Chapter 7 Bittersweet Farewell

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Chapter Seven: Bittersweet Farewell

The days that followed dragged like hours stretched thin by grief. The café felt colder, quieter. Even Harper noticed the change.

"He hasn't come back," she said one afternoon, setting a tray of croissants on display. "You okay?"

Talia forced a smile. "Why wouldn't I be? Just a customer."

But he wasn't just a customer. He'd become a part of her day, a rhythm her heart had synced with. Now, with his absence, that rhythm had collapsed into silence.

She tried to focus on work-serving regulars, refilling sugar jars, pretending not to glance toward the door every morning at 7:58. He never showed.

A week passed. Then two.

On the third Monday, she came into work early to find a folded envelope taped to the back office door. No return address. Just her name written in careful handwriting.

Inside was a note:

> Talia,

I didn't leave because I wanted to. I left because I didn't know how to ask you to stay.

You were never just part of my routine. You were the best part.

-Ethan

She held the paper in trembling hands, the scent of his cologne still faintly clinging to it. For the first time in days, tears rolled freely down her cheeks.

But she didn't respond.

Instead, she tucked the note into her notebook and closed it shut.

A month later, Bean & Bloom served its last customer. The lease expired, and with no one able to afford the rent hike, the dream shuttered.

Talia packed up her things-her aprons, her notebooks, her memories-and walked out with a quiet goodbye to the place where her heart had opened, and broken.

She didn't know where Ethan was now.

Only that he was gone.

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