| Howie was in his house, watching the rain spatter against the window. His parents went to a Lupus fundraiser on behalf of his sister’s foundation. He was going to make an appearance himself, but was definitely not in the mood to deal with crowds. The last thing he needed was for people to tell him what a great guy he was, when he knew he wasn’t feeling that way. If there was one moment he wished he could’ve replayed, it was in Ally’s store. He did the exact opposite of Brian’s advice. He tried calling him, but all he got was his answering machine. He got the same for the other guys. He sat by the window and let the rain be his tears. ~*~ Ally sat at the desk in her living room, trying to do inventory sheets, but her mind wasn’t in it. She kept replaying the incident with Howard in her mind. There she had the opportunity, but again she blew it. She was being professional, but she should have said something. She looked at the time and realized she had been at the same line for an hour. Groaning in disgust, she threw down her pen and laid her head in her hands. Gathering a sudden inner strength, she heard her mother’s words in her head: Don’t let opportunity pass you by, or it may not come back. She got her umbrella and headed out the door. ~*~ Howie stood by the patio when there was a banging at the door. He went to the door and answered it. There stood Ally. “Hi, what are you doing here?” “Are you gonna let me in, or do I have to get drenched?” Howie stood aside to let her walk in. She walked in and shook herself off. “Do you want something to drink?” “No, I think I had a little too much outside, thanks.” “So what’s up?” “Can we talk?” “Sure,” Howie led her to the couch. Ally let her emotions get the best of her again. “Do you know how much you have hurt me?” Howie was waiting for that. “I know I have, but...” “No buts! You promised me remember?! Remember when you decided to form your group? You said that nothing would change, not in a thousand lifetimes! And you lied! You stopped writing me, you didn’t even know I existed! I waited for every letter you said you would write, every phone call that you said you would make, and I heard nothing. NOTHING! Do you know how hard that was for me? How hard it was not to have a best friend?! For 4 years, the only way I heard about you was through your mother. Then when you made it here, I was actually ready to forgive you and say ‘Look what I’ve done, I’m so happy for you.’ And what did I hear? NOTHING AGAIN!” Ally stood up. “And so I just said to hell with this, he doesn’t give a flying fuck about me, so I don’t give a flying fuck about him.” Howie stood up to face her. “You have every right to hate me. You’re right! I broke the promise! I got so wrapped up in my own success that I forgot about what was important. But I never forgot you, Ally. You wanna know why I didn’t want to come back?” Ally shook her head. “Because I didn’t want to face you. I didn’t want to see what would happen if I saw you again. I have come back, many times, but I couldn’t even walk past your house.” “So what do you want Howard? I can’t go back.” “I’m not saying that,” Howie put his hand on her shoulder. “But I at least want to try to start over. I know I can’t make up for the last 7 years. But I want to live in the now.” Ally looked at him. “I really need to think about it. I need some time, OK?” Howie nodded. “I can accept that.” Ally smiled. It was the first time she had smiled for him and, for a split second, Howie saw the old Ally again. She got her umbrella and headed for the door. “I’ll see ya around?” Howie asked. “Yeah, I’ll see ya around.” She opened the umbrella and headed back towards the house. Chapter 8 Contents Chapter 6 |