Cooper reached a hand out over the counter. “Look, Ollie. I fucked up, okay? We had a dream, a big dream, and when it came time to go for it, I panicked. I’m sorry. Maurizio offered me a safe way out, and I took it.”
And left Oliver to fail on his own.
“I think you should leave.”
“Please! Just listen. I know I don’t have any right to ask you to give me another chance. I know that getting back together isn’t going to be an option for us, and I’m sorry, because we were good together. You know we were good, right?”
“We were good at the game.” Oliver hung his head. “We were good at the lifestyle. The work, the late nights.” The suits, the cars, the professionally-decorated condo. “But you weren’t there when I needed you.”
“Because I was scared!”
“You think I wasn’t?” Oliver glared at him. “I quit my job. I told my family I had given it all up. I came here.”Without you.
“I’m sorry, all right?” Cooper came around the counter. “Let me make it up to you. Let me help. I can’t fix our relationship—”
“We don’t have a relationship.” Not anymore.
“But I could help with the business. It would be like we planned. You can be the ideas guy. I’ll do the execution. I’m not asking for anything else.”
Heat built on Oliver’s skin, over the back of his neck and up his scalp. “Let me get this straight. You bail on me ten months ago, because you got a better offer. And then, when that doesn’t work out the way you hoped, you show up in the middle of the night, and then slide in here this morning like you never left? You want your part in my business? The one I have spent the last six months growingby myself, and you think I’m going to bring you back into the fold?”
“I can help.”
“Fuck you, Cooper!” Spittle flew from his lips.
Cooper barely blinked. “You need me.”
“Not anymore.”
“Yes, you do.”
“I think you should go.”
“You need me. I’ve done my research.” He glanced around the store. “You think I came unprepared?”
“What research?” Oliver was ready to punch the words right off his lips.
Cooper continued. “I’ve asked around. I popped by the market last weekend.”
“You’re stalking me now?”
“Just research. Nothing more. You think I don’t know it’s not going according to your perfect plan?”
“It’s going fine.” He wouldn’t give Cooper the satisfaction of admitting otherwise, but this dance was familiar. Cooper wouldn’t have come here any less prepared than for a trial. He wouldn’t have relied on old feelings and shared history to make his case. He’d rely on facts and pain points.
“It’s midmorning on a weekday. How many customers have you had so far today? The fridge was full when I got here.”
Oliver clenched his jaw. Cooper knew the numbers, the projections. He’d reviewed the revenue models and the estimates. He knew it all, right down to how much foot traffic they’d need on a Tuesday morning to pay the bills.
“Thank you for coming today.” Oliver fished an elastic out of his jeans pocket and tied his hair back. “I’d say it was good to see you, but I’d only be lying.”
“Ollie, come on.” Cooper tilted his head to the side. “Is this about pride? I don’t care about that. It could be great. Even if we’re not together, we could still do this. I can help you.”
“Yeah, until something better comes along.”
“This business won’t survive the way you’re running it.”
Maybe, but it would be Oliver’s. Just his. He was done wasting any more energy on Cooper and their past.
