AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The front door opens again, and out comes Brandon, rushing over to me, followed by his new fiancée. I look past Brandon at this new woman who is throwing such a wrench in all of my plans. I know I’ve already said it at least a dozen times, but she really is so pretty. She’s tall, and she has killer legs. No, really, I should ask her about her workout plan if I ever get over this. I bet she has a personal trainer. No one just looks that good without putting in a lot of work for it. But worse than looking like every man’s dream woman come to life, she looks as equally confused as I feel at the moment. She clearly had no idea about me. I actually feel bad for her. She just got engaged. This is supposed to be the happiest night of her life.
“Brandon, what’s going on?” she asks. She twists her new accessory around on her tiny finger. Brandon holds up a hand to silence her, and she takes a step back in shock.
“Ellis, what are you doing here?” he asks in a hushed voice. He swipes his thumb across his mouth and turns to glance at his fiancée standing a few feet behind him. She looks like she’s about to cry, but I can’t worry about her right now. I refocus my attention on the jerk standing in front of me.
“What am I doing here?” I ask, putting as much venom into my voice as I can manage. It’s not very effective when there are still tears pouring down my face…and snot. So much snot. Gosh, I really didn’t want to cry in front of him. “I think you should do some explaining to me! Who is she?” I thrust my hand out in her direction, leaving absolutely no doubt that I saw the whole horrible display inside.
“Oh my gosh,” I hear Lacy whisper in a choked-up voice.
“I was going to talk to you. I’ve wanted to for so long…” Brandon says, scratching at his bearded, chiseled jawline.
“You’re engaged, Brandon! How did you let so much time go by that you’ve managed to meet someone and date her long enough to get engaged to her?!”
“Look, let’s not do this here,” Brandon says, glancing around the parking lot, where a few dozen of his adoring fans are loitering and listening to our very loud conversation. A conversation that he definitely doesn’t want them hearing lest he tarnish his reputation and tank his budding music career.
“There’s nothing more to say. You’ve obviously made your choice, and honestly, I never want to see you again.” I turn to walk away, and Logan runs up beside me.
“Hey, you’re really upset. Let me drive you home,” he says, trying to pull me in the direction of his car. I yank my arm free and continue walking to my car that I now see parked in the back of the lot.
“No, I’m not going home.”
“Please tell me you aren’t going to take a sledgehammer to his car or TP his house.”
“I’m twenty-six, Logan. Not sixteen,” I say in an almost growl. “I just need my best friend right now.”
Josiah Jacobs and I have been friends our entire lives. Like, literally. Our moms were college acquaintances who happened to be pregnant at the same time. They became instant besties when they were thrust into new motherhood with no othermom friends to be found. Our moms didn’t really give us any other option but to be friends. But really, I never wanted another option because Josiah is thebest friend anyone could ever have. He gives the best, warmest hugs, and that’s what I need more than anything in the whole wide world right now, while it feels like my heart has been beaten and stomped on.
I’m standing in front of his apartment door, and I’m not sure what I look like. Probably terrible. I didn’t wear waterproof mascara tonight because I wasn’t anticipating all this crying. It was meant to be a happy night, full of laughter and dancing, while celebrating my other best friend.
Wow. The night really took a dramatic turn.
I’m sure my eyes are red and swollen, and my face is all puffy. How could they not be after crying like a baby for the past hour? Why didn’t I look in the mirror before getting out of my car? Oh well. It’s just Josiah. He has seen every version of me that there is to see, and he hasn’t run for the hills yet. This will just be one more thing to add to the list.
He saw me with a face full of pimples before I figured out a good skincare routine. He has seen me in a hormonal fit of rage every month since I got my first period at the age of twelve. He has seen me barf all over a parking lot after getting food poisoning. If he has stuck around through all of that, there’s no way this is what’s going to push him over the edge.
