I wasn’t naïve to think she would show up. She didn’t owe me anything. I hadn’t given too much detail when I’d texted Fallon weeks ago asking if she would help like she normally did. She’d been on her honeymoon, and I hadn’t wanted to upset her.
She’d spent three weeks in Bali, and I’d wanted her to enjoy every minute of it. I planned to tell her about Blair and me when she got to the bookstore, or after the event. Maybe I didn’t have to tell her at all. That seemed like a way better option.
I still had another hour before the store even opened, and I was setting up the table when the door opened.
“Hey, babe. Thanks for?—”
“Andrea Elise Voss! What the fuck is going on?I leave to go be blissfully married and in love, and I come back to complete chaos?!”
“Whoa, Fallon! No need for government names. Relax, will you?”
She scoffed. “Relax?! How am I supposed to relax when my whole life got turned upside down without me even being here?!”
“Okay, Fresh Prince. Let me guess, Kaia told you?” I asked. “I should have known.”
“Actually, no, you ass hat! She wouldn’t tell me anything other than that she quit. Rylee just told me all about your fight at the bar when I got my coffee. What possessed you to insult Blair like that? I thought you liked her? It sure seemed that way at my wedding, but maybe I read it wrong. Maybe she really was just another name in your book.”
I glared at her, giving her a pass for just coming back from her honeymoon, and also not in the mood to piss off someone else I loved. “Don’t do that, Fallon. You know damn well she wasn’t.”
“Well, then what the fuck happened?!” I had never seen Fallon so angry at me before. Mackenzie was right, though, it wasn’t a pretty sight.
“I was drunk! And Cara kept pressuring me to go out on dates, but I couldn't tell her why I wouldn’t, and I just couldn't take it anymore!” I yelled.
“Seriously, Drea, what is wrong with you? You could have gone about it so differently without tarnishing her name and essentially ruining everything between you two.”
“I know, Fallon. I fucked everything up. I was really drunk and upset. It just slipped out. I wish I could take it back.”
“I get that, but you can’t. And what about Kaia quitting? She is the sweetest, most loyal person I know, and you made her quit?!” She rubbed her fingers between the bridge of her nose, and I felt like I was a disappointing child being scolded.
“I am gone for three fucking weeks and come back to a shitshow. God, I really need my wife right now,” she muttered under her breath. “Oh, and thank you oh so very much for ratting us out to Cara! We were finally at a good place, and you had to throw me under the bus? Now she refuses to talk to any of us, even Rylee!”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to lie to her anymore. And you agreed not to say anything, remember?” I wasn’t trying to place blame, but I was tired of everyone yelling at me, even though I knew I deserved it.
“We agreed because you promised to tell her yourself. I told you from day one that you were putting Cara in a shitty situation. And I convinced myself that it was okay to lie for you because I was tired of seeing you miserable after Skylar, but now you put us all in a fucked-up position, Dre!”
“I know! I did tell her… just not in the way I wanted to. I fucked up, okay? Kaia was right.” I couldn’t help but yell. I wasn’t yelling at her; I was yelling at myself for being so fucking stupid and making a huge mess of things.
“Yeah, you did! And back to Kaia, what the hell?!”
I groaned. “She said she’d had enough. I was still drunk and dealing with the breakup and I was upset and yelled at her. She shouldn’t have brought Blair with her, but I know it’s not really her fault. She told me that I deserved everything that happened, and she was right. I drove Blair away, and now I have to live with it. I should have told her how I felt and figured out a way to tell Cara, before things got ugly, but I didn’t.” I rubbed my face in my hands.
“And how do you feel, Dre?”
I sighed. “I can’t explain it, but she was different. I didn’t even have to try with her. I know it hadn’t been that long, and we didn’t start off on the greatest terms, but I think something has always been there between us, at least for me. Maybe that’s why I kept agreeing to work with her. I think a part of me wanted her in my life, no matter the circumstances.”
She sighed. “It sounds to me like you have feelings for her, strong ones, if I had to guess. Do you love her, Dre?”
She spoke so softly and sweetly I wanted to cry. My best friend knew me too well, and there wasn’t a trace of anger or judgment in her tone.
I glared at her. “Fallon, seriously? You’re asking if I love her? Of course I love her! I wouldn't be feeling this way if I didn’t. My world doesn’t exist without her in it. It feels like a piece of my heart disintegrates bit by bit with every day she’s not here.”
I hadn’t realized I was crying until Fallon came up to me and wiped a tear with the pad of her thumb. “Babe?” she whispered softly, and I leaned into her touch.
“I know, I’m a mess. What am I supposed to do? Ineed her, Fal. She’s like a telescope, and without her, I can’t see the stars shining in the night sky.”
“First of all, wow, that is some poetic sappy shit that I did not expect from you, like at all.”
I nudged her arm. “I’m serious, babe.”
