Chapter 30
Adalyn
After eleven straight days of being naked with Ian, I begrudgingly joined the human populace and started wearing clothes again.
It felt awkward going in to work knowing what I did about the special treatment Ian had given me. He assured me over and over that the only person who cared was Carrie, and that most employees had no idea of anything he had done for me. I loved my job, though, and I was happy to be back. I would just have to deal with any awkward hurdles as they arose.
Awkward hurdle number one? Carrie. And that one I wasn’t going to wait for. That one needed to happen right away. If I was going to have any kind of future with Ian, I needed his sister to not be such a raving bitch. I knew they were close and so like it or not, Carrie and I were going to find a way to make amends.
She was working in one of our studios, working on the choreography to one of the video games we’d been commissioned, and I stood back watching her for a few minutes before I approached. She really was a very graceful dancer, and watching her in her element like this she looked much happier than all the other times I’d seen her. Maybe I was being too hard on her. If anyone should be willing to give second chances, it should be me.
Right as I resolved to offer an olive branch, she spotted me and she immediately looked angry but that quickly turned to something akin to…guilt? If she actually felt bad for her behavior then this talk would definitely go over a lot smoother.
“Hi Adalyn,” she whispered as she approached me, never once making eye contact.
“Carrie,” I replied curtly.
“I’m actually glad you’re here. If you have a minute…I mean would you mind to…” she sighed frustratedly. “Can we talk?” she finally huffed out.
I couldn’t help but laugh. We were so uncomfortable and horrible at this. I thought she would get mad at my laughing, but she surprised me by joining in.
“I’m sorry, I suck at this. I just want to apologize. Do you have a minute?” Her eyes looked genuine and I was glad to know this was going to be easier than I thought. Maybe Carrie and I stood a chance of actually becoming friends.
I followed her over to a couple of folded chairs that were set off to the side and accepted the bottle of water she offered me, thankful to have something to do with my hands other than fidget.
“I’m sorry,” we both started at the same time, sending us both into a fit of laughter again. “You first,” I said, taking a drink of my water.
“I’m sorry for how I’ve treated you, Adalyn. I’m not sure how much of my history Stacy or my brother has told you, but it’s still no excuse for how I’ve behaved. I’m just basically a toddler, I have a hard time sharing. I felt threatened by you with Stacy, I was afraid I’d lose my best friend, when I should have been trying to get to know you. I was hoping maybe you could give me another chance. That maybe I could make it up to you somehow. I see how much my brother cares about you and if the two most important people in my life both care about you so much, then you must obviously be worth it. I just hope one day you can forgive me.”
All my anger and resentment towards Carrie in that moment dissipated. She looked small and afraid and I couldn’t find it in me to still hate her.
“I’ve already forgiven you, Carrie,” I smiled as she looked up in surprise. “I understand what you’ve been going through. I can’t say that it’s necessarily okay how you acted towards me, but I get it. No, Ian didn’t tell me much about your past, he said it was your story to tell and I hope that one day you and I can become close enough that you will feel comfortable enough with me to open up about it.”
I reached out and took her hand in mine. The gesture probably surprised me more than it did her, but I loved Ian, and I wanted to be a part of his life in every way. That included his family, and she looked so vulnerable that I couldn’t help but want to reach out and comfort her.
“I love your brother. I don’t have to tell you how amazing he is. And you were probably right when you said, I probably don’t deserve him.”
“Adalyn, I was way out of line saying…”
“No, it’s okay,” I said, interrupting her. “It’s the truth. And honestly, there might not be a woman on this earth who actually does deserve someone like Ian. And for some crazy reason, I am lucky enough to be the one who he chose to love. I won’t ever take that for granted. I want you to know that I will always cherish his love, and I will spend my life trying to be the person he deserves.”
I wiped away a rogue tear that escaped and gave an embarrassed smile at my show of emotion.
“I’m not usually emotional like this, but I guess love will do that to you,” I laughed weakly. “I want us to be close, Carrie. I was hoping you would want that to.”
“I would really, really love that Adalyn,” Carrie said as she jumped up and down in her seat excitedly. She looked so youthful that it was almost hard to believe she was the same age as me.
“Okay great, because I need your help with something”
Carrie and I spent the rest of the day working on the upcoming fundraiser our company was sponsoring. We only had two weeks to make all the changes necessary and it was probably going to require almost all of our free time just to make our plan happen. We had to contact all the vendors and planning coordinators involved and had to swear everyone to secrecy.
Convincing Carrie to help me hadn’t been nearly as difficult as I thought it was going to be. Then again, our entire relationship had taken a complete turn in the days that followed our heart to heart as well. Once we hashed out all of our concerns and cleared the air, the conversation came easy between us. And the more time we spent together the more she grew on me. I truly liked Carrie and found myself regretting having not taken the time to do this with her sooner.