I knock on the door, and he answers a minute later with a smile on his face. I can’t look at that smile right now, so I look down at his feet. He’s wearing the silly socks with paper airplanes on them that I got him for his birthday last year. He always wears my silly socks… Brandon never does. In fact, I’m almost positive he throws them out as soon as I give them to him. That should’ve been another sign that he wasn’t the man for me. If he had ever loved me, he would have kept the socks. My eyes start burning again, but I manage to blink it away.
“Ellis!” he exclaims when he sees me standing at his door. I look back up. His smile fades and turns to worry when he notices my appearance. It must be worse than I thought. He grabs my hand and pulls me into his chest, backing me into his apartment and kicking the door closed behind us. He wraps his arms around me and rests his palm on the back of my head, slowly rocking side to side. It’s comforting, but it only makes the tears start anew. Only, now I don’t feel the shame of Brandon potentially seeing them, so I let them flow freely. And once I get going, I can’t seem to stop. Josiah rests his chin on the top of my head and rubs my back in long, soothing strokes. Coming here was a good idea. This is exactly what I needed tonight.
“Ellis, tell me what’s going on. Right now. You’re scaring me,” he says. I really must be, because his heart is pounding against my ear. I take a deep breath and allow that thump, thump, thump to comfort me. To bring me back down to earth.
I begin to tell him everything that happened tonight, but the words are rushed and jumbled. He pulls me away from him and looks over my face, contemplating me for a minute. Eventually, he makes a decision. He drags me over to his massive couch and pushes me down by my shoulders. He hands me the TV remote and says, “Put on one of those British historical movies you like so much, and I’ll be right back.”
He goes into the kitchen and makes a ton of racket for a few minutes. I turn on one of my favorite mini-series of all time and listen as the intro music drowns out the clanging sounds coming from the kitchen. It has the most beautiful music.
“Oh no,” he groans when he comes out of the kitchen. “You choseNorthandSouth. We’re going full angst?” he asks before turning around and going back into the kitchen. I’m not sure exactly what he means by “full angst.” I mean, yeah, it doeshave a lot of sad parts, but it’s also, arguably, one of the most romantic stories…like, ever! It has grit, emotional turmoil, and pining. And also, Mr. Thornton is so dreamy. I could really do without his mom, though. She’s the worst. Talk about an Oedipus complex.
Josiah comes back a second later carrying half a tube of raw cookie dough and a butter knife. He plops down beside me on the couch. He’s so heavy that the cushions tilt inward and cause me to roll slightly toward him. Our arms are now propped against each other. He passes the dough to me, and I cut off a small bite as I watch the female lead of the series meet the male lead for the first time. Even their first meeting is full of turmoil, much like the majority of their relationship throughout the series. Elizabeth Gaskell didn’t want anyone to be happy when she was writing the book.
We watch in silence for a while until Josiah can’t keep quiet any longer. I knew it was coming eventually. He’s been fidgeting and casting me concerned glances since he sat down beside me thirty minutes ago. But I don’t know how to put into words what I’m feeling. Not yet. I haven’t allowed myself to process anything yet.
“So, are you ever going to tell me why you showed up on my doorstep, crying, in the middle of the night?”
I pause the movie as I search my head for where to begin. I reach for the pile of cookies that Josiah took out of the oven twenty minutes ago and shove one into my mouth to avoid his question for just one minute longer. He baked them a little too long, so they’re crunchier than I’d like, but they’re not bad.
“Come on, Ellis. Stop avoiding the question,” he says as he bumps me with his massive shoulder, sending me careening to the side of the couch. I sit back up and give the offending shoulder a solid whack. He grunts like it hurt him, but I know he barely felt it. I wrap my blanket tighter around my body togive myself an extra bit of coziness to shield me from my feelings.
“Brandon and I are over,” I say, knowing I can’t put it off any longer. I hope he’ll just let me leave it at that for now. I don’t want to go into all the horrible details of this night. I don’t want to relive the scene of watching him propose to another woman. A woman who is probably just as miserable as I am right now if he told her the truth about who I am. Knowing Brandon, though, he probably came up with some elaborate lie about who I am and why I was there screaming at him in the parking lot. He always seems to get out of whatever bind he finds himself in, and I’m sure this one will be no different.
