Page 72 of Thanks for the Memories
Hmmm … it doesn’t take a genius to know something is bothering her.
“Are you sure?” I follow her into the guest room and lean against the doorframe.
“To tell you the truth, it was really good until a little while ago.” She dramatically tosses her bag on the bed.
Ugh. Is she going to tell me what’s bothering her, or am I’m going to have to pry it out of her?
“Okay, are you going to tell me what happened?”
She sits on the bed and unclips the strap on her heel.
“Or you could tell me,” she snaps.
I fold my arms against my chest and furrow my eyebrows.
“If there’s something you’re hinting at, just go ahead and say it because I have no clue what you’re talking about.”
“Fine,” she exclaims, throwing her shoe. She didn’t throw it hard, but enough to make a statement.
“Imagine having a lovely evening dining on South Beach, making new friends, and enjoying my soon-to-be home. Then as Paul’s showing me an email from one of his contacts, a text comes through from your roommate.”
Crap. Lila said she wanted to have a talk with Paul, but I didn’t think she’d do it tonight. Although I should’ve known better.
“So what?” I say nonchalantly. “Lila and Paul have been friends for years. Long before you or I came along.”
“That’s what he said. He went on and on making excuses for Lila, saying that she’s very protective of him. Paul is a grown man, and he can hang out with whomever he wants.” She pauses and presses her lips together. “My question is—why would Lila be concerned about my intentions? She doesn’t know me—unless you said something to her?”
“So do you really like Paul?” I ask, side-stepping her question. “Because he seems to like you.”
She shoots a glare at me. “Of course I do. Why would you ask that?”
Hmm … maybe because she’s been falling all over Dante for two days.
“Reagan, what did you mean by that?”
It’s now or never. We need to have the conversation that’s been brewing since before she arrived in Miami.
“I’m confused about a lot of things,” I say. “First of all, you barely talked to me for months after giving me hell for leaving Chicago. Then out of the blue you planned this visit, and now after a few days of vacationing, you’re moving here.”
“I didn’t give you hell,” she interrupts. “Excuse me for being upset that you abandoned me. You were supposed to be my best friend.”
“So, because I made the decision to move means I’m not your best friend anymore,” I say raising my voice slightly. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“You just don’t understand,” she says, shaking her head.
“I guess I don’t, so why don’t you help me out.”
She pushes her hair behind her shoulder.
“I should’ve known you wouldn’t get it. You’ve always had it easy,” she exclaims. “You have a good family, stability, and the perfect life. Now look around. You move thousands of miles away from home and by sheer luck end up living in this tropical oasis. You have a fancy new life and new friends—you have no idea what it’s like to be alone.”
Whoa. I haven’t experienced the same struggles she has. But that doesn’t mean everything came easy to me. I’ve had my own trials. They’re just different than hers.
“You’re right about one thing—I haven’t had to deal with the same family situations as you, but I do know what it’s like to be alone. All through college you had Mike. I’ve never been lucky when it came to relationships. I know you aren’t together anymore, but you had years with him.”
This is absolutely true. There were times when I was envious of her relationship with Mike, especially when my relationships didn’t work out. We were all pretty convinced they were in it for the long haul.
“Please don’t try to compare your situation to mine,” she says jumping to her feet. “It’s not even close to what I’ve endured.”
