Page 19 of Forcing Her Hand

“He asked me to dance,” Allison said mildly. “If you’re jealous, you can talk tohimabout it.” She turned away, confident in her knowledge Veronica wouldn’t make a scene here. A moment later, the fuming woman stomped away, and the small ball of anxiety in Allison’s belly relaxed. Well, so she hadn’t been entirely sure Veronica wouldn’t make a scene. She had a reputation for being a bit of a drama queen, but Allison was on her home turf since it was her parent’s party, and it would have given her the advantage.

That woman truly didn’t deserve Roger, but it’s not like it was up to Allison. Obviously, he didn’t have as high standards as she did when it came to romance, and maybe in some ways, he was right. Here she was, pining for a guy who was socially unacceptable to her parents and who she wasn’t even sure returned her interest. If he hadn’t sent that Christmas present, would she have been more amenable to Roger’s suggestion that marriage could be satisfying with warm compatibility rather than romance and love? Possibly.

Now, she didn’t know whether to be more or less thankful to Todd for the gifts.

That night, after getting home and talking with Diana about the party, Allison went to her room and rooted around in her closet. Sitting on her floor, she studied the frame she pulled out, for once looking more at herself than Todd. Happy. In that last picture, she looked so happy. In love. The way she’d seen other couples, the way Diana’s mother looked at her husband. Was it so wrong to want that?

No. She wasn’t ready to give up yet. She was only twenty-two years old, twenty-three next month. Unlike Roger, she knew how wonderful being in love could be. It was definitely way too early to give up on the idea of finding real love with someone she could spend the rest of her life with.

6

That year Allison managed to get out of her parent’s New Year’s Eve party by going to her office’s party. To her surprise, Diana had turned down the invitation to join Allison and was going to Allison’s parent’s party with Chad. Apparently, they were still doing their on-again-off-again thing. While she would have liked to ring in the new year with Chad and Diana, she was pretty sure Roger would be there again, probably with Veronica, something she didn’t feel up to facing at the moment.

The jealous girlfriend had clung to him for the rest of the night, keeping Allison from even saying goodbye to him. She didn’t care so much, except she would have like to see if a friendship with Roger was possible. But having someone glare at her for an entire party wasn’t exactly her idea of a good time. Being at someone else’s party was new and different. Since she didn’t have to host, she could just relax and have a good time with the women she worked with.

“So, who are you going to try to stand next to at midnight?” Clara asked excitedly.

Allison laughed. “I think as part of the HR team, I’m going to avoid any possible confusion over interpersonal relations between myself and other employees.

“Your loss,” said the irrepressible blonde. Allison grinned at her, enjoying the thirty something’s joy of romance and hope. Since hearing Roger’s view on marriage, she was starting to wonder if she was young and naïve, wanting romance along with everything else she had in her life. Not that Clara had found happily ever after, either, but at least she believed in it. “I can’t decide, what should I look for, looks or wealth?”

“Chemistry,” said Allison immediately, without thinking. The other woman’s eyes got big.

“Now, that’s a good answer, thank you, dear!”

When midnight came, Allison counted down the seconds with the rest of her co-workers before the room erupted in hugs, cheers, and a few kisses. She was absolutely delighted to see Clara was on the receiving end of one of those kisses with a good-looking guy Allison was pretty sure was in the accounting department. The look they exchanged after made her a little wistful.

What would it be like to celebrate New Year’s Eve with someone she actually wanted to kiss? Chad and Diana were probably kissing right now. And Roger and Veronica.

Damn Todd.

“Hey, Allison, Happy New Year!” Before she knew it, Matt, one of the interns, had planted a sloppy wet kiss right on her lips before moving on to his next victim. Allison burst out laughing. She should have known to be careful what she wished for. This was so much more fun than her parent’s parties.

* * *

The next day she was shocked and elated to find she’d received an email from Todd.

Happy New Year, Princess.

I’m coming home. I’d like to take you out for your birthday. I know it’s on the 14th, but I won’t be home until the 19th, so I was hoping maybe Saturday the 20th, we could go to dinner if you don’t already have plans. Let me know.

Your Not-So-Lost Lover.

Twenty days. Twenty short days, probably the twenty longest days imaginable, but joy was shooting through her. He was coming home. He wanted to see her. And he’d remembered her birthday. That had to mean something, right?

She wrote him a long email, thanking him for the Christmas gift, telling him about her job and her classes last semester, and said she would love to see him on the twentieth. Then she spent the rest of the day checking her email to see if he’d responded. He didn’t until later that night, and just a short note, saying he was very busy with work and couldn’t wait to see her. The shortness of the email made her depressed. But he couldn’t wait to see her. That part she treasured.

* * *

“Come on, Allison,” Diana said, moaning in exhaustion as she dragged her friend into yet another store. “Can’t you just pick something already?”

It was the fifth store they’d been in that day. Allison was intent on getting the perfect dress for her birthday date with Todd. Of course, she had no idea where he was taking her, and when she’d emailed him to ask, he’d only responded it was a surprise but to look nice. The short responses she was getting back from her emails had kept her from writing him more and also worried her. Was he regretting his invitation? Had he met someone else in the short time since he’d emailed her?

“No, I can’t just pick something,” Allison said, worrying her lower lip between her teeth. “It has to be something amazing, something that screams class and fuck me at the same time.”

“Yeah, that sounds really easy to find,” Diana said, but her voice didn’t have any heat. Being the good friend she was, she started looking through some of the other racks. Both picked out a few options, although Allison wasn’t really excited about trying on any of the ones she had found so far. They were just the best of a bad lot. Diana made an excited noise from several racks away and waved her hand at Allison.

The dress was gorgeous—perfect. Made out of navy chiffon with a thin band of satin that made up the straps and went under the breasts, which would emphasize her bust line, it had a skirt made up of layers of chiffon which would flow as she walked and made it look shorter than its mid-thigh length.

---