertainty in her eyes before she turned her back to him.
"Sunnie?" He asked.
"He's done what he said he would do. He hasn't reached out. He's giving me space. Maybe he's ready to change," she said.
"You don't believe that," he said. "He's trying to get you home and nothing will have changed once you get there. If anything, he'll keep the leash on you even shorter so you won't run off again."
"I'm not a dog!" She snapped.
"Tell that to him!" He snapped back. "Because he sure as hell is good at treating you like one!"
She started walking towards the bathroom. She needed a break to gather her thoughts.
"Sunnie, please," he tried. "I'm trying to help you."
"I never asked for your help!" She was angry. "And it doesn't matter. I don't need to make a decision right now. He's leaving for a business trip tomorrow night and he'll be gone for a week. I got time."
She walked out of the room and shortly after the bathroom door closed. The water started running and he let out a sigh. He grabbed his phone and walked outside. She needed space and he would give it to her. As much as she wanted.
He was not gonna let her go back to Roman without at least putting up a fight. She was better than that. She deserved better than Roman. She had already confessed to not loving Roman so there was no point in her going back other than fear of being alone and not being able to stand on her own two feet. She failed to see she wasn't alone. She had him.