Page 60 of You Were Invited
A man like that is too much of a risk to my future.
I can’t.
twenty-two
Annie drove to Molly and Peter’s and was greeted at the door by her best girlfriend. The two-hour drive home had been long and emotional– accompanied by the loudest, most angsty songs she could find. She parked in the driveway and took a few deep breaths.
Okay, we’re just going to focus on Molly and getting all my stuff from Christopher’s. We can do that. We can be calm.
She glanced in the mirror. Her eyes were obviously red and puffy.
Frick…
Annie was relieved to see Molly, but when her friend hugged her hello in the entryway, she couldn’t hold back the tears from rolling down her cheeks. Frustration filled her.I can’t believe I’m sobbing over a guy I barely knew…
“Oh, I’ve just been thinkin’…” Molly pulled away and saw Annie’s distraught face. “Oh!” Molly immediately embraced her friend again. “Annie, babe, what’s wrong?”
“I-it’s nothing.” Embarrassed, Annie tried to smile, hoping that would stop the tears. “It’s… just a little… PMS is all.”
Molly pulled back again, hands on Annie’s shoulders. She frowned and eyed her. “Just PMS? Are you sure?”
Annie opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out.
“Go park it in the living room.” Molly patted Annie’s shoulder and disappeared to the kitchen. “Back in a sec.”
Over tea and a box of tissues as they sat together on the couch, Annie explained how and why she’d rejected Julian.
“Here.” Molly picked up Bell, who was lying on her hip, and passed her over to Annie, wagging tail and all. “You need these cuddles more than I do right now.”
Annie hugged Bell. “I’m sorry. I came home to take care of you. You don’t need me blubbering on about the shambles of my dating life. I only have myself to blame…”
“You still have time to make it up to me,” Molly teased with a wink. She then smiled and rested a hand on Annie’s knee. “Guys don’t always make it easy on us. Even the ones we like and who like us back. And maybe this is bringing up things you’d rather not think about.”
She’s got that right…“Thank you… and yes… It’s hard enough feeling like Chris is an alcoholic,” Annie said, “let alone getting interested in someone new—and then, wham! Julian’s also cursed with a drinking problem.”
“Was. Hehadone, Annie. Right?”
Annie tensed. “But I don’t want any of that. Past or not.”
“Did you see him drink while you were around him?”
Annie shook her head. “No… Like, I’m pretty sure he’s telling the truth… but we barely know each other. So I don’t know. And you don’t know him well, either.”
Behind her concerned gaze, it was clear Molly was at war with what she was hearing. “Sometimes… Sometimes people come into our lives… and aren’t meant to stay.”
Annie’s face buckled with emotion. She wiped her eyes with a tissue. Soundlessly, she mouthed, “I know…”
“… But… sometimes they come to heal us, too. Not every man’s your father. Not every man is Chris. I’ve never known you to fall this quickly. And don’t mince words. You like Julian. You want to love him.”
Of the two girls, even before they’d reached their teenage years, Molly had been the serial dater. Annie had taken her time, almost too much time, to warm up to anyone resembling boyfriend material.
Her heart ached.
“But what if it just hurts more?”
“I can’t believe I’m talking you into dating a guy with a past like this, but if he’s been sober for three years and has a good reason for it, it sounds like he’s committed to his journey. Whenever I've seen him, he's seemed fine.”
Annie looked down at Bell, petting her. In her heart, it felt like Julian was supposed to stay, or at least for a while. This didn’t feel like the end– the clean ending she’d wanted when she told him they didn’t belong together.
