AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Maybe she’d done it wrong.
“What makes you ask that?” Sunday said, without giving anything away.
She waited for Eleanor to get on the elevator before she punched the number to their floor.
“I don’t know. I guess I’ve just been thinking that I wasn’t a very good friend. I mean, I know I haven’t known him for very long, but last night, I kept thinking that I felt like we formed a bond. Not necessarily a romantic bond,” she hurried to add when Sunday raised her brows. “Just... Just we’d done something hard together, and I enjoyed his company, and he said he enjoyed mine, and I thought we were friends.”
“You probably are,” Sunday said simply.
“But I’m not acting like a friend, am I?”
Sunday didn’t say anything. She just smiled.
“Yeah. You agree. I was petulant. He didn’t treat me the way I thought I should be treated, and so instead of supporting him like a friend would, I...walked away.”
“I think some of us have a personality where we avoid conflict or difficult situations by walking away from them. Some people live for confrontations. You just did what was natural to you. But I’m glad you’re thinking about it, because I’m not sure it was right.”
“If we’re friends, it definitely wasn’t right.” Eleanor had to admit she was mumbling. She wasn’t proud of what she had done. She’d allowed her hurt feelings to dictate her actions, instead of overlooking herself and focusing on someone else. The gala meant a lot to Franklin. It was the big thing for his company every year. He was doing his best for it, and if she was his friend, she’d be supporting him, not pouting in some corner because he didn’t treat her right.
The elevator stopped, and an older couple waited while Sunday and Eleanor got out.
They were a sweet couple, gray and stooped, but still holding hands. The older gentleman said something, and the lady beside him laughed. They got on the elevator, and as Sunday and Eleanor walked away, their laughter followed them down the hall.
That’s what she wanted for herself. A love that lasted through the decades, from their young adult years, through middle age, and into their golden years. She wanted someone beside her. Someone holding her hand. Someone to laugh with.
The longing was so strong, she almost stopped in the middle of the hall.
She wanted someone to love her the way she was, but she also wanted to be the kind of woman who deserved a man who would stand beside her, laugh with her, and love her despite her faults and flaws.
She could hardly expect that kind of treatment out of her future husband, whoever he was, if that wasn’t the kind of friend that she was today.
Being a friend was a lot different than being a husband or wife, but it took the same kind of character. The kind of character that put others ahead of themselves, the kind of character that God wanted her to have.
They reached her room, and she paused for a moment, grabbing her card from her wallet while Sunday looked for hers.
“Will you hate me if I change my mind again?” Eleanor asked as she shuffled her bags around and got her card in her hand.
“You know I won’t. Sometimes we just do the wrong thing, make the wrong decision, and we have to check ourselves and turn around. Why would that make me mad?”
“Because I feel like I’ve jerked you one way and then another. Here you are in Chicago, not because you want to be, but because of me.”
“Noah was going to go to the gala tomorrow anyway.”
“I know, but you could be with your husband, or taking a nap, or doing something.”
“There aren’t too many things I’d rather do than be with my sister,” Sunday said as she put her arm around Eleanor’s shoulders.
Eleanor leaned into her, saying a silent prayer of thanks to God for giving her sisters. They were better than friends.
“I want to go to the gala,” she said as Sunday’s hand dropped and she pulled away.
“I thought that’s what you were going to say.”
“Thanks. I just... I just feel like that’s the thing that a friend would do. And that’s what I want to be. A good friend.” For some reason, her heart still hurt, and she wasn’t sure if it was just her woman’s pride being tweaked because Franklin had basically dumped her over someone else, or whether it was because she actually had feelings for Franklin. Which she felt wasn’t very smart since she’d only spent a little bit of time with him.
But it was time in trying circumstances. A person’s worst side came out when they were squeezed the way they had been squeezed last night. Cold, hungry, put out, scared, and challenged. She could see what kind of stuff he was made of, and she really liked it.
“I can’t believe you didn’t get upset about everything last night. That’s probably the thing that impressed me the most.”
