My heart began to race and my stomach instantly knotted. I slowly turned around and looked at the man who destroyed me for the first time since that day. His desolate eyes locked onto mine. He looked horrible. His face looked heavy and it looked as if he hadn’t shaven in days. His eyes stared straight into my soul and pleaded with me to say something.

“I have to go.”

“Please, don’t. Let me look at you a little longer.”

His voice was no longer controlled, and the once poised and confident man I had grown to love was gone.

“I can’t. I have to go. Please leave me alone. If you love me like you say you do, you’ll leave me alone.”

“We need to talk, Gabrielle.”

“There are no more words, Simon. What’s done is done. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go.”

I needed to run from him as fast as I could. It killed me to see him that way, but he did it to himself. I ran all the way home, showered, and changed for my first day at the coffee shop.

****

“Before we can let you start making the coffee beverages, you need to memorize each drink. So here’s the training booklet for you to look over. You can take it home with you as well,” Lorraine, my manager, said. “You can take a seat at that table if you like and start to read it over. Try to become familiar with each beverage.”

I smiled and took the manual over to the table and scanned it. After about fifteen minutes, I got up and walked over to Lorraine, handing her the manual.

“Why are you giving this back?” she asked with a confused look.

“I’m done reading it.”

She laughed. “You aren’t taking this seriously, are you?”

“I am and I’ve read it.”

“Okay, Miss Smarty Pants. Let’s put you to the test.”

Lorraine rattled off a number of different lattes and specialty coffees for me to make. I made each one perfectly as she stood there in shock.

“Okay then. Care to explain how you did that?”

“I have a photographic memory.”

“Oh. Well, I guess you do. I think you’re going to do just fine here.” She smiled.

I finished my shift and was pleased at how well I did. Since the coffee shop was only a couple of blocks away, it was easy for me to walk home. As I approached my apartment building, I noticed the company car Simon had given me was parked in a parking spot. I stood there in disbelief and noticed a note sticking up from the windshield wiper.

“This car is yours. It was always yours to keep, no matter what.”