“Alana,” he mutters. “Hey. How are you?”
“Good,” I say, not believing for a second that he actually cares.
“Uh, how are you? Having a nice evening shopping…” His voice trails off. It takes everything for me not to laugh in his face. That’s all he has to say to me?
Dani hesitates. “I’m glad we ran into you,” she says softly. “I've been meaning to call you since…” She stops and swallows before continuing. “I really want to apologize for what happened. I just want you to know I never meant to hurt you.”
“The fact that you didn’t want to hurt me doesn't change the fact that you did,” I say. With a rush of confidence, I for myself to go on. “I want you to know something.” I look her dead in the eye and then Aaron. “You both hurt me. I trusted you. I trusted both of you and you betrayed me in the worst possible way. You have no idea how that made me feel or how long it took to get over both of you. You hurt the most,” I say to Dani. “We shared our whole lives together. Guys come and go, but I thought you’d be the friend I’d still have in my life when I turned eighty.” Tears roll down her cheeks as I keep looking her in the eye. “I hope he was worth it. I hope he was worth ruining our friendship over, because that's what you did.”
“Alana, please,” she whispers, covering her mouth with her hand. She wipes away tears and puts her hand out, but I back away. “No,” I say. “I won’t back down just so that you feel better. I need you to know how much you broke me, so that I can move on.” I sigh. “I didn't come over here to make a scene, or yell at you, or any of that. I don't care about anything, other than the fact that just being able to walk over here and say this to your face.”
Dani looks down. She runs her hand over her stomach and that's when I notice the bump.
“When are you due?” I say quietly. She looks surprised and then embarrassed.
“I'm six months tomorrow,” she whispers.
“Congratulations,” I say. “I hope you're happy. I really do.”
I turn and walk away, feeling like the weight of the world is on my shoulders. All I want to do is fall into a heap and cry, but I don't, because what I did took courage and I need to be proud of that. It took a lot of damn courage. I shake my head and laugh as I near Peyton. She stares at me with wide eyes and then wraps her around arms around me, kissing me on the cheek over and over again.
“I'm so proud of you right now,” she whispers.
“Yeah,” I say. “I'm pretty proud of myself, too,” I admit.
I take a deep breath, still feeling shaky. I can't believe that I did that. Last week—hell, even yesterday I wouldn’t have had the courage to do that. I never got the closure that I needed from that relationship, and I think that's part of what’s been holding me back. That and my remarkable ability to pick really bad men. My mind wanders to Chase.
Maybe all that is finally changing.“Thanks again for helping me out.” I say to Peyton, as she pulls up outside my building.
It’s been a long day and I’m exhausted. Running into Aaron and Dani has made a whole heap of emotions resurface that I thought I’d dealt with a long time ago.
“Are you okay? She asks, giving my arm a sympathetic squeeze.
I nod. “I think so? You know, it’s funny. For seven months, just the idea of seeing them made me feel sick, but tonight, I not only faced them and told them what I needed to, I did it on my terms.” I smile. “I think I actually feel pretty damn amazing.”
“Good.” She grins, giving me a hug. “And just so you know, it took everything for me not to march over there and sucker punch that bitch.”
“I’m glad you didn’t,” I grin.
“So am I. I’m proud of you for standing up to them, but now, just put it behind you and move on. You owe that to yourself.” I nod, knowing that she’s right. “Besides,” she says, pausing for effect. “You have more important things to worry about. Or should I say people.”
I roll my eyes wishing I hadn't told her who I was going away with. Of course, she would've figured it out pretty quickly when neither of us were at work tomorrow.
“Stop it.” I say to her with a mock frown.
“Stop what?” she says, her dark eyes widening.
“That,” I groan. “Smiling every time I say his name.”
“Come on.” Peyton squeals and grabs my arm. “It's perfect! You know it's perfect and when he sees you in that dress, he’s not going to be able to keep his hands off you.”