AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Nineteen
“Well, that’s the last thing to be done.” My mom closed the wedding binder with a flourish. “Congratulations, Alicia, you are now officially done with wedding planning. Now all you have to do is show up on the big day.”
“Great.” I played with my napkin, shredding it to pieces. While I knew this was a momentous event—the finalization of the biggest event I’d ever host—I couldn’t bring myself to find joy in it. What did it matter if I lost my best friend?
“Alicia? What’s going on?” My mom’s eyebrows pulled together, concern trickling into the wrinkles around her mouth. Her expression was so similar to Andrew’s, I had to close my eyes against it.
This is what you wanted, though. Closeness to your parents. Marriage to a man who wouldn’t leave you. Try to smile.
I plastered a wooden smile on my face. “Nothing,” I said. “I know I had to stop touring to get the rest of the wedding stuff done, and to be here for Father. I just miss the band, is all.”
“Are you sure?” Mom wrinkled her brow. “You have that look that you get when you think about Andrew.”
“What?” I yelped. I blushed. “I don’t have a look when I think about Andrew.”
“Yes, you do. Like you’ve lost a piece of you.” She sighed and pushed the binder to the side. “Tell me what’s going on, Alicia. Let it out.”
“I’m no longer friends with Andrew,” I blurted. I flushed even harder. “Michael has an issue with him, so we stopped hanging out.”
Mom’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Really. I thought I’d never see you stop being friends with him for a second time.”
It was my turn for my eyebrows to raise. “I didn’t know you knew about the first time.”
“Of course I knew about the first time,” she sniffed. “Catalina told me. Although I don’t suppose I was much help back then.”
“Only back then?” I looked at the remains of my napkin. “It’s no secret that you hate Andrew.”
“I don’t hate him.” She sighed, looked toward the window. “I just don’t think he’s good for you.”
Though I knew why, I wanted to hear her say it. “Not good for me?” I asked. “What’s not good about Andrew? He’s funny, he’s caring, and he’s industrious. He always lands on his feet.”
“But how many times does he put himself in situations where he needs to land on his feet?” Mom sighed again. “Alicia, I know that you’re somewhat in love with the boy. Don’t deny it,” she said when I opened my mouth to protest. “There’ll never be another like the first boy you fall in love with. But he’s part of your past. Michael is your future. Michael has access to resources that Andrew can only dream of. Michael has a real job, with real benefits. He’s forward thinking, and he can take care of you. Most importantly, he will love you forever. Can you truly say that about Andrew, who is with a new girl every week?”
“But what about the passion? What about romance?”
“Does Michael not shower you with romantic gestures? I heard about your anniversary date. Was that not romantic?”
“It was, but…” I put my head in my hands, effectively covering my expression. “Look, I know that Michael is the one I want to be married to. I agree, Andrew may have been my first love, but not the one for me now. But I don’t understand why it meant I have to give up a friendship with him, as well.”
“Because men are territorial,” she said. “They can’t exist in the same space without having to mark their territory.”
My head shot up. “I’m not Michael’s territory!”
“It’s a figure of speech, Alicia. Don’t be so sensitive.”
I grit my teeth. Don’t be so sensitive, I grumbled in my head. You don’t know what sensitive is.
Aloud, I said, “It’s not a matter of sensitivity. I’m irritated, rightly so, about someone trying to take control of my life. Regardless, I’m giving up my friendship with Andrew, for Michael. It just sucks, is all.”
My mom made a noise of understanding. “Of course, dear. It always sucks, as you say, when you must clear out the old to make room for the new. Andrew is your past. Michael is your future.”
Yes,I couldn’t help thinking, but who is my present?
After that rousing conversation with my mom, all I wanted to do was go home and burrow under the covers. But when I turned the key in the lock and opened my apartment door, Catalina was waiting for me. Until that moment, when I wanted to be alone more than anything else, I had never given thought to giving my best friend a key to my place. It was supposed to be for emergencies. Emergencies. But I didn’t doubt that Cat thought that whatever she had to say was, indeed an emergency that required use of the key.
I sighed; I knew what was coming.
“Andrew told you, I’m guessing.” I dropped my keys on the counter and dropped my bag in the chair. “Go ahead and say it.”
