"All right, well, if you change your mind, you know what to do, sweetheart."
"Yes, thank you so much."
Gabe hugged her and then shook EJ's hand with a smile. He left before them, and it took Savannah a couple of minutes to clean her station. She went to a different room and spoke to another stylist, and then they walked out together. She smiled at him once they made their way outside. It was still light out, but the sun was low in the sky.
"We can still go to one of Gabe's restaurants, even if we don't let him pay for it. There's one right there." She pointed at the building on the corner, which looked to be a trendy, hipster steakhouse.
"Yeah, I'm up for eating anything," he said. "Just pick your favorite place and we'll go there."
They stood on the sidewalk while she decided. "I think I want Mexican," she said. "Are you okay with that?"
"Of course. I love Mexican."
She gestured with a thumb over her shoulder. "My car is parked in the back."
"My truck's right here," he said, pointing down the street at his truck, which was only about four cars away from them.
Savannah got into his truck, and within ten minutes, he was sitting across from her at a tiny booth for two at a small, colorful Mexican restaurant.
Their server took their orders and walked away, and she smiled at him and shook her head dazedly. "I still cannot believe it's you," she said, staring at him. "What's been going on in your life?" She dipped a chip in salsa and ate it, waiting for his answer.
"I work a lot," he said. "I told you about my gym. Now it's your turn."
She tilted her head at him, making a look of protest.
He shrugged. "I tell you something, you tell me something. Let's go back-and-forth."
"Ok, fine. But all you've said is that you work a lot. I work a lot too. Be more specific. Give me something more interesting than that if you're going first."
"Our gyms are gigantic," he said. "They aren't like a regular gym—I'd compare it to a YMCA but bigger. The whole thing was the brainchild of my brother, and we had the right investors to execute it. It's thriving now, both of them are, and it's humbling to think about owning and running such a place. It isbigger than anything I've ever been a part of—in charge of, at least."
"That's amazing. Congratulations, EJ. I’m happy for you. I'm humbled, too, because I can say the same thing for myself," she said. Her smile was so precious and easy that it caused some sort of primal possessive desire to rise in him. Those lips. She was chewing chips for goodness' sake. This should not have been attractive. He had to glance away.
"Do you mean with your salon?" he asked.
"Yes. It's so much bigger and more beautiful than anything I've ever imagined owning. It all happened like a story book, really. In the moment, I guess it wasn't so fun, but looking back on it, I can appreciate how one thing prepared me for another, and here I am." She smiled at him like the things she just said made perfect sense.
"I guess what I was saying was pretty vague, too," he said. "But what makes it like a story book? And what wasn't so fun in the moment?"
She smiled at him and made a little silly face. "This could take a minute."
He gave a shrug and took a bite of a chip.
"I was with a guy for a long time," was the first thing she said, and EJ had to work to remain reactionless. He held the calm, interested expression while she continued. "It was a bad relationship."
"Were you married?"
"No, we never got married, but we might as well have been. We were… he was… let's just say that I've chosen a different path for myself now."
"One which doesn't include that guy?" EJ asked.
She smiled and shook her head. "One which doesn't include any guy," she said with calm assurance. It felt like a punch in the gut to EJ. "I started dating Christian the summer between my freshman and sophomore year of high school. I was fourteen, about to be fifteen. Christian was seventeen, about to be eighteen—a senior—just graduating. Anyway, we were together for almost eight years. I thought it was good at first, but it was never good. I was controlled and manipulated, and it took me a long time to notice it, and then once I did, it took me a while to work up a plan to leave him. I had done a program in high school where I graduated with my cosmetology license, and I worked in a retirement community, cutting and styling hair in an on-campus salon they had. I knew I wanted to do something better and different with my job, and I was being controlled and held back. Christian wouldn't let me work in a regular salon because he said… it doesn't matter what he said. And anyway, I was working there, doing hair for all the retired people when I met Gabe."
"The man I just met?"
"Yeah. It was just like you were saying with the investor. Gabe was there one week when his dad was getting a haircut, and then we started talking. He andI get along really well. I got close with his dad, too. Gabe started coming up there on the days when his dad would get a haircut, and we got to know each other. He knew things were bad with Christian, but he didn't know how bad until I showed up with bruises." She shook her head a little as if to shake something off. "Anyway, Gabe was there for me. He knew my whole life story, and he knew I had goals and ambitions of opening a real hair salon one day. I had a vision for it, and I would share that vision with him long before I knew that he had any money. I actually didn't even know he had money until the day he offered to invest in my salon. He came to me with a business proposal where he would purchase the house where my salon is and give me a budget to furnish it and get it ready. It took eight months, and I did all of it behind Christian's back because he would've gone crazy on me. So anyway, I made friends with the right person, obviously. He invested in me with absolutely no interest. He stands to gain nothing but my friendship. I'm paying him back, and at the rate I'm going, I'll have it all done in ten years—the house and salon will officially be mine."
"So this man just did all that, no strings attached?" EJ asked. "And what happened to the ex? Didn't he come after you?"
