But Sally narrowed her eyes again. “For six months? What happens after?”
“Nothing—that’s what makes it so good.” It was and I liked it. It meant we could enjoy each other without worrying about the usual crap that would ruin a good thing.
“Won’t you miss him?”
“Sure, but I have to go back to LA and life has to go on.” I didn’t know what it was, but something pinched my heart as I spoke.
“Oh right. Life goes on, just like that?” She raised her brows, then narrowed her eyes.
“Well, we always knew I’d only be here for eight months and nothing more would ever happen.”
“Does it help to keep telling yourself that?” She held my gaze and I didn’t know what to say.
I contemplated her question.
Was I telling myself that? I didn’t want my Ryan-filled bubble of passion to pop and entertain anything going wrong. I kind of was thinking that it would be over when I left.
“Sally, I’m not relationship girl.” I told her straight. “I’m fun. I have my career to think about. That is me.”
She sat back and looked me over, her eyes gentle and understanding.
“A beautiful, strong woman like you should definitely have a man in her life—permanently. I sincerely hope you haven’t followed my influence in that part of your life.”
Sally had never married. That definitely hadn’t escaped me and I got my drive from her influence, but my take on relationships was not from her. Not one bit.
“No, I have my own reasons.”
“What happened? Who broke your heart?”
It was scary how much this woman knew me. The saying ‘it takes one to know one’popped into my mind and suddenly I felt a little uneasy.
I opned my mouth to speak but I didn’t know what to say. I’d pushed Craig to the back of my mind but sometimes he resurfaced.
“Is it your parents?” She now looked concerned.
“Maybe.”
“Is that a yes?” she chuckled.
“Well, I had a front row seat to their disaterous marriage and a mother who abandoned me. Not exactly the best role models on love.”
“Your parents are not you Brooke. What happened to you was awful but I didn’t figure you for a woman to not try something for herself just because that thing didn’t work out for someone else.” Now she looked me over with suspicion and it felt like she was staring straight into my soul.
Again she was right.
I tried love for myself even with my parents horrible marriage.
I brought my hands together and bit the inside of my lip. “There was a guy.”
“Uh huhh, now we’re getting to the bones. What happened with this guy?”
I looked ahead at the lilies again and sat back. Pulling in a deep breath I returned my focus to her and told her about Craig.
When I finished she rested her elbows on the table and templed her fingers.
Silence filled the space between us and I almost thought she wasn’t going to say anything.
“I get it now. The I’m not relationship girl mantra.” She stated. “But that guy was a complete asshole. All men aren’t like that.”
