Page 29 of I Always Will

“Oh, you don’t need to—”

Hailey stood back up, staring at the screen that had lit up upon her touching it. She’d spotted Alexandria’s red face and she now wondered whether it was just them running into each other or whether she’d known Hailey was going to see her screen.

On her way to the shop, Hailey had sent off a text to the group, telling them she’d be there soon. It was an odd choice since they hadn’t discussed it in the group previously. Esme had talked to her about it in person and then tagged her in an Instagram post showing Esme holding a handful of dresses and telling Hailey to hurry up and get down here. She wasn’t sure why she’d chosen to reply in the group, except that it had to do with Alexandria.

Hailey hadn’t known she’d be here, it was more the drive that had taken root in her stomach, the one that wanted Alexandria to know what she was doing, to pay attention to her.

Well, she was paying attention to her now.

“You have me saved in your phone as ‘The Bane of My Existence’?” she asked, laughing and looking up at Alexandria. It was a question, but a redundant one, and they both knew it. She was looking at the notification for her message written across Alexandria’s phone. There was no denying that was how Alexandria had her saved.

Alexandria blushed even harder, spluttering in a way Hailey hadn’t seen from her in a very long time. Well, she hadn’t seen anything from her—spluttering or otherwise—in a very long time, but it had been a minute since Alexandria had been this uncomfortable around her. Hailey didn’t like it. Nor did she really like the saved name.

She laughed it off because it was her, and she was supposed to, and this whole thing was awkward enough without her acting hurt. Somewhere deep inside, though, she knew it wasn’t all bad. “I guess I’m glad you still have feelings for me, even if they’re a little less… favourable these days.”

Because that was it, right? Alexandria had been acting so cool and aloof in the group chat but, if she’d saved Hailey’s number under something like that when she was decidedly not that kind of person, it had to mean something. She could still get under Alexandria’s skin and, so long as Alexandria wasn’t indifferent to her, she could still…

What, exactly? What was her game plan here?

Farid had told her to talk to Alexandria, to stop running from her, and, despite her deepest desire to deny she still had feelings for her, the truth was that shedidstill have feelings for her. It was the reason she wanted Alexandria to know what she was doing. It was the reason her heart felt like it was shooting out of her body and off into the atmosphere every time Alexandria’s name lit up her phone. And it was the reason she simultaneously loved and hated being the bane of Alexandria’s life. She’d read enough fanfiction over the years to know that wasn’t necessarily the worst thing to be. Especially not when they were basically being thrust into the perfect setup for their very own fanfic.

So long as Alexandria feltsomethingfor her, there was still a chance.

“Sorry,” Alexandria mumbled. “I can change it.”

“No need,” Hailey replied, grinning at the realisation that while ‘The Bane of My Existence’ was not what she sometimes dreamt of being called in Alexandria’s phone, it could still be a rung on the ladder to what she wanted to be.

This whole thing was ridiculous. She knew that. But her whole life with this woman had been ridiculous, what difference did this make?

Alexandria took her phone back, shoving it into her bag in sheer embarrassment and unable to meet Hailey’s eye.

“Alexandria,” a voice hissed from around a rack of clothes before a tall, irate woman stepped out.

“Susan,” Hailey said, brightly, enjoying the surprised look on Alexandria’s mother’s face and the still-mortified-but-also-slightly-impressed look on Alexandria’s. In all the time they’d known each other, Hailey had only ever referred to Susan as ‘Mrs. Daley’, but they were all adults now and it seemed weird to keep calling her that. Plus, Hailey loved impressing Alexandria and whatever got her there, she’d take. “Long time no see.”

Hailey had never been surprised at not running into the Daleys, despite both living in the same town. She doubted they would ever frequent a mashed potato bar voluntarily. She’d been enjoying the secondhand accounts of how mortified they were to hear she was catering the wedding more than she should. And it wasn’t like she ran in the same circles as them.

The only thing they’d ever had in common was Alexandria. That was still true, no matter how that idea messed with her heart.

Susan looked her over, taking a moment to place her. Her eyes caught on the Mash-N-Go logo on Hailey’s shirt and Hailey saw the minute the penny dropped and Susan managed to put everything together. The journey of expressions Susan went through was entertaining to watch, even if Hailey didn’t fully understand it. She did, however, understand the faux-polite expression Susan landed on before saying, “Hailey. Nice to see you again. Why are you here? Do caterers usually attend dress fittings?”

She smirked and couldn’t resist shooting Alexandria a secret look, just for them. For one wild, beautiful moment, it felt like them again, even if Alexandria looked like she was dying a slow, painful death. Her parents never changed.

“They do not,” she said, looking back at Susan, “but Esme and I work together, we’re friends, and she asked me to drop by on my lunch.”

Susan’s expression darkened. She looked so different from Alexandria when she did that. Alexandria could look annoyed or angry, but she was always still warm and wonderful. Her mother shut down and became even colder. It had been pretty scary when they were younger. Now, it was more amusing than anything, as if Susan thought she still had two twelve-year-olds in front of her who needed disciplining.

“Yes,” she said eventually, her voice stony, “at the mashed potato bar. That you’re catering the wedding from. You could have done so much with your life, Hailey.”

Alexandria looked horrified and as though she was attempting to figure out how to switch her mother off. Hailey realised that was probably why she was here. Susan Daley was clearly having the hardest time with this wedding and she was not a woman who was afraid to freely hand out her opinion. Alexandria was here to keep Esme safe. And now, she looked like she wanted to keep Hailey safe too.

It warmed Hailey’s heart, lit a fire in her stomach, but it wasn’t necessary. She’d dealt with people far worse than Susan over the years. She laughed. “I don’t know, Mash-N-Go is doing pretty well for itself. We could have opened multiple locations at this point, but I like keeping it independent, you know? Do all the management stuff, but keep my feet on the ground—know my staff, see my customers, all that good stuff. When you’re making money off people, as I do, it’s good to stay connected to them. Feels a little exploitative otherwise.”

Susan hummed and Hailey knew she’d hit gold. It was one of the many contradictions of Alexandria’s parents—just as so many people were living, breathing contradictions. That was life. But, for all of the ways they were ‘fiscally conservative’, they hated the facelessness of cities these days, they always had, and it had only gotten more pronounced since she’d last seen them. They loved independent businesses. So, no matter their feelings on mashed potato bars as a concept—and as wedding catering—Hailey knew her approach to business would go down well.

And it didn’t hurt to hint at how well she was doing. They’d like that too, of course.

For the first time, Alexandria’s face cracked into the tiniest smile. She’d always loved watching the way Hailey could disarm her parents. It didn’t always go in Hailey’s favour, but it always blew them off whichever warpath they’d been on.

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