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The phone rings almost till the end. She must be paralyzed with fear or anger and unwilling to answer. But finally, Bella picks it up, and with a fleeting voice says, “Hello?”
“Hello, Isabella. How are you doing?” I ask, my mood already sour.
“Liv, listen… I…Don’t call me ag—!”
“No! Don’t hang up!” I order, and I just can imagine the phone trembling in her hand.
“I gave you the liberty of texting me trash fordays,and now you are going to sit and listen to what I have to say. Understood?”
She sighs then swallows dryly, “Okay, say it!”
“Bella, your brother and I don’t have a ploy against you. It’s just something that happened! I would never do anything to harm you!” I say.
“Then why keep it a secret from me andlieto me, Liv?” she demands to know, more reasonably than I expected.
“Because we both knew how poorly you were going to react, Bella! Look at what you’ve been doing. You’re acting like a schoolgirl!” I say, getting desperate, but still standing my ground.
“Liv, I only had my brother growing up like once a year if that,” she starts, sounding desperate and then changes her tone, sounding angry. “I can’t believe you are stealing him from me now that I can see him more often!”
“I never ceased to be your friend just because of my interest in Alex,” I say. “I was rehearsing in my head a way to tell you ever since it started, but…”
“But what, Liv?” Bella is mad, her Texas accent showing in her voice.
“I would prefer to finish this talk in person, Bella. Can you meet me at… I don’t know, neutral ground?” I ask.
“Lirio’s?” she suggests. It’s a bar with amazing food and drinks. It’s also the first bar we went to together here in San Francisco and a low blow for her to choose it.
“Fine,” I say. “Meet you there at two.”
She hangs up without a single word, leaving me questioning whether she’s going or not.
I sigh once more, gazing at the bluest sky set against the white clouds, and wonder what I am going to say to Bella.
Am I ready to fight for Alex? We are just getting started and already there is so much drama.
All of me can’t get enough of that man, so I think that’s a sign pointing to yes. I mean, even though I have my own place, I still spend as much time as I can with him and Harlan.
But also, why am I so scared to take up a committed relationship with him?
I do know it’s because of my past experience where I was hurt before, but Alex hasn’t given me any red flags making me think he’d do that to me.
It’s eleven in the morning and the boys will arrive hungry, so I decide to go fix us lunch before they come home. Like clockwork, they arrive just as I’m done with the sandwiches, and both Harlan and Alex gladly take what I made, which is all laid out on the kitchen island.
“I managed to talk to Bella,” I state casually over my ham and turkey sandwich.
“Oh!” Alex interjects, happy. “That’s good! Was it over the phone?”
“Uh-huh,” I say, my mouth full. I wash it down with some water and continue, “We are going to meet this afternoon.”
“Looks like we’re making progress,” he says, caressing my hand.
But I’m not as confident as him. In fact, I’m in shambles. Only to add to my insecurities, Harlan asks his father, with a nonchalance only children can pull off, “What’s a gold digger, dad?”
Alex and I both choke on our food a little, and after slamming his fist against his chest a few times, Alex replies, “Where did you hear that term, buddy?”
“Aunt Bella called Miss Liv that,” Harlan says, very calmly.
“In front of you, huh?” Alex says, appalled with how low Bella is going. “Well, buddy… ‘Gold digger’ is a bad word. It’s said by impolite people about people they believe are only interested in money.”
