Too squishy. " "Sophie, inside voice," Ethan reminded her. This is my inside voice. My outside voice is much louder. Viven gave her farewell speech at 9:00 p.m. Thanking everyone for their support and introducing her replacement, a brilliant woman from their Singapore office who'd been Vivien's first choice.
Then she found Ethan and Sophie near the dessert table. "Can we leave? " she asked. "I've smiled at enough people for a lifetime. " "Please," Ethan agreed. "Sophie's been eating cake for 20 minutes. We need to leave before she discovers what a sugar high is.
They escaped through a side door. Sophie carrying a plate of cookies she'd somehow convinced a waiter to give her and drove back to Viven's apartment. On the way, Vivien's phone buzzed constantly with congratulations messages and interview requests that she ignored. "You're really done," Ethan said. "I'm really done. " She sounded lighter than he'd ever heard her.
As of midnight tonight, I'm officially unemployed. How does it feel? Terrifying and amazing. Ask me tomorrow if I regret it. But tomorrow came and the day after and the weeks that followed.
And Vivian never regretted it. She spent a month doing absolutely nothing except sleeping late and taking Sophie to school and learning to cook things that didn't come from takeout containers. Then she started volunteering at a local nonprofit that helped small businesses get financing. Using her corporate knowledge for something that felt meaningful, she and Ethan settled into a rhythm that worked for them. Some nights at his apartment, some at hers.
Sunday morning pancakes with Sophie. Friday date nights that sometimes involved fancy restaurants, but more often involved Thai food and bad movies. Normal, messy, imperfect life that neither of them had experienced before. 8 months after that rainy night, when Ethan had stopped to help a stranger, he woke up in Viven's bed. Their bed now, really, since he spent more nights here than at his own apartment, and found her already awake watching him.
This is creepy, he said. How long have you been staring at me? 5 minutes. You snore. I do not.
You absolutely do. It's adorable. He pulled her close, breathing in her shampoo and the coffee she'd clearly already had. What time is it? 7.
Sophie has that field trip today. We need to get her to school early. Right. The zoo. He sat up, running a hand through his hair.
You're still coming to the shop thing this afternoon? The ribbon cutting. Of course, I wouldn't miss you officially opening the second bay. The expansion had taken 4 months, permits and construction, and Ethan's constant anxiety about whether he was making the right choice. But the shop needed it, and he could finally afford it, and today was the official opening.