Page 8 of The Proposal Pact
Grace swats my hand away and then pulls on a fake, cheery smile. “Hi, bestie! I missed you so much!” The smile drops. “What in the hell happened to your gorgeous hair???”
“C-minus on the effort.” I click my tongue. “And I cut it.”
“With what? Chopsticks?”
“Har-har, when did you get this funny?”
“Apparently the same day you decided to become a hairstylist.”
“This is not how I imagined our reunion would go.”
“How did you imagine it?” She squints.
“I had two options. Option A was me bursting into uncontrollable tears at the sight of you because my life is a mess, and I still don’t know how I got here. Option B was us running toward each other, embracing with happy tears like you see in those romantic movies. I always wanted to reenact that longing scene with a boyfriend, but seeing as there aren’t any in my present or future life, you’d have to do.”
Grace ponders this for a second. “I don’t like option A.”
“Me either.”
“Do we have to kiss like they do at the end of those scenes?”
“Ew, no. I don’t want your cooties.”
“Phew, okay, ’cause I don’t want yours either. Now let’s take fifteen steps away from each other, then turn and run.”
“On the count of three?”
Grace nods and we start counting together, fifteen steps later we run at each other.
Well,Irun. Grace wobbles, holding onto her tiny baby bump and it’s one of the funniest sights I’ve seen in a while. Midway through, I start laughing and Gracie catches on. By the time we meet and embrace, there are tears running down both our faces. But soon enough, the laughter dies down and only tears remain.
Tears that hold too many emotions. Tears that hold both pain and happiness, our failures and achievements. They translate how much we both missed out on in each other’s lives and with each second, the hug grows tighter and tighter.
We became instant friends when she moved to New York at eighteen and ended up at the same college as me. I’ve never understood the meaning of soul sister until her, and I felt it deep in my core when she suddenly vanished from my life. I haven’t seen my best friend in almost two years due to an unfortunate asshole in her life at the time. But truth be told, I feel ashamed for not trying harder to stay in herlife and so very proud of her for clawing her way out of that abusive relationship.
God, she’s one of the strongest people I know and now looks better than ever before. Grace has life in her eyes. Not just wild thirst for the ride but actual life, and I want to know how that feels.
“I missed you so much, Gracie Bear,” I whisper into her caramel hair.
“I’m not letting you go back!” she sobs into mine. “You can tell that to your brother. He has no hopes of getting you back in New York.”
I laugh again, alternating it with ugly crying. This is why I needed to come to Loverly Cave. I needed my best friend.
We must look like two idiots, hugging in the middle of the arrivals wing while alternating between crying and laughing but we keep it up until a new voice interrupts us.
“Dear God, Grace, what in the hell happened to your friend’s hair?” Both Grace and I burst out laughing, the tears still fresh on our cheeks.
“Sophie, meet my oldest sister, Joy. She is blunt and has a no bullshit policy.” Grace pulls away, and I take in the stunning brunette with expressive brown eyes and curves for days that are beautifully accentuated by her growing baby bump. “Joy, meet my best friend, Sophie Levidis. According to her brother, she’s going through an early onset of midlife crisis but in reality, she just needs some color in her life.”
“I do.” I smile brightly, then wince. “And I might also be going through an early onset of midlife crisis.”
“Don’t worry,” Joy pats my arm. “We have a club for best friends in crisis.”
“You do?”
“Mm-hmm.” She nods. “At least you’re not pregnant from your boss-slash-ex. So, you have that going for you. Okay, now let’s get moving. I can’t leave my husband alone for too long. God knows what he could get himself into without supervision,” Joy says and heads for the exit, leaving me to stare after her, dumbfounded.
“Um, what?” I turn to Grace.
