Standing outside his shop with a woman who just quit her empire to figure out what actually mattered. The next evening, Vivien showed up at his apartment at 6:30 sharp, wearing jeans and a sweater and carrying nothing but a bottle of sparkling cider. "For Sophie," she explained. "It's fancy, but not alcoholic. " Sophie opened the door before Ethan could, already wearing an apron that was three sizes too big. "You're here.
Come see the kitchen. I've been cooking for an hour. " The apartment smelled like tomato sauce and garlic bread, and Sophie had indeed been cooking. The spaghetti was slightly overcooked. The sauce was from a jar, and the dinosaur nuggets were exactly as advertised. But the table was set with care, complete with a construction paper centerpiece Sophie had made at school.
"This is amazing," Vivian said, examining the centerpiece. "Did you make this in art class? It's supposed to be flowers, but they look more like explosions. " I tried. I love explosions. They're very artistic.
They ate dinner together. Sophie dominating the conversation with theories about whether penguins could survive in space and detailed explanations of her science project. Viven listened with genuine interest, asking questions and offering suggestions that Sophie considered seriously. After dinner, they played Sophie's invented card game, still with rules that changed constantly, and watched the Penguin documentary that Sophie had now seen approximately 40 times. When Sophie finally fell asleep on the couch, Ethan carried her to bed and returned to find Vivian doing dishes.
You don't have to do that, he said. I want to. This is nice. Normal. Everything my life hasn't been for years.
You're going to have a lot more normal now. What are you going to do with 6 months of transition time? I honestly don't know. I've been CEO for so long. I don't remember what I like to do before.
She dried a plate, examining it like it held answers. Maybe I'll take a class, learn something completely impractical, or travel somewhere that isn't a business trip. Or you could just rest, figure out what makes you happy. Is it pathetic that what makes me happy is doing dishes in your kitchen while your daughter sleeps on the couch. If it's pathetic, then we're both pathetic because this makes me happy, too.
She set down the plate and turned to face him. I'm falling in love with you. Is that crazy? We've only known each other a month. Ethan's heart kicked against his ribs.
It's crazy, but I'm falling in love with you, too, so we're in good company. What do we do now? We keep doing this. Dinners and dishes and card games with impossible rules. We figure it out as we go.
I'm not good at figuring things out without a plan. Then we'll make a plan. Step one, keep seeing each other. Step two, see how it goes. Step three, adjust as needed.
That's a terrible plan. It's the only plan I've got. She kissed him, tasting like spaghetti sauce and possibility. And Ethan wrapped his arms around her, feeling the last of his doubts dissolve. This was real.