She stood in the mirror applying her makeup when the doorbell rang, she walked out of the bathroom and opened the door to see Bill standing there with a dozen white roses, he remembered she thought as she smiled,
“Hi, come in, I’m almost ready.” He stepped inside and turned to look at her,
“You look great.” She smiled,
“Thank you, those for me?” He nodded as he handed them to her,
“I hope they aren’t too much.” She shook her head, as she smelled them, what’s with smelling roses she thought, what do people expect them to smell like,
“No, they’re nice. Thank you.” She walked into the kitchen and pulled out a vase and placed them on the counter.
“Have a seat, I’ll be just a minute.” She walked back into the bathroom and returned to see him looking at the framed pictures on the table in the corner. Her breath caught in her throat as one of those pictures stood out in her mind; the one of her sitting on Nick’s lap facing him with her head laying on top of his and they were both topless. Her friend took it when they were all in Mexico together.
“I’m ready.” He turned and smiled,
“Seem to have a lot of fun with your friends.” She nodded,
“Yeah.” She wasn’t sure why but she felt like she should take down that picture of her and Nick.
They sat in the restaurant and talked as they waited for the check and the conversation turned to traveling,
“Have you ever been to Europe?” She nodded,
“Yes, I would love to go again…so many countries and places to see. I need to spend a summer there.” He smiled,
“Where have you been?” She started rattling off a few places and he seemed to be impressed,
“Through work or vacations?” She was now a little uncomfortable,
“Uh, vacation.” He looked at her for what seemed like forever,
“With your boyfriend?” She looked down and began to play with her fork,
“Yeah.” He leaned over and grabbed her hand; she looked down at his hand covering her hand. No man had held her hand since Nick and it felt a little strange,
“I’m sure it will take some time for you to get over him. It will get better, trust me, it may not seem like it now, but you get over it.” She nodded and fought to hold back the tears, maybe she didn’t want to get over it. One minute she hated him, the next she missed him and wanted him back but all through that one thing never changed…she still loved him. She excused herself and went to the restroom, once she was in the tears ran down her face. She was never good at listening to people tell her it was going to be ok, it just upset her even more and made her cry. She looked at herself in the mirror, wiped her face and took a deep breath. She was going to get through this she kept telling herself.
They stood outside her door, she really didn’t want to invite him in but she didn’t want to be rude either. He smiled,
“I better get going.” She nodded her head and looked down just as he placed his hands on her shoulders and stepped to her. He kissed her on the corner of her mouth,
“I had a very nice time, we’ll have to do it again sometime.” She nodded,
“I did too and definitely.” She walked inside and leaned against the door. Maybe she could get past Nick, he was nice and aside from that moment at dinner she did really like him.
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Full Circle
Chapter 22