Page 122 of Heart of Stone

“Oh, that!” I feigned innocence. “He only meant that he had a dominant sort of personality.”

She looked at me with troubled eyes, forcing me to look away. I began stirring my coffee needlessly with a spoon.

“Are you sure that it’s smart to get into a relationship with someone like that?” she asked quietly after a few moments.

“I know what you’re thinking, but I assure you that it’s fine. I like him,” I paused, suddenly realizing exactly how much I liked being with Alexander. Uneasiness sprang into my chest and I looked warily at Allyson. “I like him a lot actually. But I won’t let myself get in too deep. Besides, he knows where I stand on this. I flat out told him that he was not allowed to control my life and that I wanted to keep things with us casual. I’m proud of who I am now and I won’t jeopardize that. You don’t have to worry.”

“I can’t help it. I watched you go through hell and back, Krys. I mean, the flashbacks that I had this morning when I saw that you never came home…” she trailed off for a minute, eyes looking far away. “It was insane. I kept picturing you in that damn hospital bed with your ribs all taped up. I don’t want to see a repeat of that. Ever.”

Torment over the terrible memories made her voice crack and almost brought me to tears. It pulled at my heart and brought forth my own painful recollections. However, I couldn’t allow myself get lost in the past.

Not anymore.

“Do you remember our last talk? You said to let go and have a little fun, remember?” I reminded her. “Well, I realized that it was time to take your advice. I can’t dwell on the past or worry about what may or may not happen in the future. In fact, when I see myself in the future, do you know what I see? My mother. I love her, but I don’t want tobeher. My scars have made me bitter for far too long. I need to focus on the present, live for today, and take it as it comes.”

Her face noticeably softened at my words. And while I may have only given her a half-truth about Alexander, I meant every word about putting the past behind me.

“That’s probably the best thing I’ve heard you say in a long time,” Allyson said. Her eyes shined with tears as she stood up to hug me. “I guess if you’re happy, then I’m happy. It’s good that you’re ready to move on. I don’t mean to sound like I’m trying to stop you. I worry though, you know. Just try and be careful, promise?”

I blinked back my own threatening tears. However, they weren’t caused by sadness, but from joy. I was so glad to have her as my friend, knowing that I could count on her no matter what.

“I promise,” I said, hugging her in return. Pulling away before things got too out of control mushy, I asked her the question that had been on my mind since I got home. “So, how come you’re not working today?”

“Photo shoot in Paris came up unexpectedly,” she said, sitting back down. “Today is considered a travel day, so I don’t have to go into the office. My flight leaves at five o’clock this evening.”

“Paris!” I screeched. “That’s so exciting! When do you get back?”

“Late Thursday night…sometime around midnight I think. But the nice thing is that I get to take off on Friday and enjoy a long weekend.”

“I’m off on Friday too. The only thing that I have going on is a good-bye party at Murphy’s in the evening. In fact, you should come. You know most everyone from Wally’s. Plus, Alex might be there and you could meet him.”

“Count me in. I’m anxious to meet this mystery man of yours,” she said with a wink. “But lets plan something for the afternoon too.”

“We could do a spa day,” I suggested.

“That’s a great idea! We haven’t done that in ages!”

“Because neither of us could afford it before!” I laughed. “But now that we both have fatter paychecks going forward, I think we can splurge a little.”

“For sure! We should go to one of those high-end places. You know, the ones we could only dream about before?”

“Ooh! The Mandarin. I’ll call and set it up,” I offered, suddenly giddy over the pending girls day out. I had been so wrapped up in Alexander, that it would feel good to have some one on one time with Allyson.

“Okay, you call while I go take a shower. I still have to pack for my trip too.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I said, unable to contain my grin. “Oh, and one more thing. You’re not a mother hen. I know why you worry, and I appreciate that more than you know. Thank you for being there, Ally. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“I’m here for you, babe. Always.”

****

I couldn’t stop thinking about the look that Krystina threw at me when I mentioned that she should keep some of her clothes at my place. Her expression was bothering me, so much so that I couldn’t concentrate on business negotiations throughout the day. I tried leaving the deskwork behind and went down to check on the construction of Turning Stone Advertising, except even that wasn’t enough to distract me.

I knew that Krystina would never willingly hang a single stitch of material in my closet anytime soon, but I didn’t know why it was troubling me so much. The only solution that I had was to take the liberty myself.

When I announced to Laura that I would be leaving the office for a few hours to go on an impromptu shopping trip, the expression on her face was almost comical.

Yes, Laura. Believe it or not, I do know how to shop.

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