Fine Apple | ✓

a f t e r w o r d

◽︎◾︎◽︎

Holy calamari, we did it!

I can't fully express how extremely happy I am right now. This book has been my baby for the past year and I am so thrilled to be able to tie it off neatly and move on to the next project! I'm pretty sure this is a common disease with authors: we're never completely satisfied, but it's that ongoing drive we have to just write another book--that craving that just can't be ignored--that makes us thrive, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

The sun's setting over the ocean [which doesn't make any sense since the sun actually does not set over the East Atlantic coast; it rises, but that's beside the point so we're going to ignore it] and it's a great time to reflect back on the thrilling, refreshing day you just experienced. The beach is always there, no matter the weather or the circumstances, always ready to thrill you with a breath of salty air and the warm nostalgia of summer. [can you tell how sad I am that it's September?!]

We're walking away now, while the disappearing sun paints the sky in various shades of pink and red. If you squint, you might still see the newly revamped Fine Apple market tucked underneath the distant boardwalk, a cute bamboo shack underneath a straw roof. Nicholas is probably there as usual, lying relaxed on his beach chair with his suntanned legs perched up on the lid of a cooler. Aria, the new manager-in-training, might be there with him now, still nibbling on a particularly delicious mango she can't get enough of. The old radio is undoubtedly playing staticky reggae music, which Aria is gradually warming up to because it reminds her of the warm, sleepy summer afternoons that she loves so much. The old store phone is back as well, its flaws barely visible now that Nicholas has polished it with plans to leave it on the shelf forever as a lasting memory of the first stupid phone call that brought the two of them together. He'll never let Aria forget the time she made that one first call, panicking over her apparent loss over the very same phone she was using. She can't stand it, but she knows that he's always ready to take care of her when she is lost to her scatterbrained self and needs a hand. And her persistent visits to the market in return are what motivate him to keep plugging away at life, snatching every bit that's fallen by the wayside so he can reconstruct it. 

Summer's fading along with the day. Soon Aria and Nicholas will have to withdraw from their simple little paradise and return to the real world. The Fine Apple Market will close for the season. Aria will head off to Stanford for her freshman year. Nicholas will be blending smoothies on board a St. Kitts cruise liner to serve all the wealthy elderly individuals who have the luxury to migrate south for the winter. Real life drags itself on with only a nostalgic whisper of summer left in the air.

This is the close of Nicholas and Aria's story, the aftertaste of a mango on your lips, the last crest of a dying wave beneath your board. The sun sets, the cool settles, and it's time to return to daily life. We leave our ocean retreat behind, load up the truck, and drive off down the highway. In the distance, the ocean continues to crash, its waves whispering a goodbye with each syllabic break.

◽︎◾︎◽︎

Q & A

Q: Did you think about that really cheesy thing Nicholas said about the fine Apple when you came up with the title cus omg I would of never thought of that.

A: Fun fact: I didn't think of the title! The title was created by the lovely evethespy (author of Waffle Cones) along with a cover of her design (see foreword.) I used the cover and the title as a prompt to create the story idea and called the store the Fine Apple Market after the title, rather than vice versa! As the story drew to a close, I wanted to have Nicholas use some cheesy pick-up line or something to reference the title, so I just added that on the fly :) After all, it's the sort of thing he would say!!