hearing it doesn’t get any easier. "Now, if you don’t mind you need to move along. You should be either waiting at the end or at a table anyway, not here." Her brown eyes are almost black; a sure sign of how pissed she is.
The minute she mentions about mine and Brady’s lack of relationship, Chris' eyes seemed to bore into me. His whole attention is on me, so much so that he completely ignores Avery’s cold, yet biting tone. Instead of annoyance or hostility that I usually see directed at me from his blue eyes, it’s been replaced with something similar to... Interest? Eww I hope not!
Just as he straightens himself up and stands away from the counter, I hear the clicking of Liv's orange courts. I turn towards her, the white high-waisted skirt she’s wearing swings around her legs as they move at super speed. She dodges every table corner with dignity, unlike me. Her eyes are trained on the person standing next to me.
"Well, I better go." Chris says, looking back towards the bubbling ball of rage heading this way. "Looks like you got a new bodyguard now." And with those parting words he strides to the door, right past Liv and leaving his untouched cup of coffee behind.
"What did he want? Was he bothering you?" Liv asks, laying a hand on my arm.
"God knows." I shrug with a little shake of my head.
"He’s such a dick."
"He was asking about me and Brady." I swallow the lump that fills my throat on uttering his name out loud.
"Mmm." She narrows her eyes and if I wasn’t looking for her reaction I probably wouldn’t notice. "Come on, let’s get another coffee. I gotta load up. Who knows when the next cup I'll get will be."
I nod and shove down all thoughts of Brady, Chris and everything else and just focus on the here and now for once. I've got my best friend back and maybe being home isn’t so bad. After all, I've already hit rock bottom and the only way is up, right?
***
The ringing of my cell phone interrupts the conversation Liv and I are having about wedding dresses. I glance down at the screen to see my Mom's name flashing across and roll my eyes before pulling it up to my ear.
"Hello." I answer, leaning back against the comfortable seat in Liv's Mini.
"Hi honey. I was just wondering what time you were gonna be back. Your brother's coming for dinner tonight and you haven’t seen him since Christmas." Though I know my Mom doesn’t mean to, her words cause a pang of guilt to run through me. I really have neglected my friends and family over the past few months.
"I’m on my way back now. Shouldn’t be more than ten minutes."
"Oh good. Does Liv want to stay for dinner?"
"Liv would you like to stay for dinner?" I ask with a sigh and a roll of my eyes.
"No thank you Mrs. Martin, I've already got plans." She shouts.
"You hear that?" I say into the phone.
"Yes. Oh I do like Liv. Listen, I'll see you in a bit."
"Ok, Mom. Bye." I say, and disconnect the phone before she even gets a chance to reply.
"Parents huh?" Liv says, giving her own eye roll.
I nod and lean my head back, closing my eyes. I feel better than I have in ages. It’s been a full day what with seeing Brady and Chris and Liv turning up, but it’s been a good one nonetheless. After coffee we went browsing through the few stores Franklin has to offer before walking and talking through the town square. We never got into anything heavy but I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders just by having such a casual conversation. It was my first taste of normality in months.
Liv pulls in behind my rented Nissan Versa which reminds me that I have to take it back to the rental place in Savannah. I’m not really sure why I even got it apart from the fact I didn’t want to have to drive into town with anyone else. My frayed nerves were bad enough and I needed that hour drive to try and settle them. Now I’m stuck with a car for the next week that’s cost me almost two hundred dollars that I've had to
The minute she mentions about mine and Brady’s lack of relationship, Chris' eyes seemed to bore into me. His whole attention is on me, so much so that he completely ignores Avery’s cold, yet biting tone. Instead of annoyance or hostility that I usually see directed at me from his blue eyes, it’s been replaced with something similar to... Interest? Eww I hope not!
Just as he straightens himself up and stands away from the counter, I hear the clicking of Liv's orange courts. I turn towards her, the white high-waisted skirt she’s wearing swings around her legs as they move at super speed. She dodges every table corner with dignity, unlike me. Her eyes are trained on the person standing next to me.
"Well, I better go." Chris says, looking back towards the bubbling ball of rage heading this way. "Looks like you got a new bodyguard now." And with those parting words he strides to the door, right past Liv and leaving his untouched cup of coffee behind.
"What did he want? Was he bothering you?" Liv asks, laying a hand on my arm.
"God knows." I shrug with a little shake of my head.
"He’s such a dick."
"He was asking about me and Brady." I swallow the lump that fills my throat on uttering his name out loud.
"Mmm." She narrows her eyes and if I wasn’t looking for her reaction I probably wouldn’t notice. "Come on, let’s get another coffee. I gotta load up. Who knows when the next cup I'll get will be."
I nod and shove down all thoughts of Brady, Chris and everything else and just focus on the here and now for once. I've got my best friend back and maybe being home isn’t so bad. After all, I've already hit rock bottom and the only way is up, right?
***
The ringing of my cell phone interrupts the conversation Liv and I are having about wedding dresses. I glance down at the screen to see my Mom's name flashing across and roll my eyes before pulling it up to my ear.
"Hello." I answer, leaning back against the comfortable seat in Liv's Mini.
"Hi honey. I was just wondering what time you were gonna be back. Your brother's coming for dinner tonight and you haven’t seen him since Christmas." Though I know my Mom doesn’t mean to, her words cause a pang of guilt to run through me. I really have neglected my friends and family over the past few months.
"I’m on my way back now. Shouldn’t be more than ten minutes."
"Oh good. Does Liv want to stay for dinner?"
"Liv would you like to stay for dinner?" I ask with a sigh and a roll of my eyes.
"No thank you Mrs. Martin, I've already got plans." She shouts.
"You hear that?" I say into the phone.
"Yes. Oh I do like Liv. Listen, I'll see you in a bit."
"Ok, Mom. Bye." I say, and disconnect the phone before she even gets a chance to reply.
"Parents huh?" Liv says, giving her own eye roll.
I nod and lean my head back, closing my eyes. I feel better than I have in ages. It’s been a full day what with seeing Brady and Chris and Liv turning up, but it’s been a good one nonetheless. After coffee we went browsing through the few stores Franklin has to offer before walking and talking through the town square. We never got into anything heavy but I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders just by having such a casual conversation. It was my first taste of normality in months.
Liv pulls in behind my rented Nissan Versa which reminds me that I have to take it back to the rental place in Savannah. I’m not really sure why I even got it apart from the fact I didn’t want to have to drive into town with anyone else. My frayed nerves were bad enough and I needed that hour drive to try and settle them. Now I’m stuck with a car for the next week that’s cost me almost two hundred dollars that I've had to
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