“Bye, Eli,” Evan says.
“Bye. Congratulations, Adrian,” Eli says and raises his hand.
“Thanks, buddy.” I smack his high-five.
I can’t stop taking glimpses at the plaque, and Evan laughs at me.
“So where are you on your way to?”
“To get strawberries. I’m baking a cake for my girlfriend.”
“Oh. I didn’t know you had a girlfriend?” From her tone, I think maybe she thought our friendship was leading somewhere else.
“It’s new.”
“That’s great, and it’s very sweet of you to make her a cake.”
“Well, our other roommate is helping me.”
She laughs and holds up her finger. “Hold up one second.” She turns and heads into the kitchen.
I turn around while I wait and see Seth walking by slowly, staring into the windows. He stops when he sees me, ushering me with his hand to come outside.
“Here, take—” Evan returns a second later, and I turn as she must see who I’m staring at. “Oh, that little spy!” She rounds the counter, shoving a bag of strawberries into my chest and heading to the door.
I follow her.
“Seth Andrews.” I’m not sure I’ve heard a more disgusted tone in someone’s voice before.
Seth stuffs his hands into his pockets and chews his gum harder. “Evan. Looking good.”
Her eyes narrow. “Stop spying on us.”
“I was walking by.” He shrugs.
Even with the obvious anger between them, they seem to almost soak each other in. Seth’s eyes don’t stop roaming and there’s a softness Evan is trying to hide.
“Still taking pictures of half-naked women?” She sneers.
“They’re called boudoir, and I’ll clear my schedule for you. You just have to ask.”
I shake my head.
“You’re disgusting,” she says.
“You’re jealous because I’m not the one stuck running a bagel shop.”
Evan scoffs. “Yeah, I’m jealous that you leave your poor parents to run that bagel shop all by themselves. That’s exactly it.”
Seth clears his throat. “Adrian, let’s go. This isn’t a real bagel place.”
Evan glances at me. “You two know one another?”
“He lives across the hall from me.” Seth waits for me to come, but he realizes Evan knows me too, and he scowls. “How do you know him?”
“He’s my employee,” Evan says. “At least he was until I found out he hangs with you.”
“You work at the Bagel Place?” Seth asks. “You’re a fucking prince. Why are you working?”
It’s in this moment I regret not telling the guys I got a job. They’re usually not around during the day anyway, and it seemed easier to keep this quiet once I heard about the situation between Seth’s family and Evan’s.
The door falls from Evan’s grip. “You’re a prince?”
Fucking Seth.
I sigh and shift the bag of strawberries to my other hand. “I am.”
“Like prince of what?”
“I’m surprised you don’t recognize him. You were always into all that gossip.”
Evan cuts her eyes to Seth. “Go away, we’re closed.”
She steps inside and I follow, then she locks the door and flips the sign to Closed.
Seth mouths, “Sorry” and laughs, walking down the sidewalk.
“Please tell me that’s Seth’s idea of a joke?” Evan asks, her hands shaking.
“Listen. I wanted a job and if you didn’t recognize me, that’s a good thing. It’s not like I’m the Prince of England. It’s just Sandsal. I needed a job. But my title doesn’t change who I am.”
“You lied.”
“I omitted.”
She shoots me a look that would make a lesser man’s balls shrivel up. “There’s no difference to me. Not to mention you’re friends with my worst enemy. How do I know you’re not giving him our recipes?”
“Evan, I would never do that. You saw yourself, he didn’t even know I worked here.”
She glances at the plaque. “Just go. I have to think about this, because if the Andrews find out any of our secret recipes, my parents will lose their shit and their store.”
I step closer to the counter. “I told you, I wouldn’t do that.”
“How do I know? I feel like I don’t even know you now.”
“That’s unfair.”
She’s busy writing down the morning orders. “Just go. I’ll tell you later tonight if you should show up to work tomorrow.”
I shake my head and hesitate, but when she doesn’t look up, I figure I might as well go.
So I leave the bagel shop like an overfilled balloon that just got popped. I was at the highest of highs with being named employee of the month, and now I’m not even sure if I have a job.
I stop and buy the strawberries, and on my way back to the apartment, I run into Seth coming from Ink Envy.
“I can’t believe you’ve been working for my parents’ competitor.” He sounds less pissed off than Evan was though.
“I needed a job.”
“My parents would’ve hired you.”
I shake my head. Evan and her family needed me a lot more than Seth’s did. “I think I’m fired anyway.”
“Oh, well, believe me, you don’t want to work with Evan. I’ve known that girl since birth and demanding is an understatement.”
We step into the elevator.
“Did you guys ever date?”
He balks. “No.”
He’s not even a little convincing.
“Never?” I ask.
“No. We haven’t even really talked since we were, like, nine or something.”
The fact that he recites the same age Evan told me suggests that they might have never dated but they still like one another.
“Well, I feel like an asshole now,” I say. “She’s hurt I didn’t tell her I know you, and she’s worried I’ll share the recipes with your family.”
Seth bites his lips, looking at me. “There’s a lot of history between our families. I’m sorry you’re stuck in the crosshairs.”
“It’s fine. I have to leave in a month anyway, but I wanted to finish out the month. They need it. Evan practically runs the place by herself.” I can’t stop myself from talking, although I’m sure Seth is the last person who would care. “She works all the time, has no social life. She said her mom and dad are busy with her brother.”
Understanding shows on Seth’s face. “He has Down syndrome.”
“Yeah, I met him earlier.”
The elevator hits our floor and I step off, but Seth doesn’t.
“Are you coming?” I ask holding the door.
He steps forward then back again, pressing the button for the first floor. “Shit. I forgot something at Ink Envy. I’ll catch you later.”
The elevator door shuts, and I walk to my apartment, trying to push away the thought that I might be fired so I can make a cake for Sierra to celebrate her birthday—even though she didn’t mention it to me.