“It’s not a matter of cutting costs off the food. Marlowe runs a pretty tight budget.” David had analyzed the receipts and sales data Marlowe had given him. Those early morning trips to the markets did pay off. She ran her kitchen lean and everything she made sold. There was no waste.

“What profits do we make?” Andrew Robinson asked.

“Not enough to do what you propose. And before you ask, no, Marlowe can’t cook any more food if she tried. She’s already working shifts at the kitchen and extra shifts at Sophia’s. I don’t know how she stays on her feet all day like that.”

“Maybe we need to ask someone else to help,” Andrew said.

“You going to cook, Andrew? I don’t know about you, but my cooking skills are nowhere near Marlowe’s,” David said.

“Ah. You’ve tasted her cooking have you,” Andrew said.

David answered with a wordless sound. He’d tried hard not to think about Marlowe since that night he’d run out on her and her family without so much as a thank you. She’d been his first thoughts waking up, and his last thought before he slept – who was he kidding. He tossed and turned all night without sleeping that much.

No woman had affected him like her. Quite simply, none could compare. She was different. She’d impacted him on a deeper level than mere ‘like’. This was a woman he could have a future with. This was a woman he could start something with. This was the best woman to ever cross his path.

And he’d destroyed everything.

The past two weeks and been long and slow and lonely. So bone-weary lonely.

"I've never heard anyone comment on her cooking by grunting. Usually, I get ‘that was amazing', or ‘what's she making next', or ‘can I book her to cook for my party'. That sort of thing.”

“I’ve eaten her Pav,” David said.

“Ah, yes. Never knew what one of those was until Charlotte introduced me to it. Lucky dog, when did you eat that?” Andrew asked.

“She invited me to her house,” David said. He really didn’t want to get into details, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. He knew Andrew was deliriously happy with his now wife Charlotte.

“And?”

“It was her parent’s house actually. To a family dinner,” David said.

There was a pause, then. “Is there something going on between the two of you? If there is, I don’t know a more wonderful woman. Apart from Charlotte that is.”

"Not anymore there isn't. Not that there really was in the first place," David said.

“What did you do?” Andrew’s answer was fast and flat.

"What makes you think I did anything?" Had Marlowe said anything to Charlotte and Charlotte to Andrew?

Andrew chuckled, "You've never been good with women. I don't know anyone you haven't pushed away."

David blew a long breath out between his teeth. If Andrew saw that, then he had to have a reputation. “Tell me what you really think.”

“Are you ready to hear what I really think?” Andrew said.

‘I can’t feel any worse than I do now. Might as well hit me with it,” David said. He rested his head against the back of the chair and rubbed his closed eyelids.

“Are you going to listen and not hang up on me?”

“Just tell me before I change my mind, Andrew. How do I get over Marlowe?” He rolled his eyes and stared at the ceiling rather than the insides of his eyelids. He definitely was hurting if he was ready to hear what Andrew was going to say. But maybe, just maybe, Andrew knew something that might save him this pain. Andrew’s chuckle only increased his unease.

“There’s no getting over her, David.”

What on earth was he listening to Andrew for, then? He just couldn’t put up with this…this…unsettling feeling that had overcome his entire being. “I don’t think…”

“Just listen, David.” Andrew cut him off.

David spoke between clenched teeth, “Okay.”

"This is going to be personal because falling in love is personal,” Andrew said.

Is that was this was? Was he falling in love? David sat a little straighter, listening hard. “Go on.”

"Get to the bottom of things. If something is holding you back, you need to deal with it. You might think you're doing okay, and you might be, but that day when you meet the one person who is going to make your life that much better, fantastic even, you have to deal with things and move on, otherwise you’re going to miss out. And believe me, David. Take advice from one who knows. You don’t want to miss out on the right woman,” Andrew said.

David clenched his jaw. “I was hoping you were going to say something easy.”

Andrew chuckled again. This time Andrew barely contained himself, "It's quite amusing seeing people go through hell when you've been through it yourself."

“Dealing with issues?” David asked.

“No. Dealing with issues is serious. I’m talking about falling in love!”