AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Pissed off, she crosses her arms. “So, what? I’m just supposed to sit back and—”
“And be happy for your friend? Yes. I know there’s some part of you that likes controlling her. I understand that. But that’s not your job anymore. There’s another condition.” I nod at the martini on the table. Even amid her friend’s crisis, she had to order a drink. “I think you have a drinking problem. I think perhaps that’s why you keep accidentally fucking men you really shouldn’t.”
“Wow,” she says, shaking her head, but avoiding my gaze.
“The truth hurts sometimes. Hallie’s with me now andI’mcertainly not going to fuck you, so you no longer pose a threat to her happiness in that regard.”
“I didn’t… It wasn’t like that. I’m not a horrible friend, it’s not like I sought to seduce her fucking boyfriend, it just….” She growls with aggravation, pushing her fingers through her hair. “It just fucking happened, okay? Same with the bartender. Sometimes I drink a little too much and I do really fucking stupid shit, but don’t say it like I set out to hurt her because I would never do that.”
“I know. I believe you,” I tell her. “If I didn’t, you’d be gone. But it is a problem, and it’s no longer just affecting your life, it has touched mine. Now it has to be fixed, or you have to be phased out.”
She sighs heavily and rakes her fingers through her hair again. “So, what? You want me to go to rehab or something?”
“If you think you need that much intervention. I would be happy with meetings or counseling as long as you apply yourself and there’s improvement. I don’t have a set condition here, just whatever works. We’ll help you as much as you need it.” I wave over the server because I’m about done here. “Box this up for me, would you?”
The waitress nods and grabs the untouched plate off the table.
I look across the table at Charity as she walks away. “So, do we have a deal? You get help and play nice, I let you stick around?”
“It doesn’t sound like I have a lot of room to bargain, does it?” she asks coldly.
“No, it doesn’t.” I’m much more cheerful. I’m ready to be done with all this so I can go home to my fiancée. “I know that people seldom change, so understand that while I’m giving you this chance to do better, if youstart bringing Hallie down in any way, I will have to cut you out of her life.”
She smiles bitterly. “And ifyoubring her down? Do I get to do the same?”
“I won’t bring Hallie down. I’m only interested in lifting her up.”
The waitress brings back a doggie bag for me. “Thank you,” I tell her. She nods and starts to leave. Before she does, I say, “Hold on.” I grab Charity’s drink and hand it to the waitress. “She’s finished with this. We’ll take the bill.”
___
When the elevator doors open on my gallery, all is right in the world.
Well, almost. It occurs to me as I look at the works of world-renowned artists hanging in my personal gallery, I have an artist living under my roof and I don’t have any of her work displayed in our home. I’ll have to remedy that soon.
I know Hallieisunder my roof, but given all that has happened, there’s a niggle of worry about it at the back of my mind. A doubt that whispers maybe she was only biding her time until she knew I would undoubtedly be busy, and she’s run for the hills.
She’s not in the living room or at her desk dreaming up lovelier worlds for children to get lost in. Tension gathers in my shoulders, but I roll it out.
She’s in bed, that’s all.
Still, I walk a bit faster, having to fight the urge to go to my office instead and check the tracker on her phone—but that wouldn’t work anyway, because I have the damn thing locked up in my desk.
If she left, she’s left without anything I can track, and I’ll have to scour the whole goddamn city for her.
I ease the bedroom door open, my mind only half in the moment. The other half is inventorying every place I can think of that she might be, making plans of attack to knock the legs out from under her and get her little ass right back where it belongs.
But I don’t have to worry because when the door opens enough for the hall light to stream in, I see that she already is.
The tension eases at the sight of Hallie all snug in our bed, one arm pushed beneath the underside of the blanket. She’s facing my side. Maybe she was missing me.
I turn off the hall light and close the bedroom door. It’s dark, but that’s how I like it.
Quietly, I unpack her snack so that it’s ready when she opens her eyes.
She hears me though, or maybe she just senses me. Whatever alerts her that she needs to wake up, I hear a soft, lilting moan as she rolls over and opens her eyes.
“Hello, sweetheart.”
