Cursive - By Phoebe Lane Page 0,10

octaves higher.

"Why are you so upset about this? I thought you would want to keep something like that as a memento of what you had with Christopher," Pam said, then paused. "Oh, wait. I see what's going on. You want to avoid this too, just like you do with your family, your friends, and your job?"

Aislynn completely lost her head at that point. "How can you be so insensitive?" she demanded.

"I'm not being insensitive. Why do you always have to take everything so personally?"

"Personal? How the hell am I supposed to take it, then?" she shouted, knowing it could probably be heard out in the living room, but not being able to give a damn.

"Stop it, Aislynn! I deserve more respect. You always want to read more into what I say than what I actually mean. I can't ever talk to you," Pam said defensively.

I swear it's like talking to a damn wall.

"Listen, don't send me anything else. If you find any other boxes, just throw them away. There, you can consider that another example of how I avoid things that I apparently shouldn't take so personally." Aislynn quickly hung up the phone and turned it off. It took all her strength to resist the urge to throw it against the wall.

She eventually made it out of her room and into the dining room, where she found Ellie waiting for her at the table.

"I made you some tea," Ellie said softly. "Was that your mom you were just, um, talking to?"

"More like screaming to. You can say it."

"Is she involved in this?"

Aislynn nodded. "I think I figured out what happened last night." She paused to allow herself a deep breath. "I got a box in the mail from her yesterday. It was the wedding dress."

"Damn it, Pam," she muttered as her hand slammed on the table. "What the hell was she thinking?"

"She claims she didn't know what was in it. Oh, yeah, and she also can't understand why I'm so upset about it." Aislynn sipped her tea in silence, trying to let it all sink in, and appreciating Ellie dearly for giving her some time to process things. "Last night, after I saw the dress, I was so upset that it triggered a massive migraine. I couldn't fall sleep, so I took a sleeping pill. That medicine has been known to cause sleepwalking behaviors in some people."

"People like you?"

Aislynn nodded. "I must have woken up and put the dress on while I was asleep."

"Can we please throw those pills away?"

"I already did."

"I'm sorry this happened," Ellie said after a minute, then reached across the table for her hand and squeezed it gently. "This is probably the wrong thing to say right now, but you looked really beautiful in that dress, just like you did when you tried it on the first time."

"It's a shame, because it really is a great dress," she said and sighed. The dress was all tulle, with sparkling crystals cascading all over a deep V-neck and princess-cut skirt. "Maybe you could use it for when you marry Evan."

"I don’t know about marriage, but I have a feeling I'm going to be crazy in love with that man."

"I think so, too."

"I know you tend to keep your thoughts to yourself, but we both know you read people well. Tell me what you think of Evan," Ellie said.

Aislynn had been watching Evan interact with Ellie very closely. She couldn't help it; it was in her nature. Not that she was deluded enough to think she could tell absolutely everything about a person by just observing them, but she did pick up on things that most people wouldn't notice.

"There are no red flags that I've noticed. He seems legit," Aislynn said.

"That's good. Really good," she said with a big smile. "Would it be too predictable if I asked you about Jace now?"

"Blatantly."

Ellie talked Aislynn into a primping session before their dinner with the guys that evening. Aislynn insisted she didn't need so much prep for a non-date, but Ellie kept rolling her eyes at her. Ellie had to work the most at trying to convince Aislynn to wear her hair down, but her efforts were futile.

"Learn to pick your battles, Ellie," Aislynn said.

Her nerves didn't bother her until they were on the elevator on their way up to Evan's apartment.

Non-date, non-date, non-date. No reason to feel nervous. Ugh, who am I kidding?

Evan lived in a very up-and-coming neighborhood in the center of the city. It was obvious that his