Keeping Ian from finding out what we were doing had been tricky, but my blossoming friendship with Carrie was a good cover. As the fundraiser neared, I became increasingly nervous. I kept waiting for a hitch in the plan, a snag in the code, for someone to accidentally spill the secret to Ian. But that wasn’t the only thing I had to worry about. Not only was I worried about us actually being able to pull off our plan, but I would be in the same vicinity as Maggie. From what Carrie had told me, there was almost definitely an altercation in my near future.
Not that I wouldn’t love the chance to bitch slap her, but this fundraiser was going to be a special night for Ian. At least, I hoped it would. So as much as I would really, really love to put Maggie in her place, I would have to be the bigger person.
A couple days before the event Carrie and I went to pick up Stacy and take her shopping to get dresses for the event. We still hadn’t told Stacy what was going on. She was seriously the worst secret keeper. Ever. Don’t tell Stacy anything you don’t want repeated. But time was running out and she would need a dress so we had no choice.
I’d been staying with Ian since the day I told him everything and had been spending so much time with Carrie with all the planning that I hadn’t really had a chance to see Stacy very much, and seeing her running down the stairs from her apartment towards the car threw a pang of guilt into me. Then she opened her mouth and all that guilt dissipated.
“Move, bitch. You don’t get to disappear for weeks and then get to sit shotgun. Back seat, baby.”
Groaning, I got out of the passenger side of Carrie’s car and moved to the back.
“Alright, so you sluts need to tell me where we’re going on this mystery girls day out that I called off work for. Not that I mind playing hooky, but I’d like to know what I’m doing today that’s such a secret you couldn’t tell me over the phone.”
Carrie looked at me in the rearview mirror and we exchanged a knowing glance.
“Okay, seriously. I’m glad you guys made up and are in love now and all, but I don’t like feeling left out. Someone better start talking or I’m going to start throwing some high fives to your faces.”
We spent the drive filling Stacy in on our plans. By the time we finally finished, she was already cussing us out.
“I can’t believe it. I can’t believe you guys. You’re such bitches. Why would you leave me out? I could have helped! Were you just afraid that all my ideas would have been better than yours? Whatever. I’m not talking to either of you all day. And every dress you try on I’m going to tell you makes you look fat,” she huffed as she pouted and crossed her arms over her chest.
Carrie and I planked her on either side of her and wrapped her up into a big group hug.
“What happened to you, Adalyn? Keeping secrets from me and now hugging? It’s like I don’t know you anymore. It’s freaking weird.”
“Oh, come on,” I said, linking our arms and guiding us into the boutique where we were going to be trying on dresses. “I’m still me, just an improved version. It’s just been too long since we hung out. Let’s fix that today and try to enjoy ourselves getting prettied up. My treat.”
That got her. “Fine, if you’re paying then I’ll forgive you.”
I’d really missed my friend.
“I am really dreading this fundraiser tonight.”
“Don’t be that way, Ian,” I said as I straightened his tie. He was devilishly handsome in his black designer suit. As handsome as he was in a suit though, I preferred Ian in his goofy t-shirts and glasses. “It will be fine. I can handle myself. Maggie isn’t going to cause any issues and this is an important event for the company.”
“I know,” he sighed, wrapping his arms around my waist. “I just don’t know why she’s coming tonight. The last time she was at this event was the night she cheated on me. And while in retrospect it turned out to be one of the best nights of my life because it finally opened my eyes to how horrible she was, I still have no desire to see her. If she so much as looks at you funny, I might not be able to control my actions.”
I yanked on his tie and pulled his mouth to mine in a quick, rough kiss. “I know you’re tough, Kent, but I can handle myself. I’m pretty bad ass, too, so if she knows what’s good for her, she’ll stay far away. Trust me, I’m not worried, okay? Let’s just try to have a good time. It’s amazing what you do for these kids and you deserve to enjoy yourself.” I turned to take one last look in the mirror then threw my lip gloss into my clutch. “Are you ever going to tell me the story behind why you founded this charity?”
“It’s a long story, and I promise one day I’ll tell you. Helping kids with HIV is just important to me. The treatments for that illness are so expensive and a lot of the kids don’t live nearly as long as they should get to. If I can bring a little bit of happiness to their lives, then it’s worth it.”
“You’re such an amazing man, you know that, right?” I asked, wrapping my arms around his neck and pushing onto my toes to kiss his neck.
“If you keep kissing me like that then we won’t make it to the charity at all,” he laughed as he gave me a chaste kiss and slipped his hand into mine.