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“Are you sure you want to go?” Nora asked, pausing to look at me over her shoulder.
Her question finally brought me out of myself, and I uncurled myself from the bed. Butterflies were fluttering in my stomach, and I really wondered if I could go through with this.
“I already said I would go,” I muttered gloomily.
“That doesn’t mean you have to go,” she said explosively. “After what he did to you, what does he deserve from you? Nothing! Brooklyn, you shouldn’t even still be thinking about him.”
“But the problem is that I can't forget,” I sighed.
Nora gave me a look for of sympathy, and I turned away.
It wasn’t like I’d forgotten what Abe had done, I didn’t think that was even possible. How could anyone possible forget the worst day of their life?
After we graduated, I knew Nora would have to go back, and I knew I would miss her. But Abe… I’d hoped he would stay with me in California. He’d told me he could find a way, and I believed him. When we graduated, I thought we had our whole lives ahead of us, and I thought he would propose. We would get married, move in together, and start a family…everything we’d talked about.
In the end, none of that happened. Instead of the proposal I’d expected, Abe told me he had to go home.
Abe hadn't told me much about his family before that point, and after I knew his background, I realized why. If I had known his background from the beginning, it would have been easy to think I approached him because of his family. Abe Sanchez came from old money, and his family were billionaires. With his tall build, hazel eyes, dark hair and good looks, I would have had a lot of competition over him in college, if he hadn’t been so low profile, and been the one to come onto me in the first place.
After college, when I thought we could start a life together, Abe told me he needed to go back home to take over the family empire. For various reasons, he couldn’t commit to me.
When he’d told me all that, the one thing I’d thought, was how badly I wished he’d come from an ordinary family, just like I did.
“Maybe this would be good for you,” Nora said, trying to sound hopeful. She rose up and moved to the bed, sitting beside me and putting an arm around my shoulders. “You can finally have the closure you didn’t get six years ago. And if the two of you are going to talk, try to get that bastard to apologize to you for what he did. If he’d known things were going to end up that anyway, he shouldn’t have been leading you on.”
I bit down on my lip as pain flooded my chest. That had been my biggest worry, over the years. When I fell for Abe, I gave myself over to him completely, and I didn’t think I could ever do that with anyone else. But, what if Abe never felt that way about me to begin with? He was obviously meant for bigger, better things. Someone with his background could only end up with someone from the same world as him, and he should have known that.
So, what had those years we’d spent together been all about?
“Let’s just see what happens,” I mumbled. “Who knows… he might be the one to bring it up. Besides, as far as he knows, I’m getting married...”
Nora had turned my things into a mess, but I managed to find an appropriate outfit. We were going out to a bar. Since I was new in the city,
Abe had offered to pick me up, but I didn’t want him to know where I was staying, so I’d gotten him to give me the directions. As long as I got in a cab and gave them to the driver, I would make it.
This was New York, a city that was way colder than Cali, so I only had a few dresses, most everything else were jeans and tops, and I figured it would be good enough for this. I picked up the outfit, and started changing.
It was a red dress that clung to my curves, with ruffles down the front and long sleeves. I paired it up with a long black trench coat to keep out the chill. It was one of the few dresses I’d bought along, one that was fairly long and made of thick fabric, so I didn’t have to worry about freezing to death in the evening weather. I turned to Nora with my arms held out, eyebrows arched.
She clapped enthusiastically then gave me two thumbs up. “You look absolutely amazing! He’s going to see you and weep forever letting you go.”
I smiled. “Thanks.”
There was no way I could completely let go of the anxiety, but I was going to at least appear confident on the outside in front of Abe. I looked through my shoes and found a pair of black high heels, and I pulled them on. Then, I sat back on the bed with a small bag I pulled from my luggage. Inside, I had a mirror and some make up.
I pulled the stuff out, but as I held the mirror in one hand and a make-up brush in the other, I realized my hands were shaking. I looked helplessly at Nora, and she sighed.
“Let me do that for you. Just sit back and relax, okay? I’ve actually gotten way better at this since the last time we met.”
“How did that happen?” I asked, mildly curious. Nora was already good at applying make-up, just a step away from professional level.
“Well, I have been planning a wedding, you know? And it’s not like I intend to do my own make-up. I found an artist that I’ll be working with on the day, and she gave me a few tips. You’ll look amazing tonight, trust me.”
I was tempted to bite down on my lip, but she poked my cheek until I stopped. She directed me to close my eyes, and I could feel the brush move gently over my skin. I took a deep breath and forced myself to relax.
It’s just a few drinks… you’ll survive. I hoped I would, at least.
“You’ve gotta know this is a bad idea, though, right?” Nora asked quietly.
