AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"You were in the navy?" She looks over at Zara. "For how long?"
"No, I wasn't in the navy," Zara says quickly. "It's a store. They also own Gap."
"Gap?" My grandma blinks at me.
"It's a store, Grandma. Gap, Old Navy, J.Crew."
My grandma shakes her head. "Must be a young person's thing."
I look over at Zara with a grin. "Grandma only shops in boutiques and fashion houses in Paris and Milan."
"Oh," Zara says, her eyes wide. "That sounds cool."
"Do you enjoy Milan?" my grandma asks her, and I chuckle.
"Come on, Grandma. I don't think Zara's been to Milan, have you, honey?"
"No," Zara shakes her head, "but maybe one day."
"Yes, I'll take you one day," I say, pulling her into me and kissing the side of her cheek. I can feel Maisy's eyes upon me again as if she’s trying to read my mind.
"You seem happy today," she says, and I frown.
"Sorry. What?"
"There's a weight that's been lifted off of your shoulders. You feel lighter, your spirit." She nods and smiles to herself, and then she looks at Zara. "You're a good influence, dear."
"Thank you," Zara says self-consciously. "I don't know that it's me, it's just-"
"It's you," Maisy smiles and grabs my grandma's arm. "Come on, dear. Let's go and get a drink."
"But-"
"But nothing," Maisy says, laughing. She gives me a small little wave and pulls my grandma to the side. I look down at Zara, and I can see that she's breathing quite rapidly now.
"Are you okay?" I touch her forehead.
"That was just a really strange encounter,” she swallows. "Your grandma is intense."
I grab her hands and squeeze. "You did amazing. My grandma loves you."
"No, she doesn't," she laughs. "Your grandma thinks I'm trash." She shrugs. "It's okay. I mean, I'm certainly not on her level. I'm certainly not a Kennedy or a Bush and far, far, far away from being one as well. And how can she never have heard of Old Navy. I mean, who's never heard of Old Navy?"
"I mean, she's an old lady."
"A rich old lady.” She giggles. “Her friend Maisy seemed different."
"Yeah, she is definitely different. She loves my grandma, though. My grandma loves her as well, so that's all that matters."
"I'm glad that they've got a close friendship. I'm sure it must be hard to tell who's genuinely in your life when you're that rich. Have you found that?"
I stare at her for a couple of seconds and nod. "I mean, I think that's why I didn't trust you at first."
"Because you thought I was after you for your money?" she asked. "I thought you thought I was a journalist."
"I thought both, " I say shrugging, “but it wasn’t true.”
"I mean, I guess it's kind of true," she says, and my heart stills.
