“What if he doesn’t want that? What if he finds someone else?” I ask in a panic.
“If he loves you like he confessed that night, he won’t look for anyone else. You need to trust his word, too, Adriana, and allow him time to heal.”
It makes sense. Both of us rely heavily on each other to fi
x the broken past never realizing that some things can never be repaired. Just like Julian once told me, putting a Band-Aid on the problem doesn’t make it go away.
“I’m sorry, Charlie.”
Charlie walks around the desk motioning for me to stand. Wrapping her arms around me, I allow my head to fall on her shoulder, and low and behold, the waterworks start again covering her jacket.
“You’re forgiven, but next time I want an apology basket full of chocolate, flowers, and your Dylan McKay Barbie doll,” she says lightheartedly.
“I forgot about him. And besides, there won’t be a next time.” I smile apologetically.
She takes a seat back in her chair and tells me about Amelia’s tantrum occurring in the grocery store yesterday, even showing me a video. It’s YouTube-worthy, and wow, what an outburst over some candy. How Charlie remains calm is beyond me, especially with Ava crying in her carrier.
“It was mortifying. Everyone was judging me, and the only reason I filmed it was I knew Lex wouldn’t believe me and would probably buy her a pony to cheer her up. You can imagine how surprised I was when Lex got home and had a word with her. She did her whole daddy-I-love-you bullshit, but he was strong and didn’t back down.”
“Wow, I can’t believe Lex disciplined her. He’s finally becoming a man.”
“Yeah, I know. She’s not allowed to play with her Batmobile for a week, and let me tell you, she cried like it was the end of the world. Lex couldn’t believe it.”
“Sounds like you had one hell of a week.”
“Not as bad as yours, Adriana, but I can use a night out with my besties. You free tonight for a quick drink somewhere? We don’t need to make it a whole night out, and Lex can watch Andy.”
“Sure, you better call drama queen and let him know.”
I go to stand, but my dress gets caught in the handle of the chair, and I fall to the floor scraping my wrist on a loose screw drilled into the table. Ouch!
“You okay?” Charlie rushes to my side and gasps as she sees the blood on my arm.
“It’s okay. Hand me some tissues, please.”
She quickly grabs the box, and I dab my arm. Pulling it away, it doesn’t appear too deep, only a surface scratch.
“I’m so clumsy. I’ll see you tonight.”
Charlie says goodbye, and I wave in return. As I leave the office, a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders, and I count my blessings Charlie is able to forgive me.
That’s the thing about family, no matter how violent the storm, they’ll always be there to watch the rainbow with you.
I just pray my rainbow will find a way in his heart to forgive me.
We settled on a Brazilian bar not too far from the beach.
Eric’s already complaining about his day at work and that the dry cleaners couldn’t remove an ink stain on the crotch of his new dress pants.
“Why is there an ink stain on your crotch?” Charlie asks him.
“For some stupid reason, I keep my pen in my pocket which I never do for this very reason.”
“Oh, that’s embarrassing.” I cringe.
“You’re telling me. This hot waiter kept eyeing my crotch, and I was like ‘whoa baby, hold your horses, you haven’t even taken my drink order yet’ but turns out it was the ink stain.”
“Are you forgetting about your beautiful man at home?” Charlie reminds him.