Chapter 1

I sat in the booth of the coffee shop shaking my head at my best friend. Was she insane? You can’t just up and move to a new place and open a restaurant. There were so many reasons I was going to say no. You needed the money, investors, clientele, employees, and so much more. Not to mention neither of us had any experience with running anything, let alone a restaurant. Oh yeah, and there was that other reason I couldn’t go. He was there.

“Bryce? Earth to Bryce!” Harmony exclaimed to me, waving a hand in my face. I pushed her hand away as I shook the thoughts out of my head.

“Harm, it’ll never happen,” I told her. She got that look on her face. The half pout, half determined glare. It was only a matter of time until I gave in if I didn’t get out of here now.

“Why not?” she asked.

“I’m not American, for starters.” She rolled her eyes at me.

“My father will sponsor you, or whatever that term is.” She smiled at me like she’d just solved the crisis in the Gulf Coast.

“Where are we going to find the money?” I asked.

“You know my family’s loaded,” she said with a shrug.

“And how about the fact that we know nothing about running a restaurant?”

“That’s why we hire people that do.” I dropped my head down to the table with a clunk. “Look, you double majored in economics and math and I…..well, I’m not sure how my major in communication will help, short of talking. Anyway, we can do this.”

I picked my head back up and looked at her. She looked so calm like she knew exactly what she was doing. She’d just sprung this idea on me, but I knew Harmony better than that. She was never impulsive. She’d probably been thinking about it for a long time. She’d even probably talked to her family about it. Harmony was always full of crazy ideas, but for some reason every single one of them worked out for her. I felt myself giving in even as my brain screamed at me to tell her no.

“Why does it have to be there?” I asked, questioning her choice of location.

“Because it’s where I’m from. I know everything there is about the city. My family and their friends are there. We can’t fail there,” she responded. I felt my stomach churning. It did make complete sense. I just didn’t know if I could be in the same place as him.

“But, Harm, he’s there,” I whispered. She rolled her eyes and laughed, completely oblivious to the chaos going on inside my body.

“So what? It’s a big city. What are the odds you’re going to see him?” I wanted to believe her. I wanted Harmony to be right about me not ever seeing him.

“I don’t feel well,” I mumbled as I got up and tossed my almost full tea into the garbage. I needed to get outside and get some fresh air.

“I don’t get why he bothers you so much,” Harmony said as she followed me.

“He broke me, Harmony.” She sighed as I felt the pain came back.

“You’re being a bit dramatic, aren’t you? You two never dated. You hardly ever talked. How was he supposed to know you were in love with him? Plus, it was high school.” I spun around on her.

“He ruined my prom for me! It should have been the best night of my life and I never ended up going. Instead I sat at the side of the lake all night and cried.” She put an arm around me.

“I know, it sucks. He’s an asshole for doing what he did. It doesn’t mean you can’t come. You’re not the same person you were back then. Even if you do see him, he’s going to wonder what he was thinking and you can do to him what he did to you.”

I looked over at Harmony and smiled, feeling just a little bit better. She was right. I wasn’t the same person I was in high school. College had changed me and for the better. There was nothing for me to worry about.

“Fine,” I said giving in. She let out a squeal and hugged me.

“Let’s get packing. We should get to Pittsburgh as soon as we can.”

Later that night I lay in bed staring up at the ceiling. What the hell had I gotten myself into? Now that I didn’t have Harmony in my ear I was second guessing everything. It had been four years since that night in high school. I’d managed to keep it locked in the back of my mind during that time, but now I’d have reminders all over the place.

I’d been in love with him my whole life. I’d grown up down the street from him and saw him almost every day. I watched him hone his hockey skills in the street during the summers and then on the ice the rest of the year. Of course, it had been from a distance. I wasn’t athletically inclined so no one ever asked me to join after the age of 7.

He’d humored me for a while. After all, I was one of the neighborhood kids. As he got older he cut me out. I was just some chubby math geek with glasses. By the time we were in grade 6 we hadn’t talked in a year. I was the loser in love with the popular kid I never had a chance with. My heart ached when he left for juniors. We didn’t ever talk before, but now I didn’t get to see him anymore either.

“Bryce, are you awake?” Harmony called through the door. I shook him out of my thoughts and made my way out of bed.

A month later I looked out of the window of the plane as it descended to the Pittsburgh airport. Harmony and I picked up our bags at baggage claim and found the car that was waiting for us. When we pulled up to her parents’ house my jaw dropped. I’d known Harmony’s family was rich, but this was beyond my comprehension.

We entered the house and were immediately greeted by her parents. We were also greeted by a couple of housekeepers who immediately took our bags and carried them up the curving staircase. After being treated to a five course meal for dinner, Harmony’s father gave us a list of apartments that were available.

I realized the next day that they weren’t just apartments. As I stepped foot into the first 2000 sq ft apartment that I was in over my head. When I saw how much they cost, I nearly choked. Most were more than double the value of the house I’d grown up in. Basically I left the choice up to Harmony. A month later we were set to move in. There was no turning back anymore.