Allie relented and told her. It felt good to get everything out; she had been holding her frustrations and insecurities in for so long.
"But I'm done with him," she concluded. "His family hates me, likereallyhates me. They think I'm out to kill or ruin Carter."
"But you clearly feel something for him," Liz pressed.
Allie looked guiltily at Liz.
"Don't worry about me," Liz said. "I was just in love with the idea of being in love with a Holbrook. Now that I've been working with Carter, I don't think he and I would do all that well together after all."
"He's a handful," Allie agreed.
"What are you going to do?"
"I don't know. I can't deal with it."
"So that's it? You're not going to fight for him?" Liz said, munching on a chocolate-covered cookie.
"You don't understand. There was nothing there." She rubbed her eyes.
"Are you crying?"
"No," she said, hiding her face.
"I'll tell my brother to have a talk with Carter," Liz said, shoving a bottle of vodka into her hand.
"No, please, I’m done. I'm so tired of Holbrooks. I need to buckle down, finish my internship, graduate, and find a job."
The next day, she tried to force herself to concentrate on the presentations. Allie took copious notes and studiously ignored Carter.
Vance was back, and he had tape on his nose, she noticed during one of their breaks. He came over to her, put his mouth close to her ear, and hissed, "I’m going to ruin your boyfriend."
Allie didn't know how to handle that. This was her fault! She should have deescalated the fight or just simply told Carter off.
"Glad that's over with," Carter murmured beside her as they arrived back at the hotel for their final night in Oslo.
Allie tried to ignore him, but he grabbed her around the waist, saying, "Let me buy you a drink."
"I don't know."
"Come on. Do you ever drink anyone else's alcohol?"
"That sounds like you're trying to make a dirty joke," she said.
Just go back to your room and ignore him,she told herself. But she knew she wouldn't, especially when he winked at her.
"This is a nice date," he said as the bartender handed them their drinks.
"Better than the storage closet," Allie said dryly.
Carter looked chagrinned. "Yeah, that was messed up. I’m going to do better. I promise."
Allie looked at him sadly. "I meant it. We can be friends but nothing more."
"I want more, I think."
"Do you? Or do you want it just because someone told you that you can't have it?"
She stood up to leave, and he followed her to her hotel room.
