HAILEY
I manage to keep the engagement news to myself for a few days, but I eventually decide it’s time to tell the one person I trust and love the most—my best friend Ellie. Unlocking the doors to my gallery, I feel grateful as ever. I only opened it two months ago, but business is going great. I don’t have much money, since I’m paying off the bank loans I took to open it, but I’m doing what I always wanted to do—running my own gallery. I finished college and somewhere along the way I met Jacob. After ten months of dating him, I opened the gallery.
“Morning honey!” Ellie sneaks in and hugs me tightly from the back.
“Ellie, you scared me!”
She laughs and walks into the back room and into the kitchen. “Do you have time for coffee?” she yells from the back.
I walk towards her so I don’t have to yell across the floor. “I need to talk to you about something. Coffee sounds good.”
“Shit. You’re pregnant?” she screams.
“What? Have you lost your mind? No, I’m not pregnant!”
“Good, because a baby pretty much destroys your life.” Ellie never holds back when it comes to expressing her feelings and opinions.
“You’re crazy,” I laugh.
“That’s why you love me.” She winks.
“Ellie, I’m not pregnant, but I do have big news.’’ I pause for a second and enjoy the torture on her face. “I’m getting married! Jacob proposed a couple of days ago!” I scream, excited to finally share the news with her.
“What?” Ellie starts jumping, just as excited, and hugs me tightly. As she keeps me in her tight grip, the overwhelming happiness I shared with her in the moment, quickly turns into sorrow, and suddenly I can’t keep the tears in the back of my eyes from falling any longer. I don’t know why I allow myself to be so unstable and to let my emotions completely take over. I haven’t been like this in a long time. Well, I haven’t been like this since I was with Chris.
“Hailey, don’t cry,” Ellie says, as she wipes away my tears.
“Fuck,” I say quietly.
“This must be tough for you,” says Ellie. “I know you used to believe it would be C…”
I stop her before she finishes her sentence. “Don’t say it. God! I thought I was over this shit! I’m a grown woman, I’m not that weak girl anymore. I don’t need him anymore.”
“I knew those weren’t happy tears. Hailey, you were never weak. Everything that happened, it was too much, and you dealt with it the best way you could. Look where you are now! And he’s gone. That chapter of your life has been closed. And it’s okay for you to move on.”
“I know, I know. I don’t need the same speech I’ve been hearing for the last couple of years from you. I don’t want him and I don’t love him, but that doesn’t change the fact I’m disappointed. Back then, I believed we would be these people and that he would be here with us.”
“Hailey, the guy ripped you apart. He hurt you so many times I’ve lost count. He did love you, but he wasn’t very good at showing it. Besides, I like bad boys, but he was too much even for me. That man is trouble and I doubt he’ll ever change. He is who he is and people don’t change.”
Her words sink deep in my heart and rip me apart like a dagger. I decide it’s time to change the topic.
“Let’s drink the coffee. No more talk about the past.”
Just as I say it, I hear a familiar voice in the back.
“Knock, knock. There she is, my beautiful fiancé!” Jacob says as he hugs me and sweetly kisses my nose.
“Congrats Jacob!” Ellie wraps him in a hug.
“Thanks Ellie.”
“What are you doing here babe?” I ask.
“I stopped by to see you before work,” he says and kisses me again. He’s his usual charming self, smelling irresistible and wearing a designer suit that gives him an air of power any woman would obey. His light brown hair is gorgeously shimmering under the sunlight stroking through the window and his hazelnut eyes are the warmest eyes I’ve ever seen. Jacob’s the most lovable person I know. And that smile, it melts me every time.
“Gotta run baby. Enjoy your coffee, girls.”
We both watch as he leaves, and Ellie can’t help but comment once he’s out of sight. “Damn he’s hot.”
“He’s taken,’’ I say, grinning.