"Fix it, Dad. She's nice and she makes you smile. Don't mess it up. " They left, and Ethan sat alone in his apartment, staring at his phone. Three unread messages from Vivien. "I really am sorry.
I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. We don't have to go to the fundraiser. We can do something else. Please talk to me. He should respond.
Should say something to fix the weird tension he'd created by bolting from her car. But the words wouldn't come. Instead, he opened his laptop and googled men's suit rental Seattle. The results were depressing. Prices ranging from $100 to $300 for a single night.
Money he didn't have. Money he'd need for the shop payment at the end of the month. His phone rang. Unknown number again. Hello, Mr.
Cole. This is James Morrison from Hart Industries Fleet Management. Ethan sat up straighter. Oh, hi. Yes.
M. Hart asked me to reach out about a maintenance contract for our Seattle vehicles. Do you have time this week to discuss terms? Uh, yeah, definitely. When works for you.
How about Tuesday morning? I can come by your shop. 9:00 a.m. That's perfect. Thank you.
No, thank you. Ms. Hart speaks very highly of your work. We're looking forward to partnering with you. They hung up and Ethan stared at his phone.
She'd followed through. Even after he'd been weird and awkward about the fundraiser, even after he'd practically run away from her car, she'd still made sure her fleet manager contacted him. He pulled up her messages and started typing. I'm sorry for being weird about the fundraiser. You didn't do anything wrong.
I just got in my head about not fitting into your world. The response came almost immediately. You don't have to fit into my world. I like you in your world. But your world is part of who you are.
I can't just ignore that. So come to the fundraiser. Wear whatever you want. I'll be there and that's all that matters. I don't have a suit.
Then we'll get you one. Viven, I'm not buying it for you. We'll go shopping together. You can pick what you like and I'll loan you the money. You can pay me back whenever.